Gen 32:3-8, 13-22, 33:3-11, 1Sa 25:17-35, Pro 6:1-5, 25:8 | ESV | STEP | And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir , the country of Edom ,

3 And Jacob sent ^{▼▼Or had sent} messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of ^bSeir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that ^cI may find favor in your sight.’”

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ^dhe is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” 7 Then Jacob was ^egreatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

Genesis 32:13-22

13 So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took ^fa present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.” 17 He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’” 19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him ^{▼▼Hebrew appease his face} with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” ^{▼▼Hebrew he will lift my face} 21 So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, ^{▼▼Or sons} and crossed the ford of the ^jJabbok.

Genesis 33:3-11

3 He himself went on before them, ^kbowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 ^lBut Esau ran to meet him and embraced him ^mand fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, ⁿ“The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the servants drew near, they and their children, and bowed down. 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down. And last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. 8 Esau said, “What do you mean by ^oall this company ^{▼▼Hebrew camp} that I met?” Jacob answered, ^q“To find favor in the sight of my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” 10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. ^rFor I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my ^sblessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he ^turged him, and he took it.

1 Samuel 25:17-35

17 Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, ^ufor harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such ^va worthless man that one cannot speak to him.”

18 Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs ^{▼▼A seah was about 7 quarts or 7.3 liters} of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 19 And she said to her young men, “Go on before me; behold, I come after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 And as she rode on the donkey and came down under cover of the mountain, behold, David and his men came down toward her, and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, ^xso that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has ^yreturned me evil for good. 22 ^zGod do so to the enemies of David ^{▼▼Septuagint to David} and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried ^aband got down from the donkey ^acand fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground. 24 She fell at his feet and said, ^ad“On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. 25 Let not my lord regard ^aethis worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal ^{▼▼ Nabal means fool} is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. 26 Now then, my lord, ^agas the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, because ^ahthe Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from ^aisaving with your own hand, now then ^ajlet your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now let this ^akpresent that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the Lord will certainly make my lord ^ala sure house, because my lord ^amis fighting the battles of the Lord, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live. 29 If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God. And the lives of your enemies ^anhe shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling. 30 And when the Lord has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince ^{▼▼Or leader} over Israel, 31 my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord ^apworking salvation himself. And when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”

32 And David said to Abigail, ^aq“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, ^arwho have kept me this day from bloodguilt ^asand from working salvation with my own hand! 34 For as surely ^atas the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, ^auwho has restrained me from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, truly by morning there had not been left to Nabal so much as one male.” 35 Then David received from her hand what she had brought him. And he said to her, ^av“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have obeyed your voice, and I have granted your petition.”

Proverbs 6:1-5

Practical Warnings

1 My son, if you have put up ^awsecurity for your neighbor,
have ^axgiven your pledge for a stranger,
2 if you are ^aysnared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
3 then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, ^{▼▼Or humble yourself} and ^baplead urgently with your neighbor.
4 ^bbGive your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, ^{▼▼Hebrew lacks of the hunter}
^bdlike a bird from the hand of the fowler.

Proverbs 25:8

8 ^bedo not hastily bring into court,
for ^{▼▼Hebrew or else} what will you do in the end,
when your neighbor puts you to shame?