Genesis 32:1-32

As Jacob continued toward Canaan, the angels of God came to meet him! When he saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s military camp!” So he named that place Two Camps of Angels. Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau who was living in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them, “Give this message from me to my master Esau, ‘I am your servant. I have lived with our uncle Laban all these years and have acquired sheep, cattle, donkeys, and both male and female servants. I send this message to you, my master, in the hope of finding favor in your eyes.’ ” When the messengers returned to Jacob, they informed him, “We gave your brother Esau your message, and he himself is coming here to meet you. In fact, he’s on his way now with four hundred men!” Gripped with fear to the point of panic, Jacob split all the people who were with him into two camps, and also the flocks, herds, and camels. He said to himself, “If Esau attacks the first camp and destroys them, at least the other camp will escape.” Then Jacob prayed, “YAHWEH, God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, you said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will make you prosper.’ I am so unworthy of all the loving-kindness and faithfulness that you have showered upon me, your servant. When I crossed this river Jordan years ago, all I had to my name was a staff in my hand, and now I have increased to become two camps! Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I’m afraid he will come and kill all of us, including the women and children. You said to me, ‘I will certainly prosper you and make your offspring as innumerable as the sand of the sea.’ ” So he spent the night there. From what he had with him, Jacob sent a gift to his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. He placed them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself. He told them, “Go on ahead of me, and put some space between each herd.” He gave these instructions to the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you, and asks, ‘Who is your master? Where are you going? Who owns these herds you are driving?’ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He’s sent them as a gift to you, my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ” He likewise instructed the leaders of the second and the third herds and all those following them, “You must say the same thing when you meet Esau. And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us,’ ” because he reasoned, “If I can appease Esau with these gifts before I have to meet him face-to-face, he may accept me.” So he sent the gifts on ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp. During the night, Jacob arose, woke up his two wives, his two maidservants, and eleven sons, and had them cross the ford of the Jabbok River. He sent them across along with everything he had, and Jacob was left all alone. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man appeared and wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he was not winning the match, he struck Jacob’s hip and knocked it out of joint, leaving it wrenched as he continued to wrestle with him. Eventually, the man said to him, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob refused. “No! Not until you bless me!” “What is your name?” asked the man. “Jacob,” he replied. “Not anymore,” the man said to him. “Your new name is Israel, for you have struggled both with God and with people and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please, tell me your name.” “Why ask my name?” the man replied, then he spoke a blessing over Jacob. So Jacob named the place Penuel, saying, “I have seen God face-to-face, yet my life has been spared!” The sun rose upon him as he crossed the Jabbok River from Penuel, limping because of his hip. To this day, the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle attached to the hip socket, because the man struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.