Genesis 32:1–33:20

And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ²And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s ^ahost: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. ³And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of ^bSeir, the country of Edom. ⁴And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: ⁵and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that ^cI may find grace in thy sight. ⁶And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also ^dhe cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. ⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; ⁸and said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape. ⁹And Jacob said, ^eO God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord ^fwhich saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: ¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the ^gmercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. ¹¹Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. ¹²And ^hthou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. ¹³And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand ⁱa present for Esau his brother; ¹⁴two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. ¹⁶And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. ¹⁷And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? ¹⁸then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and behold, also he is behind us. ¹⁹And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall you speak unto Esau, when you find him. ²⁰And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. ²¹So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company. ²²And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford ^kJabbok. ²³And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

²⁴And Jacob was left alone; and there ^lwrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. ²⁶And he said, ^mLet me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ²⁷And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. ²⁸And he said, ⁿThy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and ^owith men, and hast prevailed. ²⁹And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, ^pWherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. ³⁰And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for ^qI have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. ³¹And as he passed over ^rPenuel the sun rose upon him, and he ^shalted upon his thigh. ³²Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which ^tshrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

XXXIII.And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, ^aEsau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. ²And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. ³And he passed over before them, and ^bbowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. ^4cAnd Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, ^dand fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. ⁵And he lift up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children ^ewhich God hath graciously given thy servant. ⁶Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. ⁷And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. ⁸And he said, What meanest thou by ^fall this drove which I met? And he said, These are ^gto find grace in the sight of my lord. ⁹And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself. ¹⁰And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: ^hfor therefore I ⁱhave seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. ¹¹Take, I pray thee, ^jmy blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he ^kurged him, and he took it. ¹²And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. ¹³And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. ¹⁴Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on ^lsoftly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come ^munto my lord unto Seir. ¹⁵And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? ⁿlet me find grace in the sight of my lord.¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. ¹⁷And Jacob journeyed to ^oSuccoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. ¹⁸And Jacob came to ^pShalem, a city of ^qShechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹And ^rhe bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money. ²⁰And he erected there an altar, and ^scalled it El-Elohe-Israel.

XXXIV.