Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New International Version NIV
1 Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him.
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Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.
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When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.
3 And he sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom:
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Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day:
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He 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.
5 I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.
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I 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.’ ”
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau, thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men.
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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.”
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,
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In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well.
8 Saying: If Esau come to one company, and destroy it, the other company that is left, shall escape.
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He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”
9 And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac: O Lord who saidst to me, Return to thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee.
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Then 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,’
10 I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.
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I 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.
11 Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him; lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children.
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Save 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.
12 Thou didst say, that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
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But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ ”
13 And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau,
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He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau:
14 Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
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two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals.
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thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.
16 And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove.
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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.”
17 And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee?
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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 Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob’s: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau; and he cometh after us.
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then 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.’ ”
19 In like manner he commanded the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him.
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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 ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us; for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.
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And 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.”
21 So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp.
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So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
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