KJV ORIGINAL
And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
God said to Jacob, 'Get up and go to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.'
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
God is calling Jacob to return to Bethel, the sacred place where God first appeared to him, and worship there.
📚 Historical Context
This command comes after the violent incident at Shechem involving Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi. Jacob had been living in the land near Shechem, but God now calls him back to Bethel, the place where Jacob first encountered God in his famous dream of the ladder reaching to heaven over twenty years earlier when he was fleeing from Esau.
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