Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two women who served him. ² He put the women who served him and their children in front, and Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ³ Then Jacob went before them. He bowed to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother. ⁴ But Esau ran to meet him and put his arms around him and kissed him. And they cried.

⁵ Then Esau looked up and saw the women and the children. He said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “They are the children whom God, in His loving-favor, has given your servant.” ⁶ Then the women who served Jacob came near with their children, and they bowed to the ground. ⁷ Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed to the ground. Then Joseph and Rachel came near and bowed to the ground.

⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by all these animals I have met?” And Jacob said, “They are a gift so I may find favor in the eyes of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰ But Jacob said, “No, I ask of you, if I have found favor in your eyes, then receive my gift. For I see your face as one sees the face of God. You have received me with favor. ¹¹ Take my gift that has been brought to you. For God has shown loving-kindness to me, and I have all I need.” So he begged him until he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way. I will go with you.” ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak. And there are young ones in my flocks that need milk. If they are made to go a long way in one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Let my lord go in front of his servant. And I will be slow in coming to my lord at Seir. I will go as fast as the cattle in front of me and as the children are able.” ¹⁵ So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But Jacob said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob traveled to Succoth. He built his house there, and put up small buildings for his animals. So the name of the place is Succoth.

¹⁸ Now Jacob came in peace from Paddan-aram to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan. And he put up his tents near the city. ¹⁹ He bought the piece of land where he had put up his tents for one hundred pieces of money from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father. ²⁰ He built an altar there, and gave it the name El-Elohe-Israel.

Dinah and Shechem

34 Now Leah’s daughter Dinah, who was born to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. ² And she was seen by Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land. He took her and made her lay with him, and she was put to shame. ³ He had much desire for Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the girl and spoke kind words to her. ⁴ So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this young girl for a wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that Shechem had put his daughter Dinah to shame. But his sons were with the flocks in the field, so Jacob kept quiet until they returned. ⁶ Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob. ⁷ Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard what had happened. They were full of sorrow and were angry. For Shechem had put Israel to shame by lying with Jacob’s daughter. Such a thing should not be done. ⁸ But Hamor said to them, “The soul of my son Shechem has much desire for your daughter. I ask of you, give her to him in marriage. ⁹ Marry with our people. Give your daughters to us. And take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ May you live with us. And the land will be open to you. Live and trade in it, and buy land in it.”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes. I will give you whatever you ask. ¹² Make your price and wedding gift as much as you want. I will give you as much as you ask. Only give me the girl to be my wife.”

¹³ But Jacob’s sons lied in their answer to Shechem and his father Hamor because he had put their sister Dinah to shame. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this. We cannot give our sister to one who has not gone through the religious act of having his flesh cut. For that would be a shame to us. ¹⁵ We will give you our sister only if you become like us. Every man among you must have this religious act done. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you. And we will marry your daughters. We will live with you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and have this religious act done, then we will take our daughter and go.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹ The young man did not wait to do what they asked, because he was in love with Jacob’s daughter. And he was the most honored of all his family. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city. And they said to the men of their city, ²¹ “These men want to be at peace with us. Let them live in the land and trade in it. For, see, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage, and give our daughters to them. ²² But the men will be willing to live with us and become one people only if every man among us goes through the religious act that they have gone through. ²³ Will not their cattle and all they own, all their animals, be ours? Let us just do what they ask, and they will live with us.” ²⁴ All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem. And every man went through the religious act of having his flesh cut, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ But on the third day, when all the men were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and went into the city in secret. And they killed every man. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword. And they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and went away. ²⁷ Then Jacob’s sons went over the dead men and robbed the city of its riches because its men had put their sister to shame. ²⁸ They took their flocks and cattle and donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹ They took all their riches, their little ones, their wives, even all that was in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me hated by the people of the land, the Canaanites and Perizzites. My men are few in number. And these people will gather together against me and fight me. I and those of my house will be destroyed.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he act towards our sister as if she were a woman who sells the use of her body?”

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Get ready and go to Bethel to live. Make an altar there to God, Who showed Himself to you when you ran away from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to those of his house and all who were with him, “Put away the strange gods that are among you. Make yourselves clean and change your clothes. ³ Then let us get ready and go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, Who answered me in the day of my trouble, and was with me every place I went.” ⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the strange gods they had, and the gold objects which they wore in their ears. And Jacob hid them under the tree near Shechem. ⁵ As they traveled, much fear from God came upon the cities around them. So the people of the land did not go against the sons of Jacob.

⁶ So Jacob and all the people who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. ⁷ He built an altar there, and gave the place the name El-bethel. Because God had shown Himself to him there, when Jacob ran away from his brother. ⁸ Then Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died. She was buried below Bethel under a tree. It was given the name of Allon-bacuth.

⁹ When Jacob came from Paddan-aram, God showed Himself to him again and brought good to him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. You will not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel will be your name.” So his name was Israel. ¹¹ Then God said to him, “I am the All-powerful God. Have many children and add to your number. A nation and a group of nations will come from you. Kings will come from you. ¹² I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac. This land I will give to your children and their children’s children after you.” ¹³ Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him. ¹⁴ Jacob set up a pillar of stone in the place where He had spoken with him. And he poured a drink offering and also oil on it. ¹⁵ So Jacob gave the place where God had spoken with him the name Bethel.

¹⁶ Then they traveled from Bethel. When there was still a long way to go before coming to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth. She suffered much pain. ¹⁷ And while she was suffering, the woman who was helping her said to her, “Do not be afraid. For now you have another son.” ¹⁸ As Rachel’s soul was leaving, for she died, she gave him the name Benoni. But his father gave him the name Benjamin. ¹⁹ So Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Jacob set up a stone on her grave. And that is the stone of Rachel’s grave to this day.

²¹ Then Israel traveled on, and put up his tent on the other side of the tall building of Eder. ²² While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, the woman who acted as his father’s wife. And Israel heard about it.

The Sons of Jacob

There were twelve sons of Jacob. ²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, the woman who served Rachel, were Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, the woman who served Leah, were Gad and Asher. These are the sons who were born to Jacob in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

²⁷ Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had been living. ²⁸ Now Isaac had lived 180 years. ²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last and died, and was joined to his people who died before him. He was an old man who had a long life, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.