17. And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee?
18. Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob's: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us.
19. In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that followed with the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him.
20. And ye shall add: thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us: for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.
21. So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp.
22. And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.