Jacob lifted his eyes, and there upon the horizon came Esau, with four hundred men at his side. The ground seemed to tremble beneath their approach.
Quickly Jacob arranged his family: the maidservants and their children at the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel with young Joseph last of all. Then, with a trembling heart, Jacob went ahead of them all. Step by step he drew near to his brother, bowing low to the ground—seven times he bowed, each one deeper than the last.
But before Jacob could reach the end of his bows, Esau broke into a run.
Not with sword drawn, but with arms outstretched. He fell upon Jacob, embraced him, and kissed him. And together they wept.
When Esau lifted his eyes, he saw the women and the children.
"Who are these with you?" he asked.
Jacob answered softly,
"They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
Then, one by one, the families came forward. The maidservants with their little ones bowed down, Leah and her children bowed, and last came Rachel with Joseph, bowing before Esau.
Esau asked,
"What do you mean by all these droves I met along the way?"
Jacob replied,
"To find favor in your eyes, my lord."
But Esau shook his head.
"I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have."
Jacob pressed him earnestly:
"No, please! If I have found favor in your eyes, accept my gift. To see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me with kindness. Please take it—for God has been gracious to me, and I have all I need."
And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted.
Then Esau said,
"Come, let us journey on together. I will go with you."
But Jacob replied,
"My lord knows the children are tender, and the nursing flocks must move gently. If they are driven too hard, even one day, they will perish. Go on ahead of your servant; I will follow slowly, at the pace of the droves and the little ones, until I come to my lord in Seir."
Esau offered,
"Then let me leave some of my men with you."
But Jacob declined:
"There is no need, my lord. Only let me find favor in your sight."
So Esau returned that day toward Seir, while Jacob went another way, to a place called Succoth. There he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock, and so the place was named Succoth.
Later, Jacob journeyed safely into the land of Canaan. Near the city of Shechem, he camped within sight of the walls. For a hundred pieces of silver, he purchased a plot of ground from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father.
And there Jacob set up an altar, and he called it:
El Elohe Israel — God, the God of Israel.