Genesis 33

JACOB MEETS ESAU

33Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave women. ²He put the slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground^a seven times until he approached his brother.

⁴But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept.^{b 5}When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”

He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.”^{c 6}Then the slaves and their children approached him and bowed down. ⁷Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

⁸So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession^B I met?”^d

“To find favor with you, my lord,”^e he answered.

⁹“I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”

¹⁰But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from me. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. ¹¹Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.”

¹³Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing flocks and herds. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. ¹⁴Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

¹⁵Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.”

But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me,^C my lord.”^f

¹⁶That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, ¹⁷but Jacob went to Succoth. He built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.^Dg

¹⁸After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely^h at Shechemⁱ in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. ¹⁹He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.^{Ej 20}And he set up an altar there and called it God, the God of Israel.^F