1And 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. 2And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. 3And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
5And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.33.5 with…: Heb. to thee 6Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 7And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. 8And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.33.8 What…: Heb. What is all this band to thee? 9And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.33.9 keep…: Heb. be that to thee that is thine 10And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 11Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.33.11 enough: Heb. all things 12And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. 13And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. 14Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.33.14 according…: Heb. according to the foot of the work, etc., and according to the foot of the children 15And 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 grace in the sight of my lord.33.15 leave: Heb. set, or, place33.15 What…: Heb. Wherefore is this?
16¶ So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. 17And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.33.17 Succoth: that is, Booths
18¶ And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city.33.18 Shechem: Gr. Sychem 19And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.33.19 Hamor: Gr. Emmor33.19 pieces…: or, lambs 20And he erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel.33.20 El-elohe-Israel: that is God the God of Israel
Jakobs gensyn med Esau
1Jakob fik nu øje på Esau og de 400 mand et stykke borte. 2Straks stillede han sin familie op i en lang række, så slavepigerne og deres børn stod forrest, Lea og hendes børn i midten, og Rakel og Josef bagerst. 3Jakob selv gik foran de andre. Alt imens han nærmede sig sin bror, bøjede han sig til jorden for ham syv gange. 4Men Esau løb ham i møde, omfavnede ham hjerteligt og kyssede ham på kinden. De græd begge to. 5Så fik Esau øje på kvinderne og børnene, og han spurgte: „Hvem er alle de mennesker, du har med?”
„Det er den familie, som Gud i sin godhed har givet mig,” svarede Jakob. 6Så kom slavepigerne frem sammen med deres børn og bøjede sig til jorden. 7Derefter kom Lea med sine børn og bøjede sig til jorden. Til allersidst kom Rakel og Josef, og de bøjede sig også til jorden.
8„Men hvad var det for nogle dyreflokke, jeg mødte på vejen?” spurgte Esau.
„Det var ment som en gave til dig, fordi jeg ville gøre dig venligt stemt,” svarede Jakob.
9Men Esau svarede: „Kære bror, jeg har rigeligt i forvejen. Behold du kun dine gaver.”
10„Tag nu imod min gave,” insisterede Jakob. „At se dit ansigt er som at se Guds ansigt, nu da du har taget vel imod mig. 11Gør mig den glæde at tage imod gaven som en velsignelse fra mig. Gud har været uendelig god imod mig—og jeg har mere end nok!” Da Jakob blev ved at presse ham, gav Esau til sidst efter og tog imod gaven.
12„Lad os nu komme af sted,” sagde Esau. „Jeg følges med jer og viser vej.”
13Men Jakob svarede: „Som du kan se, er nogle af børnene små—og der er en del små lam og kalve i hjorden. Hvis vi driver dem for hårdt, overanstrenger vi dem let, og der er risiko for, at de ikke kan klare det. 14Det er bedre, at du rider i forvejen. Så kan vi andre tage den med ro og slutte os til dig i Seir.”
15„Godt,” sagde Esau, „men lad mig i det mindste efterlade nogle af mine mænd hos dig, så de kan beskytte jer og vise vej.”
„Det behøves ikke!” svarede Jakob. „Der er slet ingen grund til, at du skulle vise mig så stor venlighed!”
16Så begyndte Esau samme dag hjemturen til Seir. 17Men Jakob og hans følge satte kursen mod Sukkot. Der byggede han hytter til sin familie og lavede indhegninger til dyrene. Derfor kaldes stedet Sukkot.33,17 Det betyder: „hytter”. 18Efter den lange tur fra Paddan-Aram ankom Jakob til sidst i god behold til byen Sikem i Kana’ans land, og han slog lejr på en grund lidt øst for byen, 19som han købte for 100 sølvstykker af Hamors sønner. En af sønnerne hed Sikem. 20Og han byggede et alter der, som han kaldte El-Elohe-Israel.33,20 Det betyder: „Gud, Israels Gud” eller „Israels Gud er mægtig”.
