| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. | 1 As Jacob started on his way again, angels of God came to meet him. |
| 2When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim. | 2When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim. Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau |
| 3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. | 3Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom. |
| 4He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now. | 4He told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban, |
| 5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’ ” | 5and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to me.’” |
| 6When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.” | 6After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” |
| 7In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels. | 7Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. |
| 8He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.” | 8He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.” |
| 9Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’ | 9Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac—O LORD, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’ |
| 10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. | 10I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! |
| 11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me and the mothers and children with me. | 11O LORD, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children. |
| 12But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’ ” | 12But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore—too many to count.’” |
| 13Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau: | 13Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau: |
| 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, | 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, |
| 1530 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. | 1530 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. |
| 16He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.” | 16He divided these animals into herds and assigned each to different servants. Then he told his servants, “Go ahead of me with the animals, but keep some distance between the herds.” |
| 17He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’ | 17He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: “When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’ |
| 18then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’ ” | 18You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right behind us.’” |
| 19He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him. | 19Jacob gave the same instructions to the second and third herdsmen and to all who followed behind the herds: “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. |
| 20You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.” | 20And be sure to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.” |
| 21So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp. | 21So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp. Jacob Wrestles with God |
| 22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. | 22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. |
| 23He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions. | 23After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions. |
| 24So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak. | 24This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. |
| 25When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. | 25When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. |
| 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” | 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” |
| 27“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied. | 27“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” |
| 28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.” | 28“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” |
| 29And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there. | 29“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. “Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. |
| 30So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” | 30Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” |
| 31The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip. | 31The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. |
| 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon which is at the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck near that tendon. | 32(Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.) |
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