Genesis 32-33

New American Standard Bible 1995

Jacob’s Fear of Esau

32 Now as Jacob went on his way, ^(A)the angels of God met him. ² Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s ^[a]camp.” So he named that place ^[b](B)Mahanaim.

³ Then Jacob ^(C)sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of ^(D)Seir, the ^[c]country of ^(E)Edom. ⁴ He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and ^(F)stayed until now; ^5 (G)I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, ^(H)that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore ^(I)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was ^(J)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[d]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹ Jacob said, “O ^(K)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘^(L)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will ^[e]prosper you,’ ^10 [f]I am unworthy ^(M)of all the lovingkindness and of all the ^[g]faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (N)Deliver me, I pray, ^(O)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ^[h]attack me and the ^(P)mothers with the children. ¹² For You said, ‘^(Q)I will surely ^[i]prosper you and ^(R)make your ^[j]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he ^[k]selected from what ^[l]he had with him a ^(S)present for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He 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.” ¹⁷ He commanded the ^[m]one 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?’ ¹⁸ then 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.’” ¹⁹ Then 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; ²⁰ and 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.” ²¹ So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

²² Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the ^(T)Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man ^(U)wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When 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. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “^(V)I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ^28 (W)He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[n]Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then ^(X)Jacob 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. ³⁰ So Jacob named the place ^[o]Peniel, for he said, “^(Y)I have seen God face to face, yet my ^[p]life has been preserved.” ³¹ Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over ^(Z)Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. ³² Therefore, 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.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(AA)Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children ^[q]among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. ² He put the maids and their children ^[r]in front, and Leah and her children ^[s]next, and Rachel and Joseph ^[t]last. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them and ^(AB)bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and ^(AC)fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “^[u]Who are these with you?” So he said, “^(AD)The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maids came near ^[v]with their children, and they bowed down. ⁷ Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down. ⁸ And he said, “What do you mean by ^(AE)all this company which I have met?” And he said, “^(AF)To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “^(AG)I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, ^[w]for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please take my ^[x](AH)gift which has been brought to you, ^(AI)because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have ^[y]plenty.” Thus he urged him and he took it.

¹² Then ^[z]Esau said, “Let us take our journey and go, and I will go before you.” ¹³ But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds which are nursing are ^[aa]a 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 ^(AJ)Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “^[ab]What need is there? ^(AK)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ Jacob journeyed to ^[ac](AL)Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

Jacob Settles in Shechem

¹⁸ Now Jacob came safely to the city of ^(AM)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from ^(AN)Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. ^19 (AO)He 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 ^[ad]pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected there an altar and called it ^[ae]El-Elohe-Israel.