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Genesis 32-34
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Preparing to Meet Esau

32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.(A) 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.[a](B)

3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”(C)

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him.”(D) 7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, cattle, and camels. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”(E)

9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,(F) the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’(G) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”(H)

13 He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:(I) 14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 15 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”

17 And he told the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18 then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’”

19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”

21 So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. 22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his 11 sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.(J) 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

Jacob Wrestles with God

24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.(K) 25 When the man saw that He could not defeat him, He struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26 Then He said to Jacob, “Let Me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”

27 “What is your name?” the man asked.

“Jacob,” he replied.

28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,”(L) He said. “It will be Israel[b] because you have struggled with God(M) and with men and have prevailed.”

29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.”

But He answered, “Why do you ask My name?”(N) And He blessed him there.

30 Jacob then named the place Peniel,[c] “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “and I have been delivered.”(O) 31 The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel[d](P)—limping because of his hip. 32 That is why, to this day, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because He struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.[e]

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female slaves. 2 He put the female slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground(Q) seven times until he approached his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept.(R) 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”

He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.”(S) 6 Then the female slaves and their children approached him and bowed down. 7 Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

8 So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession[f] I met?”(T)

“To find favor with you, my lord,”(U) he answered.

9 “I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”

10 But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. 11 Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.

12 Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.”

13 Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing sheep and cattle. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. 14 Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

15 Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.”

But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me,[g] my lord.”(V)

16 That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, 17 but Jacob went on to Succoth. He built a house for himself and stalls for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.[h](W)

18 After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely(X) at Shechem(Y) in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. 19 He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs.[i](Z) 20 And he set up an altar there and called it “God, the God of Israel.”[j]

Dinah Defiled

34 Dinah, Leah’s daughter(AA) whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the region, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 He became infatuated with Dinah, daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her.[k] 4 “Get me this girl as a wife,”(AB) he told his father Hamor.

5 Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. 6 Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7 Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident and were deeply grieved and angry. For Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter,(AC) and such a thing should not be done.

8 Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem is strongly attracted to your[l] daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”

11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor,[m] and I’ll give you whatever you say. 12 Demand of me a high compensation[n] and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”

13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 “We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. 15 We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are.(AD) 16 Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

18 Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city(AE) and spoke to the men there.

21 “These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. 22 But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will live with us.”

24 All the able-bodied men[o](AF) listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all the able-bodied men[p] were circumcised. 25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,(AG) Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. 27 Jacob’s other sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their sheep, cattle, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 They captured all their possessions, children, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me,(AH) making me odious to the inhabitants of the land,(AI) the Canaanites and the Perizzites.(AJ) We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”(AK)

31 But they answered, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 32:2 = Two Camps
  2. Genesis 32:28 In Hb, the name Israel sounds like “he struggled (with) God.”
  3. Genesis 32:30 = Face of God
  4. Genesis 32:31 Variant of Peniel
  5. Genesis 32:32 Or tendon
  6. Genesis 33:8 Lit camp
  7. Genesis 33:15 Lit May I find favor in your eyes
  8. Genesis 33:17 = Stalls or Huts
  9. Genesis 33:19 The value of this currency is unknown.
  10. Genesis 33:20 Or El-Elohe-Israel
  11. Genesis 34:3 Lit spoke to her heart
  12. Genesis 34:8 The Hb word for “your” is pl, showing that Hamor is speaking to Jacob and his sons.
  13. Genesis 34:11 Lit May I find favor in your eyes
  14. Genesis 34:12 Or bride-price, or betrothal present
  15. Genesis 34:24 Lit All who went out of the city gate
  16. Genesis 34:24 Lit all the males who went out of the city gate
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Genesis 32-34
New International Version

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

32 [a]Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God(A) met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!”(B) So he named that place Mahanaim.[b](C)

3 Jacob sent messengers(D) ahead of him to his brother Esau(E) in the land of Seir,(F) the country of Edom.(G) 4 He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord(H) Esau: ‘Your servant(I) Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban(J) and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.(K) Now I am sending this message to my lord,(L) that I may find favor in your eyes.(M)’”

6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”(N)

7 In great fear(O) and distress(P) Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,[c](Q) and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,[d] the group[e] that is left may escape.”

