And Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and there were four hundred men with him. And he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maids, and he put the maids and their children in front, Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph last. And he himself went on ahead, bowing to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. And Esau ran to meet him and threw his arms around him and kissed him and wept. And when he saw the women and the children, he said,” Who are these?”
And he said, “The children God has generously given me, sir.”
Then the maids came forward with their children and bowed low. Next, Leah came forward with her children and bowed low. And last, Rachel and Joseph came forward and bowed low.
And Esau said, “And those herds — are they really a gift from you?”
And Jacob said, “I hope that you find my poor gift acceptable, sir.”
And Esau said, “I have quite enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
And Jacob said, “No, please, I beg you, as a sign of your favor, sir, please accept them as a gift from me. Seeing your face is like seeing the face of a god, you have received me so kindly. Please indulge me this once and accept the blessing I brought you: God has been generous to me, and I have much more than I need.” And Jacob kept urging him until he accepted the gift.
Then Esau said, “Let us travel on together, and I will go alongside you.”
And Jacob said, “Sir, you can see that the children are small, and the sheep and cattle are suckling their young; if they are driven hard for a single day, they will all die. Please, sir, go on ahead of me, and I will move along slowly, at the pace of the animals and children, and I will catch up with you in Seir.”
And Esau said, “Let me at least leave some of my men with you as an escort.”
And he said, “That is very kind of you, sir, but please don’t bother.”
So Esau started back to Seir. But Jacob went on to Succoth, and built a house for himself, and put up sheds for his cattle. That is why the place is called Succoth, Sheds.