Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him.

Jacob quoque abiit itinere quo cœperat: fueruntque ei obviam angeli Dei.

Jacob, too, set out to continue his journey, and as he went, God’s angels met him.

And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.

Quos cum vidisset, ait: Castra Dei sunt hæc: et appellavit nomen loci illius Mahanaim, id est, Castra.

This is God’s encampment, he said when he saw them, and called the place Mahanaim, which means a Camp.

And he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir to the country of Edom:

Misit autem et nuntios ante se ad Esau fratrem suum in terram Seir, in regionem Edom:

And now he sent messengers of his own on before him, to greet his brother Esau in the country of Seir, which is Edom’s territory.

And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day.

præcepitque eis, dicens: Sic loquimini domino meo Esau: Hæc dicit frater tuus Jacob: Apud Laban peregrinatus sum, et fui usque in præsentem diem.

These were his directions, You are to tell my lord Esau this, from his brother Jacob: I have been living abroad, on a visit to Laban, and am but just returned.

I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight.

Habeo boves, et asinos, et oves, et servos, et ancillas: mittoque nunc legationem ad dominum meum, ut inveniam gratiam in conspectu tuo.

I have brought back oxen and asses and sheep, men-servants and women-servants with me. And now, my lord, I have sent these envoys to thee, to secure thy good will.

And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men.

Reversique sunt nuntii ad Jacob, dicentes: Venimus ad Esau fratrem tuum, et ecce properat tibi in occursum cum quadringentis viris.

And this was the news the messengers brought back with them, We found thy brother Esau; even now he comes hastening to meet thee, with four hundred men.

Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,

Timuit Jacob valde: et perterritus divisit populum qui secum erat, greges quoque et oves, et boves, et camelos, in duas turmas,

At this, Jacob was overcome with terror, and in his extremity he divided up his followers, the flocks of sheep, too, and the cattle, and the camels, into two companies;

Saying: If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other company that is left shall escape.

dicens: Si venerit Esau ad unam turmam, et percusserit eam, alia turma, quæ relicta est, salvabitur.

If Esau, he thought, should meet with one company, and fall upon it, at least the other will come through safely.

And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who saidst to me: Return to thy land and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee,

Dixitque Jacob: Deus patris mei Abraham, et Deus patris mei Isaac: Domine qui dixisti mihi: Revertere in terram tuam, et in locum nativitatis tuæ, et benefaciam tibi:

And now Jacob said, O God of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, thou, Lord, who hast bidden me return to my own country, the land of my birth, and hast offered to bless me,

I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.

minor sum cunctis miserationibus tuis, et veritate tua quam explevisti servo tuo. In baculo meo transivi Jordanem istum: et nunc cum duabus turmis regredior.

I, thy servant, am not worthy of all the mercies thou hast shewn me, the faithful observance of thy promises. I had nothing but this staff with me, when I crossed the Jordan, and now I have come back with two companies behind me.

Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him: lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children.

Erue me de manu fratris mei Esau, quia valde eum timeo: ne forte veniens percutiat matrem cum filiis.

Save me now from the power of my brother Esau; I fear grievously that when he comes he will spare neither women nor children.

Thou didst say that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

Tu locutus es quod benefaceres mihi, et dilatares semen meum sicut arenam maris, quæ præ multitudine numerari non potest.

Hast thou not promised me thy continued favour, and a posterity spread wide as the sand by the sea, that is beyond all counting?

And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau,

Cumque dormisset ibi nocte illa, separavit de his quæ habebat, munera Esau fratri suo,

When he had slept the night there, he chose out of all his possessions a present for his brother Esau,

Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

capras ducentas, hircos viginti, oves ducentas, et arietes viginti,

two hundred she-goats and twenty buck-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals.

camelos fœtas cum pullis suis triginta, vaccas quadraginta, et tauros viginti, asinas viginti et pullos earum decem.

thirty camels in milk with their colts, forty cows and twenty bulls, and twenty she-asses with ten colts.

And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove.

Et misit per manus servorum suorum singulos seorsum greges, dixitque pueris suis: Antecedite me, et sit spatium inter gregem et gregem.

All these he sent on, with their drivers; Go on in front of me, he told his men, and leave a space between one herd and the next.

And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee?

