God commands Jacob to return to Bethel—the place of the ladder, the place of the promise. Jacob tells his household: "Put away the foreign gods that are among you and purify yourselves." They bury the idols under a tree—including, presumably, Rachel's stolen gods. Divine terror falls on the surrounding cities; no one pursues. At Bethel, God appears again, confirms the name Israel, and renews the Abrahamic promises. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dies and is buried under an oak—"the oak of weeping." Twenty years after fleeing, Jacob has returned. The circle closes. The covenant continues.

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