Genesis 32 — Jacob's Wrestling at the Jabbok

1And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.💡

2And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.💡

3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.💡

4And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now:💡

5and I have oxen, and asses, and flocks, and men-servants, and maid-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight.💡

6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.💡

7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;💡

8and he said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape.💡

9And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:💡

10I am not worthy of the least of all the lovingkindnesses, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies.💡

11Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.💡

12And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.💡

13And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother:💡

14two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,💡

15thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.💡

16And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.💡

17And 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?💡

18then thou shalt say, They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.💡

19And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;💡

20and ye shall say, 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 me.💡

21So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.💡

22And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.💡

23And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.💡

24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.💡

25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.💡

26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.💡

27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.💡

28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.💡

29And 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.💡

30And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.💡

31And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped upon his thigh.💡

32Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.💡