Jacob’s Fear of Esau

32 Now as Jacob went on his way, ^(A)the angels of God met him. ² 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 Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and ^(F)stayed until now; ^5 (G)I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, ^(H)that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

⁶ 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 and 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 Jacob said, “O ^(K)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘^(L)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will ^[e]prosper you,’ ^10 [f]I am unworthy ^(M)of all the lovingkindness and of all the ^[g]faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (N)Deliver me, I pray, ^(O)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ^[h]attack me and the ^(P)mothers with the children. ¹² For You said, ‘^(Q)I will surely ^[i]prosper you and ^(R)make your ^[j]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he ^[k]selected from what ^[l]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 He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.” ¹⁷ He commanded the ^[m]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 Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” ¹⁹ Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, 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 him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

²² Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford 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 he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; 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 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)He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[n]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 ^[o]Peniel, for he said, “^(Y)I have seen God face to face, yet my ^[p]life has been preserved.” ³¹ Now 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.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm.

A Psalm of David.

⁶⁰ Therefore many of His ^(A)disciples, when they heard this said, “^(B)This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, ^(C)conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this ^(D)cause you to stumble? ⁶² What then if you see ^(E)the Son of Man ^(F)ascending to where He was before? ^63 (G)It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; ^(H)the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴ But there are ^(I)some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus ^(J)knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and ^(K)who it was that would ^[a]betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He was saying, “For this reason I have ^(L)said to you, that no one can come to Me unless ^(M)it has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter’s Confession of Faith

⁶⁶ As a result of this many of His ^(N)disciples ^(O)withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to ^(P)the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” ^68 (Q)Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(R)words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have believed and have come to know that You are ^(S)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “^(T)Did I Myself not choose you, ^(U)the twelve, and yet one of you is ^(V)a devil?” ⁷¹ Now He meant Judas ^(W)the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, ^(X)one of ^(Y)the twelve, ^[b]was going to betray Him.