Genesis 32:22-32

New International Reader's Version

Jacob Wrestles With God

²² That night Jacob got up. He took his two wives, his two female servants and his 11 sons and sent them across the Jabbok River. ²³ After they had crossed the stream, he sent over everything he owned. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone. A man wrestled with him until morning. ²⁵ The man saw that he couldn’t win. So he touched the inside of Jacob’s hip. As Jacob wrestled with the man, Jacob’s hip was twisted. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go. It is morning.”

But Jacob replied, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”

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

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will not be Jacob anymore. Instead, it will be Israel. You have wrestled with God and with people. And you have won.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

³⁰ So Jacob named the place Peniel. He said, “I saw God face to face. But I’m still alive!”

³¹ The sun rose above Jacob as he passed by Peniel. He was limping because of his hip. ³² That’s why the Israelites don’t eat the meat attached to the inside of an animal’s hip. They don’t eat it to this day. It’s because the inside of Jacob’s hip was touched.