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
unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my
lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned
with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5. And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and
womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may
find grace in thy sight.
6. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy
brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four
hundred men with him.
7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided
the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and
the camels, into two bands;
8. And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it,
then the other company which is left shall escape.
9. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my
father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy
country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all
the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with
my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two
bands.
11. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from
the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and
smite me, and the mother with the children.
12. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy
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
came to his hand 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 kine, and ten
bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
16. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every
drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over
before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
17. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother
meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and
whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18. Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a
present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is
behind us.
19. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that
followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak
unto Esau, when ye find him.
20. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.
For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth
before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure
he will accept of me.
21. So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that
night in the company.
22. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his
two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the
ford Jabbok.
23. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent
over that he had.
24. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him
until the breaking of the day.
25. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, 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 breaketh. And he said, I
will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but
Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with
men, and hast prevailed.
29. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy
name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after
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 my life is preserved.
31. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he
halted upon his thigh.
32. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which
shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this
day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the
sinew that shrank.
Chapter 33
1. And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau
came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the
children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two
handmaids.
2. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and
Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph
hindermost.
3. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the
ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his
neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
5. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the
children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said,
The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
6. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and
they bowed themselves.
7. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed
themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they
bowed themselves.
8. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I
met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my
lord.
9. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou
hast unto thyself.
10. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace
in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for
therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the
face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
11. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee;
because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I
have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.
12. And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I
will go before thee.
13. And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are
tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and
if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will
die.
14. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and
I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth
before me and the children be able to endure, until I come
unto my lord unto Seir.
15. And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk
that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find
grace in the sight of my lord.
16. So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.
17. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and
made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place
is called Succoth.
18. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the
land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his
tent before the city.
19. And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his
tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's
father, for an hundred pieces of money.
20. And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.
