THE BOOK OF GENESIS

 

Genesis Chapter 32

1 ¶ And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3 ¶ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

4 And he commanded them, saying, This is what you shall say to my lord Esau; Your servant Jacob says this, I have lived with Laban, and stayed there until now:

5 And I have oxen, and donkeys, flocks, and menservants, and maidservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and he also comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him.

7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

8 And said, If Esau comes to the one company, and destroys it, then the other company which is left will escape.

9 ¶ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, Return to your country, and to your kindred, and I will deal well with you:

10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and the truth, that you have shown to your servant; for with my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two bands.

11 Deliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and attack me, and the mothers with the children.

12 And you said, I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13 ¶ And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother;

14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty cows, and ten bulls, twenty she donkeys, and ten foals.

16 These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said to his servants, Pass on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.

17 And he instructed the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, To whom do you belong? where are you going? and whose are these before you?

18 Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent to my lord Esau: and, behold, he is also behind us.

19 He likewise instructed the second, and the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, This is what you will say to Esau, when you find him.

20 And you will say, Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he thought, I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.

21 So the present passed on before him: and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

22 The same night he arose, and took his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford Jabbok.

23 And he took them, and sent them across the stream, and sent over all that he had.

24 ¶ And Jacob was left alone; and there a man wrestled with him until the break of day.

25 And when the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day is breaking. And he said, I will not let you go, unless you bless me.

27 And he said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince you have power with God and with men, and have prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, Tell me, I pray, your name. But he said, Why is it that you ask my name? And he blessed him there.

30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.

31 And as he passed Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he limped because of his thigh.

32 Therefore, to this day, the children of Israel do not eat of the hip muscle that shrank, which covers the hip-socket: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh at the muscle that shrank.