New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.
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Then Jacob, lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming with his four hundred men. So he made a division of the children between Leah and Rachel and the two women-servants.
2 He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.
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He put the servants and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph at the back.
3 He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.
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And he himself, going before them, went down on his face to the earth seven times till he came near his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
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Then Esau came running up to him, and folding him in his arms, gave him a kiss: and the two of them were overcome with weeping.
5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, "Who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."
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Then Esau, lifting up his eyes, saw the women and the children, and said, Who are these with you? And he said, The children whom God in his mercy has given to your servant.
6 Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down;
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Then the servants and their children came near, and went down on their faces.
7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.
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And Leah came near with her children, and then Joseph and Rachel, and they did the same.
8 Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company that I met?" Jacob answered, "To find favor with my lord."
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And he said, What were all those herds which I saw on the way? And Jacob said, They were an offering so that I might have grace in my lord's eyes.
9 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself."
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But Esau said, I have enough; keep what is yours, my brother, for yourself.
10 Jacob said, "No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God—since you have received me with such favor.
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And Jacob said, Not so; but if I have grace in your eyes, take them as a sign of my love, for I have seen your face as one may see the face of God, and you have been pleased with me.
11 Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want." So he urged him, and he took it.
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Take my offering then, with my blessing; for God has been very good to me and I have enough: so at his strong request, he took it.
12 Then Esau said, "Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you."
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And he said, Let us go on our journey together, and I will go in front.
13 But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die.
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But Jacob said, My lord may see that the children are only small, and there are young ones in my flocks and herds: one day's over-driving will be the destruction of all the flock.
14 Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir."
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Do you, my lord, go on before your servant; I will come on slowly, at the rate at which the cattle and the children are able to go, till I come to my lord at Seir.
15 So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "Why should my lord be so kind to me?"
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And Esau said, Then keep some of my men with you. And he said, What need is there for that, if my lord is pleased with me?
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
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So Esau, turning back that day, went on his way to Seir.
17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called Succoth.
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And Jacob went on to Succoth, where he made a house for himself and put up tents for his cattle: for this reason the place was named Succoth.
18 Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city.
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So Jacob came safely from Paddan-aram to the town of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and put up his tents near the town.
19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for one hundred pieces of money the plot of land on which he had pitched his tent.
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And for a hundred bits of money he got from the children of Hamor, the builder of Shechem, the field in which he had put up his tents.
20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
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And there he put up an altar, naming it El, the God of Israel.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.