¹³Jacob spent the night there. He chose a gift for his brother Esau from what he had with him. ¹⁴He chose 200 female goats and 20 male goats. He chose 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. ¹⁵He chose 30 female camels with their little ones. He chose 40 cows and ten bulls. And he chose 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶He put each herd by itself.

Then he put his servants in charge of them. He said to his servants, “Go on ahead of me. Keep some space between the herds.”

¹⁷Jacob spoke to his servant who was leading the way. He said, “My brother Esau will meet you. He’ll ask, ‘Who is your master? Where are you going? And who owns all of these animals in front of you?’

¹⁸“Then say to Esau, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift to you from him. And he is coming behind us.’ ”

¹⁹He also spoke to the second and third servants. He told them and all of the others who followed the herds what to do. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰Make sure you say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” Jacob was thinking, “I’ll make peace with him with these gifts I’m sending on ahead. When I see him later, maybe he’ll welcome me.”

²¹So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him. But he himself spent the night in the camp.

Jacob Struggles With God

²²That night Jacob got up. He took his two wives, his two female servants and his 11 sons and sent them across the Jabbok River. ²³After they had crossed the stream, he sent over everything he owned.

²⁴So Jacob was left alone. A man struggled with him until morning. ²⁵The man saw that he couldn’t win. So he touched the inside of Jacob’s hip. As Jacob struggled with the man, Jacob’s hip was twisted. ²⁶Then the man said, “Let me go. It is morning.”

But Jacob replied, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”

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

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸Then the man said, “Your name will not be Jacob anymore. Instead, it will be Israel. You have struggled with God and with men. And you have won.”

²⁹Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰So Jacob named the place Peniel. He said, “I saw God face to face. But I’m still alive!”

³¹The sun rose above Jacob as he passed by Peniel. He was limping because of his hip. ³²That’s why the people of Israel don’t eat the meat attached to the inside of the hip. They don’t eat it to this very day. It’s because the inside of Jacob’s hip was touched.

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