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Genesis 32 :: New American Standard Bible 2020 (NASB20)

Jacob’s Fear of Esau

Gen 32:1

Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him.

Gen 32:2And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s [fn]camp.” So he named that place [fn]Mahanaim.
Gen 32:3

Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the [fn]country of Edom.

Gen 32:4He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says the following: “I have resided with Laban, and stayed until now;
Gen 32:5and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent messengers to tell my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.”’”
Gen 32:6

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

Gen 32:7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies;
Gen 32:8for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and [fn]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”
Gen 32:9

Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will [fn]make you prosper,’

Gen 32:10[fn]I am unworthy of all the [fn]favor and of all the [fn]faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.
Gen 32:11“Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and [fn]attack me and the mothers with the children.
Gen 32:12“For You said, ‘I will assuredly [fn]make you prosper and make your [fn]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”
Gen 32:13

So he spent the night there. Then he [fn]selected from what [fn]he had with him a gift for his brother Esau:

Gen 32:14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
Gen 32:15thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
Gen 32:16Then he placed them in the [fn]care of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between flocks.”
Gen 32:17And he commanded the [fn]one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’
Gen 32:18then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’”
Gen 32:19Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him;
Gen 32:20and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”
Gen 32:21So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
Gen 32:22

Now he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children, and crossed the shallow place of the Jabbok.

Gen 32:23He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

Gen 32:24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Gen 32:25When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of [fn]Jacob’s hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
Gen 32:26Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Gen 32:27So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
Gen 32:28Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but [fn]Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Gen 32:29And Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there.
Gen 32:30So Jacob named the place [fn]Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my [fn]life has been [fn]spared.”
Gen 32:31Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his hip.
Gen 32:32Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip which is on the socket of the hip, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the tendon of the hip.
NASB20 Footnotes
Or company
I.e., Two Camps, or Two Companies
Lit field
Lit strikes
Lit do good with you
Lit I am less than all
I.e., generosity
Or truth
Lit strike
Lit do good with you
Lit seed
Lit took
Lit had come to his hand
Lit hand
Lit first
Lit his
I.e., he who contends with God; or God contends
I.e., the face of God
Lit soul
Lit saved
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Genesis Chapter 32 — Additional Translations: