7. Jacob was so frightened that he divided his people, sheep, cattle, and camels into two groups.
8. He thought, “If Esau attacks one group, perhaps the other can escape.”
9. Then Jacob prayed:You, Lord, are the God who was worshipped by my grandfather Abraham and by my father Isaac. You told me to return home to my family, and you promised to be with me and make me successful.
10. I don't deserve all the good things you have done for me, your servant. When I first crossed the Jordan, I had only my walking stick, but now I have two large groups of people and animals.
11. Please rescue me from my brother. I am afraid he will come and attack not only me, but my wives and children as well.
12. But you have promised that I would be a success and that some day it will be as hard to count my descendants as it is to count the stars in the sky.
13. After Jacob had spent the night there, he chose some animals as gifts for Esau:
14-15. two hundred female goats and twenty males, two hundred female sheep and twenty males, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten males.
16. Jacob put servants in charge of each herd and told them, “Go ahead of me and keep a space between each herd.”
17. Then he said to the servant in charge of the first herd, “When Esau meets you, he will ask whose servant you are. He will want to know where you are going and who owns those animals in front of you.
18. So tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, who is coming this way. He is sending them as a gift to his master Esau.’ ”
19. Jacob also told the men in charge of the second and third herds and those who followed to say the same thing when they met Esau.
20. And Jacob told them to be sure to say that he was just behind them. Jacob hoped the gifts would make Esau friendly, so Esau would be glad to see him when they met.
21. Jacob's men took the gifts on ahead of him, but he spent the night in camp.
22-23. Jacob got up in the middle of the night and took his wives, his eleven children, and everything he owned across to the other side of the River Jabbok for safety.
24. Afterwards, Jacob went back and spent the rest of the night alone.A man came and fought with Jacob until just before daybreak.