Genesis 32
1 And Jacob hath gone on his way, and messengers of God come upon him;
Jacob went on his way and some angels of God came to meet him.
2 and Jacob saith, when he hath seen them, 'This [is] the camp of God;' and he calleth the name of that place 'Two Camps.'
When he saw them he said, “This must be God's camp!” He named the place “Two Camps.”
3 And Jacob sendeth messengers before him unto Esau his brother, towards the land of Seir, the field of Edom,
He sent messengers on ahead to meet his brother Esau who was living in the region of Seir in the country of Edom.
4 and commandeth them, saying, 'Thus do ye say to my lord, to Esau: Thus said thy servant Jacob, With Laban I have sojourned, and I tarry until now;
He told them, “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau. Your servant Jacob sends you this message. I've been staying with Laban up till now,
5 and I have ox, and ass, flock, and man-servant, and maid-servant, and I send to declare to my lord, to find grace in his eyes.'
and I have cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I've sent these messengers to explain this to you my lord, hoping you'll be pleased to see me.”
6 And the messengers turn back unto Jacob, saying, 'We came in unto thy brother, unto Esau, and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him;'
The messengers returned to Jacob and told him, “Your brother Esau is coming to meet you with 400 armed men!”
7 and Jacob feareth exceedingly, and is distressed, and he divideth the people who [are] with him, and the flock, and the herd, and the camels, into two camps,
When Jacob heard this, he was absolutely terrified. He split all the people with him, along with the sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, into two groups,
8 and saith, 'If Esau come in unto the one camp, and have smitten it — then the camp which is left hath been for an escape.'
saying to himself, “If Esau comes and destroys one group, the other one can get away.”
9 And Jacob saith, 'God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah who saith unto me, Turn back to thy land, and to thy kindred, and I do good with thee:
Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham, God of my father Isaac! Lord, you were the one who told me, ‘Return to your own country and your family home, and I will treat you well.’
10 I have been unworthy of all the kind acts, and of all the truth which Thou hast done with thy servant — for, with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
I don't deserve all the trustworthy love and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I crossed the Jordan years ago with just my walking stick, and now I have two large camps.
11 'Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I am fearing him, less he come and have smitten me — mother beside sons;
Please save me from my brother; defend me from Esau! I'm terrified that he's coming to attack me, my wives, and my children.
12 and Thou — Thou hast said, I certainly do good with thee, and have set thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered because of the multitude.'
You yourself told me, ‘I will definitely treat you well. I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand of the seashore—too many to count.’”
13 And he lodgeth there during that night, and taketh from that which is coming into his hand, a present for Esau his brother:
Jacob stayed the night there. Then he picked out animals as a gift to his brother Esau:
14 she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty,
200 female goats, 20 male goats; 200 ewes, 20 rams;
15 suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, she-asses twenty, and foals ten;
30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls; 20 female donkeys, 10 male donkeys.
16 and he giveth into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and saith unto his servants, 'Pass over before me, and a space ye do put between drove and drove.'
He put his servants in charge of each of the separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep a good distance between the herds.”
17 And he commandeth the first, saying, 'When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and hath asked thee, saying, Whose [art] thou? and whither goest thou? and whose [are] these before thee?
He gave these instructions to those with the first herd: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who is your master, and where are you going, and whose are these animals with you?’
18 then thou hast said, Thy servant Jacob's: it [is] a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and lo, he also [is] behind us.'
you are to say to him, ‘Your servant Jacob sends these as a gift to my lord Esau, and he's following us.’”
19 And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, 'According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him,
He gave the same instructions to those with the second and third and all the subsequent herds, telling them, “This what you are to say to Esau when he meets you.
20 and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob [is] behind us;' for he said, 'I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;'
You must also tell him, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob said to himself, “Maybe by sending these gifts on ahead Esau won't be angry with me and when I meet him he'll be kind to me.”
21 and the present passeth over before his face, and he hath lodged during that night in the camp.
So the gifts went on ahead while Jacob spent the night at the camp.
22 And he riseth in that night, and taketh his two wives, and his two maid-servants, and his eleven children, and passeth over the passage of Jabbok;
He got up during the night and took his two wives and the two personal maids and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River at the ford.
23 and he taketh them, and causeth them to pass over the brook, and he causeth that which he hath to pass over.
After helping them cross he also sent over everything that belonged to him.
24 And Jacob is left alone, and one wrestleth with him till the ascending of the dawn;
But Jacob stayed there alone. A man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
25 and he seeth that he is not able for him, and he cometh against the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh is disjointed in his wrestling with him;
When the man realized he couldn't beat Jacob, he hit Jacob's hip socket and put it out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26 and he saith, 'Send me away, for the dawn hath ascended:' and he saith, 'I send thee not away, except thou hast blessed me.'
Then the man said, “Let me go because it's almost dawn.” “I won't let you go unless you bless me,” Jacob replied.
27 And he saith unto him, 'What [is] thy name?' and he saith, 'Jacob.'
“What's your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.
28 And he saith, 'Thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast been a prince with God and with men, and dost prevail.'
“Jacob will no longer be you name,” said the man. “Instead you will be called Israel, because you fought with God and with men and you won.”
29 And Jacob asketh, and saith, 'Declare, I pray thee, thy name;' and he saith, 'Why [is] this, thou askest for My name?' and He blesseth him there.
“Please tell me your name,” Jacob asked. “Why do you ask me my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 And Jacob calleth the name of the place Peniel: for 'I have seen God face unto face, and my life is delivered;'
Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “I saw God face to face and I'm still alive!”
31 and the sun riseth on him when he hath passed over Penuel, and he is halting on his thigh;
The sun came up as Jacob left Peniel, limping along because of his damaged hip.
32 therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which [is] on the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because He came against the hollow of Jacob's thigh, against the sinew which shrank.
(That's why, even today, Israelites don't eat the thigh tendon attached to the hip socket, because that's where the man hit Jacob's hip socket.)
