³ Then Jacob ^(A)sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of ^(B)Seir, the ^[a]country of ^(C)Edom. ⁴ He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and ^(D)stayed until now; ^5 (E)I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, ^(F)that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore ^(G)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was ^(H)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[b]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹ Jacob said, “O ^(I)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘^(J)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will ^[c]prosper you,’ ^10 [d]I am unworthy ^(K)of all the lovingkindness and of all the ^[e]faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (L)Deliver me, I pray, ^(M)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ^[f]attack me and the ^(N)mothers with the children.

⁴ His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they ^(A)hated him and could not speak to him ^[a]on friendly terms.

⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “^(A)Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.