Genesis 32 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Jacob's Fear of Esau

Gen 32:1Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him;

Gen 32:2and when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's army!" So he called the name of that place Mahana'im.

Gen 32:3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Se'ir, the country of Edom,

Gen 32:4instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, 'I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now;

Gen 32:5

Gen 32:5and I have oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.'"

Gen 32:6

Gen 32:6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him."

Gen 32:7

Gen 32:7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies,

Gen 32:8

Gen 32:8thinking, "If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape."

Gen 32:9

Gen 32:9And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who didst say to me, 'Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,'

Gen 32:10

Gen 32:10I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

Gen 32:11

Gen 32:11Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children.

Gen 32:12

Gen 32:12But thou didst say, 'I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"

Gen 32:13

Gen 32:13So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau,

Gen 32:14

Gen 32:14two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

Gen 32:15

Gen 32:15thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses.

Gen 32:16

Gen 32:16These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between drove and drove."

Gen 32:17

Gen 32:17He instructed the foremost, "When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you?'

Gen 32:18

Gen 32:18then you shall say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.'"

Gen 32:19

Gen 32:19He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him,

Gen 32:20

Gen 32:20and you shall say, 'Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me."

Gen 32:21

Gen 32:21So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Gen 32:22

Gen 32:22The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

Gen 32:23

Gen 32:23He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.

Jacob Wrestles

Gen 32:24

Gen 32:24And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

Gen 32:25

Gen 32:25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

Gen 32:26

Gen 32:26Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me."

Gen 32:27

Gen 32:27And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."

Gen 32:28

Gen 32:28Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."

Gen 32:29

Gen 32:29Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him.

Gen 32:30

Gen 32:30So Jacob called the name of the place Peni'el, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."

Gen 32:31

Gen 32:31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penu'el, limping because of his thigh.

Gen 32:32

Gen 32:32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.

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Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52. — 2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English

Availability: Freely available for non-commercial use provided that this header is included in its entirety with any copy distributed.

Genesis 32 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Jacob's Fear of Esau

Jacob Wrestles

Pericope