1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, Esau
came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and
unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and
Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
3 And he himself passed over before them, and bowed himself
to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him; and they wept. .
5 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the
children; and said: 'Who are these with thee?' And he said: 'The children whom
G-d hath graciously given thy servant.'
6 Then the handmaids came near, they and their children, and
they bowed down.
7 And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed down;
and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed down.
8 And he said: 'What meanest thou by all this camp which I
met?' And he said: 'To find favour in the sight of my lord.'
9 And Esau said: 'I have enough; my brother, let that which
thou hast be thine.'
10 And Jacob said: 'Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found
favour in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have
seen thy face, as one seeth the face of G-d, and thou wast pleased with me.
11 Take, I pray thee, my gift that is brought to thee;
because G-d hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.' And he
urged him, and he took it.
12 And he said: 'Let us take our journey, and let us go, and
I will go before thee.'
13 And he said unto him: 'My lord knoweth that the children
are tender, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me; and if
they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.
14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant;
and I will journey on gently, according to the pace of the cattle that are
before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come unto my lord
unto Seir.'
15 And Esau said: 'Let me now leave with thee some of the
folk that are with me.' And he said: 'What needeth it? let me find favour in the
sight of my lord.' .
16 So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.
17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and
made booths for his cattle. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18 And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is
in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram; and encamped before the
city.
19 And he bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread
his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred
pieces of money.
20 And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.
Sources: Portions copyright © 1997 by Benyamin Pilant, All Rights Reserved
JPS Electronic Edition, based on the 1917 JPS translation, Copyright © 1998 by Larry Nelson, All Rights Reserved
Jewish
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