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 Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.
2 “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.
3 Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting,
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.”
Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it, that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee before I die.
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,
And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father’s commandment,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:
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.’
Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.
8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
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.
And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth:
10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and 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 my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead 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 to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.
14 So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.
He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
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 she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.
18 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, 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 thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
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 to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in 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 hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be 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.”
He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; 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 knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,
24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: 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.
Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.
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.
He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.
28 May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth— an abundance of grain and new wine.
God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.
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.”
And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother’s children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
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 brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son’s venison; that thy soul may bless me.
32 But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn 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!”
Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.
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!”
Esau having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.
35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy 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?”
But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: my first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?
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?”
Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, 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 him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,
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.
Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
40 You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy 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.”
Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.
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.
These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob her son, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee.
43 So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
Now therefore, my son, hear my voice: arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran:
44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,
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?”
And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons 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?”
And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.
