Chapter 32 Jacob and the angels
[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[1] 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.