Day 98 of 365

¹Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

²When he saw them, Jacob said, "This is God's army." He called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

⁴He commanded them, saying, "This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: 'This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now.

⁵I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.'"

⁶The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him."

⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;

⁸and he said, "If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape."

⁹Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord, who said to me, 'Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,'

¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

¹¹Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children.

¹²You said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many.'"

¹³He lodged there that night, and took from that which he had with him, a present for Esau, his brother:

¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

¹⁵thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.

¹⁶He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd."

¹⁷He commanded the foremost, saying, "When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, 'Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?'

¹⁸Then you shall say, 'They are your servant, Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.'"

¹⁹He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, "This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him.

²⁰You shall say, 'Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.'" For, he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me."

²¹So the present passed over before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

²²He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.

²³He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

²⁴Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.

²⁵When he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled.

²⁶The man said, "Let me go, for the day breaks." Jacob said, "I won't let you go, unless you bless me."

²⁷He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."

²⁸He said, "Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed."

²⁹Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." He said, "Why is it that you ask what my name is?" He blessed him there.

³⁰Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

³¹The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.

³²Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

¹Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids.

²He put the handmaids and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear.

³He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept.

⁵He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, "Who are these with you?" He said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

⁶Then the handmaids came near with their children, and they bowed themselves.

⁷Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?" Jacob said, "To find favor in the sight of my lord."

⁹Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours."

¹⁰Jacob said, "Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me.

¹¹Please take the gift that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." He urged him, and he took it.

¹²Esau said, "Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you."

¹³Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.

¹⁴Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir."

¹⁵Esau said, "Let me now leave with you some of the folk who are with me." He said, "Why? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord."

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

¹⁷Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city.

¹⁹He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.

²⁰He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.

¹Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

²Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.

³His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady.

⁴Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife."

⁵Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.

⁶Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him.

⁷The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; a which thing ought not to be done.

⁸Hamor talked with them, saying, "The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.

⁹Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

¹⁰You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it."

¹¹Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give.

¹²Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife."

¹³The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,

¹⁴and said to them, "We can't do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.

¹⁵Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised;

¹⁶then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

¹⁷But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone."

¹⁸Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.

¹⁹The young man did not wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father.

²⁰Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,

²¹"These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

²²Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.

²³Won't their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us."

²⁴All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.

²⁶They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.

²⁷Jacob's sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field,

²⁹and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house.

³⁰Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."

³¹They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?"

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him.

²The Lord has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.

³He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises!

⁵Sing praises to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody.

⁶With trumpets and sound of the ram's horn, make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

⁷Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together.

⁹Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.