He likewise instructed the leaders of the second and the third herds and all those following them, “You must say the same thing when you meet Esau.
then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He’s sent them as a gift to you, my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’ ”
And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us,’ ” because he reasoned, “If I can appease Esau with these gifts before I have to meet him face-to-face, he may accept me.”