⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,^(A) God of my father Isaac,^(B) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’^{(C) 10} I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness^(D) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff^(E) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.^{(F) 11} Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid^(G) he will come and attack me,^(H) and also the mothers with their children.^{(I) 12} But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand^(J) of the sea, which cannot be counted.^(K)’”

¹³ He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift^(L) for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,^{(M) 15} thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.^{(N) 16} He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”^(O)

¹⁷ He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ ¹⁸ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant^(P) Jacob. They are a gift^(Q) sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”

¹⁹ He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ And be sure to say, ‘Your servant^(R) Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts^(S) I am sending on ahead;^(T) later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”^{(U) 21} So Jacob’s gifts^(V) went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles With God

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons^(W) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.^{(X) 23} After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.^{(Y) 24} So Jacob was left alone,^(Z) and a man^(AA) wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip^(AB) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”^(AC)

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

“Jacob,”^(AD) he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name^(AE) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^[a](AF) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”^(AG)

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”^(AH)

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”^(AI) Then he blessed^(AJ) him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,^(AK) and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,^[c](AL) and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,^(AM) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;^(A) so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.^{(B) 2} He put the female servants and their children^(C) in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph^(D) in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground^(E) seven times^(F) as he approached his brother.

⁴ But Esau^(G) ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.^(H) And they wept.^{(I) 5} Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.^(J)”

⁶ Then the female servants and their children^(K) approached and bowed down.^{(L) 7} Next, Leah and her children^(M) came and bowed down.^(N) Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,^(O) and they too bowed down.

⁸ Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”^(P)

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”^(Q) he said.

⁹ But Esau said, “I already have plenty,^(R) my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,^(S) accept this gift^(T) from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,^(U) now that you have received me favorably.^{(V) 11} Please accept the present^(W) that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me^(X) and I have all I need.”^(Y) And because Jacob insisted,^(Z) Esau accepted it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord^(AA) knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.^(AB) If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds^(AC) before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.^(AD)”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”^(AE)

¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.^{(AF) 17} Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,^(AG) where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.^[a]