< Genesis 32 >

1 Jacob quoque abiit itinere quo cœperat: fueruntque ei obviam angeli Dei.
And on his way Jacob came face to face with the angels of God.
2 Quos cum vidisset, ait: Castra Dei sunt hæc: et appellavit nomen loci illius Mahanaim, id est, Castra.
And when he saw them he said, This is the army of God: so he gave that place the name of Mahanaim.
3 Misit autem et nuntios ante se ad Esau fratrem suum in terram Seir, in regionem Edom:
Now Jacob sent servants before him to Esau, his brother, in the land of Seir, the country of Edom;
4 præcepitque eis, dicens: Sic loquimini domino meo Esau: Hæc dicit frater tuus Jacob: Apud Laban peregrinatus sum, et fui usque in præsentem diem.
And he gave them orders to say these words to Esau: Your servant Jacob says, Till now I have been living with Laban:
5 Habeo boves, et asinos, et oves, et servos, et ancillas: mittoque nunc legationem ad dominum meum, ut inveniam gratiam in conspectu tuo.
And I have oxen and asses and flocks and men-servants and women-servants: and I have sent to give my lord news of these things so that I may have grace in his eyes.
6 Reversique sunt nuntii ad Jacob, dicentes: Venimus ad Esau fratrem tuum, et ecce properat tibi in occursum cum quadringentis viris.
When the servants came back they said, We have seen your brother Esau and he is coming out to you, and four hundred men with him.
7 Timuit Jacob valde: et perterritus divisit populum qui secum erat, greges quoque et oves, et boves, et camelos, in duas turmas,
Then Jacob was in great fear and trouble of mind: and he put all the people and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two groups;
8 dicens: Si venerit Esau ad unam turmam, et percusserit eam, alia turma, quæ relicta est, salvabitur.
And said, If Esau, meeting one group, makes an attack on them, the others will get away safely.
9 Dixitque Jacob: Deus patris mei Abraham, et Deus patris mei Isaac: Domine qui dixisti mihi: Revertere in terram tuam, et in locum nativitatis tuæ, et benefaciam tibi:
Then Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, the God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, Go back to your country and your family and I will be good to you:
10 minor sum cunctis miserationibus tuis, et veritate tua quam explevisti servo tuo. In baculo meo transivi Jordanem istum: et nunc cum duabus turmis regredior.
I am less than nothing in comparison with all your mercies and your faith to me your servant; for with only my stick in my hand I went across Jordan, and now I have become two armies.
11 Erue me de manu fratris mei Esau, quia valde eum timeo: ne forte veniens percutiat matrem cum filiis.
Be my saviour from the hand of Esau, my brother: for my fear is that he will make an attack on me, putting to death mother and child.
12 Tu locutus es quod benefaceres mihi, et dilatares semen meum sicut arenam maris, quæ præ multitudine numerari non potest.
And you said, Truly, I will be good to you, and make your seed like the sand of the sea which may not be numbered.
13 Cumque dormisset ibi nocte illa, separavit de his quæ habebat, munera Esau fratri suo,
Then he put up his tent there for the night; and from among his goods he took, as an offering for his brother Esau,
14 capras ducentas, hircos viginti, oves ducentas, et arietes viginti,
Two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred females and twenty males from the sheep,
15 camelos fœtas cum pullis suis triginta, vaccas quadraginta, et tauros viginti, asinas viginti et pullos earum decem.
Thirty camels with their young ones, forty cows, ten oxen, twenty asses, and ten young asses.
16 Et misit per manus servorum suorum singulos seorsum greges, dixitque pueris suis: Antecedite me, et sit spatium inter gregem et gregem.
These he gave to his servants, every herd by itself, and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and let there be a space between one herd and another.
17 Et præcepit priori, dicens: Si obvium habueris fratrem meum Esau, et interrogaverit te: Cujus es? aut, Quo vadis? aut, Cujus sunt ista quæ sequeris?
And he gave orders to the first, saying, When my brother Esau comes to you and says, Whose servant are you, and where are you going, and whose are these herds?
18 respondebis: Servi tui Jacob, munera misit domino meo Esau, ipse quoque post nos venit.
Then say to him, These are your servant Jacob's; they are an offering for my lord, for Esau; and he himself is coming after us.
19 Similiter dedit mandata secundo, et tertio, et cunctis qui sequebantur greges, dicens: Iisdem verbis loquimini ad Esau cum inveneritis eum.
And he gave the same orders to the second and the third and to all those who were with the herds, saying, This is what you are to say to Esau when you see him;
20 Et addetis: Ipse quoque servus tuus Jacob iter nostrum insequitur. Dixit enim: Placabo illum muneribus quæ præcedunt, et postea videbo illum: forsitan propitiabitur mihi.
And you are to say further, Jacob, your servant, is coming after us. For he said to himself, I will take away his wrath by the offering which I have sent on, and then I will come before him: it may be that I will have grace in his eyes.
21 Præcesserunt itaque munera ante eum, ipse vero mansit nocte illa in castris.
So the servants with the offerings went on in front, and he himself took his rest that night in the tents with his people.
22 Cumque mature surrexisset, tulit duas uxores suas, et totidem famulas cum undecim filiis, et transivit vadum Jaboc.
And in the night he got up, and taking with him his two wives and the two servant-women and his eleven children, he went over the river Jabbok.
23 Traductisque omnibus quæ ad se pertinebant,
He took them and sent them over the stream with all he had.
24 mansit solus: et ecce vir luctabatur cum eo usque mane.
Then Jacob was by himself; and a man was fighting with him till dawn.
25 Qui cum videret quod eum superare non posset, tetigit nervum femoris ejus, et statim emarcuit.
But when the man saw that he was not able to overcome Jacob, he gave him a blow in the hollow part of his leg, so that his leg was damaged.
26 Dixitque ad eum: Dimitte me: jam enim ascendit aurora. Respondit: Non dimittam te, nisi benedixeris mihi.
And he said to him, Let me go now, for the dawn is near. But Jacob said, I will not let you go till you have given me your blessing.
27 Ait ergo: Quod nomen est tibi? Respondit: Jacob.
Then he said, What is your name? And he said, Jacob.
28 At ille: Nequaquam, inquit, Jacob appellabitur nomen tuum, sed Israël: quoniam si contra Deum fortis fuisti, quanto magis contra homines prævalebis?
And he said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel: for in your fight with God and with men you have overcome.
29 Interrogavit eum Jacob: Dic mihi, quo appellaris nomine? Respondit: Cur quæris nomen meum? Et benedixit ei in eodem loco.
Then Jacob said, What is your name? And he said, What is my name to you? Then he gave him a blessing.
30 Vocavitque Jacob nomen loci illius Phanuel, dicens: Vidi Deum facie ad faciem, et salva facta est anima mea.
And Jacob gave that place the name of Peniel, saying, I have seen God face to face, and still I am living.
31 Ortusque est ei statim sol, postquam transgressus est Phanuel: ipse vero claudicabat pede.
And while he was going past Peniel, the sun came up. And he went with unequal steps because of his damaged leg.
32 Quam ob causam non comedunt nervum filii Israël, qui emarcuit in femore Jacob, usque in præsentem diem: eo quod tetigerit nervum femoris ejus, et obstupuerit.
For this reason the children of Israel, even today, never take that muscle in the hollow of the leg as food, because the hollow of Jacob's leg was touched.

< Genesis 32 >