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¶ The visyon of Angels. Iacob sendeth presentes to Esau. He wrastleth with the Angell, which chaunged his name, and called hym Israell.
CAPI. XXXII.
BUT Iacob wente forth on his iourney. [unspec A] And the angell of God came, and met hym. And when Iacob same them, he sayd, this is goddes hoost, & called the name of that place * 1.1 Mahanaim. (This is an army.) And Iacob sente messengers before hym to Esau his brother, vnto the lande * 1.2 of Seit and the felde of Edom. And he cōmaunded them, sayenge. Thus shall ye speake to my lorde Esau, thy seruaunt Iacob sayth thus. I haue soiourned and ben a straunger with Laban vnto this tyme and haue oxen, asses, and shepe, men seruauntes, and women ser∣uauntes, and haue sent to shewe it my Lorde that I may fynde grace in thy syght. And the messengers came agayne to Iacob, sayenge. [unspec B] We came vnto thy brother Esau, and he co∣meth agaynste the / and hathe foure hundred men with hym.
But Iacob was greatly afrayde, and wyst not whiche way to turne hym selfe, and deuyded the people that was with hym, and the Shepe, and Oxen, and Camels, into two companyes, and sayde. If Esau come to the one parte and smyte it, the other shall saue it selfe. And Iacob sayd agayne. O god of my father Abraham, & God of my father Isaac, Lorde whiche saydest vnto me * 1.3 returne vn∣to thy countrey and to thy kynred, & I wyll [unspec C] do all well with the. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercyes and truthe / whiche thou hast shewed vnto thy seruaunte. For with my staffe came I ouer this Iordan, and nowe haue I gotten two droues. Delyuer me from the handes of my brother Esau, for I feare hym, leest he wyl come and smyte the mother with the chyldren. Thou saydest, I wyll surely do the good, and make thy seede as the sande of the see, which can not be nom∣bred for multitude.
And he taryed there that same nyght, and [unspec D] toke of that whiche came to hande, a present, for Esau his brother two hundred she goo∣tes &. xx. he gootes. ii. hundred shepe, and. xx. rammes, thyrtye mylche camels with theyr coltes. xl. kyne and. x. bulles. xx. she asses and x. fooles, and delyuered them in to the hande of his seruaūtes, euery droue by them selues and sayd vnto his seruauntes. Go forthe be∣fore me, and put a space bytwene droue and droue. And he commaunded the formost, say∣enge. If Esau my brother mete the and aske the, sayenge. Whose arte thou, and whyther goest thou, and whose are these that go before the? Thou shalte saye, they be thy seruaunt [unspec E] Iacobs, and it is a present sent vnto my lord Esau, & beholde hym selfe cometh after vs.
And so cōmaunded he the seconde, and the thyrde, and all that folowed the droues, say∣enge. Of this manerse that ye speake vnto Esau when ye mete hym, and say moreouer thy seruaunt Iacob also cometh after vs, for he sayd, I wyll pease his wrath with the pre∣sent that goeth before me, and afterwarde I wyll se hym my selfe, yf peraduenture he wyl receyue me to grace. So went the present be∣fore hym, and he taryed all that nyght in the company, and rose vp the same nyght & toke his two wyues and his. ii. maydens, and his xi. sonnes, and went ouer the foorde Iabok. And he toke them and sent them ouer the ry∣uer, and sent ouer all that he had, and taryed behynde hym selfe alone.
And there * 1.4 wrastled a man with hym vn to the breakyng of the day. And when he saw [unspec F] that he coulde not preuayle agaynst hym, he smote hym vnder the thye, and the synowe of Iacobs thye shranke, as he wrastled wt hym. And he sayd. Let me go, for the day breaketh. Whiche answered. I wyll not let the go, ex∣cepte thou blesse me. And he sayd vnto hym. What is thy name? He answered, Iacob. He sayde. Thou shalte be called Iacob no more, but * 1.5 Israel. For as a prynce hast thou wrastled with God, and with man, and hast preuayled.
And Iacob asked hym, sayenge. Tell me thy name. And he sayde, wherfore doest thou so aske after my * 1.6 name? and he blessed hym there. And Iacob called the name of the place * 1.7 Pheniell, for I haue sene god / face to face: & my lyfe is preserued. And as he went ouer Pheniell the Sonne rose vpon hym / and he halted vpon his thye. And therfore is it that the chyldren of Israell eate not of the synow that shranke in that place of the thye / vnto this day: bycause that he touched the place of Iacobs thye in the synowe that shronke.