Jacob Meets Esau

33 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women. ² He put the slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground^(A) seven times until he approached his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept.^(B)

Edom Denies Passage

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel^(A) says, ‘You know all the hardships that have overtaken us. ¹⁵ Our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many years, but the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. ¹⁶ When we cried out to the Lord, he heard our plea,^[a] and sent an angel,^[b](B) and brought us out of Egypt. Now look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the border of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us travel through your land. We won’t travel through any field or vineyard, or drink any well water. We will travel the King’s Highway; we won’t turn to the right or the left until we have traveled through your territory.’”^(C)

¹⁸ But Edom answered him, “You will not travel through our land, or we will come out and confront you with the sword.”

¹⁹ “We will go on the main road,” the Israelites replied to them, “and if we or our herds drink your water, we will pay its price.^(D) There will be no problem; only let us travel through on foot.”

²⁰ Yet Edom insisted, “You may not travel through.” And they came out to confront them with a large force of heavily-armed people.^{[c] 21} Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.

The Bronze Snake

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey.

⁴ Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. ⁵ Don’t provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot of it,^[a] because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession.^{(A) 6} You may purchase food from them, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.^(B)

⁷ Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you were a resident alien in his land.

² The Lord then said to me, ³ ‘You’ve been traveling around this hill country long enough; turn north.^{(A) 4} Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so be very careful. ⁵ Don’t provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a foot of it,^[a] because I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his possession.^{(B) 6} You may purchase food from them, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.^(C)