New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1 As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him.

1Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

2When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim. Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau

2And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom.

3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,

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,

4instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.

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.’”

5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

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!”

6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”

7Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups.

7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps,

8He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”

8thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”

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.’

9And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’

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!

10I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.

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.

11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.

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.’”

12But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

13Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau:

13So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,

14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

1530 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

15thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

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.”

16These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.”

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?’

17He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’

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.’”

18then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’”

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.

19He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him,

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.”

20and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

21So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp. Jacob Wrestles with God

21So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

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.

22The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

23After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.

23He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.

24This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.

24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

25When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.

25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

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.”

26Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.”

27And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

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.”

28Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

29“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.

29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

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.”

30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

31The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.

31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

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.)

32Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.