³Jacob’s brother Esau was living in the area called Seir in the country of Edom. Jacob sent messengers to Esau, ⁴telling them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘This is what Jacob, your servant, says: I have lived with Laban and have remained there until now. ⁵I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. I send this message to you and ask you to accept us.’ ”

⁶The 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.”

⁷Then Jacob was very afraid and worried. He divided the people who were with him and all the flocks, herds, and camels into two camps. ⁸Jacob thought, “Esau might come and destroy one camp, but the other camp can run away and be saved.”

⁹Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham! God of my father Isaac! Lord, you told me to return to my country and my family. You said that you would treat me well. ¹⁰I am not worthy of the kindness and continual goodness you have shown me. The first time I traveled across the Jordan River, I had only my walking stick, but now I own enough to have two camps. ¹¹Please save me from my brother Esau. I am afraid he will come and kill all of us, even the mothers with the children. ¹²You said to me, ‘I will treat you well and will make your children as many as the sand of the seashore. There will be too many to count.’ ”

¹³Jacob stayed there for the night and prepared a gift for Esau from what he had with him: ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred female sheep and twenty male sheep, ¹⁵thirty female camels and their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶Jacob gave each separate flock of animals to one of his servants and said to them, “Go ahead of me and keep some space between each herd.” ¹⁷Jacob gave them their orders. To the servant with the first group of animals he said, “My brother Esau will come to you and ask, ‘Whose servant are you? Where are you going and whose animals are these?’ ¹⁸Then you will answer, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He sent them as a gift to you, my master Esau, and he also is coming behind us.’ ”

¹⁹Jacob ordered the second servant, the third servant, and all the other servants to do the same thing. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰Say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” Jacob thought, “If I send these gifts ahead of me, maybe Esau will forgive me. Then when I see him, perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹So Jacob sent the gifts to Esau, but he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

²²During the night Jacob rose and crossed the Jabbok River at the crossing, taking with him his two wives, his two slave girls, and his eleven sons. ²³He sent his family and everything he had across the river. ²⁴So Jacob was alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up. ²⁵When the man saw he could not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob’s hip and put it out of joint. ²⁶Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go. The sun is coming up.”

But Jacob said, “I will let you go if you will bless me.”

²⁷The man said to him, “What is your name?”

And he answered, “Jacob.”

²⁸Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel, ⁿ because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won.”

²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

But the man said, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰So Jacob named that place Peniel, ⁿ saying, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.” ³¹Then the sun rose as he was leaving that place, and Jacob was limping because of his leg. ³²So even today the people of Israel do not eat the muscle that is on the hip joint of animals, because Jacob was touched there.

Jacob Shows His Bravery

33Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and with him were four hundred men. So Jacob divided his children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave girls. ²Jacob put the slave girls with their children first, then Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³Jacob himself went out in front of them and bowed down flat on the ground seven times as he was walking toward his brother.

⁴But Esau ran to meet Jacob and put his arms around him and hugged him. Then Esau kissed him, and they both cried. ⁵When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?”

Jacob answered, “These are the children God has given me. God has been good to me, your servant.”

⁶Then the two slave girls and their children came up to Esau and bowed down flat on the earth before him. ⁷Leah and her children also came up to Esau and also bowed down flat on the earth. Last of all, Joseph and Rachel came up to Esau, and they, too, bowed down flat before him.

⁸Esau said, “I saw many herds as I was coming here. Why did you bring them?”

Jacob answered, “They were to please you, my master.”

⁹But Esau said, “I already have enough, my brother. Keep what you have.”

¹⁰Jacob said, “No! Please! If I have pleased you, then accept the gift I give you. I am very happy to see your face again. It is like seeing the face of God, because you have accepted me. ¹¹So I beg you to accept the gift I give you. God has been very good to me, and I have more than I need.” And because Jacob begged, Esau accepted the gift.

¹²Then Esau said, “Let us be going. I will travel with you.”

¹³But Jacob said to him, “My master, you know that the children are weak. And I must be careful with my flocks and their young ones. If I force them to go too far in one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴So, my master, you go on ahead of me, your servant. I will follow you slowly and let the animals and the children set the speed at which we travel. I will meet you, my master, in Edom.”

¹⁵So Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my people with you.”

“No, thank you,” said Jacob. “I only want to please you, my master.” ¹⁶So that day Esau started back to Edom. ¹⁷But Jacob went to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his animals. That is why the place was named Succoth. ⁿ

¹⁸Jacob left Northwest Mesopotamia and arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan. There he camped east of the city. ¹⁹He bought a part of the field where he had camped from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver. ²⁰He built an altar there and named it after God, the God of Israel.

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Footnotes

nMahanaim This name means “two camps.”
nIsrael This name means “he wrestles with God.”
nPeniel This name means “the face of God.”
nSuccoth This name means “shelters.”