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.

Then he became very attached ¹  to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. ² 

Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem ¹  had violated their sister Dinah.

So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ¹  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ² 

and they started on their journey. ¹  The surrounding cities were afraid of God, ²  and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ¹  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:

The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, ¹  to Kiriath Arba ²  (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ³ 

Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ¹  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ²  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, ¹  for he said, ²  “What if some accident ³  happens ⁴  to him?”