Genesis 32
1 And Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him.
Jacob went on his way and some angels of God came to meet him.
2 And when Jacob saw them he said, This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
When he saw them he said, “This must be God's camp!” He named the place “Two Camps.”
3 And Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau his brother, into the land of Seir, the fields of Edom.
He sent messengers on ahead to meet his brother Esau who was living in the region of Seir in the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak to my lord, to Esau: Thy servant Jacob speaks thus — With Laban have I sojourned and tarried until now;
He told them, “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau. Your servant Jacob sends you this message. I've been staying with Laban up till now,
5 and I have oxen, and asses, sheep, and bondmen, and bondwomen; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thine eyes.
and I have cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I've sent these messengers to explain this to you my lord, hoping you'll be pleased to see me.”
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
The messengers returned to Jacob and told him, “Your brother Esau is coming to meet you with 400 armed men!”
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and was distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep and the cattle and the camels, into two troops.
When Jacob heard this, he was absolutely terrified. He split all the people with him, along with the sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, into two groups,
8 And he said, If Esau come to the one troop and smite it, then the other troop which is left shall escape.
saying to himself, “If Esau comes and destroys one group, the other one can get away.”
9 And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah, who saidst unto me: Return into thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good,
Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham, God of my father Isaac! Lord, you were the one who told me, ‘Return to your own country and your family home, and I will treat you well.’
10 — I am too small for all the loving-kindness and all the faithfulness that thou hast shewn unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two troops.
I don't deserve all the trustworthy love and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I crossed the Jordan years ago with just my walking stick, and now I have two large camps.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, [and] the mother with the children.
Please save me from my brother; defend me from Esau! I'm terrified that he's coming to attack me, my wives, and my children.
12 And thou saidst, I will certainly deal well with thee, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
You yourself told me, ‘I will definitely treat you well. I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand of the seashore—too many to count.’”
13 And he lodged there that night; and took of what came to his hand a gift for Esau his brother —
Jacob stayed the night there. Then he picked out animals as a gift to his brother Esau:
14 two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes, and twenty rams;
200 female goats, 20 male goats; 200 ewes, 20 rams;
15 thirty milch camels with their colts; forty kine, and ten bulls; twenty she-asses, and ten young asses.
30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls; 20 female donkeys, 10 male donkeys.
16 And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.
He put his servants in charge of each of the separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep a good distance between the herds.”
17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets thee, and asks thee, saying, Whose art thou, and where goest thou, and whose are these before thee?
He gave these instructions to those with the first herd: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who is your master, and where are you going, and whose are these animals with you?’
18 — then thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's: it is a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.
you are to say to him, ‘Your servant Jacob sends these as a gift to my lord Esau, and he's following us.’”
19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, According to this word shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him.
He gave the same instructions to those with the second and third and all the subsequent herds, telling them, “This what you are to say to Esau when he meets you.
20 And, moreover, ye shall say, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will propitiate him with the gift that goes before me, and afterwards I will see his face: perhaps he will accept me.
You must also tell him, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob said to himself, “Maybe by sending these gifts on ahead Esau won't be angry with me and when I meet him he'll be kind to me.”
21 And the gift went over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
So the gifts went on ahead while Jacob spent the night at the camp.
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok;
He got up during the night and took his two wives and the two personal maids and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River at the ford.
23 and he took them and led them over the river, and led over what he had.
After helping them cross he also sent over everything that belonged to him.
24 And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn.
But Jacob stayed there alone. A man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
25 And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the joint of his thigh; and the joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him.
When the man realized he couldn't beat Jacob, he hit Jacob's hip socket and put it out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the dawn ariseth. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.
Then the man said, “Let me go because it's almost dawn.” “I won't let you go unless you bless me,” Jacob replied.
27 And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
“What's your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.
28 And he said, Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.
“Jacob will no longer be you name,” said the man. “Instead you will be called Israel, because you fought with God and with men and you won.”
29 And Jacob asked and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, How is it that thou askest after my name? And he blessed him there.
“Please tell me your name,” Jacob asked. “Why do you ask me my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel — For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.
Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “I saw God face to face and I'm still alive!”
31 And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him; and he limped upon his hip.
The sun came up as Jacob left Peniel, limping along because of his damaged hip.
32 Therefore the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the joint of Jacob's thigh — the sinew.
(That's why, even today, Israelites don't eat the thigh tendon attached to the hip socket, because that's where the man hit Jacob's hip socket.)
