¹⁷ To the first group he said, “When you meet my brother Esau, if he asks, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And to whom do these herds^[a] belong?’ ¹⁸ then you are to reply, ‘We’re from^[b] your servant Jacob. The herds^[c] are a gift. He’s sending them to my master, Esau. Look! There he is, coming along behind us.’”

¹⁹ He issued similar instructions to the second and third group, as well as to all the others who drove the herds that followed: “This is how you are to speak to Esau when you find him.