Genesis 32

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him.	1 Early the next morning, Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters goodbye; then he set out on his journey back home,
2 And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.	2 while Jacob continued on his own way. Then God's messengers encountered Jacob.
3 And he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir to the country of Edom:	3 When he saw them he said, "This is God's encampment." So he named that place Mahanaim.
4 And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day.	4 Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,
5 I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight.	5 with this message: "Thus shall you say to my lord Esau: 'Your servant Jacob speaks as follows: I have been staying with Laban and have been detained there until now.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men.	6 I own cattle, asses and sheep, as well as male and female servants. I am sending my lord this information in the hope of gaining your favor.'"
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,	7 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We reached your brother Esau. He is now coming to meet you, accompanied by four hundred men."
8 Saying: If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other company that is left shall escape.	8 Jacob was very much frightened. In his anxiety, he divided the people who were with him, as well as his flocks, herds and camels, into two camps.
9 And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who saidst to me: Return to thy land and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee,	9 "If Esau should attack and overwhelm one camp," he reasoned, "the remaining camp may still survive."
10 I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.	10 Then he prayed: "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac! You told me, O LORD, 'Go back to the land of your birth, and I will be good to you.'
11 Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him: lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children.	11 I am unworthy of all the acts of kindness that you have loyally performed for your servant: although I crossed the Jordan here with nothing but my staff, I have now grown into two companies.
12 Thou didst say that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for the multitude.	12 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau! Otherwise I fear that when he comes he will strike me down and slay the mothers and children.
13 And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau.	13 You yourself said, 'I will be very good to you, and I will make your descendants like the sands of the sea, which are too numerous to count.'"
14 Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,	14 After passing the night there, Jacob selected from what he had with him the following presents for his brother Esau:
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals.	15 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes and twenty rams;
16 And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove.	16 thirty milch camels and their young; forty cows and ten bulls; twenty she-asses and ten he-asses.
17 And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee?	17 He put these animals in charge of his servants, in separate droves, and he told the servants, "Go on ahead of me, but keep a space between one drove and the next."
18 Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob's: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us.	18 To the servant in the lead he gave this instruction: "When my brother Esau meets you, he may ask you, 'Whose man are you? Where are you going? To whom do these animals ahead of you belong?'
19 In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that followed with the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him.	19 Then you shall answer, 'They belong to your brother Jacob, but they have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau; and Jacob himself is right behind us.'"
20 And ye shall add: thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us: for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.	20 He gave similar instructions to the second servant and the third and to all the others who followed behind the droves, namely: "Thus and thus shall you say to Esau, when you reach him;
21 So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp.	21 and be sure to add, 'Your servant Jacob is right behind us.'" For Jacob reasoned, "If I first appease him with gifts that precede me, then later, when I face him, perhaps he will forgive me."
22 And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.	22 So the gifts went on ahead of him, while he stayed that night in the camp.
23 And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,	23 In the course of that night, however, Jacob arose, took his two wives, with the two maidservants and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
24 He remained alone: and behold a man wrestled with him till morning.	24 After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions,
25 And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.	25 Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
26 And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let thee go except thou bless me.	26 When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled.
27 And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob.	27 The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me."
28 But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men?	28 "What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob."
29 Jacob asked him, Tell me by what name art thou called? He answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place.	29 Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed."
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.	30 Jacob then asked him, "Do tell me your name, please." He answered, "Why should you want to know my name?" With that, he bade him farewell.
31 And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel; but he halted on his foot.	31 Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared."
32 Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the sinew, that shrank in Jacob's thigh: because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank.	32 At sunrise, as he left Penuel, Jacob limped along because of his hip.
	33 That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob's hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle.