Genesis 32:1–35:29
32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God1 met him. 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed,2 “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.3
32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead4 to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region5 of Edom. 32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant6 Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent7 this message8 to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.” 32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 32:8 “If Esau attacks one camp,”9 he thought,10 “then the other camp will be able to escape.”11
32:9 Then Jacob prayed,12 “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said13 to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’14 32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love15 you have shown16 your servant. With only my walking stick17 I crossed the Jordan,18 but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me,19 I pray, from the hand20 of my brother Esau,21 for I am afraid he will come22 and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.23 32:12 But you24 said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper25 and will make26 your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’ ”27
32:13 Jacob28 stayed there that night. Then he sent29 as a gift30 to his brother Esau 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 32:15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 32:16 He entrusted them to31 his servants, who divided them into herds.32 He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd,33 “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong?34 Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’35 32:18 then you must say,36 ‘They belong37 to your servant Jacob.38 They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau.39 In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’ ”40
32:19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.41 32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ”42 Jacob thought,43 “I will first appease him44 by sending a gift ahead of me.45 After that I will meet him.46 Perhaps he will accept me.”47 32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him48 while he spent that night in the camp.49
32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took50 his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons51 and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.52 32:23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions.53 32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man54 wrestled55 with him until daybreak.56 32:25 When the man57 saw that he could not defeat Jacob,58 he struck59 the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
32:26 Then the man60 said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”61 “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied,62 “unless you bless me.”63 32:27 The man asked him,64 “What is your name?”65 He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him,66 “but Israel,67 because you have fought68 with God and with men and have prevailed.”
32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.”69 “Why70 do you ask my name?” the man replied.71 Then he blessed72 Jacob73 there. 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel,74 explaining,75 “Certainly76 I have seen God face to face77 and have survived.”78
32:31 The sun rose79 over him as he crossed over Penuel,80 but81 he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day82 the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck83 the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.
33:1 Jacob looked up1 and saw that Esau was coming2 along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them.3 33:3 But Jacob4 himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached5 his brother. 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 33:5 When Esau6 looked up7 and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob8 replied, “The children whom God has graciously given9 your servant.” 33:6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down.10 33:7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.
33:8 Esau11 then asked, “What did you intend12 by sending all these herds to meet me?”13 Jacob14 replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.” 33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 33:10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said.15 “If I have found favor in your sight, accept16 my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me,17 it is as if I have seen the face of God.18 33:11 Please take my present19 that was brought to you, for God has been generous20 to me and I have all I need.”21 When Jacob urged him, he took it.22
33:12 Then Esau23 said, “Let’s be on our way!24 I will go in front of you.” 33:13 But Jacob25 said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young,26 and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young.27 If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. 33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children,28 until I come to my lord at Seir.”
33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.”29 “Why do that?” Jacob replied.30 “My lord has already been kind enough to me.”31
33:16 So that same day Esau made his way back32 to Seir. 33:17 But33 Jacob traveled to Succoth34 where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called35 Succoth.36
33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near37 the city. 33:19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it38 from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.39 33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.”40
34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet1 the young women2 of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her,3 and sexually assaulted her.4 34:3 Then he became very attached5 to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her.6 34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.”7 34:5 When8 Jacob heard that Shechem9 had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent10 until they came in.
34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah.11 34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news.12 They13 were offended14 and very angry because Shechem15 had disgraced Israel16 by sexually assaulting17 Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed.18
34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter.19 Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us.20 Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves.21 34:10 You may live22 among us, and the land will be open to you.23 Live in it, travel freely in it,24 and acquire property in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s25 father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me26 I’ll give.27 34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive,28 and I’ll give29 whatever you ask30 of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”
34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem31 had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give32 our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace33 to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become34 like us by circumcising35 all your males. 34:16 Then we will give36 you our daughters to marry,37 and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms38 by being circumcised, then we will take39 our sister40 and depart.”
34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem.41 34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked42 because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah43 badly. (Now he was more important44 than anyone in his father’s household.)45 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate46 of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough47 for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.48 34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand49 that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so,50 won’t their