Genesis 32-33

New American Standard Bible

Jacob’s Fear of Esau

32 Now as Jacob went on his way, ^(A)the angels of God met him. ² And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s ^[a]camp.” So he named that place ^[b](B)Mahanaim.

³ Then Jacob ^(C)sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of ^(D)Seir, the ^[c]country of ^(E)Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says the following: “I have resided with Laban, and ^(F)stayed until now; ⁵ and ^(G)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent messengers to tell my lord, ^(H)so that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore ^(I)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was ^(J)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[d]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob said, “^(K)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, ‘^(L)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will ^[e]make you prosper,’ ^10 [f]I am unworthy ^(M)of all the ^[g]favor and of all the ^[h]faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (N)Save me, please, ^(O)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ^[i]attack me and the ^(P)mothers with the children. ¹² For You said, ‘^(Q)I will assuredly ^[j]make you prosper and ^(R)make your ^[k]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he ^[l]selected from what ^[m]he had with him a ^(S)gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ Then he placed them in the ^[n]care of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between flocks.” ¹⁷ And he commanded the ^[o]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?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” ¹⁹ Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

²² Now he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children, and crossed the shallow place of the ^(T)Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man ^(U)wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of ^[p]Jacob’s hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “^(V)I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then ^(W)he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[q]Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ And ^(X)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. ³⁰ So Jacob named the place ^[r]Peniel, for he said, “^(Y)I have seen God face to face, yet my ^[s]life has been ^[t]spared.” ³¹ Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over ^(Z)Penuel, and he was limping on his hip. ³² Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip which is on the socket of the hip, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the tendon of the hip.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob raised his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(AA)Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children ^[u]among Leah and Rachel, and the two slave women. ² He put the slave women and their children ^[v]in front, and Leah and her children ^[w]next, and Rachel and Joseph ^[x]last. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them and ^(AB)bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and ^(AC)fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ He raised his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “^[y]Who are these with you?” So he said, “^(AD)The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the slave women came forward ^[z]with their children, and they bowed down. ⁷ And Leah likewise came forward with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came forward with Rachel, and they bowed down. ⁸ And he said, “What do you mean by ^(AE)all this company which I have met?” And he said, “^(AF)To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “^(AG)I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then accept my gift from my hand, ^[aa]for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please accept my ^[ab](AH)gift which has been brought to you, ^(AI)because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have ^[ac]plenty.” So he urged him, and he accepted it.

¹² Then ^[ad]Esau said, “Let’s journey on and go, and I will go ahead of you.” ¹³ But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds that are nursing are ^[ae]a matter of concern to me. And if they are driven hard just one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, at the pace of the cattle that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at ^(AJ)Seir.”

¹⁵ Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “^[af]What need is there? ^(AK)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to ^[ag](AL)Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

Jacob Settles in Shechem

¹⁸ Now Jacob came safely to the city of ^(AM)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from ^(AN)Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. ^19 (AO)He bought the plot of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred ^[ah]pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected there an altar and called it ^[ai]El-Elohe-Israel.