| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. | 1 As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him. |
| 2When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim. | 2When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim. Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau |
| 3Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom. | 3Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom. |
| 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 told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban, |
| 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.'" | 5and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly 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." | 6After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” |
| 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. | 7Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. |
| 8"If Esau attacks one camp," he thought, "then the other camp will be able to escape." | 8He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can 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 grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac—O LORD, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ |
| 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 am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! |
| 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. | 11O LORD, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and 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.'" | 12But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’” |
| 13Jacob stayed there that night. Then he sent as a gift to his brother Esau | 13Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to 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 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 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 divided these animals into herds and assigned each to different servants. Then he told his servants, “Go ahead of me with the animals, but keep some distance between the 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?' | 17He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: “When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’ |
| 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.'" | 18You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right 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. | 19Jacob gave the same instructions to the second and third herdsmen and to all who followed behind the herds: “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet 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." | 20And be sure to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” |
| 21So the gifts were sent on ahead of him while he spent that night in the camp. | 21So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp. Jacob Wrestles with God |
| 22During the night Jacob quickly took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. | 22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. |
| 23He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. | 23After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions. |
| 24So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until daybreak. | 24This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. |
| 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 saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. |
| 26Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." | 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” |
| 27The man asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob." | 27“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” |
| 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 will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” |
| 29Then Jacob asked, "Please tell me your name." "Why do you ask my name?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. | 29“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. |
| 30So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, "Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived." | 30Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” |
| 31The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip. | 31The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. |
| 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. | 32(Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.) |
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