Add parallel Print Page Options

33 And 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 maid-servants;

and he setteth the maid-servants and their children first, and Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.

And he himself passed over before them, and boweth himself to the earth seven times, until his drawing nigh unto his brother,

and Esau runneth to meet him, and embraceth him, and falleth on his neck, and kisseth him, and they weep;

and 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.'

And the maid-servants draw nigh, they and their children, and bow themselves;

and Leah also draweth nigh, and her children, and they bow themselves; and afterwards Joseph hath drawn nigh with Rachel, and they bow themselves.

And 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.'

And Esau saith, `I have abundance, my brother, let it be to thyself that which thou hast.'

10 And 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;

11 receive, 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,

12 and saith, `Let us journey and go on, and I go on before thee.'

13 And 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.

14 Let 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.'

15 And 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.'

16 And turn back on that day doth Esau on his way to Seir;

17 and 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.

18 And 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,

19 and 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;

20 and he setteth up there an altar, and proclaimeth at it God -- the God of Israel.

34 And Dinah, daughter of Leah, whom she hath borne to Jacob, goeth out to look on the daughters of the land,

and Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the land, seeth her, and taketh her, and lieth with her, and humbleth her;

and his soul cleaveth to Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and he loveth the young person, and speaketh unto the heart of the young person.

And Shechem speaketh unto Hamor his father, saying, `Take for me this damsel for a wife.'

And Jacob hath heard that he hath defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob kept silent till their coming.

And Hamor, father of Shechem, goeth out unto Jacob to speak with him;

and the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard, and the men grieve themselves, and it [is] very displeasing to them, for folly he hath done against Israel, to lie with the daughter of Jacob -- and so it is not done.

And Hamor speaketh with them, saying, `Shechem, my son, his soul hath cleaved to your daughter; give her, I pray you, to him for a wife,

and join ye in marriage with us; your daughters ye give to us, and our daughters ye take to yourselves,

10 and with us ye dwell, and the land is before you; dwell ye and trade [in] it, and have possessions in it.'

11 And Shechem saith unto her father, and unto her brethren, `Let me find grace in your eyes, and that which ye say unto me, I give;

12 multiply on me exceedingly dowry and gift, and I give as ye say unto me, and give to me the young person for a wife.'

13 And the sons of Jacob answer Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and they speak (because he defiled Dinah their sister),

14 and say unto them, `We are not able to do this thing, to give our sister to one who hath a foreskin: for it [is] a reproach to us.

15 `Only for this we consent to you; if ye be as we, to have every male of you circumcised,

16 then we have given our daughters to you, and your daughters we take to ourselves, and we have dwelt with you, and have become one people;

17 and if ye hearken not unto us to be circumcised, then we have taken our daughter, and have gone.'

18 And their words are good in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shechem, Hamor's son;

19 and the young man delayed not to do the thing, for he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he is honourable above all the house of his father.

20 And Hamor cometh -- Shechem his son also -- unto the gate of their city, and they speak unto the men of their city, saying,

21 `These men are peaceable with us; then let them dwell in the land, and trade [in] it; and the land, lo, [is] wide before them; their daughters let us take to ourselves for wives, and our daughters give to them.

22 `Only for this do the men consent to us, to dwell with us, to become one people, in every male of us being circumcised, as they are circumcised;

23 their cattle, and their substance, and all their beasts -- are they not ours? only let us consent to them, and they dwell with us.'

24 And unto Hamor, and unto Shechem his son, hearken do all those going out of the gate of his city, and every male is circumcised, all those going out of the gate of his city.

25 And it cometh to pass, on the third day, in their being pained, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, take each his sword, and come in against the city confidently, and slay every male;

26 and Hamor, and Shechem his son, they have slain by the mouth of the sword, and they take Dinah out of Shechem's house, and go out.

27 Jacob's sons have come in upon the wounded, and they spoil the city, because they had defiled their sister;

28 their flock and their herd, and their asses, and that which [is] in the city, and that which [is] in the field, have they taken;

29 and all their wealth, and all their infants, and their wives they have taken captive, and they spoil also all that [is] in the house.

30 And Jacob saith unto Simeon and unto Levi, `Ye have troubled me, by causing me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanite, and among the Perizzite: and I [am] few in number, and they have been gathered against me, and have smitten me, and I have been destroyed, I and my house.'

31 And they say, `As a harlot doth he make our sister?'

35 And God saith unto Jacob, `Rise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared unto thee in thy fleeing from the face of Esau thy brother.'

