Genesis 32
32
Jacob Gets Ready to Meet Esau
1Jacob also went on his way. The angels of God met him. 2Jacob saw them. He said, “This is the army of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau. Esau lived in the land of Seir. It was also called the country of Edom. 4Jacob told the messengers what to do. He said, “Here’s what you must tell my master Esau. ‘Your servant Jacob says, “I’ve been staying with Laban. I’ve remained there until now. 5I have cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats. I also have male and female servants. Now I’m sending this message to you. I hope I can please you.” ’ ”
6The messengers came back to Jacob. They said, “We went to your brother Esau. He’s coming now to meet you. He has 400 men with him.”
7Jacob was very worried and afraid. So he separated the people with him into two groups. He also separated the flocks and herds and camels. 8He thought, “Esau might come and attack one group. If he does, the group that’s left can escape.”
9Then Jacob prayed, “You are the God of my grandfather Abraham. You are the God of my father Isaac. Lord, you are the one who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives. Then I will give you success.’ 10You have been very kind and faithful to me. But I’m not worthy of any of this. When I crossed this Jordan River, all I had was my walking stick. But now I’ve become two camps. 11Please save me from the hand of my brother Esau. I’m afraid he’ll come and attack me and the mothers with their children. 12But you have said, ‘I will surely give you success. I will make your children as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. People will not be able to count them.’ ”
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 these animals in front of you?’ 18Then say to Esau, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift to you from him. And Jacob is coming behind us.’ ”
19He also spoke to the second and third servants. He told them and all 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 Wrestles 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 wrestled with him until morning. 25The man saw that he couldn’t win. So he touched the inside of Jacob’s hip. As Jacob wrestled 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 wrestled with God and with people. 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 Israelites don’t eat the meat attached to the inside of an animal’s hip. They don’t eat it to this day. It’s because the inside of Jacob’s hip was touched.
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Genesis 32: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Genesis 32
32
1 THEN JACOB went on his way, and God's angels met him.
2 When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's army! So he named that place Mahanaim [two armies]. [Gen. 32:7, 10.]
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, Say this to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living temporarily with Laban and have stayed there till now.
5 And I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find mercy and kindness in your sight.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau; and now he is [on the way] to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups,
8 Thinking, If Esau comes to the one group and smites it, then the other group which is left will escape.
9 Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good,
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.
11 Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.
12 And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And Jacob lodged there that night and took from what he had with him as a present for his brother Esau:
14 Two hundred she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
15 Thirty milk camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 she-donkeys, and 10 [donkey] colts.
16 And he put them into the charge of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me and put a space between drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the first, When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, where you are going, and whose are the animals before you,
18 Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob's; it is a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover, he is behind us.
19 And so he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, This is what you are to say to Esau when you meet him.
20 And say, Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.
21 So the present went on before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 But he rose up that [same] night and took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons and passed over the ford [of the] Jabbok.
23 And he took them and sent them across the brook; also he sent over all that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 And when [the Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him.
26 Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But [Jacob] said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me.
27 [The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!
28 And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed. [Hos. 12:3-4.]
29 Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And [the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away.
31 And as he passed Penuel [Peniel], the sun rose upon him, and he was limping because of his thigh.
32 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the hollow of the thigh, because [the Angel of the Lord] touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.
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