Genesis 32
32
1 # 32:1 Verses 32:1-32 are numbered 32:2-33 in Hebrew text. As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him. 2When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim.#32:2 Mahanaim means “two camps.”
Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau
3Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom. 4He told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban, 5and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to me.’”
6After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” 7Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. 8He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”
9Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac—O Lord, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ 10I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! 11O Lord, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children. 12But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’”
13Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 1530 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. 16He divided these animals into herds and assigned each to different servants. Then he told his servants, “Go ahead of me with the animals, but keep some distance between the herds.”
17He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: “When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’ 18You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right behind us.’”
19Jacob gave the same instructions to the second and third herdsmen and to all who followed behind the herds: “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20And be sure to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’”
Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” 21So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles with God
22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. 23After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
24This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. 25When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27“What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
28“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel,#32:28 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and “deceiver.” Israel means “God fights.” because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”
29“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” 31The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel,#32:31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant spelling of Peniel. and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. 32(Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)
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Genesis 32: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Genesis 32
32
1 Likewise, Jacob continued on the journey that he had begun. And the Angels of God met him.
2 When he had seen them, he said, "These are the Encampments of God." And he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, 'Encampments.'
3 Then he also sent messengers before him to his brother Esau, in the land of Seir, in the region of Edom.
4 And he instructed them, saying: "You shall speak in this way to my lord Esau: 'Your brother Jacob says these things: "I have sojourned with Laban, and I have been with him until the present day.
5 I have oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and men servants, and women servants. And now I send an ambassador to my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight." ' "
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We went to your brother Esau, and behold, he rushes to meet you with four hundred men."
7 Jacob was very afraid. And in his terror, he divided the people who were with him, likewise the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,
8 saying: "If Esau goes to one company, and strikes it, the other company, which is left behind, will be saved."
9 And Jacob said: "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me: 'Return to your land, and to the place of your nativity, and I will do well for you.'
10 I am less than any of your compassions and your truth, which you have fulfilled to your servant. With my staff I crossed over this Jordan. And now I go back with two companies.
11 Rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am very afraid of him, lest perhaps he may come and strike down the mother with the sons.
12 You did say that you would do well by me, and that you would expand my offspring like the sand of the sea, which, because of its multitude, cannot be numbered."
13 And when he had slept there that night, he separated, from the things that he had, gifts for his brother Esau:
14 two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15 thirty milking camels with their young, forty cows, and twenty bulls, twenty she-donkeys, and ten of their young.
16 And he sent them by the hands of his servants, each flock separately, and he said to his servants: "Pass before me, and let there be a space between flock and flock."
17 And he instructed the first, saying: "If you happen to meet my brother Esau, and he questions you: "Whose are you?" or, "Where are you going?" or, "Whose are these which follow you?"
18 you shall respond: "Your servant Jacob's. He has sent them as a gift to my lord Esau. And he is also coming after us."
19 Similarly, he gave orders to the second, and the third, and to all who followed the flocks, saying: "Speak these same words to Esau, when you find him.
20 And you will add: 'Your servant Jacob himself also follows after us, for he said: "I will appease him with the gifts that go ahead, and after this, I will see him; perhaps he will be gracious to me." ' "
21 And so the gifts went before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 And when he had arisen early, he took his two wives, and the same number of handmaids, with his eleven sons, and he crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 And having delivered over all the things that belonged to him,
24 he remained alone. And behold, a man wrestled with him until morning.
25 And when he saw that he would not be able to overcome him, he touched the nerve of his thigh, and immediately it withered.
26 And he said to him, "Release me, for now the dawn ascends." He responded, "I will not release you, unless you bless me."
27 Therefore he said, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob."
28 But he said, "Your name will not be called Jacob, but Israel; for if you have been strong against God, how much more will you prevail against men?"
29 Jacob questioned him, "Tell me, by what name are you called?" He responded, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed him in the same place.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved."
31 And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he had crossed beyond Peniel. Yet in truth, he limped on his foot.
32 For this reason, the sons of Israel, even to the present day, do not eat the nerve that withered in Jacob's thigh, because he touched the nerve of his thigh and it was obstructed.
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