雅各预备见以扫

32 雅各继续前行,遇见了上帝的天使。 雅各看见他们,就说:“这是上帝的军队!”于是称那地方为玛哈念[a]

雅各先派人到西珥,就是以东,去见他哥哥以扫, 并吩咐他们:“你们要这样对我主以扫说,‘你仆人雅各一直寄居在拉班家里, 现在他带了牛羊、驴和仆婢回来见你,派我们来报信,希望得到你的恩待。’”

报信的人回到雅各那里,说:“我们到了你哥哥以扫那里,他正带着四百人前来见你。” 雅各听了非常害怕,便把随从、牛群、羊群和骆驼分成两队, 心想:“如果以扫来攻击一队,另一队还可以逃生。”

他祷告说:“耶和华,我祖父亚伯拉罕和我父亲以撒的上帝啊!你吩咐我回到家乡和亲族那里,答应厚待我。 10 我不配蒙你以慈爱和信实相待,我先前过约旦河的时候,手上只有一根杖,现在却有两队人丁家畜。 11 求你救我脱离我哥哥以扫的手,我怕他会来杀我和我的妻儿。 12 然而,你曾说,‘我必厚待你,使你的后代多如海沙,不可胜数。’”

13 那天晚上,雅各就在那里过夜,又挑选牲畜送给哥哥以扫作礼物: 14 母山羊二百只、公山羊二十只、母绵羊二百只、公绵羊二十只、 15 哺乳的骆驼三十头及其小骆驼、母牛四十头、公牛十头、母驴二十头、驴驹十头。 16 雅各把牲畜每类分成一群,交给仆人看管,对他们说:“你们走在前头,每群牲畜之间要保持一段距离!” 17 又吩咐走在最前面的仆人说:“我哥哥以扫遇到你的时候,如果问你是谁家的人?要到哪里去?前头这些牲畜是谁的? 18 你就说,‘是仆人雅各要送给他主人以扫的礼物,他自己就跟在后面。’” 19 雅各又吩咐看管第二群、第三群及其余牲畜的仆人遇见以扫时也要这样回答, 20 并且一定要说:“你仆人雅各就在后面。”雅各想先用礼物去化解以扫的怨恨,或许见面时以扫会善待他。 21 于是,他派人先把礼物送过去,自己则留在营里过夜。

雅各遇见上帝

22 那天晚上,雅各起来带着两个妻子、两个婢女和十一个儿子渡过雅博渡口。 23 雅各把他们连同一切所有都送过河以后, 24 自己独自留下。这时,有一个人来和他摔跤,直到黎明。 25 那人见胜不过雅各,就在他的大腿窝摸了一下,他大腿的关节就脱了臼。 26 那人说:“天亮了,让我走吧!”但雅各说:“你不祝福我,我就不让你走。” 27 那人问道:“你叫什么名字?”他说:“我叫雅各。” 28 那人说:“你以后不要再叫雅各了,你要叫以色列,因为你跟上帝和人角力都得胜了。”

29 雅各说:“请你告诉我你的名字。”那人说:“你为什么问我的名字?”他就在那里给雅各祝福。 30 雅各称那地方为毗努伊勒,因为他说:“我当面见过上帝,竟能活命。” 31 雅各经过毗努伊勒的时候,太阳出来了,那时他的大腿瘸了。 32 以色列人至今都不吃大腿窝的筋,因为那人摸过雅各大腿窝的筋。

Footnotes

  1. 32:2 玛哈念”意思是“两营军队”。

Jacob prepares to meet Esau

32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s messengers approached him. When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp,” and he named that sacred place Mahanaim.[a] Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau, toward the land of Seir, the open country of Edom. He gave them these orders: “Say this to my master Esau. This is the message of your servant Jacob: ‘I’ve lived as an immigrant with Laban, where I’ve stayed till now. I own cattle, donkeys, flocks, men servants, and women servants. I’m sending this message to my master now to ask that he[b] be kind.’”

The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went out to your brother Esau, and he’s coming to meet you with four hundred men.”

Jacob was terrified and felt trapped, so he divided the people with him, and the flocks, cattle, and camels, into two camps. He thought, If Esau meets the first camp and attacks it, at least one camp will be left to escape.

Jacob said, “Lord, God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I’ll make sure things go well for you,’ 10 I don’t deserve how loyal and truthful you’ve been to your servant. I went away across the Jordan with just my staff, but now I’ve become two camps. 11 Save me from my brother Esau! I’m afraid he will come and kill me, the mothers, and their children. 12 You were the one who told me, ‘I will make sure things go well for you, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, so many you won’t be able to count them.’”

13 Jacob spent that night there. From what he had acquired, he set aside a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty nursing camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He separated these herds and gave them to his servants. He said to them, “Go ahead of me and put some distance between each of the herds.” 17 He ordered the first group, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, ‘Who are you with? Where are you going? And whose herds are these in front of you?’ 18 say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s, a gift sent to my master Esau. And Jacob is actually right behind us.’” 19 He also ordered the second group, the third group, and everybody following the herds, “Say exactly the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 Say also, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob thought, I may be able to pacify Esau with the gift I’m sending ahead. When I meet him, perhaps he will be kind to me. 21 So Jacob sent the gift ahead of him, but he spent that night in the camp.

Jacob wrestles with God

22 Jacob got up during the night, took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the Jabbok River’s shallow water. 23 He took them and everything that belonged to him, and he helped them cross the river. 24 But Jacob stayed apart by himself, and a man wrestled with him until dawn broke. 25 When the man saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and tore a muscle in Jacob’s thigh as he wrestled with him. 26 The man said, “Let me go because the dawn is breaking.”

