Genesis 33
1 Forsothe Jacob reiside hise iyen, and seiy Esau comynge, and foure hundrid men with hym; and he departide the sones of Lia, and of Rachel, and of bothe seruauntessis.
[Then Jacob joined the rest of his family]. [Later that day] Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and there were 400 men with him. [Jacob was worried because of that], so he separated the children. He put Leah’s children with Leah, Rachel’s children with Rachel, and the two female slaves’ children with their mothers.
2 And he puttide euer either handmaide, and the fre children of hem, in the bigynnyng; sotheli he puttide Lia, and her sones, in the secounde place; forsothe he puttide Rachel and Joseph the laste.
He put the two female slaves and their children in front. He put Leah and her children next. He put Rachel and Joseph at the rear.
3 And Jacob yede bifore, and worschipide lowli to erthe seuensithis, til his brothir neiyede.
He himself went ahead of them all, and as he continued to approach his older brother, he prostrated himself with his face on the ground seven times.
4 And so Esau ran ayens his brothir, and collide hym, and Esau helde his necke, and kisside, and wepte.
But Esau ran to Jacob. He hugged him, put his arms around his neck, and kissed him on the cheek. And they both cried.
5 And whanne the iyen weren reisid, he seiy the wymmen, and the litle children of hem, and seide, What wolen these to hem silf? and wher thei pertenen to thee? Jacob answeride, Thei ben the litle children, whiche God hath youe to me, thi seruaunt.
Then Esau looked up and saw the women and the children. He asked, “Who are these people who are with you?” Jacob replied, “These are the wives and children that God has graciously/kindly given to me.”
6 And the handmaydis and her sones neiyeden, and weren bowid.
Then the female slaves and their children came near and bowed in front of Esau.
7 Also Lya neiyede with hir fre children; and whanne thei hadden worschipid in lijk maner, Joseph and Rachel the laste worschipeden.
Then Leah and her children came and bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came near and bowed down.
8 And Esau seide, What ben these cumpanyes, whiche Y mette? Jacob answerde, That Y schulde fynde grace bifore my lord.
Esau asked, “What is the meaning of all the animals that I saw?” Jacob replied, “I am giving them to you, sir, so that you will feel good toward me.”
9 And he seide, My brother, Y haue ful many thingis, thi thingis be to thee.
But Esau replied, “My [younger] brother, I have enough animals! Keep for yourself the animals that you have!”
10 And Jacob seide, Y biseche, nyle thou so, but if Y foond grace in thin iyen, take thou a litil yifte of myn hondis; for Y seiy so thi face as I seiy the cheer of God;
But Jacob said, “No, please, if you feel good toward me, accept these gifts from me. You have greeted me very kindly. Seeing your smiling face assures me [that you have forgiven me]. It is like seeing the face of God!
11 be thou merciful to me, and resseyue the blessyng which Y brouyte to thee, and which blessyng God yyuynge alle thingis yaf to me. Vnnethis, while the brothir compellide,
Please accept these gifts that I have brought to you, because God has acted kindly toward me, and I still have plenty of animals!” Jacob kept on urging him to accept the animals, and finally he accepted them.
12 he resseyuede, and seide, Go we to gidere, and Y schal be felowe of thi weie.
Then Esau said, “Let’s continue traveling together, and I will show the road to you.”
13 And Jacob seide, My lord, thou knowist that Y haue litle children tendre, and scheep, and kien with calue with me, and if Y schal make hem for to trauele more in goynge, alle the flockis schulen die in o dai;
Jacob [had no intention to go with Esau], but he said, “You know, sir, that the children are weak, and that I must take care of the female sheep and cows that are (sucking their mother’s milk/nursing their young). If I force them to walk fast for a long distance in just one day, the animals will all die.
14 my lord go bifore his seruaunt, and Y schal sue litil and litil hise steppis, as I shal se that my litle children mown, til Y come to my lord, in to Seir.
You go ahead of me. I will lead the animals slowly, but I will walk as fast as the children and animals can walk. I will catch up with you in Seir, [in the land where the descendants of Edom live].”
15 Esau answeride, Y preie thee, that of the puple which is with me, nameli felowis of thi weie dwelle. Jacob seide, It is no nede; Y haue nede to this o thing oneli, that Y fynde grace in thi siyt, my lord.
Esau said, “Then allow me to leave with you some of the men who came with me, [to protect you].” But Jacob replied, “(Why do that?/There is no need to do that!) [RHQ] The only thing that I want is for you to act friendly toward me.”
16 And so Esau turnede ayen in that dai in the weie bi which he cam, in to Seir.
So on that day Esau left to return to Seir.
17 And Jacob cam in to Sochot, where whanne he hadde bildid an hows, and hadde set tentis, he clepide the name of that place Sochot, that is, tabernaclis.
But [instead of going to Seir], Jacob and his family went to [a place called] Succoth. There he built a house for himself and his family, and built shelters for his livestock. That is the reason they named the place Succoth, [which means ‘shelters’].
18 And Jacob passide in to Salem, a citee of Sichimis, whiche is in the lond of Canaan, aftir that he turnede ayen fro Mesopotanye of Sirie, and he dwellide besidis the citee.
[Some time later, ] Jacob and his family left Paddan-Aram [in Mesopotamia], and they traveled safely to the Canaan region. There they set up their tents in a field near Shechem city.
19 And he bouyte for an hundrid lambren a part of the feeld, in which he settide tabernaclis, of the sones of Emor, fadir of Sichem.
One of the leaders of the people in that area was named Hamor. Hamor had several sons. Jacob paid the sons of Hamor 100 pieces of silver for the piece of ground on which they set up their tents.
20 And whanne he hadde reisid an auter there, he inwardly clepide on it the strongeste God of Israel.
He built a stone altar there, and named it El-Elohe Israel, [which means ‘God, the God of Israel].’
