Bethel

And passing on from there to a mountain, which was opposite the east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel to the west, and Hai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord, and he called upon his name.

And he returned by the way that he came, from the meridian into Bethel, all the way to the place where before he had pitched his tent, between Bethel and Hai.

And he called the name of the city, ‘Bethel,’ which before was called Luz.

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the stone and made a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and depart from this land, returning to the land of your nativity.’ ”

About this time, God said to Jacob, “Arise and go up to Bethel, and live there, and make an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, so that we may make an altar there to God, who heeded me in the day of my tribulation, and who accompanied me on my journey.”

And so, Jacob arrived at Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, also named Bethel: he and all the people with him.

And he built an altar there, and he called the name of that place, ‘House of God.’ For there, God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.

About the same time, Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died, and she was buried at the base of Bethel, under an oak tree. And the name of that place was called, ‘Oak of Weeping.’

Then God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,

and he called the name of that place, ‘Bethel.’

Then, departing from there, he arrived in springtime at the land that leads to Ephrath. And there, when Rachel was giving birth,

And when Joshua sent men from Jericho against Ai, which is beside Bethaven, toward the eastern region of the town of Bethel, he said to them, “Go up and explore the land.” And they fulfilled his instruction, and they explored Ai.

And he sent them away, and they traveled to the place of the ambush, and they settled between Bethel and Ai, toward the western region of the city of Ai. But Joshua remained for that night in the midst of the people.

Now he had chosen five thousand men, and he had positioned them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, at the western part of the same city.

and indeed not one remained in the city of Ai and of Bethel who did not pursue after Israel, (leaving the towns open after they had rushed out,)

The king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one;

the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;

Similarly, the lot of the sons of Joseph fell from the Jordan, opposite Jericho and its waters, to the east, to the wilderness that ascends from Jericho to the mountain of Bethel.

And it goes out from Bethel to Luz. And it crosses the border of Archi to Ataroth.

And it continues to the south beside Luz, which is Bethel. And it descends into Ataroth-addar, at the mountain which is to the south of lower Beth-horon.

Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel,

The house of Joseph also ascended against Bethel, and the Lord was with them.

For when they were besieging the city, which was previously called Luz,

And she was sitting under a palm tree, which was called by her name, between Ramah and Bethel, on Mount Ephraim. And the sons of Israel went up to her for every judgment.

And they rose up and went to the house of God, that is, to Shiloh. And they consulted God, and they said, “Who shall be, in our army, the first to contend against the sons of Benjamin?” And the Lord responded to them, “Let Judah be your leader.”

But first they also went up and wept before the Lord, even until night. And they consulted him and said, “Should I continue to go forth, so as to contend against the sons of Benjamin, my brothers, or not?” And he responded to them, “Ascend against them, and undertake the struggle.”

As a result, all the sons of Israel went to the house of God, and sitting down, they wept before the Lord. And they fasted that day until evening, and they offered to him holocausts and victims of peace offerings.

And they inquired about their state. At that time, the ark of the covenant of the Lord was in that place.

But the sons of Benjamin again burst forth boldly from the city. And since their enemies were fleeing, they pursued them a long way, so that they might wound or kill some of them, just as they had done on the first and second days. And they turned their backs along two paths, one bringing them toward Bethel, and the other toward Gibeah. And they struck down about thirty men.

And they all went to the house of God at Shiloh. And sitting in his sight until evening, they lifted up their voice, and they began to weep, with a great wailing, saying,

And they took counsel, and they said, “Behold, there is a yearly solemnity of the Lord at Shiloh, which is situated to the north of the city of Bethel, and on the eastern side of the way that one takes from Bethel to Shechem, and to the south of the town of Lebonah.”

And he went each year, traveling around to Bethel, and to Gilgal, and to Mizpah, and he judged Israel in the above-stated places.

And when you will have departed from there, and will have traveled farther, and will have arrived at the oak of Tabor, in that place three men, who are going up to God at Bethel, will find you. One will be bringing three young goats, and another three loaves of bread, and another will be carrying a bottle of wine.

And Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. And two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and at mount Bethel. Then one thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But the remainder of the people, he sent back, each one to his own tent.

And he stationed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

And this word became an occasion of sin. For the people went to adore the calf, even to Dan.

