Genesis 33

Jacob Meets Esau

1 Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slaves.2 He put the slaves and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last.

3 He went on ahead of them and bowed seven times with his face touching the ground as he came near his brother.
4 Then Esau ran to meet Jacob. Esau hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. They both cried.

5 When he saw the women and children, Esau asked, “Who are these people here with you?”
“The children God has graciously given me, sir,” Jacob answered.6 Then the slaves and their children came forward and bowed down.

7 Likewise, Leah and her children came forward and bowed down. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.
8 Then Esau asked, “Why did you send this whole group of people and animals I met?”He answered, “To win your favor, sir.”9 Esau said, “I have enough. Keep what you have, Brother.”10 Jacob said, “No, please take the gift I’m giving you, because I’ve seen your face as if I were seeing the face of God, and yet you welcomed me so warmly.

11 Please take the present I’ve brought you, because God has been gracious to me and has given me all that I need.” So Esau took it because Jacob insisted.
12 Then Esau said, “Let’s get ready to go, and I’ll go with you.”13 Jacob said to him, “Sir, you know that the children are frail and that I have to take care of the flocks and cattle that are nursing their young. If they’re driven too hard for even one day, all the flocks will die.

14 Go ahead of me, sir. I will slowly and gently guide the herds that are in front of me at their pace and at the children’s pace until I come to you in Seir.”
15 Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”“Why do that?” Jacob asked. “I only want to win your favor, sir.”16 That day Esau started back to Seir.

17 But Jacob moved on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is named Succoth [Shelters].
18 So having come from Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in Canaan. He camped within sight of the city.19 Then he bought the piece of land on which he had put up his tents. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver.

20 He set up an altar there and named it God Is the God of Israel.

Genesis 34

Dinah Is Raped

1 Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit some of the Canaanite women.2 When Shechem, son of the local ruler Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped her.

3 He became very fond of Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.
4 So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.”5 Jacob heard that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah. His sons were with his livestock out in the open country, so Jacob kept quiet until they came home.6 So Shechem’s father Hamor came to Jacob to speak with him.

7 Jacob’s sons came in from the open country as soon as they heard the news. The men felt outraged and very angry because Shechem had committed such a godless act against Israel’s family by raping Jacob’s daughter. This shouldn’t have happened.
8 Hamor told them. “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please let her marry him.9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take ours for yourselves.

10 You can live with us, and the land will be yours. Live here, move about freely in this area, and acquire property here.”
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and her brothers, “Do me this favor. I’ll give you whatever you ask.

12 Set the price I must pay for the bride and the gift I must give her as high as you want. I’ll pay exactly what you tell me. Give me the girl as my wife.”
13 Then Jacob’s sons gave Shechem and his father Hamor a misleading answer because he had dishonored their sister Dinah.14 They said, “We can’t do this. We can’t give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. That would be a disgrace to us!15 We will give our consent to you only on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as we are.16 Then we’ll give our daughters to you and take yours for ourselves, and we’ll live with you and become one people.

17 If you won’t agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our daughter and go.”
18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem.

19 The young man didn’t waste any time in doing what they said because he took such pleasure in Jacob’s daughter. He was the most honored person in all his father’s family.
20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to their city gate to speak to the men of their city. They said,21 “These people are friendly toward us, so let them live in our land and move about freely in the area. Look, there’s plenty of room in this land for them. We can marry their daughters and let them marry ours.22 These people will consent to live with us and become one nation on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as they are.

23 Won’t their livestock, their personal property, and all their animals be ours? We only need to agree to do this for them. Then they’ll live with us.”
24 All the men who had come out to the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So they were all circumcised at the city gate.25 Two days later, while the men were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and boldly attacked the city. They killed every man26 including Hamor and his son Shechem. They took Dinah from Shechem’s home and left.27 Then Jacob’s sons stripped the corpses and looted the city where their sister had been dishonored.28 They took the sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or out in the fields.

29 They carried off all the wealth and all the women and children and looted everything in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble! You’ve made the people living in the area, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, hate me. There are only a few of us. If they join forces against me and attack me, my family and I will be wiped out.”31 Simeon and Levi asked, “Should Shechem have been allowed to treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Genesis 35

Jacob’s Fifth Encounter With God

1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there. I am the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”2 So Jacob said to his family and those who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods which you have, wash yourselves until you are ritually clean,t and change your clothes.3 Then let’s go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.”

4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had in their possession as well as the earrings that they had on. Jacob buried these things under the oak tree near Shechem.
5 As they moved on, God made the people of the cities that were all around them terrified so that no one pursued them.6 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 called that place El Bethel [God of the House of God]. That’s where God had revealed himself to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother.

8 Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried under the oak tree outside Bethel. So Jacob called it the Tree of Crying.

Jacob’s Sixth Encounter With God—His Name Changed to Israel

9 Then God appeared once more to Jacob after he came back from Paddan Aram, and he blessed him.

10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. You will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
11 God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fertile, and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from you.12 I will give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give this land to your descendants.”13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.14 So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where God had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it.

15 Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel [House of God].

Jacob’s [Israel’s] Sons—1 Chronicles 2:1–2

16 Then they moved on from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and was having severe labor pains.17 During one of her pains, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid! You’re having another son!”

18 Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Benoni [Son of My Sorrow], but his father named him Benjamin [Son of My Right Hand].
19 Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

20 Then Jacob set up a stone as a marker for her grave. The same marker is at Rachel’s grave today.
21 Israel moved on again and put up his tent beyond Migdal Eder.

22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went to bed with his father’s concubinet Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.
Jacob had 12 sons.23 The sons of Leah wereJacob’s firstborn Reuben, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.24 The sons of Rachel wereJoseph and Benjamin.25 The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah wereDan and Naphtali.26 The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah wereGad and Asher.These were Jacob’s sons, who were born in Paddan Aram.27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac to Mamre’s city, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron). Abraham and Isaac had lived there for a while.28 Isaac was 180 years old

29 when he took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death at a very old age. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.