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. ² And he put the servants with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³ He 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. ⁵ And 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.” ⁶ Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸ Esau 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.” ⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰ Jacob 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. ¹¹ Please 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.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of^[b] you.” ¹³ But 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. ¹⁴ Let 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.”

¹⁵ So 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.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to ^(M)Seir. ¹⁷ But 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]

¹⁸ And 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. ¹⁹ And 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. ²⁰ There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.^[f]

The Defiling of Dinah

34 Now ^(R)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. ² And when Shechem the son of ^(S)Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. ³ And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ So Shechem ^(T)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and ^(U)very angry, because he ^(V)had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, ^(W)for such a thing must not be done.

⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your^[g] daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us, and ^(X)the land shall be open to you. Dwell and ^(Y)trade in it, and ^(Z)get property in it.” ¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, ^(AA)“Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask me for as great a ^(AB)bride-price^[h] and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for ^(AC)that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. ¹⁹ And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. Now ^(AD)he was the most honored of all his father's house. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem ^(AE)came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and ^(AF)trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who ^(AG)went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, ^(AH)Simeon and Levi, ^(AI)Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹ All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ^(AJ)“You have brought trouble on me ^(AK)by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, ^(AL)the Canaanites and the Perizzites. ^(AM)My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

^20 (A)Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. ^21 (B)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^(C)Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ^22 (D)But I tell you, it will be more bearable on ^(E)the day of judgment for ^(F)Tyre and Sidon than for you. ²³ And you, ^(G)Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to ^(H)Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ^24 (I)But I tell you that ^(J)it will be more tolerable on ^(K)the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

^25 (L)At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, ^(M)Lord of heaven and earth, that ^(N)you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^(O)revealed them to little children; ²⁶ yes, Father, for such was your ^(P)gracious will.^{[a] 27 (Q)}All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son ^(R)except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone ^(S)to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ^28 (T)Come to ^(U)me, all who labor and are ^(V)heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and ^(W)learn from me, for I am ^(X)gentle and lowly in heart, and ^(Y)you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For ^(Z)my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Why Do You Hide Yourself?