And Jacob saith unto his household, and unto all who [are] with him, `Turn aside the gods of the stranger which [are] in your midst, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments;

and we rise, and go up to Bethel, and I make there an altar to God, who is answering me in the day of my distress, and is with me in the way that I have gone.'

And they give unto Jacob all the gods of the stranger that [are] in their hand, and the rings that [are] in their ears, and Jacob hideth them under the oak which [is] by Shechem;

and they journey, and the terror of God is on the cities which [are] round about them, and they have not pursued after the sons of Jacob.

And Jacob cometh in to Luz which [is] in the land of Canaan (it [is] Bethel), he and all the people who [are] with him,

and he buildeth there an altar, and proclaimeth at the place the God of Bethel: for there had God been revealed unto him, in his fleeing from the face of his brother.

And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, dieth, and she is buried at the lower part of Bethel, under the oak, and he calleth its name `Oak of weeping.'

And God appeareth unto Jacob again, in his coming from Padan-Aram, and blesseth him;

10 and God saith to him, `Thy name [is] Jacob: thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel is thy name;' and He calleth his name Israel.

11 And God saith to him, `I [am] God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply, a nation and an assembly of nations is from thee, and kings from thy loins go out;

12 and the land which I have given to Abraham and to Isaac -- to thee I give it, yea to thy seed after thee I give the land.'

13 And God goeth up from him, in the place where He hath spoken with him.

14 And Jacob setteth up a standing pillar in the place where He hath spoken with him, a standing pillar of stone, and he poureth on it an oblation, and he poureth on it oil;

15 and Jacob calleth the name of the place where God spake with him Bethel.

16 And they journey from Bethel, and there is yet a kibrath of land before entering Ephratha, and Rachel beareth, and is sharply pained in her bearing;

17 and it cometh to pass, in her being sharply pained in her bearing, that the midwife saith to her, `Fear not, for this also [is] a son for thee.'

18 And it cometh to pass in the going out of her soul (for she died), that she calleth his name Ben-Oni; and his father called him Benjamin;

19 and Rachel dieth, and is buried in the way to Ephratha, which [is] Bethlehem,

20 and Jacob setteth up a standing pillar over her grave; which [is] the standing pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

21 And Israel journeyeth, and stretcheth out his tent beyond the tower of Edar;

22 and it cometh to pass in Israel's dwelling in that land, that Reuben goeth, and lieth with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heareth.

23 And the sons of Jacob are twelve. Sons of Leah: Jacob's first-born Reuben, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun.

24 Sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 And sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid-servant: Dan and Naphtali.

26 And sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid-servant: Gad and Asher. These [are] sons of Jacob, who have been born to him in Padan-Aram.

27 And Jacob cometh unto Isaac his father, at Mamre, the city of Arba (which [is] Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac have sojourned.

28 And the days of Isaac are a hundred and eighty years,

29 and Isaac expireth, and dieth, and is gathered unto his people, aged and satisfied with days; and bury him do Esau and Jacob his sons.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;(A) so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.(B) He put the female servants and their children(C) in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph(D) in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground(E) seven times(F) as he approached his brother.

But Esau(G) ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.(H) And they wept.(I) Then 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.(J)

Then the female servants and their children(K) approached and bowed down.(L) Next, Leah and her children(M) came and bowed down.(N) Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,(O) and they too bowed down.

Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”(P)

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”(Q) he said.

But Esau said, “I already have plenty,(R) my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,(S) accept this gift(T) from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,(U) now that you have received me favorably.(V) 11 Please accept the present(W) that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me(X) and I have all I need.”(Y) And because Jacob insisted,(Z) Esau accepted it.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord(AA) knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.(AB) If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds(AC) before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.(AD)

15 Esau 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.”(AE)

16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.(AF) 17 Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,(AG) where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.[a]

18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,[b](AH) he arrived safely at the city of Shechem(AI) in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver,[c] he bought from the sons of Hamor,(AJ) the father of Shechem,(AK) the plot of ground(AL) where he pitched his tent.(AM) 20 There he set up an altar(AN) and called it El Elohe Israel.[d]

Dinah and the Shechemites

34 Now Dinah,(AO) the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem(AP) son of Hamor(AQ) the Hivite,(AR) the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.(AS) His heart was drawn to Dinah(AT) daughter of Jacob;(AU) he loved(AV) the young woman and spoke tenderly(AW) to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”(AX)

