Genesis 27
1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
Now when Isaac was old and his eyes had become clouded so that he was not able to see, he sent for Esau, his first son, and said to him, My son: and he said, Here am I.
2 “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
And he said, See now, I am old, and my death may take place at any time:
3 Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
So take your arrows and your bow and go out to the field and get meat for me;
4 Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
And make me food, good to the taste, such as is pleasing to me, and put it before me, so that I may have a meal and give you my blessing before death comes to me.
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,
Now Isaac's words to his son were said in Rebekah's hearing. Then Esau went out to get the meat.
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
And Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, Your father said to your brother Esau in my hearing,
7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
Go and get some roe's meat and make me a good meal, so that I may be full, and give you my blessing before the Lord before my death.
8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
Now, my son, do what I say.
9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.
Go to the flock and get me two fat young goats; and I will make of them a meal to your father's taste:
10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
And you will take it to him, so that he may have a good meal and give you his blessing before his death.
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, But Esau my brother is covered with hair, while I am smooth:
12 What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
If by chance my father puts his hand on me, it will seem to him that I am tricking him, and he will put a curse on me in place of a blessing.
13 His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
And his mother said, Let the curse be on me, my son: only do as I say, and go and get them for me.
14 So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.
So he went and got them and took them to his mother: and she made a meal to his father's taste.
15 And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
And Rebekah took the fair robes of her oldest son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son:
16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck:
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
And she gave into the hand of Jacob, her son, the meat and the bread which she had made ready.
18 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I: who are you, my son?
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”
And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you may give me a blessing.
20 But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.
And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you, my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not.
22 So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
23 Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him a blessing.
24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am.
25 “Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.
And he said, Put it before me and I will take of my son's meat, so that I may give you a blessing. And he put it before him and he took it; and he gave him wine, and he had a drink.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, my son, and give me a kiss.
27 So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
And he came near and gave him a kiss; and smelling the smell of his clothing, he gave him a blessing, and said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field on which the blessing of the Lord has come:
28 May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth— an abundance of grain and new wine.
May God give you the dew of heaven, and the good things of the earth, and grain and wine in full measure:
29 May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”
Let peoples be your servants, and nations go down before you: be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons go down before you: a curse be on everyone by whom you are cursed, and a blessing on those who give you a blessing.
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
And when Isaac had come to the end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had not long gone away from Isaac his father, Esau came in from the field.
31 He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
And he made ready a meal, good to the taste, and took it to his father, and said to him, Let my father get up and take of his son's meat, so that you may give me a blessing.
32 But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your oldest son, Esau.
33 Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”
And in great fear Isaac said, Who then is he who got meat and put it before me, and I took it all before you came, and gave him a blessing, and his it will be?
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
And hearing the words of his father, Esau gave a great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Give a blessing to me, even to me, O my father!
35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and took away your blessing.
36 So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
And he said, Is it because he is named Jacob that he has twice taken my place? for he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not kept a blessing for me?
37 But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master, and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my son?
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
And Esau said to his father, Is that the only blessing you have, my father? give a blessing to me, even me! And Esau was overcome with weeping.
39 His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above.
Then Isaac his father made answer and said to him, Far from the fertile places of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven on high will your living-place be:
40 You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
By your sword will you get your living and you will be your brother's servant; but when your power is increased his yoke will be broken from off your neck.
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.
42 When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.
Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is purposing to put you to death.
43 So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
So now, my son, do what I say: go quickly to Haran, to my brother Laban;
44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
And be there with him for a little time, till your brother's wrath is turned away;
45 until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
Till the memory of what you have done to him is past and he is no longer angry: then I will send word for you to come back; are the two of you to be taken from me in one day?
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, My life is a weariness to me because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob takes a wife from among the daughters of Heth, such as these, the women of this land, of what use will my life be to me?
