Book of Jasher 32
Chapter 32
1.
And at that time Jacob sent
messengers to his brother Esau toward the
spoke to him words of supplication.
2.
And he commanded them, saying, Thus
shall ye say to my lord, to Esau, Thus saith thy servant Jacob, Let not my lord
imagine that my father’s blessing with which he did bless me has proved
beneficial to me.
3.
For I have been these twenty years
with Laban, and he deceived me and changed my wages ten times, as it has all
been already told unto my lord.
4.
And I served him in his house very
laboriously, and God afterward saw my affliction, my labor and the work of my
hands, and he caused me to find grace and favor in his sight.
5.
And I afterward through God’s great
mercy and kindness acquired oxen and asses and cattle, and men servants and
maid servants.
6.
And now I am coming to my land and my
home to my father and mother, who are in the land of Canaan; and I have sent to
let my lord know all this in order to find favor in the sight of my lord, so
that he may not imagine that I have of myself obtained wealth, or that the
blessing with which my father blessed me has benefited me.
7.
And those messengers went to Esau,
and found him on the borders of the
Jacob, and four hundred men of the children of Seir the Horite were standing
with drawn swords.
8.
And the messengers of Jacob told Esau
all the words that Jacob had spoken to them concerning Esau.
9.
And Esau answered them with pride and
contempt, and said unto them, Surely I have heard and truly it has been told
unto me what Jacob has done to Laban, who exalted him in his house and gave him
his daughters for wives, and he begat sons and daughters, and abundantly
increased in wealth and riches in Laban’s house through his means.
10.
And when he saw that his wealth was
abundant and his riches great he fled with all belonging to him, from Laban’s
house, and he led Laban’s daughters away from the face of their father, as
captives taken by the sword without telling him of it.
11.
And not only to Laban has Jacob done
thus but also unto me has he done so and has twice supplanted me, and shall I
be silent?
12.
Now therefore I have this day come
with my camps to meet him, and I will do unto him according to the desire of my
heart.
13.
And the messengers returned and came
to Jacob and said unto him, We came to thy brother, to Esau, and we told him
all thy words, and thus has he answered us, and behold he cometh to meet thee
with four hundred men.
14.
Now then know and see what thou shalt
do, and pray before God to deliver thee from him.
15.
And when he heard the words of his
brother which he had spoken to the messengers of Jacob, Jacob was greatly
afraid and he was distressed.
16.
And Jacob prayed to the Lord his God,
and he said, O Lord God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, thou didst say unto
me when I went away from my father’s house, saying,
17.
I am the Lord God of thy father
Abraham and the God of Isaac, unto thee do I give this land and thy seed after
thee, and I will make thy seed as the stars of heaven, and thou shalt spread
forth to the four sides of heaven, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the
families of the earth be blessed.
18.
And thou didst establish thy words,
and didst give unto me riches and children and cattle, as the utmost wishes of
my heart didst thou give unto thy servant; thou didst give unto me all that I
asked from thee, so that I lacked nothing.
19.
And thou didst afterward say unto me,
Return to thy parents and to thy birth place and I will still do well with
thee.
20.
And now that I have come, and thou
didst deliver me from Laban, I shall fall in the hands of Esau who will slay
me, yea, together with the mothers of my children.
21.
Now therefore, O Lord God, deliver
me, I pray thee, also from the hands of my brother Esau, for I am greatly
afraid of him.
22.
And if there is no righteousness in
me, do it for the sake of Abraham and my father Isaac.
23.
For I know that through kindness and
mercy have I acquired this wealth; now therefore I beseech thee to deliver me
this day with thy kindness and to answer me.
24.
And Jacob ceased praying to the Lord,
and he divided the people that were with him with the flocks and cattle into
two camps, and he gave the half to the care of Damesek, the son of Eliezer,
Abraham’s servant, for a camp, with his children, and the other half he gave to
the care of his brother Elianus the son of Eliezer, to be for a camp with his
children.
25.
And he commanded them, saying, Keep
yourselves at a distance with your camps, and do not come too near each other,
and if Esau come to one camp and slay it, the other camp at a distance from it
will escape him.
26.
And Jacob tarried there that night,
and during the whole night he gave his servants instructions concerning the
forces and his children.
27.
