1
And Jacobwent on his way, and the angels of Godmet him.
2
And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God'shost: and he called the name of that placeMahanaim.[a]
3
And Jacobsentmessengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country[b] of Edom.
4
And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lordEsau; Thy servantJacobsaith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5
And I have oxen, and asses,flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may findgrace in thy sight.
6
And the messengersreturned to Jacob,saying, We came to thy brotherEsau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundredmen with him.
7
Then Jacob was greatlyafraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into twobands;
8
And said, If Esaucome to the onecompany, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
9
And Jacobsaid, O God of my fatherAbraham, and God of my fatherIsaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become twobands.
11
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the motherwith[c] the children.
12
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13
And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14
Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundredewes, and twentyrams,
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Thirtymilchcamels with their colts,fortykine, and tenbulls,twenty she asses, and tenfoals.
16
And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a spacebetwixtdroveanddrove.
17
And he commanded the foremost,saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18
Then thou shalt say, They be thy servantJacob's; it is a presentsent unto my lordEsau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
19
And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed* the droves,saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
20
And say yemoreover, Behold, thy servantJacob is behind us. For he said, I will appeasehim with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.[d]
21
So went the presentover before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.