Et præcepit priori, dicens: Si obvium habueris fratrem meum Esau, et interrogaverit te: Cujus es? aut, Quo vadis? aut, Cujus sunt ista quæ sequeris?

And to the first of these, his directions were, If thou shouldst encounter my brother Esau, and he should ask, Whose man art thou? or Whither goest thou? or Whose are these beasts thou tendest?

Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob’s: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us.

respondebis: Servi tui Jacob, munera misit domino meo Esau, ipse quoque post nos venit.

thy answer is to be, They belong to thy servant Jacob, who is sending them as a present to my lord Esau; and he himself follows behind us.

In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him.

Similiter dedit mandata secundo, et tertio, et cunctis qui sequebantur greges, dicens: Iisdem verbis loquimini ad Esau cum inveneritis eum.

Then he bade the second do the like, and the third, and all the drovers in turn; these same words you are to use, he said, when you fall in with Esau,

And ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us; for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.

Et addetis: Ipse quoque servus tuus Jacob iter nostrum insequitur. Dixit enim: Placabo illum muneribus quæ præcedunt, et postea videbo illum: forsitan propitiabitur mihi.

and be sure to add, Thy servant Jacob follows on behind us. I will not see him, he thought, until I have disarmed his anger with the gifts I have sent before me; then perhaps he will be well disposed towards me!

So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp.

Præcesserunt itaque munera ante eum, ipse vero mansit nocte illa in castris.

So the gifts went on in advance of him, and he waited in the camp all night.

And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.

Cumque mature surrexisset, tulit duas uxores suas, et totidem famulas cum undecim filiis, et transivit vadum Jaboc.

But before dawn he rose, and took his two wives, their serving-women, and his eleven sons, across the ford of Jaboc.

And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,

Traductisque omnibus quæ ad se pertinebant,

And now he had set down all that was his on the further side,

He remained alone: and behold a man wrestled with him till morning.

mansit solus: et ecce vir luctabatur cum eo usque mane.

and he was left there alone. And there one appeared to him who wrestled with him until the day broke.

And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.

Qui cum videret quod eum superare non posset, tetigit nervum femoris ejus, et statim emarcuit.

At last, finding that he could not get the better of Jacob, he touched the sinew of his thigh, which all at once withered;

And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

Dixitque ad eum: Dimitte me: jam enim ascendit aurora. Respondit: Non dimittam te, nisi benedixeris mihi.

then he said, Let me go, the dawn is up. But Jacob answered, I will not let thee go until thou givest me thy blessing.

And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob.

Ait ergo: Quod nomen est tibi? Respondit: Jacob.

What is thy name? asked the other, and when he heard that it was Jacob,

But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men?

At ille: Nequaquam, inquit, Jacob appellabitur nomen tuum, sed Israël: quoniam si contra Deum fortis fuisti, quanto magis contra homines prævalebis?

Jacob, he said, is no name for thee, thou shalt be called Israel, one that prevails with God. If thou hast held thy own with God, how wilt thou prevail over men!

Jacob asked him, Tell me by what name art thou called? He answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place.

Interrogavit eum Jacob: Dic mihi, quo appellaris nomine? Respondit: Cur quæris nomen meum? Et benedixit ei in eodem loco.

Tell me, asked Jacob, what is thy own name? Why wouldst thou know my name? he answered, and gave him there and then, his blessing.

And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.

Vocavitque Jacob nomen loci illius Phanuel, dicens: Vidi Deum facie ad faciem, et salva facta est anima mea.

So Jacob called the place Phanuel, the Face of God; I have seen God face to face, he said, and my life was not forfeit.

And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel; but he halted on his foot.

Ortusque est ei statim sol, postquam transgressus est Phanuel: ipse vero claudicabat pede.

As soon as he passed beyond Phanuel, the sun rose, and he went limping on one foot;

Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the sinew, that shrank in Jacob’s thigh: because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank.

Quam ob causam non comedunt nervum filii Israël, qui emarcuit in femore Jacob, usque in præsentem diem: eo quod tetigerit nervum femoris ejus, et obstupuerit.

that is why the race of Israel, to this day, will not eat the sinew of the thigh, in which Jacob’s strength failed him, the sinew of his thigh that withered when it was touched.