The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers ¹  and to your relatives. I will be with you.” ² 

So he took his relatives ¹  with him and pursued Jacob ²  for seven days. ³  He caught up with ⁴  him in the hill country of Gilead.

But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, ¹  “Be careful ²  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” ³ 

“What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me ¹  and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! ² 

I have ¹  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ²  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ³ 

“I left secretly because I was afraid!” ¹  Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought ²  you might take your daughters away from me by force. ³ 

“Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ¹ 

Then Jacob offered a sacrifice ¹  on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. ²  They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant ¹  Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.

The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.”

Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels.

During the night Jacob quickly took ¹  his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons ²  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ³ 

Then the man ¹  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” ²  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, ³  “unless you bless me.” ⁴ 

“No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ¹  “but Israel, ²  because you have fought ³  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Jacob looked up ¹  and saw that Esau was coming ²  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

But Jacob ¹  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached ²  his brother.

Esau ¹  then asked, “What did you intend ²  by sending all these herds to meet me?” ³  Jacob ⁴  replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.”

So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” ¹  “Why do that?” Jacob replied. ²  “My lord has already been kind enough to me.” ³ 

But ¹  Jacob traveled to Succoth ²  where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called ³  Succoth. ⁴ 

After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near ¹  the city.