Genesis 31:55–33:20

⁵⁵And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed ^uhis sons and his daughters, and ^xblessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

32And 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: ^10†I 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 ye speak unto Esau, when ye 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.

33And 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 lifted 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 an 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.