| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. | 1 As Jacob went on his way, angels from God met him. |
| 2When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim. | 2As he was watching them, Jacob said, "This must be God's camp," so he named that place Mahanaim. |
| 3Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom. | 3Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him into the land of Seir (that is, into the territory of Edom) to meet his brother Esau. |
| 4He commanded them, "This is what you must say to my lord Esau: 'This is what your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. | 4He instructed them, "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob told me to tell you, "I've journeyed to stay with Laban and I've remained there until now. |
| 5I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.'" | 5I now have cattle, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. I'm sending this message to you, sir, so that you'll show favor to me."'" |
| 6The messengers returned to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him." | 6Later, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, "We went to your brother Esau. He's now coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him!" |
| 7Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. | 7Feeling mounting terror and distress, Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, doing the same with the flocks, the cattle, and the camels. |
| 8"If Esau attacks one camp," he thought, "then the other camp will be able to escape." | 8Jacob was thinking, "If Esau comes to one group and attacks it, then the remaining group may escape." |
| 9Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, you said to me, 'Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.' | 9Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O LORD, you who told me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives and I'll cause things to go well for you.' |
| 10I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. | 10I'm unworthy of all your gracious love, your faithfulness, and everything that you've done for your servant. When I first crossed over this river, I had only my staff. But now I've become two groups. |
| 11Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. | 11Deliver me from my brother Esau's control, because I'm terrified of him, and I'm afraid that he's coming to attack me, the mothers, and their children. |
| 12But you said, 'I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.'" | 12Now, you promised me that 'I'm certainly going to cause things to go well with you, and I'm going to make your offspring as numerous as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'" |
| 13Jacob stayed there that night. Then he sent as a gift to his brother Esau | 13Jacob spent the night there. Out of everything that he had brought with him, he chose a gift for his brother Esau— |
| 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, | 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, |
| 15thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. | 1530 milking camels with their young, 40 cows with ten bulls, and 20 female donkeys with ten male donkeys. |
| 16He entrusted them to his servants, who divided them into herds. He told his servants, "Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next." | 16He entrusted them into the care of his servants, one herd at a time. Then he told his servants, "Go in front of me, making sure there's plenty of space between herds." |
| 17He instructed the servant leading the first herd, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?' | 17To the first group he said, "When you meet my brother Esau, if he asks, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And to whom do these herds belong?' |
| 18then you must say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. In fact Jacob himself is behind us.'" | 18then you are to reply, 'We're from your servant Jacob. The herds are a gift. He's sending them to my master, Esau. Look! There he is, coming along behind us.'" |
| 19He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, "You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. | 19He issued similar instructions to the second and third group, as well as to all the others who drove the herds that followed: "This is how you are to speak to Esau when you find him. |
| 20You must also say, 'In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.'" Jacob thought, "I will first appease him by sending a gift ahead of me. After that I will meet him. Perhaps he will accept me." | 20You are to tell him, 'Look! Your servant Jacob is coming along behind us.'" Jacob was thinking, "I'll pacify him with the presents that are being sent ahead of me. Then, when I meet him, perhaps he'll accept me." |
| 21So the gifts were sent on ahead of him while he spent that night in the camp. | 21So the presents went ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp. |
| 22During the night Jacob quickly took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. | 22Later that night, he woke up, quickly took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven children, and forded the river at Jabbok. |
| 23He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. | 23He took them across the river, along with all his possessions. |
| 24So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until daybreak. | 24And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. |
| 25When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob's hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. | 25When the man realized that he hadn't yet won the struggle, he injured the socket of Jacob's thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, |
| 26Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." | 26and said, "Let me go, because the dawn has come." "I won't let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." |
| 27The man asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob." | 27Then the man asked him, "What's your name?" "Jacob," he responded |
| 28"No longer will your name be Jacob," the man told him, "but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed." | 28"Your name won't be Jacob anymore," the man replied, "but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you've emerged victorious." |
| 29Then Jacob asked, "Please tell me your name." "Why do you ask my name?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. | 29"Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there. |
| 30So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, "Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived." | 30Jacob would later call that place Peniel, because "I saw God face to face, but my life was spared." |
| 31The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip. | 31The sun was rising above Jacob as he crossed over from Peniel, limping due to his wounded thigh. |
| 32That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck the socket of Jacob's hip near the attached sinew. | 32Therefore, to this day the Israelis do not eat the hip tendon that connects to the thigh socket, because he had injured the socket of the thigh where the tendon connected to Jacob's hip. |
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