Beginning
Jacob Wrestles at Peniel
32 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God[a] met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed,[b] “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.[c]
3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead[d] to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region[e] of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant[f] Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.[g] 5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent[h] this message[i] to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has 400 men with him.” 7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 8 “If Esau attacks one camp,”[j] he thought,[k] “then the other camp will be able to escape.”[l]
9 Then Jacob prayed,[m] “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said[n] to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’[o] 10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love[p] you have shown[q] your servant. With only my walking stick[r] I crossed the Jordan,[s] but now I have become two camps. 11 Rescue me,[t] I pray, from the hand[u] of my brother Esau,[v] for I am afraid he will come[w] and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.[x] 12 But you[y] said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper[z] and will make[aa] your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”[ab]
13 Jacob[ac] stayed there that night. Then he sent[ad] as a gift[ae] to his brother Esau 14 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 15 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, and 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to[af] his servants, who divided them into herds.[ag] He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd,[ah] “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong?[ai] Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’[aj] 18 then you must say,[ak] ‘They belong[al] to your servant Jacob.[am] They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau.[an] In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’”[ao]
19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.[ap] 20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’”[aq] Jacob thought,[ar] “I will first appease him[as] by sending a gift ahead of me.[at] After that I will meet him.[au] Perhaps he will accept me.”[av] 21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him[aw] while he spent that night in the camp.[ax]
22 During the night Jacob quickly took[ay] his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons[az] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.[ba] 23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions.[bb] 24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man[bc] wrestled[bd] with him until daybreak.[be] 25 When the man[bf] saw that he could not defeat Jacob,[bg] he struck[bh] the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
26 Then the man[bi] said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”[bj] “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied,[bk] “unless you bless me.”[bl] 27 The man asked him,[bm] “What is your name?”[bn] He answered, “Jacob.” 28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him,[bo] “but Israel,[bp] because you have fought[bq] with God and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.”[br] “Why[bs] do you ask my name?” the man replied.[bt] Then he blessed[bu] Jacob[bv] there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel,[bw] explaining,[bx] “Certainly[by] I have seen God face to face[bz] and have survived.”[ca]
31 The sun rose[cb] over him as he crossed over Penuel,[cc] but[cd] he was limping because of his hip. 32 That is why to this day[ce] the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck[cf] the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.
Jacob Meets Esau
33 Jacob looked up[cg] and saw that Esau was coming[ch] along with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them.[ci] 3 But Jacob[cj] himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached[ck] his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 5 When Esau[cl] looked up[cm] and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob[cn] replied, “The children whom God has graciously given[co] your servant.” 6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down.[cp] 7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.
8 Esau[cq] then asked, “What did you intend[cr] by sending all these herds to meet me?”[cs] Jacob[ct] replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.” 9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said.[cu] “If I have found favor in your sight, accept[cv] my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me,[cw] it is as if I have seen the face of God.[cx] 11 Please take my present[cy] that was brought to you, for God has been generous[cz] to me and I have all I need.”[da] When Jacob urged him, he took it.[db]
12 Then Esau[dc] said, “Let’s be on our way![dd] I will go in front of you.” 13 But Jacob[de] said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young,[df] and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young.[dg] If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. 14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children,[dh] until I come to my lord at Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.”[di] “Why do that?” Jacob replied.[dj] “My lord has already been kind enough to me.”[dk]
16 So that same day Esau made his way back[dl] to Seir. 17 But[dm] Jacob traveled to Sukkoth[dn] where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called[do] Sukkoth.[dp]
18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near[dq] the city. 19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it[dr] from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of money.[ds] 20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.”[dt]
Dinah and the Shechemites
34 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet[du] the young women[dv] of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her,[dw] and sexually assaulted her.[dx] 3 Then he became very attached[dy] to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her.[dz] 4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.”[ea] 5 When[eb] Jacob heard that Shechem[ec] had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent[ed] until they came in.
6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah.[ee] 7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news.[ef] They[eg] were offended[eh] and very angry because Shechem[ei] had disgraced Israel[ej] by sexually assaulting[ek] Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed.[el]
8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter.[em] Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us.[en] Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves.[eo] 10 You may live[ep] among us, and the land will be open to you.[eq] Live in it, travel freely in it,[er] and acquire property in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s[es] father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me[et] I’ll give.[eu] 12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive,[ev] and I’ll give[ew] whatever you ask[ex] of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”
13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem[ey] had violated their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We cannot give[ez] our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace[fa] to us. 15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become[fb] like us by circumcising[fc] all your males. 16 Then we will give[fd] you our daughters to marry,[fe] and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 17 But if you do not agree to our terms[ff] by being circumcised, then we will take[fg] our sister[fh] and depart.”
18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem.[fi] 19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked[fj] because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah[fk] badly. (Now he was more important[fl] than anyone in his father’s household.)[fm] 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate[fn] of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough[fo] for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.[fp] 22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand[fq] that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 23 If we do so,[fr] won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”
24 All the men who assembled at the city gate[fs] agreed with[ft] Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate[fu] was circumcised. 25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword[fv] and went to the unsuspecting city[fw] and slaughtered every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 27 Jacob’s sons killed them[fx] and looted the city because their sister had been violated.[fy] 28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields.[fz] 29 They captured as plunder[ga] all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin on[gb] me by making me a foul odor[gc] among the inhabitants of the land—among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I[gd] am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 31 But Simeon and Levi replied,[ge] “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”
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