And the Lord heard the prayer of
Jacob on that day, and the Lord then delivered Jacob from the hands of his
brother Esau.
28.
And the Lord sent three angels of the
angels of heaven, and they went before Esau and came to him.
29.
And these angels appeared unto Esau
and his people as two thousand men, riding upon horses furnished with all sorts
of war instruments, and they appeared in the sight of Esau and all his men to
be divided into four camps, with four chiefs to them.
30.
And one camp went on and they found Esau
coming with four hundred men toward his brother Jacob, and this camp ran toward
Esau and his people and terrified them, and Esau fell off the horse in alarm,
and all his men separated from him in that place, for they were greatly afraid.
31.
And the whole of the camp shouted
after them when they fled from Esau, and all the warlike men answered, saying,
32.
Surely we are the servants of Jacob,
who is the servant of God, and who then can stand against us? And Esau said
unto them, O then, my lord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I have not seen
for these twenty years, and now that I have this day come to see him, do you
treat me in this manner?
33.
And the angels answered him saying,
As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob of whom thou speaketh thy brother, we had
not let one remaining from thee and thy people, but only on account of Jacob we
will do nothing to them.
34.
And this camp passed from Esau and
his men and it went away, and Esau and his men had gone from them about a
league when the second camp came toward him with all sorts of weapons, and they
also did unto Esau and his men as the first camp had done to them.
35.
And when they had left it to go on,
behold the third camp came toward him and they were all terrified, and Esau
fell off the horse, and the whole camp cried out, and said, Surely we are the
servants of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who can stand against us?
36.
And Esau again answered them saying,
O then, Jacob my lord and your lord is my brother, and for twenty years I have
not seen his countenance and hearing this day that he was coming, I went this
day to meet him, and do you treat me in this manner?
37.
And they answered him, and said unto
him, As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob thy brother as thou didst say, we had
not left a remnant from thee and thy men, but on account of Jacob of whom thou
speakest being thy brother, we will not meddle with thee or thy men.
38.
And the third camp also passed from
them, and he still continued his road with his men toward Jacob, when the
fourth camp came toward him, and they also did unto him and his men as the
others had done.
39.
And when Esau beheld the evil which
the four angels had done to him and to his men, he became greatly afraid of his
brother Jacob, and he went to meet him in peace.
40.
And Esau concealed his hatred against
Jacob, because he was afraid of his life on account of his brother Jacob, and
because he imagined that the four camps that he had lighted upon were Jacob’s
servants.
41.
And Jacob tarried that night with his
servants in their camps, and he resolved with his servants to give unto Esau a
present from all that he had with him, and from all his property; and Jacob
rose up in the morning, he and his men, and they chose from amongst the cattle
a present for Esau.
42.
And this is the amount of the present
which Jacob chose from his flock to give unto his brother Esau: and he selected
two hundred and forty head from the flocks, and he selected from the camels and
asses thirty each, and of the herds he chose fifty kine.
43.
And he put them all in ten droves,
and he placed each sort by itself, and he delivered them into the hands of ten
of his servants, each drove by itself.
44.
And he commanded them, and said unto
them, Keep yourselves at a distance from each other, and put a space between
the droves, and when Esau and those who are with him shall meet you and ask
you, saying, Whose are you, and whither do you go, and to whom belongeth all
this before you, you shall say unto them, We are the servants of Jacob, and we
come to meet Esau in peace, and behold Jacob cometh behind us.
45.
And that which is before us is a
present sent from Jacob to his brother Esau.
46.
And if they shall say unto you, Why
doth he delay behind you, from coming to meet his brother and to see his face,
then you shall say unto them, Surely he cometh joyfully behind us to meet his
brother, for he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth to him,
and after this I will see his face, peradventure he will accept of me.
47.
So the whole present passed on in the
hands of his servants, and went before him on that day, and he lodged that
night with his camps by the border of the brook of Jabuk, and he rose up in the
midst of the night, and he took his wives and his maid servants, and all
belonging to him, and he that night passed them over the ford Jabuk.
48.
And when he passed all belonging to
him over the brook, Jacob was left by himself, and a man met him, and he
wrestled with him that night until the breaking of the day, and the hollow of
Jacob’s thigh was out of joint through wrestling with him.
49.
