Study Desk

Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period." So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols.

So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace."

So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar.

Then he said to his relatives, "Gather stones." So they brought stones and put them in a pile. They ate there by the pile of stones.

So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him.

When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.

I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.'"

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.

So the gifts were sent on ahead of him while he spent that night in the camp.

So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob's hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, "Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived."

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

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

So that same day Esau made his way back to Seir.

When Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent until they came in.

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city,

"These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.

If we do so, won't their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let's consent to their demand, so they will live among us."

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