1 And at that time Yacob sent messengers to his brother Esau toward the land of Seir, and he spoke to him words of supplication.
2 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say to my lord, to Esau, Thus saith your servant Yacob, Let not my lord imagine that my father's blessing with which he did bless me has proved beneficial to me.
3 For I have been these twenty years with Laban, and he deceived me and changed my wages ten times, as it has all been already told unto my lord.
4 And I served him in his house very laboriously, and YAHWEH afterward saw my affliction, my labor and the work of my hands, and he caused me to find free unmerited love and favor and favor in his sight.
5 And I afterward through YAHWEH's great mercy and kindness acquired oxen and asses and cattle, and men servants and maid servants.
6 And now I am coming to my land and my home to my father and mother, who are in the land of Canaan; and I have sent to let my lord know all this in order to find favor in the sight of my lord, so that he may not imagine that I have of myself obtained wealth, or that the blessing with which my father blessed me has benefited me.
7 And those messengers went to Esau, and found him on the borders of the land of Edom going toward Yacob, and four hundred men of the children of Seir the Horite were standing with drawn swords.
8 And the messengers of Yacob told Esau all the words that Yacob had spoken to them concerning Esau.
9 And Esau answered them with pride and contempt, and said unto them, Surely I have heard and truly it has been told unto me what Yacob has done to Laban, who exalted him in his house and gave him his daughters for wives, and he begat sons and daughters, and abundantly increased in wealth and riches in Laban's house through his means.
10 And when he saw that his wealth was abundant and his riches great he fled with all belonging to him, from Laban's house, and he led Laban's daughters away from the face of their father, as captives taken by the sword without telling him of it.
11 And not only to Laban has Yacob done thus but also unto me has he done so and has twice supplanted me, and shall I be silent?
12 Now therefore I have this day come with my camps to meet him, and I will do unto him according to the desire of my heart.
13 And the messengers returned and came to Yacob and said unto him, We came to your brother, to Esau, and we told him all your words, and thus has he answered us, and behold he comes to meet you with four hundred men.
14 Now then know and see what you shall do, and pray before YAHWEH to deliver you from him.
15 And when he heard the words of his brother which he had spoken to the messengers of Yacob, Yacob was greatly afraid and he was distressed.
16 And Yacob prayed to YAHWEH his ALMIGHTY, and he said, O YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of my fathers, Abraham and Yitschaq, you didst say unto me when I went away from my father's house, saying,
17 I am YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of your father Abraham and the ALMIGHTY of Yitschaq, unto you do I give this land and your seed after you, and I will make your seed as the stars of heaven, and you shall spread forth to the four sides of heaven, and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
18 And you didst establish your words, and didst give unto me riches and children and cattle, as the utmost wishes of my heart didst you give unto your servant; you didst give unto me all that I asked from you, so that I lacked nothing.
19 And you didst afterward say unto me, Return to your parents and to your birth place and I will still do well with you.
20 And now that I have come, and you didst deliver me from Laban, I shall fall in the hands of Esau who will slay me, yea, together with the mothers of my children.
21 Now therefore, O YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY, deliver me, I pray you, also from the hands of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him.
22 And if there is no righteousness in me, do it for the sake of Abraham and my father Yitschaq.
23 For I know that through kindness and mercy have I acquired this wealth; now therefore I beseech you to deliver me this day with your kindness and to answer me.
24 And Yacob ceased praying to YAHWEH, and he divided the people that were with him with the flocks and cattle into two camps, and he gave the half to the care of Damesek, the son of Eliezer, Abraham's servant, for a camp, with his children, and the other half he gave to the care of his brother Elianus the son of Eliezer, to be for a camp with his children.
25 And he commanded them, saying, Keep yourselves at a distance with your camps, and do not come too near each other, and if Esau come to one camp and slay it, the other camp at a distance from it will escape him.
26 And Yacob tarried there that night, and during the whole night he gave his servants instructions concerning the forces and his children.