And at the break of day the man left
Jacob there, and he blessed him and went away, and Jacob passed the brook at
the break of day, and he halted upon his thigh.
50.
And the sun rose upon him when he had
passed the brook, and he came up to the place of his cattle and children.
51.
And they went on till , and whilst
they were going the present was passing on before them.
52.
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and
looked, and behold Esau was at a distance, coming along with many men, about
four hundred, and Jacob was greatly afraid of his brother.
53.
And Jacob hastened and divided his
children unto his wives and his handmaids, and his daughter Dinah he put in a
chest, and delivered her into the hands of his servants.
54.
And he passed before his children and
wives to meet his brother, and he bowed down to the ground, yea he bowed down
seven times until he approached his brother, and God caused Jacob to find grace
and favor in the sight of Esau and his men, for God had heard the prayer of
Jacob.
55.
And the fear of Jacob and his terror
fell upon his brother Esau, for Esau was greatly afraid of Jacob for what the
angels of God had done to Esau, and Esau’s anger against Jacob was turned into
kindness.
56.
And when Esau saw Jacob running
toward him, he also ran toward him and he embraced him, and he fell upon his
neck, and they kissed and they wept.
57.
And God put fear and kindness toward
Jacob in the hearts of the men that came with Esau, and they also kissed Jacob
and embraced him.
58.
And also Eliphaz, the son of Esau,
with his four brothers, sons of Esau, wept with Jacob, and they kissed him and
embraced him, for the fear of Jacob had fallen upon them all.
59.
And Esau lifted up his eyes and saw
the women with their offspring, the children of Jacob, walking behind Jacob and
bowing along the road to Esau.
60.
And Esau said unto Jacob, Who are
these with thee, my brother? are they thy children or thy servants? and Jacob
answered Esau and said, They are my children which God hath graciously given to
thy servant.
61.
And whilst Jacob was speaking to Esau
and his men, Esau beheld the whole camp, and he said unto Jacob, Whence didst
thou get the whole of the camp that I met yesternight? and Jacob said, To find
favor in the sight of my lord, it is that which God graciously gave to thy
servant.
62.
And the present came before Esau, and
Jacob pressed Esau, saying, Take I pray thee the present that I have brought to
my lord, and Esau said, Wherefore is this my purpose? keep that which thou hast
unto thyself.
63.
And Jacob said, It is incumbent upon
me to give all this, since I have seen thy face, that thou still livest in
peace.
64.
And Esau refused to take the present,
and Jacob said unto him, I beseech thee my lord, if now I have found favor in
thy sight, then receive my present at my hand, for I have therefore seen thy
face, as though I had seen a god-like face, because thou wast pleased with me.
65.
And Esau took the present, and Jacob
also gave unto Esau silver and gold and bdellium, for he pressed him so much
that he took them.
66.
And Esau divided the cattle that were
in the camp, and he gave the half to the men who had come with him, for they
had come on hire, and the other half he delivered unto the hands of his
children.
67.
And the silver and gold and bdellium
he gave in the hands of Eliphaz his eldest son, and Esau said unto Jacob, Let
us remain with thee, and we will go slowly along with thee until thou comest to
my place with me, that we may dwell there together.
68.
And Jacob answered his brother and
said, I would do as my lord speaketh unto me, but my lord knoweth that the
children are tender, and the flocks and herds with their young who are with me,
go but slowly, for if they went swiftly they would all die, for thou knowest
their burdens and their fatigue.
69.
Therefore let my lord pass on before
his servant, and I will go on slowly for the sake of the children and the
flock, until I come to my lord’s place to Seir.
70.
And Esau said unto Jacob, I will
place with thee some of the people that are with me to take care of thee in the
road, and to bear thy fatigue and burden, and he said, What needeth it my lord,
if I may find grace in thy sight?
71.
Behold I will come unto thee to Seir
to dwell there together as thou hast spoken, go thou then with thy people for I
will follow thee.
72.
And Jacob said this to Esau in order
to remove Esau and his men from him, so that Jacob might afterward go to his
father’s house to the
73.
And Esau hearkened to the voice of
Jacob, and Esau returned with the four hundred men that were with him on their
road to Seir, and Jacob and all belonging to him went that day as far as the
extremity of the
borders, and he remained there some time.
