Jacob’s Fear of Esau

1Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. 2And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s [a]camp.” So he named that place [b]Mahanaim.

3Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the [c]country of Edom. 4He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says the following: “I have resided with Laban, and stayed until now; 5and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent messengers to tell my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

6And the 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.” 7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies; 8for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and [d]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

9Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will [e]make you prosper,’ 10[f]I am unworthy of all the [g]favor and of all the [h]faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. 11Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and [i]attack me and the mothers with the children. 12For You said, ‘I will assuredly [j]make you prosper and make your [k]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”

13So he spent the night there. Then he [l]selected from what [m]he had with him a gift for his brother Esau: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16Then he placed them in the [n]care of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between flocks.” 17And he commanded the [o]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 you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” 19Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

22Now he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children, and crossed the shallow place of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles