Genesis 32–33

Chapter 32

Jacob’s Fear of Esau

¹Now as Jacob went on his way, ^athe angels of God met him.

²Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s ¹camp.” So he named that place ^2aMahanaim.

³Then Jacob ^asent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of ^bSeir, the ¹country of ^cEdom.

⁴He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and ^astayed until now;

^5aI have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, ^bthat I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”

⁶The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore ^ahe is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

⁷Then Jacob was ^agreatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies;

⁸for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ¹attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹Jacob said, “O ^aGod of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘^bReturn to your country and to your relatives, and I will ¹prosper you,’

¹⁰¹I am unworthy ^aof all the lovingkindness and of all the ²faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.

¹¹“^aDeliver me, I pray, ^bfrom the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ¹attack me and the ^cmothers with the children.

¹²“For You said, ‘^aI will surely ¹prosper you and ^bmake your ²descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’ ”

¹³So he spent the night there. Then he ¹selected from what ²he had with him a ^apresent for his brother Esau:

¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

¹⁵thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

¹⁶He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.”

¹⁷He commanded the ¹one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’

¹⁸then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’ ”

¹⁹Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, “After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;

²⁰and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”

²¹So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

²²Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the ^aJabbok.

²³He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴Then Jacob was left alone, and a man ^awrestled with him until daybreak.

²⁵When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

²⁶Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “^aI will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

^28aHe said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ¹Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

²⁹Then ^aJacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.

³⁰So Jacob named the place ¹Peniel, for he said, “^aI have seen God face to face, yet my ²life has been preserved.”

³¹Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over ^aPenuel, and he was limping on his thigh.

³²Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Chapter 33

Jacob Meets Esau

¹Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, ^aEsau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children ¹among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.

²He put the maids and their children ¹in front, and Leah and her children ²next, and Rachel and Joseph last.

³But he himself passed on ahead of them and ^abowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and ^afell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

⁵He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “¹Who are these with you?” So he said, “^aThe children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶Then the maids came near ¹with their children, and they bowed down.

⁷Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.

⁸And he said, “What do you mean by ^aall this company which I have met?” And he said, “^bTo find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹But Esau said, “^aI have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.”

¹⁰Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, ¹for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably.

¹¹“Please take my ^1agift which has been brought to you, ^bbecause God has dealt graciously with me and because I have ²plenty.” Thus he urged him and he took it.

¹²Then ¹Esau said, “Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you.”

¹³But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are ¹a care to me. And if they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will die.

¹⁴“Please let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at ^aSeir.”

¹⁵Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “¹What need is there? ^aLet me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

¹⁷Jacob journeyed to ^1aSuccoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

Jacob Settles in Shechem

¹⁸Now Jacob came safely to the city of ^aShechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from ^bPaddan-aram, and camped before the city.

^19aHe bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred ¹pieces of money.

²⁰Then he erected there an altar and called it ¹El-Elohe-Israel.