And he appointed a solemn day in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, in imitation of the solemnity that was celebrated in Judah. And ascending to the altar, he acted similarly in Bethel, so that he immolated to the calves, which he had made. And in Bethel, he appointed priests of the high places, which he had made.

And he ascended to the altar, which he had raised up in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the day that he had decided in his own heart. And he made a solemnity to the sons of Israel, and he ascended to the altar, so that he might burn incense.

And behold, by the word of the Lord, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing over the altar, and burning incense.

And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar at Bethel, he extended his hand from the altar, saying, “Apprehend him!” But his hand, which he had extended against him, withered. And he was unable to draw it back to himself.

Then he departed by another way, and he did not return along the way that he had traveled to Bethel.

Now a certain elderly prophet was living in Bethel. His sons went to him, and they described to him all the works which the man of God had accomplished on that day in Bethel. And they described to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.

And behold, men who were passing by saw the dead body lying in the road, with the lion standing beside the body. And they went and made it widely known in the city where that elderly prophet was living.

For certainly, the word will arrive, which he predicted by the word of the Lord, against the altar, which is in Bethel, and against all the shrines of the high places, which are in the cities of Samaria.”

In his days, Hiel from Bethel built up Jericho. With Abiram, his firstborn, he founded it, and with Segub, his youngest son, he set up its gates, in accord with the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the hand of Joshua, the son of Nun.

And Elijah said to Elisha: “Remain here. For the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” And Elisha said to him, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not forsake you.” And when they had descended to Bethel,

the sons of the prophets, who were at Bethel, went out to Elisha. And they said to him, “Do you not know that today the Lord will take away your lord from you?” And he responded: “I know it. Be silent.”

Then he went up from there into Bethel. And as he was ascending along the way, little boys departed from the city. And they were mocking him, saying: “Go up, bald head! Go up, bald head!”

Yet truly, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. Neither did he forsake the golden calves, which were in Bethel and Dan.

And so, when one of the priests, who had been led away captive from Samaria, had arrived, he lived in Bethel. And he taught them how they should worship the Lord.

And the king instructed Hilkiah, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, so that they would cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels which had been made for Baal, and for the sacred grove, and for the entire army of heaven. And he burned them outside of Jerusalem, in the steep valley of Kidron. And he carried their dust into Bethel.

Then too, the altar which was in Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made: both that altar and the high place he tore down, and burned, and reduced to dust. And then he also set fire to the sacred grove.

And in that place Josiah, turning, saw the sepulchers which were on the mount. And he sent and took the bones from the sepulchers. And he burned them upon the altar, and he defiled it in accord with the word of the Lord, which was spoken by the man of God, who had predicted these events.

And he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the citizens of that city responded to him: “It is the sepulcher of the man of God, who came from Judah, and who predicted these events, which you have carried out concerning the altar of Bethel.”

Then too, all the shrines of the high places, which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josiah took away. And he acted toward them according to all the works that he had done in Bethel.

Now their possessions and habitations were: Bethel with her daughters, and toward the east, Naaran, and toward the western region, Gezer and her daughters, as well as Shechem with her daughters, as far as Ayyah with her daughters;

Then Abijah pursued the fleeing Jeroboam. And he seized cities from him: Bethel and her daughters, and Jeshanah with her daughters, and also Ephron and her daughters.

The men of Bethel and Ai, two hundred twenty-three.

The men of Bethel and Ai, one hundred twenty-three.

But the sons of Benjamin lived from Geba, at Michmash, and Aija, and Bethel and in its daughter villages,

So has Bethel done to you, before the face of your malicious wickedness.

And he prevailed over an angel, for he had been strengthened. He wept and petitioned him. He found him in Bethel, and there he has spoken to us.

that in the day, when I will begin to visit the betrayals of Israel, I will visit upon him and upon the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altars will be cut off and will fall to the ground.

Come to Bethel and behave impiously, to Gilgal and increase betrayals. And bring daybreak to your victims, your tithes in three days.

But do not be willing to seek Bethel, and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and Bethel will be useless.

Seek the Lord and live. Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire, and it will devour, and there will be no one who can extinguish Bethel.

And Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: “Amos has rebelled against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to withstand all his sermons.

And in Bethel, do not prophesy any longer, because it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.”