16 He gave them to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep a distance between each drove.”
17 He commanded the one leading, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals belong?’
18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is also behind us.’ ”
19 Likewise he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, “This is what you are to say to Esau when you find him.
20 Moreover, say, ‘Your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes before me, and then I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
21 So the gift went before him, but he lodged that night in the encampment.
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.