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.
Isaac was old and going blind. He called for Esau, his oldest son, and said, “My son.” “I'm here,” Esau replied.
2 “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
“I'm old now,” said Isaac, “I may die soon, who knows?
3 Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
So please take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the countryside for some 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.”
Make me that tasty food that I love and bring it to me to eat, so I can bless you 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,
Rebekah heard what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau left to go hunting in the countryside for wild game,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
Rebekah told her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father tell your brother,
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.’
‘Get me some wild game and make me some tasty food so I can eat it and then bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’
8 Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
Now then, my son, listen to me and do exactly what I tell you.
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 bring me two nice young goats. I'll cook them and make the tasty food your father loves.
10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
Then you take it to your father to eat, so he can bless you in the presence of the Lord before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
“But listen,” Jacob replied to his mother Rebekah, “my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man.
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.”
Maybe my father will notice when he touches me. Then it will look like I'm deceiving him and I'll bring a curse down on myself 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.”
“Let the curse fall on me, my son,” his mother replied. “Just do what I tell you. Go and get the young goats 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 Jacob went and got them and took them to his mother, and she made some tasty food, the way his father loved.
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.
Then Rebekah went and got her older son Esau's best clothes that she had at home 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.
She put the goatskins 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.
Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she'd made.
18 So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
He went in to see his father, and called out, “My father, I'm here.” “Which son are you?” Isaac asked.
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.”
“It's me Esau, your firstborn son,” Jacob told his father. “I did what you told me. So please sit up and eat some of my wild game meat so you can 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.
“How did you find an animal so fast, my son?” Isaac asked. “Because the Lord your God sent it my way,” Jacob replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
“Come over here so I can touch you, my son,” Isaac told Jacob, “so I can tell if you're really 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.”
Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “It's Jacob's voice but Esau's hands.”
23 Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
Isaac didn't realize it was really Jacob because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's, so Isaac got ready to bless him.
24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
“It's really you, my son Esau?” he asked again. “Yes, it's me,” Jacob replied.
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, “My son, bring me some of your wild game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought some for him to eat, as well as some wine for him to drink.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
Afterwards he said to Isaac, “Come here and kiss me, 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.
So Jacob went over and kissed him, and Isaac could smell the clothes Jacob was wearing. So he went ahead with the blessing, saying to himself, “See—the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed.”
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 use the dew of heaven and fertile land to give you rich harvests of grain and new 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.”
May the people of different nations serve you and bow down to you. May you rule over your relatives, and may they bow down to you. May everyone who curses you be cursed, and may everyone who bless you be blessed.”
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
After Isaac finished blessing Jacob—in fact Jacob had just left his father—Esau returned from his hunting trip.
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.”
He had also made some tasty food, and took it to his father. Esau said to Isaac, “Sit up, my father, and eat some of my wild game so you can bless me.”
32 But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
“Who are you?” Isaac asked him. “I'm your son, your firstborn son, Esau,” he replied.
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 started to shake all over and asked, “So who was it who went hunting game and then brought it to me? I ate it all before you came back and I blessed him. His blessing will remain.”
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!”
When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out in great anger and bitterness, and pleaded with his father, “Please bless me too, my father!”
35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
But Isaac replied, “You brother came and deceived me—he stole 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?”
“Isn't he well named—Jacob the deceiver!” said Esau. “He's deceived me twice. First he took my birthright, and now he's stolen my blessing! Haven't you 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?”
Isaac replied to Esau. “I have made him ruler over you, and have said that all his relatives will be his servants. I have declared that he will be well supplied with grain and new wine. So what is left that I can 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.
“Do you only have one blessing, my father?” Esau asked. “Please bless me too!” Then Esau began to cry very loudly.
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 his father Isaac declared, “Listen! You will live far away from fertile land, far from the dew of heaven that falls 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.”
You will make a living by using your sword, and you will be your brother's servant. But when you rebel, you will throw off his yoke from 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.”
From then on Esau hated Jacob because of his father's blessing. Esau said to himself, “Soon the time will come when I'll mourn my father's death. Then I'll 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.
However, Rebekah found out what Esau was saying, so she sent for Jacob. “Look,” she told him, “your brother Esau is making himself feel better by making plans to kill you.
43 So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
So, my son, listen carefully to what I tell you. Leave immediately and go to my brother Laban in Haram.
44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
Stay with him for a while until your brother's anger cools down.
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?”
Once he's cooled down and forgets what you did to him, I'll send for you to come back. Why should I lose both of you in a single 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 went and told Isaac, “I'm so sick of these Hittite women—they're ruining my life! If Jacob also marries a Hittite woman like them, one of the local people, I'd rather die!”
