Genesis 33

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Jacob looked up and saw Esau approaching with four hundred men, prompting him to arrange his family with the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. Jacob walked ahead and bowed seven times, but Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, kissed him, and both men wept. After asking about the women and children, Esau questioned the earlier company of gifts, which Jacob insisted he accept as a token of finding favor. Esau then proposed traveling together, but Jacob declined due to the frail children and nursing livestock, leading Esau to return to Seir while Jacob journeyed to Succoth and later arrived safely at Shechem in Canaan. In Shechem, Jacob camped outside the city, purchased a plot of land from the sons of Hamor for a hundred pieces of silver, and set up an altar named El-Elohe-Israel.

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Words of Jesus in red

¹Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ²He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. ³But Jacob himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. ⁴Esau, however, ran to him and embraced him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. And they both wept. ⁵When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down. ⁸“What do you mean by sending this whole company to meet me?” asked Esau. “To find favor in your sight, my lord,” Jacob answered. ⁹“I already have plenty, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what belongs to you.” ¹⁰But Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably. ¹¹Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted. ¹²Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you.” ¹³But Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a comfortable pace for the livestock and children, until I come to my lord at Seir.” ¹⁵“Let me leave some of my people with you,” Esau said. But Jacob replied, “Why do that? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir, ¹⁷but Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth. ¹⁸After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city. ¹⁹And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. ²⁰There he set up an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.