New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

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

1Now as Jacob went on his way, 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

2Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named 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.

3Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau 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,

4He also commanded them saying, "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 and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, 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!”

6The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are 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; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies;

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

8for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which 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.’

9Jacob 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 relatives, and I will prosper you,'

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 unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.

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.

11"Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and 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.’”

12"For You said, 'I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'"

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

13So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him 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 colts, 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.”

16He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between droves."

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 commanded the one in front, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?'

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, 'These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also 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.

19Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak 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, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will 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 before him, while he himself spent 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.

22Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids 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 he sent across whatever he had.

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

24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

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

25When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while 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 dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

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

27So 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.”

28He said, "Your name shall no longer be 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 and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there.

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 named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."

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

31Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.

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 sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

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.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org