32 Then Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.

² When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s army! So he named that place Mahanaim [two armies].^(A)

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

⁴ And he commanded them, Say this to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living temporarily with Laban and have stayed there till now.

⁵ And I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find mercy and kindness in your sight.

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau; and now he is [on the way] to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.

⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups,

⁸ Thinking, If Esau comes to the one group and smites it, then the other group which is left will escape.

⁹ Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good,

¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.

¹² And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³ And Jacob lodged there that night and took from what he had with him as a present for his brother Esau:

¹⁴ Two hundred she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

¹⁵ Thirty milk camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 she-donkeys, and 10 [donkey] colts.

¹⁶ And he put them into the charge of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me and put a space between drove and drove.

¹⁷ And he commanded the first, When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, where you are going, and whose are the animals before you,

¹⁸ Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover, he is behind us.

¹⁹ And so he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, This is what you are to say to Esau when you meet him.

²⁰ And say, Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.

²¹ So the present went on before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

²² But he rose up that [same] night and took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons and passed over the ford [of the] Jabbok.

²³ And he took them and sent them across the brook; also he sent over all that he had.

²⁴ And Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak.

²⁵ And when [the ^[a]Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him.

²⁶ Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But [Jacob] said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me.

²⁷ [The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!

²⁸ And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed.^(B)

²⁹ Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And ^[b][the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there.

³⁰ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away.

³¹ And as he passed Penuel [Peniel], the sun rose upon him, and he was limping because of his thigh.

³² That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the hollow of the thigh, because [the Angel of the Lord] touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh on the sinew of the hip.