27 And YAHWEH heard the prayer of Yacob on that day, and YAHWEH then delivered Yacob from the hands of his brother Esau.
28 And YAHWEH sent three heavenly messengers of the heavenly messengers of heaven, and they went before Esau and came to him.
29 And these heavenly messengers appeared unto Esau and his people as two thousand men, riding upon horses furnished with all sorts of war instruments, and they appeared in the sight of Esau and all his men to be divided into four camps, with four chiefs to them.
30 And one camp went on and they found Esau coming with four hundred men toward his brother Yacob, and this camp ran toward Esau and his people and terrified them, and Esau fell off the horse in alarm, and all his men separated from him in that place, for they were greatly afraid.
31 And the whole of the camp shouted after them when they fled from Esau, and all the warlike men answered, saying,
32 Surely we are the servants of Yacob, who is the servant of YAHWEH, and who then can stand against us? And Esau said unto them, O then, my lord and brother Yacob is your lord, whom I have not seen for these twenty years, and now that I have this day come to see him, do you treat me in this manner?
33 And the heavenly messengers answered him saying, As YAHWEH liveth, were not Yacob of whom you speaks your brother, we had not let one remaining from you and your people, but only on account of Yacob we will do nothing to them.
34 And this camp passed from Esau and his men and it went away, and Esau and his men had gone from them about a league when the second camp came toward him with all sorts of weapons, and they also did unto Esau and his men as the first camp had done to them.
35 And when they had left it to go on, behold the third camp came toward him and they were all terrified, and Esau fell off the horse, and the whole camp cried out, and said, Surely we are the servants of Yacob, who is the servant of YAHWEH, and who can stand against us?
36 And Esau again answered them saying, O then, Yacob my lord and your lord is my brother, and for twenty years I have not seen his countenance and hearing this day that he was coming, I went this day to meet him, and do you treat me in this manner?
37 And they answered him, and said unto him, As YAHWEH liveth, were not Yacob your brother as you didst say, we had not left a remnant from you and your men, but on account of Yacob of whom you speak being your brother, we will not meddle with you or your men.
38 And the third camp also passed from them, and he still continued his road with his men toward Yacob, when the fourth camp came toward him, and they also did unto him and his men as the others had done.
39 And when Esau beheld the evil which the four heavenly messengers had done to him and to his men, he became greatly afraid of his brother Yacob, and he went to meet him in peace.
40 And Esau concealed his hatred against Yacob, because he was afraid of his life on account of his brother Yacob, and because he imagined that the four camps that he had lighted upon were Yacob's servants.
41 And Yacob tarried that night with his servants in their camps, and he resolved with his servants to give unto Esau a present from all that he had with him, and from all his property; and Yacob rose up in the morning, he and his men, and they chose from amongst the cattle a present for Esau.
42 And this is the amount of the present which Yacob chose from his flock to give unto his brother Esau: and he selected two hundred and forty head from the flocks, and he selected from the camels and asses thirty each, and of the herds he chose fifty kine.
43 And he put them all in ten droves, and he placed each sort by itself, and he delivered them into the hands of ten of his servants, each drove by itself.
44 And he commanded them, and said unto them, Keep yourselves at a distance from each other, and put a space between the droves, and when Esau and those who are with him shall meet you and ask you, saying, Whose are you, and whither do you go, and to whom belongs all this before you, you shall say unto them, We are the servants of Yacob, and we come to meet Esau in peace, and behold Yacob comes behind us.
45 And that which is before us is a present sent from Yacob to his brother Esau.
46 And if they shall say unto you, Why doth he delay behind you, from coming to meet his brother and to see his face, then you shall say unto them, Surely he comes joyfully behind us to meet his brother, for he said, I will appease him with the present that goes to him, and after this I will see his face, peradventure he will accept of me.
47 So the whole present passed on in the hands of his servants, and went before him on that day, and he lodged that night with his camps by the border of the brook of Jabuk, and he rose up in the midst of the night, and he took his wives and his maid servants, and all belonging to him, and he that night passed them over the ford Jabuk.
