Genesis 33
33
1And Jacob lifteth up his eyes, and looketh, and lo, Esau is coming, and with him four hundred men; and he divideth the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two maidservants;
2and he setteth the maid-servants and their children first, and Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.
3And he himself passed over before them, and boweth himself to the earth seven times, until his drawing nigh unto his brother,
4and Esau runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and falleth on his neck, and kisseth him, and they weep;
5and he lifteth up his eyes, and seeth the women and the children, and saith, ‘What [are] these to thee?’ And he saith, ‘The children with whom God hath favoured thy servant.’
6And the maid-servants draw nigh, they and their children, and bow themselves;
7and Leah also draweth nigh, and her children, and they bow themselves; and afterwards Joseph hath drawn nigh with Rachel, and they bow themselves.
8And he saith, ‘What to thee [is] all this camp which I have met?’ and he saith, ‘To find grace in the eyes of my lord.’
9And Esau saith, ‘I have abundance, my brother, let it be to thyself that which thou hast.’
10And Jacob saith, ‘Nay, I pray thee, if, I pray thee, I have found grace in thine eyes, then thou hast received my present from my hand, because that I have seen thy face, as the seeing of the face of God, and thou art pleased with me;
11receive, I pray thee, my blessing, which is brought to thee, because God hath favoured me, and because I have all [things];’ and he presseth on him, and he receiveth,
12and saith, ‘Let us journey and go on, and I go on before thee.’
13And he saith unto him, ‘My lord knoweth that the children [are] tender, and the suckling flock and the herd [are] with me; when they have beaten them one day, then hath all the flock died.
14Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, and I — I lead on gently, according to the foot of the work which [is] before me, and to the foot of the children, until that I come unto my lord, to Seir.’
15And Esau saith, ‘Let me, I pray thee, place with thee some of the people who [are] with me;’ and he said, ‘Why [is] this? I find grace in the eyes of my lord.’
16And turn back on that day doth Esau on his way to Seir;
17and Jacob hath journeyed to Succoth, and buildeth to himself a house, and for his cattle hath made booths, therefore hath he called the name of the place Succoth.
18And Jacob cometh in to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which [is] in the land of Canaan, in his coming from Padan-Aram, and encampeth before the city,
19and he buyeth the portion of the field where he hath stretched out his tent, from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitah;
20and he setteth up there an altar, and proclaimeth at it God — the God of Israel.
maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 33
33
Jacob Meets Esau
1Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. 2He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 5Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.
Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
6Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. 7Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
8Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”
“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.
9But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
10“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. 11Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
12Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”
13But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”
16So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. 17Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.#33:17 Sukkoth means shelters.
18After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,#33:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19For a hundred pieces of silver,#33:19 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value. he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. 20There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.#33:20 El Elohe Israel can mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.
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