32:1 Then Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.
32:2 When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s army! So he named that place Mahanaim [two armies].
32:3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
32:4 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.
32:5 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.
32:6 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.
32:7 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,
32:8 Thinking, If Esau comes to the one group and smites it, then the other group which is left will escape.
32:9 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,
32:10 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.
32:11 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.
32:12 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.
32:13 And Jacob lodged there that night and took from what he had with him as a present for his brother Esau:
32:14 Two hundred she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
32:15 Thirty milk camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 she-donkeys, and 10 [donkey] colts.
32:16 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.
32:17 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,
32:18 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.
32:19 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.
32:20 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.
32:21 So the present went on before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
32:22 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.
32:23 And he took them and sent them across the brook; also he sent over all that he had.
32:24 And Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak.
32:25 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.
32:26 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.
32:27 [The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!
32:28 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.
32:29 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.
32:30 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.
32:31 And as he passed Penuel [Peniel], the sun rose upon him, and he was limping because of his thigh.
32:32 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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