48 And when he passed all belonging to him over the brook, Yacob was left by himself, and a man met him, and he wrestled with him that night until the breaking of the day, and the hollow of Yacob's thigh was out of joint through wrestling with him.
49 And at the break of day the man left Yacob there, and he blessed him and went away, and Yacob passed the brook at the break of day, and he halted upon his thigh.
50 And the sun rose upon him when he had passed the brook, and he came up to the place of his cattle and children.
51 And they went on till midday, and while they were going the present was passing on before them.
52 And Yacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold Esau was at a distance, coming along with many men, about four hundred, and Yacob was greatly afraid of his brother.
53 And Yacob hastened and divided his children unto his wives and his handmaids, and his daughter Dinah he put in a chest, and delivered her into the hands of his servants.
54 And he passed before his children and wives to meet his brother, and he bowed down to the ground, yea he bowed down seven times until he approached his brother, and YAHWEH caused Yacob to find free unmerited love and favor in the sight of Esau and his men, for YAHWEH had heard the prayer of Yacob.
55 And the fear of Yacob and his terror fell upon his brother Esau, for Esau was greatly afraid of Yacob for what the heavenly messengers of YAHWEH had done to Esau, and Esau's anger against Yacob was turned into kindness.
56 And when Esau saw Yacob running toward him, he also ran toward him and he embraced him, and he fell upon his neck, and they kissed and they wept.
57 And YAHWEH put fear and kindness toward Yacob in the hearts of the men that came with Esau, and they also kissed Yacob and embraced him.
58 And also Eliphaz, the son of Esau, with his four brothers, sons of Esau, wept with Yacob, and they kissed him and embraced him, for the fear of Yacob had fallen upon them all.
59 And Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women with their offspring, the children of Yacob, walking behind Yacob and bowing along the road to Esau.
60 And Esau said unto Yacob, Who are these with you, my brother? are they your children or your servants? and Yacob answered Esau and said, They are my children which YAHWEH hath graciously given to your servant.
61 And while Yacob was speaking to Esau and his men, Esau beheld the whole camp, and he said unto Yacob, Whence didst you get the whole of the camp that I met yesternight? and Yacob said, To find favor in the sight of my lord, it is that which YAHWEH graciously gave to your servant.
62 And the present came before Esau, and Yacob pressed Esau, saying, Take I pray you the present that I have brought to my lord, and Esau said, Wherefore is this my purpose? keep that which you hast unto thyself.
63 And Yacob said, It is incumbent upon me to give all this, since I have seen your face, that you still live in peace.
64 And Esau refused to take the present, and Yacob said unto him, I beseech you my lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, for I have therefore seen your face, as though I had seen a god-like face, because you wast pleased with me.
65 And Esau took the present, and Yacob also gave unto Esau silver and gold and bdellium, for he pressed him so much that he took them.
66 And Esau divided the cattle that were in the camp, and he gave the half to the men who had come with him, for they had come on hire, and the other half he delivered unto the hands of his children.
67 And the silver and gold and bdellium he gave in the hands of Eliphaz his eldest son, and Esau said unto Yacob, Let us remain with you, and we will go slowly along with you until you come to my place with me, that we may dwell there together.
68 And Yacob answered his brother and said, I would do as my lord speaks unto me, but my lord knows that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with their young who are with me, go but slowly, for if they went swiftly they would all die, for you know their burdens and their fatigue.
69 Therefore let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will go on slowly for the sake of the children and the flock, until I come to my lord's place to Seir.
70 And Esau said unto Yacob, I will place with you some of the people that are with me to take care of you in the road, and to bear your fatigue and burden, and he said, What needs it my lord, if I may find free unmerited favor in your sight?
71 Behold I will come unto you to Seir to dwell there together as you hast spoken, go you then with your people for I will follow you.
72 And Yacob said this to Esau in order to remove Esau and his men from him, so that Yacob might afterward go to his father's house to the land of Canaan.
73 And Esau hearkened to the voice of Yacob, and Esau returned with the four hundred men that were with him on their road to Seir, and Yacob and all belonging to him went that day as far as the extremity of the land of Canaan in its borders, and he remained there some time.
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