When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled,(AY) his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.(AZ) Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked(BA) and furious,(BB) because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in[e] Israel(BC) by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.(BD)

But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.(BE) Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.(BF) 10 You can settle among us;(BG) the land is open to you.(BH) Live in it, trade[f] in it,(BI) and acquire property in it.(BJ)

11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes,(BK) and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride(BL) and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled,(BM) Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully(BN) as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised.(BO) That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition(BP) only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.(BQ) 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves.(BR) We’ll settle among you and become one people with you.(BS) 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”

18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored(BT) of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.(BU) 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city(BV) to speak to the men of their city. 21 “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it;(BW) the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.(BX) 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised,(BY) as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours?(BZ) So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.(CA)

24 All the men who went out of the city gate(CB) agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain,(CC) two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon(CD) and Levi,(CE) Dinah’s brothers, took their swords(CF) and attacked the unsuspecting city,(CG) killing every male.(CH) 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword(CI) and took Dinah(CJ) from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city(CK) where[g] their sister had been defiled.(CL) 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys(CM) and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.(CN) 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children,(CO) taking as plunder(CP) everything in the houses.(CQ)

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble(CR) on me by making me obnoxious(CS) to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land.(CT) We are few in number,(CU) and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?(CV)

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel(CW) and settle there, and build an altar(CX) there to God,(CY) who appeared to you(CZ) when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”(DA)

So Jacob said to his household(DB) and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods(DC) you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.(DD) Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,(DE) who answered me in the day of my distress(DF) and who has been with me wherever I have gone.(DG) So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,(DH) and Jacob buried them under the oak(DI) at Shechem.(DJ) Then they set out, and the terror of God(DK) fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.(DL)

Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz(DM) (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.(DN) There he built an altar,(DO) and he called the place El Bethel,[h](DP) because it was there that God revealed himself to him(DQ) when he was fleeing from his brother.(DR)

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,(DS) died and was buried under the oak(DT) outside Bethel.(DU) So it was named Allon Bakuth.[i]

After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,[j](DV) God appeared to him again and blessed him.(DW) 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,[k] but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.[l](DX) So he named him Israel.

11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty[m];(DY) be fruitful and increase in number.(DZ) A nation(EA) and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.(EB) 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.(EC)(ED) 13 Then God went up from him(EE) at the place where he had talked with him.

14 Jacob set up a stone pillar(EF) at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering(EG) on it; he also poured oil on it.(EH) 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.[n](EI)

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac(EJ)

16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath,(EK) Rachel(EL) began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife(EM) said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”(EN) 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.[o](EO) But his father named him Benjamin.[p](EP)

19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath(EQ) (that is, Bethlehem(ER)). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day(ES) that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.(ET)

21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.(EU) 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine(EV) Bilhah,(EW) and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

23 The sons of Leah:(EX)

Reuben the firstborn(EY) of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah,(EZ) Issachar and Zebulun.(FA)

24 The sons of Rachel:

Joseph(FB) and Benjamin.(FC)

25 The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:(FD)

Dan and Naphtali.(FE)

26 The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:(FF)

Gad(FG) and Asher.(FH)

These were the sons of Jacob,(FI) who were born to him in Paddan Aram.(FJ)

27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac(FK) in Mamre,(FL) near Kiriath Arba(FM) (that is, Hebron),(FN) where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.(FO) 28 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.(FP) 29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people,(FQ) old and full of years.(FR) And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.(FS)

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 33:17 Sukkoth means shelters.
  2. Genesis 33:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
  3. Genesis 33:19 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.
  4. Genesis 33:20 El Elohe Israel can mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.
  5. Genesis 34:7 Or against
  6. Genesis 34:10 Or move about freely; also in verse 21
  7. Genesis 34:27 Or because
  8. Genesis 35:7 El Bethel means God of Bethel.
  9. Genesis 35:8 Allon Bakuth means oak of weeping.
  10. Genesis 35:9 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verse 26
  11. Genesis 35:10 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives.
  12. Genesis 35:10 Israel probably means he struggles with God.
  13. Genesis 35:11 Hebrew El-Shaddai
  14. Genesis 35:15 Bethel means house of God.
  15. Genesis 35:18 Ben-Oni means son of my trouble.
  16. Genesis 35:18 Benjamin means son of my right hand.