GENESIS 33 (NIV)
- Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants.
- He put the aidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
- He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
- But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
- Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked. Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
- Then the maidservants and their children apporached and bowed down.
- Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
- Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?" "To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.
- But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."
- "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have recieved me favorably.
- Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need." And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
- Then Esau said, "Let us be on our way; I'll accompany you."
- But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die.
- So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."
- Esau said, "Then let me leave some of my men with you." "But why do that?" Jacob asked. "Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord."
- So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.
- Jacob, however, went to Succoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Succoth.
- After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city.
- For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent.
- There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.
