16 And he put them under the hand of his servants, herd by herd, and said to his servants, “Cross on ahead before me, and put some distance between herds.
17 And he instructed the foremost, saying, “When Esau my brother comes upon you and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you and where are you going? To whom do these animals belong ahead of you?’
18 Then you must say, ‘To your servant, to Jacob. It is a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. Now behold, he is also coming after us.’ ”
19 And he also instructed the second servant and the third, and everyone else who was behind the herds, saying, “You must speak to Esau according to this word when you find him.
20 And moreover, you shall say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he thought, “Let me appease him with the gift going before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will show me favor.”
21 So the gift passed on before him, but he himself spent that night in the camp.
22 That night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.