Jacob Meets Esau
1Jacob looked and saw Esau coming with his 400 men! So Jacob separated the children. He put them with Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. 2He put the servants and their children in front. He put Leah and her children next. And he put Rachel and Joseph last. 3He himself went on ahead. As he came near his brother, he bowed down to the ground seven times.
4But Esau ran to meet Jacob. He hugged him and threw his arms around his neck. He kissed him, and they cried for joy. 5Then Esau looked around and saw the women and children. “Who are these people with you?” he asked.
Jacob answered, “They are the children God has so kindly given to me.”
6Then the female servants and their children came near and bowed down. 7Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel. They bowed down too.
8Esau asked, “Why did you send all those herds I saw?”
“I hoped I could do something to please you,” Jacob replied.
9But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
10“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I’ve pleased you, accept this gift from me. Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God. You have welcomed me so kindly. 11Please accept the present that was brought to you. God has given me so much. I have everything I need.” Jacob wouldn’t give in. So Esau accepted it.
12Then Esau said, “Let’s be on our way. I’ll go with you.”
13But Jacob said to him, “You know that the children are young. You also know that I have to take care of the cows and female sheep that are feeding their little ones. If the animals are driven hard for just one day, all of them will die. 14So you go on ahead of me. I’ll move along only as fast as the flocks and herds and the children can go. I’ll go slowly until I come to you in Seir.”
15Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
“Why do that?” Jacob asked. “I just hope I’ve pleased you.”
16So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. 17But Jacob went to Sukkoth. There he built a place for himself. He also made shelters for his livestock. That’s why the place is named Sukkoth.
18After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan. He camped where he could see the city. 19For 100 pieces of silver he bought a piece of land. He got it from Hamor’s sons. Hamor was the father of Shechem. Jacob set up his tent on that piece of land. 20He also set up an altar there. He named it El Elohe Israel.
የያዕቆብና የዔሳው መገናኘት
1ያዕቆብ አሻግሮ ተመለከተ፤ እነሆ ዔሳው አራት መቶ ሰዎች አስከትሎ እየመጣ ነበር። ስለዚህ ልጆቹን ለልያ፣ ለራሔልና ለሁለቱ አገልጋዮች አከፋፈላቸው። 2ከዚያም ሁለቱን አገልጋዮች ከነልጆቻቸው አስቀደመ፤ ልያንና ልጆቿንም አስከተለ፤ ራሔልንና ዮሴፍን ግን ከሁሉ ኋላ እንዲሆኑ አደረገ። 3እርሱ ራሱም ቀድሟቸው ሄደ፤ ወንድሙም ዘንድ እስኪደርስ ድረስ ሰባት ጊዜ ወደ መሬት ለጥ ብሎ እጅ ነሣ።
4ዔሳው ግን ሊገናኘው ወደ እርሱ ሮጦ ሄዶ ዐቀፈው፤ በዐንገቱም ላይ ተጠምጥሞ ሳመው፤ ሁለቱም ተላቀሱ። 5ከዚያም ዔሳው ቀና ብሎ ሲመለከት ሴቶቹንና ልጆቹን አየ፤ እርሱም፣ “እነዚህ አብረውህ ያሉት እነማን ናቸው?” ብሎ ጠየቀው።
ያዕቆብም መልሶ፣ “እነዚህማ እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) በቸርነቱ ለእኔ ለአገልጋይህ የሰጠኝ ልጆች ናቸው” አለው።
6በዚህ ጊዜ ሁለቱ ሴት አገልጋዮችና ልጆቻቸው ቀርበው እጅ ነሡ፤ 7ከዚያም ልያና ልጆቿ መጥተው እጅ ነሡ፤ በመጨረሻም ዮሴፍና ራሔል መጡ፤ እነርሱም ቀርበው እጅ ነሡ።
8ዔሳውም፣ “ወደ እኔ ተነድቶ የመጣው ይህ ሁሉ መንጋ ምንድን ነው?” አለው።
እርሱም፣ “ጌታዬ ሆይ፤ በአንተ ዘንድ ሞገስ ባገኝ ብዬ ነው” አለው።
9ዔሳው ግን፣ “ወንድሜ ሆይ፤ እኔ በቂ አለኝ፤ የራስህን ለራስህ አድርገው” አለው።
10ያዕቆብም፣ “የለም፣ እንዲህ አይደለም፤ በአንተ ዘንድ ሞገስ አግኝቼ እንደ ሆነ፣ እጅ መንሻዬን ተቀበል፤ በመልካም ሁኔታ ተቀብለኸኝ ፊትህን ማየት መቻሌን የእግዚአብሔርን (ኤሎሂም) ፊት እንደ ማየት እቈጥረዋለሁ። 11እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) በቸርነቱ አሟልቶ ስለ ሰጠኝ የሚያስፈልገኝ ሁሉ አለኝና ያቀረብሁልህን እጅ መንሻ እባክህ ተቀበለኝ” አለው። ያዕቆብ አጥብቆ ስለ ለመነው፣ ዔሳው እጅ መንሻውን ተቀበለ።
12ዔሳውም “በል ተነሥና ጕዟችንን እንቀጥል፤ እኔም እሄዳለሁ” አለው።
13ያዕቆብ ግን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ጌታዬ፣ እንደምታየው ልጆቹ ይህን ያህል የጠኑ አይደሉም፣ ለሚያጠቡት በጎችና ጥገቶች እንክብካቤ ማድረግ አለብኝ፤ እንስሳቱ ለአንዲት ቀን እንኳ በጥድፊያ ቢነዱ በሙሉ ያልቃሉ። 14ስለዚህ ጌታዬ፣ አንተ ቀድመኸኝ ሂድ፤ እኔም በምነዳቸው እንስሳትና በልጆቹ ጕዞ ዐቅም ልክ እያዘገምሁ ሴይር ላይ እንገናኛለን።”
15ዔሳው፣ “እንግዲያስ ከሰዎቼ ጥቂቶቹን ልተውልህ” አለው።
ያዕቆብ ግን፣ “ለምን ብለህ ጌታዬ? በአንተ ዘንድ ሞገስ ማግኘቴ ብቻ ይበቃኛል” አለው።
16ስለዚህ ዔሳው በዚሁ ዕለት ወደ ሴይር ለመመለስ ተነሣ። 17ያዕቆብ ግን ወደ ሱኮት33፥17 ሱኮት ማለት መጠለያዎች ማለት ነው። ሄደ፤ እዚያም ለራሱ መጠለያ፣ ለከብቶቹም በረት ሠራ፤ ከዚህም የተነሣ የቦታው ስም ሱኮት ተባለ።
18ያዕቆብ ከሰሜን ምዕራብ መስጴጦምያ ከተመለሰ በኋላ፣ በከነዓን ወዳለችው ወደ ሴኬም በደኅና ደረሰ፤33፥18 ወይም ሳሌም ደረሰ በከተማዪቱም ፊት ለፊት ሰፈረ። 19ድንኳኑን የተከለበትንም ቦታ ከኤሞር ልጆች በመቶ ጥሬ ብር ገዛ፤ ኤሞርም የሴኬም አባት ነበር። 20በዚያም መሠዊያ አቁሞ፣ ኤል ኤሎሄ እስራኤል33፥20 ኤል ኤሎሄ እስራኤል ማለት የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ወይም የእስራኤል አምላክ ኀያል ነው ማለት ነው። ብሎ ጠራው።
