Jacob and Esau Make Peace

Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with his 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and his two servant wives.

He put the servant wives and their children at the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.

Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, “Who are these people with you?” “These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant,” Jacob replied.

Then the servant wives came forward with their children and bowed before him.

Next came Leah with her children, and they bowed before him. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed before him.

But Jacob replied, “You can see, my lord, that some of the children are very young, and the flocks and herds have their young, too. If they are driven too hard, even for one day, all the animals could die.

Please, my lord, go ahead of your servant. We will follow slowly, at a pace that is comfortable for the livestock and the children. I will meet you at Seir.”

They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.

Esau took his wives, his children, and his entire household, along with his livestock and cattle—all the wealth he had acquired in the land of Canaan—and moved away from his brother, Jacob.

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe.

Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”

May God Almighty give you mercy as you go before the man, so that he will release Simeon and let Benjamin return. But if I must lose my children, so be it.”

And we responded, ‘Yes, my lord, we have a father who is an old man, and his youngest son is a child of his old age. His full brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him very much.’

You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry your little children and your wives, and bring your father here.

And Joseph provided food for his father and his brothers in amounts appropriate to the number of their dependents, including the smallest children.

But any children born to you in the future will be your own, and they will inherit land within the territories of their brothers Ephraim and Manasseh.

Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!”

Joseph also took his entire household and his brothers and their households. But they left their little children and flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.

He lived to see three generations of descendants of his son Ephraim, and he lived to see the birth of the children of Manasseh’s son Makir, whom he claimed as his own.

But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land.

When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said.

I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the Lord.”

Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’