Holman Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Jacob went on his way, and God's angels met him.

1Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him.

2When he saw them, Jacob said, "This is God's camp." So he called that place Mahanaim.

2Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim.

3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

3Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

4He commanded them, "You are to say to my lord Esau, 'This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now.

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

5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.'"

5I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'"

6When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you--and he has 400 men with him."

6The 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."

7Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, cattle, and camels.

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

8He thought, "If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape."

8for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape."

9Then Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, 'Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,'

9Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,'

10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps.

10I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.

11Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children.

11"Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.

12You have said, 'I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.'"

12"For You said, 'I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'"

13He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:

13So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau:

14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

15 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

15thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

16He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, "Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds."

16He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between droves."

17And he told the first one: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?'

17He commanded the 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?'

18then tell him, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.'"

18then you shall say, 'These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.'"

19He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, "Say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

19Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;

20You are also to say, 'Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.'" For he thought, "I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me."

20and you shall say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me."

21So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night.

21So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his 11 sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.

22Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

23He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

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

24Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

25When the man saw that He could not defeat him, He struck Jacob's hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip.

25When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

26Then He said to Jacob, "Let Me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me.""

26Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

27What is your name?" the man asked." Jacob," he replied."

27So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."

28Your name will no longer be Jacob," He said. "It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."

28He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."

29Then Jacob asked Him, "Please tell me Your name." But He answered, "Why do you ask My name?" And He blessed him there.

29Then 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.

30Jacob then named the place Peniel, "For I have seen God face to face," he said, "and I have been delivered."

30So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."

31The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel--limping because of his hip.

31Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.

32That is why, to this day, the Israelites don't eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because He struck Jacob's hip socket at the thigh muscle.

32Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org