Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob glanced up and saw, behold, there was Esau coming—and 400 men with him. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. ² He put the female servants and their children first, then Leah and her children behind them, then Rachel and Joseph behind them. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them, and bowed to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, fell on his neck and kissed him—and they wept. ⁵ His eyes glanced up and he saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

“The children whom God has graciously given your servant,” he said. ⁶ Then the female servants approached, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ Leah also approached, along with her children, and they bowed down, and finally, Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

⁸ “What do you mean by this whole caravan that I’ve met?”

So he said, “To find favor in your eyes, my lord.”

⁹ But Esau said, “I have plenty! O my brother, do keep all that belongs to you.”

¹⁰ Yet Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor in your eyes, then you will take my offering from my hand. For this is the reason I’ve seen your face—it is like seeing the face of God—and you’ve accepted me! ¹¹ Please, take my blessing that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me, and because I have everything.” So he kept urging him until he accepted.

¹² Then he said, “Let’s journey and be on our way, and I’ll go ahead of you. ¹³ He continued, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and the cattle in my care are nursing. So if they were pushed hard just one day, all the flocks would die. ¹⁴ Please, let my lord pass on ahead of your servant, and I’ll move on further gradually, at a pace suited to the livestock that are before me and at a pace suited to the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

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

But he said, “What’s this? Let me find favor in my lord’s eyes.”

¹⁶ So on that day Esau returned on his way to Seir, ¹⁷ but Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built a house for himself, and for his livestock he made booths. That is the reason that place is called Sukkot.

¹⁸ So Jacob arrived in shalom to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped right in front of the city. ¹⁹ He purchased the portion of the field there where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of money. ²⁰ There he set up an altar, and he called it, El is Israel’s God.