Draft Hebrew Bible in English: Text of Genesis 32

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1⁽²⁾And Jacob went on his way, and angels of God met him. 2⁽³⁾And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God’s camp. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3⁽⁴⁾ And Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. 4⁽⁵⁾ And he commanded them, saying, Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now. 5⁽⁶⁾And I have cattle and donkeys, sheep, male slaves, and female slaves. And I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.

6⁽⁷⁾And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him. 7⁽⁸⁾And Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed, and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps. 8⁽⁹⁾And he said, If Esau comes to the one camp, and strikes it, then the remaining camp will escape.

9⁽¹⁰⁾And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and god of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good. 10⁽¹¹⁾ I am not worthy of the least of all the kindnesses, and of all the faithfulness which you have shown to your servant; for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two camps. 11⁽¹²⁾ Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, the mother with the children. 12⁽¹³⁾ And you said, I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13⁽¹⁴⁾And he stayed there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for Esau his brother: 14⁽¹⁵⁾ two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15⁽¹⁶⁾ thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16⁽¹⁷⁾ And he delivered them into the hand of his slaves, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.

17⁽¹⁸⁾ And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, saying, Whose are you? And, Where are you going? And, Whose are these before you? – 18⁽¹⁹⁾ then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.

19⁽²⁰⁾ And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. 20⁽²¹⁾ And you shall say, Not only that, but behold, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.

21⁽²²⁾ So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. 22⁽²³⁾ And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23⁽²⁴⁾ And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

24⁽²⁵⁾ And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25⁽²⁶⁾ And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob’s hip was strained as he wrestled with him. 26⁽²⁷⁾ And he said, Let me go, for the day breaks.

And he said, I will not let you go, unless you bless me.

27⁽²⁸⁾ And he said to him, What is your name?

And he said, Jacob.

28⁽²⁹⁾ And he said, Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel: for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.

29⁽³⁰⁾ And Jacob asked him, and said, Please, tell me your name.

And he said, Why is it that you ask about my name? And he blessed him there.

30⁽³¹⁾ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 31⁽³²⁾ And the sun rose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped because of his hip. 32⁽³³⁾ Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sciatic nerve which is upon the hip socket, to this day, because he touched Jacob’s hip socket at the sciatic nerve.

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