Jacob's Fear of Esau

1And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall you speak to my lord Esau; Your servant Jacob said thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: 5And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in your sight.

6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and also he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him. 7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; 8And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

9And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which said to me, Return to your country, and to your kindred, and I will deal well with you: 10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which you have showed to your servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11Deliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. 12And you said, I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; 14Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, 15Thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. 16And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space between drove and drove. 17And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, saying, Whose are you? and where go you? and whose are these before you? 18Then you shall say, They be your servant Jacob's; it is a present sent to my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. 19And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall you speak to Esau, when you find him. 20And say you moreover, Behold, 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; peradventure he will accept of me. 21So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

Jacob Wrestles with God

22And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. 23And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. 27And he said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. 28And he said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince have you power with God and with men, and have prevailed. 29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray you, your name. And he said, Why is it that you do ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 31And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he halted on his thigh. 32Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.