JPS - Genesis - 32

32:1  And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. And Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

32:2  And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of G-d met him.

32:3  And Jacob said when he saw them: 'This is G-d's camp.' And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

32:4  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

32:5  And he commanded them, saying: 'Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now.

32:6  And I have oxen, and asses and flocks, and men-servants and maid-servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.'

32:7  And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: 'We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.'

32:8  Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. And he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps.

32:9  And he said: 'If Esau come to the one camp, and smite it, then the camp which is left shall escape.'

32:10  And Jacob said: 'O G-d of my father Abraham, and G-d of my father Isaac, O HaShem, who saidst unto me: Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good;

32:11  I am not worthy of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shown unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two camps.

32:12  Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.

32:13  And Thou saidst: I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'

32:14  And he lodged there that night; and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother:

32:15  two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

32:16  thirty milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.

32:17  And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants: 'Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.'

32:18  And he commanded the foremost, saying: 'When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying: Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

32:19  then thou shalt say: They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord, even unto Esau; and, behold, he also is behind us.'

32:20  And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: 'In this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;

32:21  and ye shall say: Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.' For he said: 'I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.'

32:22  So the present passed over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

32:23  And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.

32:24  And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

32:25  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

32:26  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him.

32:27  And he said: 'Let me go, for the day breaketh.' And he said: 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.'

32:28  And he said unto him: 'What is thy name?' And be said: 'Jacob.'

32:29  And he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast striven with G-d and with men, and hast prevailed.'

32:30  And Jacob asked him, and said: 'Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.' And he said: 'Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?' And he blessed him there.

32:31  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: 'for I have seen G-d face to face, and my life is preserved.'

32:32  And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh.

32:33  Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, even in the sinew of the thigh-vein.