Genesis 32
Legacy Standard Bible
Jacob’s Fear of Esau
32 Now Jacob went on his way, (A)and the angels of God met him. 2 Then Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s [a]camp.” So he named that place [b](B)Mahanaim.
3 Then Jacob (C)sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of (D)Seir, the [c]country of (E)Edom. 4 He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord, to Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban and have been (F)delayed until now; 5 (G)and I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, (H)that I may find favor in your sight.”’”
6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother, to 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 and the herds and the camels, into two camps. 8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one camp and strikes it, then the camp which remains will escape.”
9 And Jacob said, “O (K)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Yahweh, who said to me, ‘(L)Return to your land and to your kin, and I will [d]prosper you,’ 10 [e]I am unworthy (M)of all the lovingkindness and of all the truth which You have shown to Your slave; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11 (N)Deliver me, I pray, (O)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me down with the (P)mothers and the children. 12 For You said, ‘(Q)I will surely [f]prosper you and (R)make your seed as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”
13 So he spent the night there. Then he took from what [g]he had with him a (S)present 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, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 And he gave them into the hand of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me and put a space between flocks.” 17 And he commanded the first 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 present sent to my lord, to 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, “After this manner 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 his face with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will lift up my face.” 21 So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
22 And he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two servant-women and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the (T)Jabbok. 23 And he took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.
Jacob Wrestles with God
24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man (U)wrestled with him until the [h]breaking of dawn. 25 And he saw that he had not prevailed against him, so he touched the socket of his thigh; and so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is [i]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 (W)Then He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but [j]Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then (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 [k]Peniel, for he said, “(Y)I have seen God face to face, yet my [l]life has been delivered.” 31 And the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over (Z)Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. 32 Therefore, 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.
Footnotes
- Genesis 32:2 Or company
- Genesis 32:2 Lit Two Camps, Two Companies
- Genesis 32:3 Lit field
- Genesis 32:9 Lit do good with you
- Genesis 32:10 Lit I am less than all
- Genesis 32:12 Lit do good with
- Genesis 32:13 Lit had come to his hand
- Genesis 32:24 Lit rising
- Genesis 32:26 Lit rising
- Genesis 32:28 Lit he who strives with God, God strives
- Genesis 32:30 Lit the face of God
- Genesis 32:30 Lit soul
Genesis 32
Christian Standard Bible
Preparing to Meet Esau
32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.(A) 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.[a](B)
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”(C)
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has four hundred men with him.”(D) 7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and camels. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”(E)
9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,(F) the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’(G) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please rescue me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to be counted.’”(H)
13 He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:(I) 14 two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”
17 And he told the first one, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18 then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’”
19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”
21 So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. 22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.(J) 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
Jacob Wrestles with God
24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.(K) 25 When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26 Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,”(L) he said. “It will be Israel[b] because you have struggled with God(M) and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
But he answered, “Why do you ask my name?” (N) And he blessed him there.
30 Jacob then named the place Peniel,[c] “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”(O) 31 The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel[d](P)—limping because of his hip. 32 That is why, still today, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because he struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.[e]
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