Genesis 32–34

Esau Comes to Meet Jacob

32So Jacob went on his way, and ^athe angels of God met him. ²When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s ^bcamp.” And he called the name of that place ¹Mahanaim.

³Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother ^cin the land of Seir, ^dthe ²country of Edom. ⁴And he commanded them, saying, ^e“Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. ^5fI have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that ^gI may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”

⁶Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ^hhe also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷So Jacob was greatly afraid and ⁱdistressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. ⁸And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ³attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”

^9jThen Jacob said, ^k“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord ^lwho said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: ¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the ^mmercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with ⁿmy staff, and now I have become two companies. ^11oDeliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and ⁴attack me and ^pthe mother with the children. ¹²For ^qYou said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the ^rsand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”

¹³So he lodged there that same night, and took what ⁵came to his hand as ^sa present for Esau his brother: ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ¹⁶Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” ¹⁷And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ ¹⁸then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” ¹⁹So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will ^tappease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Wrestling with God

²²And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, ^uand crossed over the ford of Jabbok. ²³He took them, sent them ⁶over the brook, and sent over what he had. ²⁴Then Jacob was left alone; and ^va Man wrestled with him until the ⁷breaking of day. ²⁵Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He ⁸touched the socket of his hip; and ^wthe socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. ²⁶And ^xHe said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”

But he said, ^y“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

²⁷So He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

²⁸And He said, ^z“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ⁹Israel; for you have ^astruggled with God and ^bwith men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.”

And He said, ^c“Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He ^dblessed him there.

³⁰So Jacob called the name of the place ¹Peniel: “For ^eI have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” ³¹Just as he crossed over ²Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip. ³²Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He ³touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

Jacob and Esau Meet

33Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, ^aEsau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ²And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³Then he crossed over before them and ^bbowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

^4cBut Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, ^dand fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

So he said, “The children ^ewhom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

⁸Then Esau said, “What do you mean by ^fall this company which I met?”

And he said, “These are ^gto find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I ^hhave seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹Please, take ⁱmy blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt ^jgraciously with me, and because I have ¹enough.” ^kSo he urged him, and he took it.

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

¹³But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. ¹⁴Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, ²are able to endure, until I come to my lord ^lin Seir.”

¹⁵And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

But he said, “What need is there? ^mLet me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷And Jacob journeyed to ⁿSuccoth, built himself a house, and made ³booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called ⁴Succoth.

Jacob Comes to Canaan

¹⁸Then Jacob came ⁵safely to ^othe city of ^pShechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹And ^qhe bought the parcel of ⁶land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰Then he erected an altar there and called it ^rEl ⁷Elohe Israel.

The Dinah Incident

34Now ^aDinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ²And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he ^btook her and lay with her, and violated her. ³His soul ¹was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke ²kindly to the young woman. ⁴So Shechem ^cspoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

⁵And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob ^dheld ³his peace until they came. ⁶Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he ^ehad done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, ^fa thing which ought not to be done. ⁸But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. ¹⁰So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

¹¹Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹²Ask me ever so much ^gdowry ⁴and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

¹³But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke ^hdeceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is ⁱuncircumcised, for ^jthat would be a reproach to us. ¹⁵But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, ¹⁶then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

¹⁸And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was ^kmore honorable than all the household of his father.

²⁰And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the ^lgate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: ²¹“These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²²Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who ^mwent out of the gate of his…