Jacob's Fear of Esau

1And Jacob departed for his journey; and having looked up, he saw the host of God encamped; and the angels of God met him. 2And Jacob said, when he saw them, This is the Camp of God; and he called the name of that place, Encampments.

3And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom. 4And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye say to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob; I have sojourned with Laban and tarried until now. 5And there were born to me oxen, and asses, and sheep, and men-servants and women-servants; and I sent to tell my lord Esau, that thy servant might find grace in thy sight.

6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and lo! he comes to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. 7And Jacob was greatly terrified, and was perplexed; and he divided the people that was with him, and the cows, and the camels, and the sheep, into two camps. 8And Jacob said, If Esau should come to one camp, and smite it, the other camp shall be in safety.

9And Jacob said, God of my father Abraam, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, thou art he that said to me, Depart quickly to the land of thy birth, and I will do thee good. 10Let there be to me a sufficiency of all the justice and all the truth which thou hast wrought with thy servant; for with this my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two camps. 11Deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, lest haply he should come and smite me, and the mother upon the children. 12But thou saidst, I will do thee good, and will make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which shall not be numbered for multitude.

13And he slept there that night, and took of the gifts which he carried with him, and sent out to Esau his brother, 14two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred sheep, twenty rams, 15milch camels, and their foals, thirty, forty kine, ten bulls, twenty asses, and ten colts. 16And he gave them to his servants each drove apart; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove. 17And he charged the first, saying, If Esau my brother meet thee, and he ask thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither wouldest thou go, and whose are these possessions advancing before thee? 18Thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's; he hath sent gifts to my lord Esau, and lo! he is behind us. 19And he charged the first and the second and the third, and all that went before him after these flocks, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him; 20and ye shall say, Behold thy servant Jacob comes after us. For he said, I will propitiate his countenance with the gifts going before his presence, and afterwards I will behold his face, for peradventure he will accept me. 21So the presents went on before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

22And he rose up in that night, and took his two wives and his two servant-maids, and his eleven children, and crossed over the ford of Jaboch. 23And he took them, and passed over the torrent, and brought over all his possessions.

24And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him till the morning. 25And he saw that he prevailed not against him; and he touched the broad part of his thigh, and the broad part of Jacob's thigh was benumbed in his wrestling with him. 26And he said to him, Let me go, for the day has dawned; but he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27And he said to him, What is thy name? and he answered, Jacob. 28And he said to him, Thy name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; for thou hast prevailed with God, and shalt be mighty with men. 29And Jacob asked and said, Tell me thy name; and he said, Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? and he blessed him there. 30And Jacob called the name of that place, the Face of God; for, said he,I have seen God face to face, and my life was preserved. 31And the sun rose upon him, when he passed the Face of God; and he halted upon his thigh. 32Therefore the children of Israel will by no means eat of the sinew which was benumbed, which is on the broad part of the thigh, until this day, because the angel touched the broad part of the thigh of Jacob— even the sinew which was benumbed.