But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”

27 He said to Jacob, “What’s your name?” and he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name won’t be Jacob any longer, but Israel,[c] because you struggled with God and with men and won.”

29 Jacob also asked and said, “Tell me your name.”

But he said, “Why do you ask for my name?” and he blessed Jacob there. 30 Jacob named the place Peniel,[d] “because I’ve seen God face-to-face, and my life has been saved.” 31 The sun rose as Jacob passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. 32 Therefore, Israelites don’t eat the tendon attached to the thigh muscle to this day, because he grabbed Jacob’s thigh muscle at the tendon.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 32:2 Or two camps
  2. Genesis 32:5 Or you
  3. Genesis 32:28 Or God struggles or one who struggles with God
  4. Genesis 32:30 Or face of God

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

And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

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

And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:

And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.

11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.

12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;

14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.

16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.

19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.

20 And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

21 So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.

23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

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

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Jacob prepara el encuentro con Esaú

32 Siguió Jacob su camino, y le salieron al encuentro ángeles de Dios.

Y dijo Jacob cuando los vio: Campamento de Dios es este; y llamó el nombre de aquel lugar Mahanaim.

Y envió Jacob mensajeros delante de sí a Esaú su hermano, a la tierra de Seír, campo de Edom.

Y les mandó diciendo: Así diréis a mi señor Esaú: Así dice tu siervo Jacob: Con Labán he morado, y me he detenido hasta ahora;

y tengo vacas, asnos, ovejas, y siervos y siervas; y envío a decirlo a mi señor, para hallar gracia en tus ojos.

Y los mensajeros volvieron a Jacob, diciendo: Vinimos a tu hermano Esaú, y él también viene a recibirte, y cuatrocientos hombres con él.

Entonces Jacob tuvo gran temor, y se angustió; y distribuyó el pueblo que tenía consigo, y las ovejas y las vacas y los camellos, en dos campamentos.

Y dijo: Si viene Esaú contra un campamento y lo ataca, el otro campamento escapará.

Y dijo Jacob: Dios de mi padre Abraham, y Dios de mi padre Isaac, Jehová, que me dijiste: Vuélvete a tu tierra y a tu parentela, y yo te haré bien;

10 menor soy que todas las misericordias y que toda la verdad que has usado para con tu siervo; pues con mi cayado pasé este Jordán, y ahora estoy sobre dos campamentos.

11 Líbrame ahora de la mano de mi hermano, de la mano de Esaú, porque le temo; no venga acaso y me hiera a la madre con los hijos.

12 Y tú has dicho: Yo te haré bien, y tu descendencia será como la arena del mar, que no se puede contar por la multitud.

13 Y durmió allí aquella noche, y tomó de lo que le vino a la mano un presente para su hermano Esaú:

14 doscientas cabras y veinte machos cabríos, doscientas ovejas y veinte carneros,

15 treinta camellas paridas con sus crías, cuarenta vacas y diez novillos, veinte asnas y diez borricos.

16 Y lo entregó a sus siervos, cada manada de por sí; y dijo a sus siervos: Pasad delante de mí, y poned espacio entre manada y manada.

17 Y mandó al primero, diciendo: Si Esaú mi hermano te encuentra, y te pregunta, diciendo: ¿De quién eres?, ¿y adónde vas?, ¿y para quién es esto que llevas delante de ti?,

18 entonces dirás: Es un presente de tu siervo Jacob, que envía a mi señor Esaú; y he aquí también él viene tras nosotros.

19 Mandó también al segundo, y al tercero, y a todos los que iban tras aquellas manadas, diciendo: Conforme a esto hablaréis a Esaú, cuando le encontréis.

20 Y diréis también: He aquí tu siervo Jacob viene tras nosotros. Porque dijo: Apaciguaré su ira con el presente que va delante de mí, y después veré su rostro; quizá le seré acepto.

21 Pasó, pues, el presente delante de él; y él durmió aquella noche en el campamento.

Jacob lucha con el ángel

22 Y se levantó aquella noche, y tomó sus dos mujeres, y sus dos siervas, y sus once hijos, y pasó el vado de Jaboc.

23 Los tomó, pues, e hizo pasar el arroyo a ellos y a todo lo que tenía.

24 Así se quedó Jacob solo; y luchó con él un varón hasta que rayaba el alba.

25 Y cuando el varón vio que no podía con él, le tocó en el sitio del encaje de su muslo, y se descoyuntó el muslo de Jacob mientras con él luchaba.

26 Y dijo: Déjame, porque raya el alba. Y Jacob le respondió: No te dejaré, si no me bendices.

27 Y el varón le dijo: ¿Cuál es tu nombre? Y él respondió: Jacob.

28 Y el varón le dijo: No se dirá más tu nombre Jacob, sino Israel; porque has luchado con Dios y con los hombres, y has vencido.

29 Entonces Jacob le preguntó, y dijo: Declárame ahora tu nombre. Y el varón respondió: ¿Por qué me preguntas por mi nombre? Y lo bendijo allí.

30 Y llamó Jacob el nombre de aquel lugar, Peniel; porque dijo: Vi a Dios cara a cara, y fue librada mi alma.

31 Y cuando había pasado Peniel, le salió el sol; y cojeaba de su cadera.

32 Por esto no comen los hijos de Israel, hasta hoy día, del tendón que se contrajo, el cual está en el encaje del muslo; porque tocó a Jacob este sitio de su muslo en el tendón que se contrajo.