Genesis 32
Jewish Publication Society of America Version (JPS1917)
1 (32-2) And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 (32-3) And Jacob said when he saw them: 'This is God's camp.' And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 (32-4) And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
4 (32-5) And 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.
5 (32-6) And 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 favour in thy sight.'
6 (32-7) And 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.'
7 (32-8) Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. And he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps.
8 (32-9) And he said: 'If Esau come to the one camp, and smite it, then the camp which is left shall escape.'
9 (32-10) And Jacob said: 'O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who saidst unto me: Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good;
10 (32-11) I am not worthy of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shown unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two camps.
11 (32-12) Deliver 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.
12 (32-13) 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 (32-14) And he lodged there that night; and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother:
14 (32-15) two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 (32-16) thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.
16 (32-17) And 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.'
17 (32-18) 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 (32-19) then thou shalt say: They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord, even unto Esau; and, behold, he also is behind us.'
19 (32-20) And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: 'In this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;
20 (32-21) and 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.'
21 (32-22) So the present passed over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 (32-23) And 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.
23 (32-24) And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
24 (32-25) And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 (32-26) 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 strained, as he wrestled with him.
26 (32-27) And he said: 'Let me go, for the day breaketh.' And he said: 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.'
27 (32-28) And he said unto him: 'What is thy name?' And be said: 'Jacob.'
28 (32-29) And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.'
29 (32-30) 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 (32-31) And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: 'for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.'
31 (32-32) And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh.
32 (32-33) Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, even in the sinew of the thigh-vein.