Genesis 35:1-3 New English Translation

The Return to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once^[a] to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”^[b] ²So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you.^[c] Purify yourselves and change your clothes.^[d] ³Let us go up at once^[e] to Bethel. Then I will make^[f] an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress^[g] and has been with me wherever I went.”^[h]

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Footnotes

Genesis 35:1 tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.
Genesis 35:1 sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).
Genesis 35:2 tn Heb “which are in your midst.”
Genesis 35:2 sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.
Genesis 35:3 tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.
Genesis 35:3 tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.
Genesis 35:3 tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.
Genesis 35:3 tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

New English Translation (NET)