Study Desk

Let me take my wives and children, for I have earned them by serving you, and let me be on my way. You certainly know how hard I have worked for you."

All the wealth God has given you from our father legally belongs to us and our children. So go ahead and do whatever God has told you."

So Jacob put his wives and children on camels,

Then Laban replied to Jacob, "These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks—in fact, everything you see is mine. But what can I do now about my daughters and their children?

O Lord , please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children.

Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming with his 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and his two servant wives.

He put the servant wives and their children at the front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last.

Then Esau looked at the women and children and asked, "Who are these people with you?" "These are the children God has graciously given to me, your servant," Jacob replied.

Then the servant wives came forward with their children and bowed before him.

Next came Leah with her children, and they bowed before him. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed before him.

But Jacob replied, "You can see, my lord, that some of the children are very young, and the flocks and herds have their young, too. If they are driven too hard, even for one day, all the animals could die.

Please, my lord, go ahead of your servant. We will follow slowly, at a pace that is comfortable for the livestock and the children. I will meet you at Seir."

They looted all their wealth and plundered their houses. They also took all their little children and wives and led them away as captives.

Esau took his wives, his children, and his entire household, along with his livestock and cattle—all the wealth he had acquired in the land of Canaan—and moved away from his brother, Jacob.

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe.

Jacob exclaimed, "You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!"

May God Almighty give you mercy as you go before the man, so that he will release Simeon and let Benjamin return. But if I must lose my children, so be it."

And we responded, ‘Yes, my lord, we have a father who is an old man, and his youngest son is a child of his old age. His full brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him very much.'

You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me with all your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you own.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, ‘Take wagons from the land of Egypt to carry your little children and your wives, and bring your father here.