Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33. 1Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.32:2 Mahanaim means two camps.
3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’ ”
6When 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.”
7In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,32:7 Or camps and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,32:8 Or camp the group32:8 Or camp that is left may escape.”
9Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ 10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ ”
13He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He 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.”
17He 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?’ 18then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ”
19He 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. 20And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” 21So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles With God
22That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,32:28 Israel probably means he struggles with God. because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30So Jacob called the place Peniel,32:30 Peniel means face of God. saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,32:31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.
Yakob Yɛ Ahoboa Kohyia Esau
1Yakob nso toaa nʼakwantu no so. Onyankopɔn abɔfo behyiaa no. 2Yakob huu wɔn no, ɔkae se, “Ɛha yɛ Onyankopɔn fi!” Enti ɔtoo saa beae hɔ din “Mahanaim,” a ne nkyerɛase ne Onyankopɔn asase.
3Yakob somaa abɔfo dii nʼanim kɔɔ ne nua Esau nkyɛn wɔ Seir a ɛwɔ Edom asase so. 4Nkra a ɔde maa wɔn ni: “Monka nkyerɛ me wura Esau se, ‘Wʼakoa Yakob se, yɛn wɔfa Laban nkyɛn na makɔtena sɛ ɔhɔho ara de besi nnɛ yi. 5Nnɛ de, mewɔ anantwi ne mfurum, nguan ne mmirekyi, nkoa ne mfenaa bebree. Masoma mʼabɔfo yi aba wo, me wura nkyɛn, sɛ wɔmmɛka nkyerɛ wo se, mereba. Mewɔ anidaso nso sɛ, menya wʼanim anuonyam ama woagye me fɛw so.’ ”
6Asomafo no san baa Yakob nkyɛn no, wɔbɛka kyerɛɛ no se, “Yɛkɔɔ wo nua Esau nkyɛn kɔkaa wo nkra no kyerɛɛ no, na ose ɔreba abehyia wo, na mmarima ahannan na wɔka ne ho reba.”
7Yakob de ehu ne awerɛhow kyekyɛɛ nnipa a ɔne wɔn nam no ne mmoa no mu akuw abien. 8Ɔkaa wɔ ne tirim se, “Sɛ ɛba sɛ Esau ne ne dɔm no ba bɛtow hyɛ kuw baako so a, kuw a ɛto so abien no betumi aguan.”
9Na Yakob bɔɔ Awurade mpae se, “Ao, Awurade Nyankopɔn a mʼagya Abraham ne mʼagya Isak som wo, Awurade a woka kyerɛɛ me se, ‘San kɔ wʼasase so ne wʼabusua mu, na mɛma woayɛ ɔdefo.’ 10Wʼadɔe a wode ayɛ me ne nokware a woadi wʼakoa no mu kakraa bi mpo, mfata me. Da a mifii fie kotwaa Asubɔnten Yordan no, na me pema nko ara na mikurae, nanso nnɛ, me na mikura dɔm ahorow abien yi. 11Mesrɛ wo, gye me fi me nua Esau nsam. Misuro sɛ ɔbɛtow ahyɛ me ne me yerenom ne me mma so. 12Nanso wo na woahyɛ me bɔ se, ‘Nokware mu, mɛma woanya wo ho, na mama wʼase afɛe ayɛ sɛ mpoano nwea a wontumi nkan.’ ”
13Saa da no, ɔdaa hɔ. Na oyii nʼagyapade no bi sɛ akyɛde a ɔde bɛma ne nua Esau. 14Nneɛma no ni: Mmirekyibere ahannu, mpapo aduonu, nguanmmere ahannu, adwennini aduonu. 15Yomabere aduasa ne wɔn mma, anantwibere aduanan, anantwinini du, mfurummmere aduonu, mfurumnini du. 16Ɔkyekyɛɛ mmoa no mu akuwakuw, de maa nʼasomfo a kuw baako biara hyɛ ɔsomfo baako nsa. Ɔka kyerɛɛ nʼasomfo no se, “Munni mʼanim nkɔ, na mmom, momma akwan nneda mmoa akuwakuw no ntam.”
17Yakob san ka kyerɛɛ nʼasomfo a wodi kan no se, “Sɛ me nua Esau hyia mo, na obisa mo se, ‘Hena asomfo ne mo, mufi he na morekɔ he na hena mmoa na mode wɔn nam yi a?’ 18Monka nkyerɛ no se, ‘Mmoa no yɛ wʼakoa Yakob de. Ne nyinaa yɛ akyɛde a ɔde rebrɛ ne wura Esau, na nʼankasa di akyi reba.’ ”
19Saa ara nso na Yakob ka kyerɛɛ nʼasomfo a wɔto so abien, abiɛsa ne wɔn a wodidi so a wɔde mmoa no rekɔ no se, “Sɛ muhyia Esau a, monka saa asɛm koro no ara nkyerɛ no. Monka nka ho se, 20‘Wʼakoa Yakob ankasa di yɛn akyi reba.’ ” Efisɛ na Yakob ayɛ nʼadwene sɛ, “Mede akyɛde ahorow a mede asoma adi kan yi bɛpata no, na sɛ akyiri yi ohu me a, wagye me ato mu.” 21Enti wɔde Yakob akyɛde ahorow no dii kan kɔe. Na ɔno ankasa de, ɔdaa nʼatenae hɔ anadwo no.
Yakob Ne Onyankopɔn Atentam
22Anadwo no ara, Yakob sɔre faa ne yerenom baanu ne ne mfenaa baanu no ne ne mma dubaako no, de wɔn twaa Asubɔnten Yordan wɔ Yabok asutwabea hɔ. 23Ɔde wɔn twaa asubɔnten no wiee no, ɔsan bɛfaa nʼagyapade a aka nyinaa de twaa asu no. 24Enti ɛkaa Yakob nko ara wɔ nʼatenae hɔ. Anadwo no, obi ne no bɛtentamee ara kosii adekyee wɛɛ. 25Bere a ɔbarima a ɔne no tentamee no huu sɛ ɔrentumi nni Yakob so no, ɔbɔɔ Yakob dwonku ma ehuanee. 26Na ɔbarima no ka kyerɛɛ Yakob se, “Ade akye nti, gyaa me ma menkɔ.”
Nanso Yakob buaa no se, “Sɛ woanhyira me a, meremma wo nkɔ.”
27Ɔbarima no bisaa Yakob se, “Wo din de dɛn?”
Obuae se, “Me din de Yakob.”
28Ɔbarima no kae se, “Efi nnɛ, wɔremfrɛ wo Yakob bio, na mmom wɔbɛfrɛ wo Israel. Efisɛ wo ne Onyankopɔn ne nipa atentam, na woadi nkonim.”
29Yakob bisae se, “Mesrɛ wo, wɔfrɛ wo dɛn?”
Ɔbarima no nso bisaa no se, “Adɛn nti na worebisa me din?” Na ohyiraa Yakob wɔ hɔ.
30Ɛmaa Yakob too beae hɔ din Peniel, a ne nkyerɛase ne “Onyankopɔn Anim.” Na ɔkae se, “Mahu Onyankopɔn anikann, nanso meda so te nkwa mu.”
31Yakob refi Penuel no na owia agyina. Esiane ne dwonku a na ahuan no nti, na ɔka ne nan mu. 32Ɛno nti na ebesi nnɛ yi, Israelfo nwe aboa dwonku koraa sɛ nkae ade no; efisɛ saa ntin kɛse a ɛwɔ Yakob dwonku no na ɔbarima a ɔne no tentamee no bɔe, maa dwonku no huanee no.
