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CHAPTER 32
1 Forsooth Jacob went forth in the way in which he began, and the angels of the Lord met him.
2 And when he had seen them, he said, These be the castles of God; and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 Soothly Jacob sent before him also messengers to Esau, his brother, into the land of Seir, in the country of Edom;
4 and he commanded to them, and said, Thus speak ye to my lord Esau, Thy brother Jacob saith these things, I have been a pilgrim at Laban, and I was till into this present day;
5 I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and handmaids, and I send now a message to my lord, that I find grace in thy sight.
6 And the messengers turned again to Jacob, and said, We came to Esau, thy brother, and lo! he hasteth him into thy coming, with four hundred men.
7 Jacob dreaded greatly, and he was afeared, and he parted the people that was with him, and he parted the flocks, and sheep, and oxen, and camels, into two companies;
8 and he said, If Esau shall come to one company, and shall smite it, the other company which is left unsmitten, shall be saved.
9 And Jacob said, O! God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O! Lord, that saidest to me, Turn thou again into thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and I shall do well to thee,
10 I am less than all thy merciful doings, and than thy truth which thou hast [ful] filled to thy servant; with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I go again with two companies;
11 deliver thou me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I dread him greatly, lest he come and smite or slay the mothers with the sons [or with the children].
12 Thou spakest that thou shouldest do well to me, and wouldest alarge my seed as [the] gravel of the sea, that may not be numbered for muchliness.
13 And when Jacob had slept there in that night, he separated of those things which he had as gifts to Esau, his brother,
14 two hundred she goats, and twenty bucks of goats, two hundred sheep, and twenty rams,
15 camels full with their foals thirty, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she-asses, and [the] ten foals of them.
16 And he sent by the hands of his servants all the flocks by themselves; and he said to his servants, Go ye before me, and a space be betwixt flock and flock.
17 And he commanded to the former or first, and said, If thou shalt meet my brother Esau, and he shall ask thee, whose man thou art, or whither thou goest, or whose be these things which thou followest,
18 thou shalt answer, Of thy servant Jacob; he hath sent gifts to his lord Esau, and he cometh after us.
19 In like manner, he gave command-ments to the second, and to the third, and to all that pursued [or followed] the flocks; and said, Speak ye by the same words to Esau, when ye find him,
20 and ye shall add, Also Jacob himself thy servant pursueth [or followeth] our way. For Jacob said, I shall please Esau with gifts that go before, and afterward I shall see him; in hap he shall be merciful to me.
21 And so the gifts went before him; soothly he dwelled in that night in the tents.
22 And when Jacob had risen hastily, he took his two wives, and so many handmaids, with his eleven sons, and he passed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 And when all things that pertained to him were led over,
24 Jacob dwelled there alone, and, lo! a man came, and wrestled with him till to the morrowtide.
25 And when the man saw that he might not overcome Jacob, he touched the sinew of Jacob’s hip, and it dried anon.
26 And he said to Jacob, Let go thou me, for the morrowtide goeth up now. Jacob answered, I shall not let go thee, no but thou bless me.
27 Therefore he said, What name is to thee? He answered, Jacob.
28 And the man said, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel; for if thou were strong against God, how much more shalt thou have power against men.
29 Jacob asked him, Say thou to me by what name thou art called? He answered, Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful? And he blessed Jacob in the same place.
30 And Jacob called the name of that place Penuel, and said, I saw the Lord face to face, and my life is made safe.
31 And anon the sun rose to him, after that he had passed over from Penuel; forsooth he halted in the foot.
32 For which cause the sons of Israel eat not unto this present day the sinew, like that that dried in the hip of Jacob; for the man touched the sinew of Jacob’s hip, and it dried up.

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© 2001,2010,2011,2012,2013,2015 Terry Noble