Genesis 33

King James Version

33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

²And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

³And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

⁵And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

⁶Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

⁷And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.

⁹And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.

¹⁰And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

¹¹Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

¹²And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.

¹³And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.

¹⁴Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

¹⁵And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.

¹⁷And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.

¹⁹And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money.

²⁰And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.

Genesis 33

English Standard Version

Jacob Meets Esau

33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(A)Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two female servants. ²And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³He himself went on before them, ^(B)bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴^(C)But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him ^(D)and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, ^(E)“The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸Esau said, “What do you mean by ^(F)all this company^[a] that I met?” Jacob answered, ^(G)“To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. ^(H)For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. ¹¹Please accept my ^(I)blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he ^(J)urged him, and he took it.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of^[b] you.” ¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the nursing flocks and herds are a care to me. If they are driven hard for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord ^(K)in Seir.”

¹⁵So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? ^(L)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to ^(M)Seir. ¹⁷But Jacob journeyed to ^(N)Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.^[c]

¹⁸And Jacob came safely^[d] to the city of ^(O)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. ¹⁹And from the sons of ^(P)Hamor, Shechem's father, ^(Q)he bought for a hundred pieces of money^[e] the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. ²⁰There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.^[f]

Footnotes

Genesis 33:8 Hebrew camp
Genesis 33:12 Or along with
Genesis 33:17 Succoth means booths
Genesis 33:18 Or peacefully
Genesis 33:19 Hebrew a hundred qesitah; a unit of money of uncertain value
Genesis 33:20 El-Elohe-Israel means God, the God of Israel

Genesis 33

International Standard Version

Jacob Meets Esau

33 When Jacob looked off in the distance, there was Esau coming toward him, accompanied by 400 men! So Jacob divided Leah’s children, Rachel, and the children of the two servants into separate groups.^[a] ²Then he positioned the women servants and their children first, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph after them. ³Then he went out to meet Esau,^[b] passing in front of all of them, and bowed low to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

⁴Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. Then he fell on his neck and kissed him. And they wept.

⁵When Esau eventually looked around, he saw the women and the children. “Who are these people^[c] with you?” he asked.

“The children, whom God has graciously given^[d] your servant,” he answered. ⁶Then the women servants approached, accompanied by their children, and bowed low. ⁷Leah also approached, and she and her children bowed low. After this, Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed low.

⁸Then Esau asked, “What are all these livestock for?”

“To solicit favor from you,^[e] sir,”^[f] Jacob answered.

⁹But Esau replied, “I already have so much, my brother, so keep what belongs to you.”

¹⁰“Please,” Jacob implored him, “don’t refuse. If I’m to receive favor from you, then receive this gift from me, because seeing your face is like seeing the face of God, since you have favorably accepted me. ¹¹So receive my blessing, which has been sent to you, since God has been gracious to me. Besides, I have enough.” Because Jacob kept pressing him, Esau accepted the gifts.

¹²Then Esau suggested, “Let’s set out and travel together, but let me go in front of you.”

¹³“Sir, you know^[g] that the children are frail,” Jacob suggested, “and the ewes and cows with me are still nursing their young. If they’re driven even for a day, the entire flock will die. ¹⁴So allow yourself to^[h] go ahead of your servant while I travel more slowly, letting the herds set their own pace^[i] with the children until I arrive to see my lord in Seir.”

¹⁵Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

“Why do that?” Jacob asked. “I’ve already found favor in your sight, sir.”^[j] ¹⁶So Esau set out that very day back on his way to Seir, ¹⁷but Jacob set out for Succoth, built a house there, and constructed some cattle shelters. He named the place Succoth.^[k]

Jacob Buys Land in Shechem

¹⁸After Jacob had arrived safely from Paddan-aram,^[l] he entered the city of Shechem, which was located in the territory of Canaan, and encamped facing that city. ¹⁹Then he bought a parcel of land for 100 pieces of silver from the descendants of Hamor, Shechem’s father. He pitched his tent there, ²⁰set up an altar, and named it El-elohe-israel.^[m]