9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,(R) God of my father Isaac,(S) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’(T) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness(U) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff(V) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.(W) 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid(X) he will come and attack me,(Y) and also the mothers with their children.(Z) 12 But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand(AA) of the sea, which cannot be counted.(AB)’”

13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift(AC) for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,(AD) 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.(AE) 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”(AF)

17 He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant(AG) Jacob. They are a gift(AH) sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”

19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your servant(AI) Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts(AJ) I am sending on ahead;(AK) later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”(AL) 21 So Jacob’s gifts(AM) went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles With God

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons(AN) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.(AO) 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.(AP) 24 So Jacob was left alone,(AQ) and a man(AR) wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip(AS) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”(AT)

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,”(AU) he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name(AV) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[f](AW) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”(AX)

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”(AY)

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”(AZ) Then he blessed(BA) him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[g] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,(BB) and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[h](BC) and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,(BD) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;(BE) so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.(BF) 2 He put the female servants and their children(BG) in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph(BH) in the rear. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground(BI) seven times(BJ) as he approached his brother.

4 But Esau(BK) ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.(BL) And they wept.(BM) 5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.(BN)”

6 Then the female servants and their children(BO) approached and bowed down.(BP) 7 Next, Leah and her children(BQ) came and bowed down.(BR) Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,(BS) and they too bowed down.

8 Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”(BT)

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”(BU) he said.

9 But Esau said, “I already have plenty,(BV) my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,(BW) accept this gift(BX) from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,(BY) now that you have received me favorably.(BZ) 11 Please accept the present(CA) that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me(CB) and I have all I need.”(CC) And because Jacob insisted,(CD) Esau accepted it.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord(CE) knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.(CF) If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds(CG) before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.(CH)”

15 Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”(CI)

16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.(CJ) 17 Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,(CK) where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.[i]

18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,[j](CL) he arrived safely at the city of Shechem(CM) in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver,[k] he bought from the sons of Hamor,(CN) the father of Shechem,(CO) the plot of ground(CP) where he pitched his tent.(CQ) 20 There he set up an altar(CR) and called it El Elohe Israel.[l]

Dinah and the Shechemites

34 Now Dinah,(CS) the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem(CT) son of Hamor(CU) the Hivite,(CV) the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her.(CW) 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah(CX) daughter of Jacob;(CY) he loved(CZ) the young woman and spoke tenderly(DA) to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”(DB)

5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled,(DC) his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.

6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob.(DD) 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked(DE) and furious,(DF) because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in[m] Israel(DG) by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.(DH)

8 But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.(DI) 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.(DJ) 10 You can settle among us;(DK) the land is open to you.(DL) Live in it, trade[n] in it,(DM) and acquire property in it.(DN)”

11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes,(DO) and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride(DP) and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”

13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled,(DQ) Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully(DR) as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised.(DS) That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition(DT) only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.(DU) 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves.(DV) We’ll settle among you and become one people with you.(DW) 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”

18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored(DX) of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.(DY) 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city(DZ) to speak to the men of their city. 21 “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it;(EA) the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours.(EB) 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised,(EC) as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours?(ED) So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.(EE)”

24 All the men who went out of the city gate(EF) agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain,(EG) two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon(EH) and Levi,(EI) Dinah’s brothers, took their swords(EJ) and attacked the unsuspecting city,(EK) killing every male.(EL) 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword(EM) and took Dinah(EN) from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city(EO) where[o] their sister had been defiled.(EP) 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys(EQ) and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields.(ER) 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children,(ES) taking as plunder(ET) everything in the houses.(EU)

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble(EV) on me by making me obnoxious(EW) to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land.(EX) We are few in number,(EY) and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?(EZ)”

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 32:1 In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33.
  2. Genesis 32:2 Mahanaim means two camps.
  3. Genesis 32:7 Or camps
  4. Genesis 32:8 Or camp
  5. Genesis 32:8 Or camp
  6. Genesis 32:28 Israel probably means he struggles with God.
  7. Genesis 32:30 Peniel means face of God.
  8. Genesis 32:31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel
  9. Genesis 33:17 Sukkoth means shelters.
  10. Genesis 33:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
  11. Genesis 33:19 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value.
  12. Genesis 33:20 El Elohe Israel can mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.
  13. Genesis 34:7 Or against
  14. Genesis 34:10 Or move about freely; also in verse 21
  15. Genesis 34:27 Or because
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