1
And it came to pass that after Jacob had gone on his way from Galed that the malakima of Elohimb met him.
2
And when Jacob saw them, he said: Herein dwell the hosts of Elohim.
3
And he called the name of that place Machanayima, for he saw that it was a bridge joining the two worlds: the heavens and the earth, and that he and his people were protected by the hand of Ha’Elohimb.
4
¶ And Jacob, in knowing this, he did send messengers before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
5
And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak unto my lorda Esau: Thy servant Jacob saith thus: I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now;
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And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
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¶ And it came to pass that the messengers returned unto Jacob, saying: We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
8
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands.
9
¶ And after this Jacob said: If Esau comes to the one company and smites them, then the other company which is left shall escape.
10
And then Jacob did pray aloud, saying: O Elohim of my father Abraham, and Elohim of my father Isaac; YHVH, which did say unto me: Return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will be good by thee:
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Yet I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this, and now I am become two bands.
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Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, even from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me and the mothers with their children.
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And for a surety thou hath said: I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
14
¶ And he lodged there that same night and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau, his brother:
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Two hundred she goats and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
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Thirty milking camels with their colts, forty heifers and ten bulls, twenty she asses and ten foals.
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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 space between the droves.
18
And he commanded the foremost, saying: When Esau, my brother, shall meet thee and ask thee, saying: Whose art thou? And whither goest thou? And whose are these before thee?
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Then thou shalt say: They belongeth to Jacob, thy servant; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau; and behold, also he is behind us.
20
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.
21
And say ye, moreover: Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us.
22
For he said: I will appease him with the present that shall go before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.
23
¶ So went the present over before him; and he himself slept that night in the company.
24
And he rose up that night and took his wives and his children, and these passed over the ford of Yabboqa; and he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent them over with that which he had.
25
And then it was that Jacob was left alone.