16. Jacob gave each separate flock of animals to one of his servants and said to them, “Go ahead of me and keep some space between each herd.”
17. Jacob gave them their orders. To the servant with the first group of animals he said, “My brother Esau will come to you and ask, ‘Whose servant are you? Where are you going and whose animals are these?’
18. Then you will answer, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He sent them as a gift to you, my master Esau, and he also is coming behind us.’ ”
19. Jacob ordered the second servant, the third servant, and all the other servants to do the same thing. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.
20. Say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” Jacob thought, “If I send these gifts ahead of me, maybe Esau will forgive me. Then when I see him, perhaps he will accept me.”
21. So Jacob sent the gifts to Esau, but he himself stayed that night in the camp.
22. During the night Jacob rose and crossed the Jabbok River at the crossing, taking with him his two wives, his two slave girls, and his eleven sons.
23. He sent his family and everything he had across the river.