Jacob Prepares to Meet 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 unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

4And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall you speak unto my lord Esau; your servant Jacob says thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:

5And I have oxen, and donkeys, flocks, and menservants, and maidservants: 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 were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

8And said, If Esau comes to the one company, and smites 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 who said unto me, Return unto 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 unto your servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have 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 descendants 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 female goats, and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

15Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty cows, and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten he-donkeys.

16And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto 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 are you going? and whose are these before you?

18Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto 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 unto Esau, when you find him.

20And say 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; perhaps he will accept me.

21So the present went over before him: and he 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 maidservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.

23And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over all 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 unto 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 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 upon him, and he limped upon his thigh.

32Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.