The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old,^(A) the Lord appeared to him^(B) and said, “I am God Almighty^[a];^(C) walk before me faithfully and be blameless.^(D)

¹⁵ Then he blessed^(A) Joseph and said,

²⁴ So Jacob was left alone,^(A) and a man^(B) wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip^(C) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”^(D)

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,”^(E) he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name^(F) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^[a](G) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”^(H)

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”^(I)

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”^(J) Then he blessed^(K) him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,^(L) and yet my life was spared.”

²² When Gideon realized^(A) that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”^(B)

²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid.^(C) You are not going to die.”^(D)

²⁴ So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called^(E) it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah^(F) of the Abiezrites.

²¹ When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized^(A) that it was the angel of the Lord.

²² “We are doomed^(A) to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen^(B) God!”