Jacob's Fear of Esau

1And Jacob hath gone on his way, and messengers of God come upon him; 2and Jacob saith, when he hath seen them, ‘This [is] the camp of God;’ and he calleth the name of that place ‘Two Camps.’

3And Jacob sendeth messengers before him unto Esau his brother, towards the land of Seir, the field of Edom, 4and commandeth them, saying, ‘Thus do ye say to my lord, to Esau: Thus said thy servant Jacob, With Laban I have sojourned, and I tarry until now; 5and I have ox, and ass, flock, and man-servant, and maid-servant, and I send to declare to my lord, to find grace in his eyes.’

6And the messengers turn back unto Jacob, saying, ‘We came in unto thy brother, unto Esau, and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him;’ 7and Jacob feareth exceedingly, and is distressed, and he divideth the people who [are] with him, and the flock, and the herd, and the camels, into two camps, 8and saith, ‘If Esau come in unto the one camp, and have smitten it — then the camp which is left hath been for an escape.’

9And Jacob saith, ‘God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah who saith unto me, Turn back to thy land, and to thy kindred, and I do good with thee: 10I have been unworthy of all the kind acts, and of all the truth which Thou hast done with thy servant — for, with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 11‘Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I am fearing him, less he come and have smitten me — mother beside sons; 12and Thou — Thou hast said, I certainly do good with thee, and have set thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered because of the multitude.’

13And he lodgeth there during that night, and taketh from that which is coming into his hand, a present for Esau his brother: 14she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty, 15suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, she-asses twenty, and foals ten; 16and he giveth into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and saith unto his servants, ‘Pass over before me, and a space ye do put between drove and drove.’ 17And he commandeth the first, saying, ‘When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and hath asked thee, saying, Whose [art] thou? and whither goest thou? and whose [are] these before thee? 18then thou hast said, Thy servant Jacob’s: it [is] a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and lo, he also [is] behind us.’ 19And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, ‘According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him, 20and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob [is] behind us;’ for he said, ‘I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;’ 21and the present passeth over before his face, and he hath lodged during that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

22And he riseth in that night, and taketh his two wives, and his two maid-servants, and his eleven children, and passeth over the passage of Jabbok; 23and he taketh them, and causeth them to pass over the brook, and he causeth that which he hath to pass over.

24And Jacob is left alone, and one wrestleth with him till the ascending of the dawn; 25and he seeth that he is not able for him, and he cometh against the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh is disjointed in his wrestling with him; 26and he saith, ‘Send me away, for the dawn hath ascended:’ and he saith, ‘I send thee not away, except thou hast blessed me.’ 27And he saith unto him, ‘What [is] thy name?’ and he saith, ‘Jacob.’ 28And he saith, ‘Thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast been a prince with God and with men, and dost prevail.’ 29And Jacob asketh, and saith, ‘Declare, I pray thee, thy name;’ and he saith, ‘Why [is] this, thou askest for My name?’ and He blesseth him there. 30And Jacob calleth the name of the place Peniel: for ‘I have seen God face unto face, and my life is delivered;’ 31and the sun riseth on him when he hath passed over Penuel, and he is halting on his thigh; 32therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which [is] on the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because He came against the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, against the sinew which shrank.