Genesis 31:43–34:31

43 Laban answered Jacob, “The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks.n All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44 Come now, let’s make a covenant,o you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”p

45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.q 46 He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap,r and they ate there by the heap. 47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.b s

48 Laban said, “This heapt is a witness between you and me today.”u That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah,c v because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreatw my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witnessx between you and me.”y

51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap,z and here is this pillara I have set up between you and me. 52 This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness,b that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heapc and pillar to my side to harm me.d 53 May the God of Abrahame and the God of Nahor,f the God of their father, judge between us.”g

So Jacob took an oathh in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.i 54 He offered a sacrificej there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal.k After they had eaten, they spent the night there.

55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughtersl and blessedm them. Then he left and returned home.d n

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

32 a Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of Godo met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!”p So he named that place Mahanaim.b q

3 Jacob sent messengersr ahead of him to his brother Esaus in the land of Seir,t the country of Edom.u 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lordv Esau: ‘Your servantw Jacob says, I have been staying with Labanx and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.y Now I am sending this message to my lord,z that I may find favor in your eyes.a’ ”

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”b

7 In great fearc and distressd Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,c e and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,d the groupe that is left may escape.”

9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,f God of my father Isaac,g Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’h 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulnessi you have shown your servant. I had only my staffj when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.k 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraidl he will come and attack me,m and also the mothers with their children.n 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sando of the sea, which cannot be counted.p’ ”

13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a giftq for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,r 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.s 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”t

17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servantu Jacob. They are a giftv sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ”

19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servantw Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these giftsx I am sending on ahead;y later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”z 21 So Jacob’s giftsa went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles With God

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sonsb and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.c 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.d 24 So Jacob was left alone,e and a manf wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hipg so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”h

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

“Jacob,”i he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your namej will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,f k because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”l

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

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”n Then he blessedo him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,g saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,p and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,h q and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,r because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;s so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.t 2 He put the female servants and their childrenu in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Josephv in the rear. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the groundw seven timesx as he approached his brother.

4 But Esauy ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.z And they wept.a 5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.b”

6 Then the female servants and their childrenc approached and bowed down.d 7 Next, Leah and her childrene came and bowed down.f Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,g and they too bowed down.

8 Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”h

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”i he said.

9 But Esau said, “I already have plenty,j my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,k accept this giftl from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,m now that you have received me favorably.n 11 Please accept the presento that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to mep and I have all I need.”q And because Jacob insisted,r Esau accepted it.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

13 But Jacob said to him, “My lords knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.t If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herdsu before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.v”

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

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”w

16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.x 17 Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,y where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.a

18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,b z he arrived safely at the city of Shechema in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver,c he bought from the sons of Hamor,b the father of Shechem,c the plot of groundd where he pitched his tent.e 20 There he set up an altarf and called it El Elohe Israel.d

Dinah and the Shechemites

34 Now Dinah,g the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechemh son of Hamori the Hivite,j the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.k 3 His heart was drawn to Dinahl daughter of Jacob;m he lovedn the young woman and spoke tenderlyo to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”p

5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled,q his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.r 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shockeds and furious,t because Shechem had done an outrageous thing ina Israelu by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.v

8 But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.w 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.x 10 You can settle among us;y the land is open to you.z Live in it, tradeb in it,a and acquire property in it.b”

11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes,c and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the brided and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled,e Jacob’s sons replied deceitfullyf as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we …