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Genesis 32
GOD’S WORD Translation
Genesis 32
GOD’S WORD Translation
Jacob Sends Messages and Gifts to Esau
32 [a]As Jacob went on his way, God’s angels met him. 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp!” He named that place Mahanaim [Two Camps].
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He commanded them to give this message to Esau, “Sir, this is what Jacob has to say, ‘I’ve been living with Laban and have stayed until now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I’ve sent ⌞these messengers⌟ to tell you ⌞this news⌟ in order to win your favor.’ ”
6 When the messengers came back to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you with 400 men.”
7 Jacob was terrified and distressed. So he divided the people, the sheep and goats, the cattle, and the camels into two camps. 8 He thought, “If Esau attacks the one camp, then the other camp will be able to escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac! Lord, you said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your relatives, and I will make you prosperous.’ 10 I’m not worthy of all the love and faithfulness you have shown me. I only had a shepherd’s staff when I crossed the Jordan River, but now I have two camps. 11 Please save me from my brother Esau, because I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid that he’ll come and attack me and the mothers and children too. 12 But you did say, ‘I will make sure that you are prosperous and that your descendants will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to count them because there are so many.’ ”
13 He stayed there that night. Then he prepared a gift for his brother Esau from what he had brought with him: 14 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep, 15 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.
16 He placed servants in charge of each herd. Then he said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep a distance between the herds.” 17 He commanded the first servant, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18 then say, ‘Sir, they belong to your servant Jacob. This is a gift sent to you. Jacob is right behind us.’ ” 19 He also commanded the second servant, the third, and all the others who followed the herds. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 And be sure to add, ‘Jacob is right behind us, sir.’ ” He thought, “I’ll make peace with him by giving him this gift that I’m sending ahead of me. After that I will see him, and he’ll welcome me back.” 21 So Jacob sent the gift ahead of him while he stayed in the camp that night.
Jacob’s Fourth Encounter with God—He Wrestles with God
22 During that night he got up and gathered his two wives, his two slaves and his eleven children and crossed at the shallow part of the Jabbok River. 23 After he sent them across the stream, he sent everything else across. 24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until dawn. 25 When the man saw that he could not win against Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that it was dislocated as they wrestled. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go; it’s almost dawn.”
But Jacob answered, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”
27 So the man asked him, “What’s your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel [He Struggles With God], because you have struggled with God and with men—and you have won.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
The man answered, “Why do you ask for my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there. 30 So Jacob named that place Peniel [Face of God], because he said, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.” 31 The sun rose as he passed Penuel.[b] He was limping because of his hip. 32 (Therefore, even today the people of Israel do not eat the muscle of the thigh attached to the hip socket because God touched the socket of Jacob’s hip at the muscle of the thigh.)
Footnotes
- 32:1 Genesis 32:1–32 in English Bibles is Genesis 32:2–33 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 32:31 Another name for Peniel.
Genesis 32
New International Version
Genesis 32
New International Version
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
32 [a]Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God(A) met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!”(B) So he named that place Mahanaim.[b](C)
3 Jacob sent messengers(D) ahead of him to his brother Esau(E) in the land of Seir,(F) the country of Edom.(G) 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord(H) Esau: ‘Your servant(I) Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban(J) and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.(K) Now I am sending this message to my lord,(L) that I may find favor in your eyes.(M)’”
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”(N)
7 In great fear(O) and distress(P) Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,[c](Q) and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,[d] the group[e] that is left may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,(R) God of my father Isaac,(S) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’(T) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness(U) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff(V) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.(W) 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid(X) he will come and attack me,(Y) and also the mothers with their children.(Z) 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand(AA) of the sea, which cannot be counted.(AB)’”
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift(AC) for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,(AD) 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.(AE) 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.”(AF)
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(AG) Jacob. They are a gift(AH) 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(AI) Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts(AJ) I am sending on ahead;(AK) later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”(AL) 21 So Jacob’s gifts(AM) 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(AN) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.(AO) 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.(AP) 24 So Jacob was left alone,(AQ) and a man(AR) wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip(AS) 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.”(AT)
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,”(AU) he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name(AV) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[f](AW) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”(AX)
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”(AY)
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”(AZ) Then he blessed(BA) him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[g] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,(BB) and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[h](BC) 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,(BD) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
Footnotes
- Genesis 32:1 In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33.
- Genesis 32:2 Mahanaim means two camps.
- Genesis 32:7 Or camps
- Genesis 32:8 Or camp
- Genesis 32:8 Or camp
- Genesis 32:28 Israel probably means he struggles with God.
- Genesis 32:30 Peniel means face of God.
- Genesis 32:31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel
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