Genesis 32:13-21 ▼

13 Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau:

14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

15 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

16 He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.”

17 He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’

18 then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’ ”

19 He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him.

20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.

21 So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.