Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(A)Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children ^[a]among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. ² He put the maids and their children ^[b]in front, and Leah and her children ^[c]next, and Rachel and Joseph ^[d]last. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them and ^(B)bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and ^(C)fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “^[e]Who are these with you?” So he said, “^(D)The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maids came near ^[f]with their children, and they bowed down. ⁷ Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down. ⁸ And he said, “What do you mean by ^(E)all this company which I have met?” And he said, “^(F)To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “^(G)I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, ^[g]for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please take my ^[h](H)gift which has been brought to you, ^(I)because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have ^[i]plenty.” Thus he urged him and he took it.

¹² Then ^[j]Esau said, “Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you.” ¹³ But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are ^[k]a care to me. And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at ^(J)Seir.”

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

Jacob Settles in Shechem

¹⁸ Now Jacob came safely to the city of ^(M)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from ^(N)Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. ^19 (O)He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred ^[n]pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected there an altar and called it ^[o]El-Elohe-Israel.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.

A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House. A Psalm of David.

Tradition and Commandment

15 ^(A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus ^(B)from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they ^(C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘^(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘^(E)He who speaks evil of father or mother is to ^[a]be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been ^[b]given to God,” ⁶ he is not to honor his father or his mother^[c].’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

¹⁰ After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. ^11 (H)It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

¹² Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were ^[d]offended when they heard this statement?” ¹³ But He answered and said, “^(I)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone; ^(J)they are blind guides ^[e]of the blind. And ^(K)if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁵ Peter ^[f]said to Him, “^(L)Explain the parable to us.” ^16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷ Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is ^[h]eliminated? ¹⁸ But ^(M)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ^19 (N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, ^[i]fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. ²⁰ These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”