Jacob Wrestles With God

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons^(A) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.^{(B) 23} After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.^{(C) 24} So Jacob was left alone,^(D) and a man^(E) wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip^(F) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”^(G)

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,”^(H) he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name^(I) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^[a](J) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”^(K)

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”^(L)

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”^(M) Then he blessed^(N) him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,^(O) and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,^[c](P) and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,^(Q) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid,^(A) Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.^(B)

³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,^(A) Mary; you have found favor with God.^(B)

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.^(A) I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba^(A) and set out for Harran.^{(B) 11} When he reached a certain place,^(C) he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head^(D) and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream^(E) in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.^{(F) 13} There above it^[a] stood the Lord,^(G) and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.^(H) I will give you and your descendants the land^(I) on which you are lying.^{(J) 14} Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you^(K) will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south.^(L) All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.^{[b](M) 15} I am with you^(N) and will watch over you^(O) wherever you go,^(P) and I will bring you back to this land.^(Q) I will not leave you^(R) until I have done what I have promised you.^(S)”^(T)

¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep,^(U) he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!^(V) This is none other than the house of God;^(W) this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head^(X) and set it up as a pillar^(Y) and poured oil on top of it.^{(Z) 19} He called that place Bethel,^[c](AA) though the city used to be called Luz.^(AB)

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow,^(AC) saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me^(AD) on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear^{(AE) 21} so that I return safely^(AF) to my father’s household,^(AG) then the Lord^[d] will be my God^{(AH) 22} and^[e] this stone that I have set up as a pillar^(AI) will be God’s house,^(AJ) and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.^(AK)”

⁵ Joseph had a dream,^(A) and when he told it to his brothers,^(B) they hated him all the more.^{(C) 6} He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves^(D) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”^(E)

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”^(F) And they hated him all the more^(G) because of his dream and what he had said.

⁹ Then he had another dream,^(H) and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars^(I) were bowing down to me.”^(J)

¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers,^(K) his father rebuked^(L) him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”^(M)

⁵ each of the two men—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison—had a dream^(A) the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own.^(B)

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale^(A) and he was so frightened^(B) that his legs became weak^(C) and his knees were knocking.^(D)

⁷ The king summoned the enchanters,^(E) astrologers^[a](F) and diviners.^(G) Then he said to these wise^(H) men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck,^(I) and he will be made the third^(J) highest ruler in the kingdom.”^(K)

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men^(L) came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.^{(M) 9} So King Belshazzar became even more terrified^(N) and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

Balaam’s Donkey

²¹ Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. ²² But God was very angry^(A) when he went, and the angel of the Lord^(B) stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword^(C) in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it^(D) to get it back on the road.

²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry^(E) and beat it with his staff. ²⁸ Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth,^(F) and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?^(G)”

²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.^(H)”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes,^(I) and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

³² The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.^{[a] 33} The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now,^(J) but I would have spared it.”

³⁴ Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned.^(K) I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.”

³⁵ The angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.