Lyrics · Genesis
No Longer Jacob
Genesis 32:1-36:40
[Verse 1]
Angels met the traveler, yet fear met him too,
Esau came with four hundred, and Jacob split the camp in two.
He sent the gifts before him and prayed the promise through,
Then crossed the Jabbok empty, with the night left to endure.
[Pre-Chorus]
A stranger seized him in the darkness,
And neither would release before the dawn.
[Chorus]
No longer Jacob, Israel is the name,
Marked by the wrestling, limping from the change.
He crossed the river wounded, but the blessing held him still,
And morning found two brothers running down the hill.
[Verse 2]
Esau ran to meet him, embraced him with a cry,
The households bowed together while the years of anger died.
But Shechem brought new sorrow, and his sons answered with blood,
Then God called him to Bethel to put foreign gods beneath the mud.
[Bridge]
At Bethel God confirmed him, but the road still carried grief,
Rachel died with Benjamin, and Reuben broke the peace.
Isaac joined his fathers, Esau's generations spread,
And Israel bore the promise with a limp in every step.
[Final Chorus]
No longer Jacob, Israel is the name,
Marked by the wrestling, limping from the change.
He saw the face of God and then his brother's face,
And walked toward Bethel leaning on unmerited grace.
[Outro]
The wound remained, the blessing stayed,
And Israel rose where Jacob prayed.

