Genesis 27
1 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.
And it comes to pass that Isaac [is] aged, and his eyes are too dim for seeing, and he calls [for] his older son Esau and says to him, “My son”; and he says to him, “Here I [am].”
2 And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.
And he says, “Now behold, I have become aged, I have not known the day of my death;
3 Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting,
and now, please take up your instruments, your quiver, and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt provision for me,
4 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.
and make tasteful things for me, [such] as I have loved, and bring [them] to me, and I eat, so that my soul blesses you before I die.”
5 And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father’s commandment,
And Rebekah is listening while Isaac is speaking to his son Esau; and Esau goes to the field to hunt game—to bring in;
6 She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:
and Rebekah has spoken to her son Jacob, saying, “Behold, I have heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying,
7 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.
Bring game for me, and make tasteful things for me, and I eat, and bless you before YHWH before my death.
8 Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
And now, my son, listen to my voice, to that which I am commanding you:
9 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:
Now go to the flock, and take for me two good kids of the goats from there, and I make them tasteful things for your father, [such] as he has loved;
10 Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
and you have taken [them] to your father, and he has eaten, so that his soul blesses you before his death.”
11 And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth.
And Jacob says to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau [is] a hairy man, and I [am] a smooth man,
12 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.
it may be my father feels me, and I have been in his eyes as a deceiver, and have brought on me disapproval, and not a blessing”;
13 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.
and his mother says to him, “On me your disapproval, my son; only listen to my voice, and go, take for me.”
14 He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
And he goes, and takes, and brings to his mother, and his mother makes tasteful things, [such] as his father has loved;
15 And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
and Rebekah takes the desirable garments of Esau her older son, which [are] with her in the house, and puts them on Jacob her younger son;
16 And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.
and she has put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck,
17 And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.
and she gives the tasteful things, and the bread which she has made, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?
And he comes to his father and says, “My father”; and he says, “Here I [am]; who [are] you, my son?”
19 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.
And Jacob says to his father, “I [am] Esau your firstborn; I have done as you have spoken to me; please rise, sit and eat of my game, so that your soul blesses me.”
20 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.
And Isaac says to his son, “What [is] this you have hurried to find, my son?” And he says, “That which your God YHWH has caused to come before me.”
21 And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not.
And Isaac says to Jacob, “Please come near, and I feel you, my son, whether you [are] he, my son Esau, or not.”
22 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.
And Jacob comes near to his father Isaac, and he feels him, and says, “The voice [is] the voice of Jacob, and the hands hands of Esau.”
23 And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,
And he has not discerned him, for his hands have been hairy, as the hands of his brother Esau, and he blesses him,
24 He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.
and says, “You are he—my son Esau?” And he says, “I [am].”
25 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,
And he says, “Bring [it] near to me, and I eat of my son’s game, so that my soul blesses you”; and he brings [it] near to him, and he eats; and he brings wine to him, and he drinks.
26 He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.
And his father Isaac says to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son”;
27 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.
and he comes near, and kisses him, and he smells the fragrance of his garments, and blesses him, and says, “See, the fragrance of my son [is] as the fragrance of a field which YHWH has blessed;
28 God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.
and God gives to you of the dew of the heavens, and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and wine;
29 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.
peoples serve you, and nations bow themselves to you, be mighty over your brothers, and the sons of your mother bow themselves to you; those who curse you [are] cursed, and those who bless you [are] blessed.”
30 Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
And it comes to pass, as Isaac has finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob is only just going out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau has come in from his hunting;
31 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.
and he also makes tasteful things, and brings to his father, and says to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s game, so that your soul blesses me.”
32 And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son Esau.
And his father Isaac says to him, “Who [are] you?” And he says, “I [am] your son, your firstborn, Esau”;
33 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.
and Isaac trembles a very great trembling and says, “Who, now, [is] he who has provided game, and brings to me, and I eat of all before you come in, and I bless him? Indeed, he is blessed.”
34 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.
When Esau hears the words of his father, then he cries a very great and bitter cry, and says to his father, “Bless me, me also, O my father”;
35 And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.
and he says, “Your brother has come with subtlety, and takes your blessing.”
36 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?
And he says, “Is it because he whose name is called Jacob takes me by the heel these two times? He has taken my birthright; and behold, now he has taken my blessing”; he also says, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”
37 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?
And Isaac answers and says to Esau, “Behold, a mighty one have I set him over you, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants, and [with] grain and wine have I sustained him; and for you now, what will I do, my son?”
38 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,
And Esau says to his father, “One blessing have you my father? Bless me, me also, O my father”; and Esau lifts up his voice, and weeps.
39 Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
And his father Isaac answers and says to him, “Behold, of the fatness of the earth is your dwelling, and of the dew of the heavens from above;
40 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.
and by your sword you live, and your brother serves you; and it has come to pass, when you rule, that you have broken his yoke from off your neck.”
41 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.
And Esau hates Jacob, because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau says in his heart, “The days of mourning [for] my father draw near, and I slay my brother Jacob.”
42 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.
And the words of Esau her older son are declared to Rebekah, and she sends and calls for Jacob her younger son, and says to him, “Behold, your brother Esau is comforting himself in regard to you—to slay you;
43 Now therefore, my son, hear my voice: arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran:
and now, my son, listen to my voice, and rise, flee for yourself to my brother Laban, to Haran,
44 And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,
and you have dwelt with him some days, until your brother’s fury turns back,
45 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?
until your brother’s anger turns back from you, and he has forgotten that which you have done to him, and I have sent and taken you from there; why am I bereaved even of you both the same day?”
46 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.
And Rebekah says to Isaac, “I have been disgusted with my life because of the presence of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these—from the daughters of the land—why do I live?”
