Genesis 27
1 Isaac was old and going blind. He called for Esau, his oldest son, and said, “My son.” “I'm here,” Esau replied.
When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.”
2 “I'm old now,” said Isaac, “I may die soon, who knows?
He said, “See now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
3 So please take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the countryside for some meat for me.
Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison.
4 Make me that tasty food that I love and bring it to me to eat, so I can bless you before I die.”
Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5 Rebekah heard what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau left to go hunting in the countryside for wild game,
Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
6 Rebekah told her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father tell your brother,
Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,
7 ‘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.’
‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before the LORD before my death.’
8 Now then, my son, listen to me and do exactly what I tell you.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you.
9 Go to the flock and bring me two nice young goats. I'll cook them and make the tasty food your father loves.
Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves.
10 Then you take it to your father to eat, so he can bless you in the presence of the Lord before he dies.”
You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
11 “But listen,” Jacob replied to his mother Rebekah, “my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man.
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
12 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.”
What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.”
13 “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.”
His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.”
14 So Jacob went and got them and took them to his mother, and she made some tasty food, the way his father loved.
He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved.
15 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.
Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son.
16 She put the goatskins on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck.
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she'd made.
She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 He went in to see his father, and called out, “My father, I'm here.” “Which son are you?” Isaac asked.
He came to his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 “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.”
Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.”
20 “How did you find an animal so fast, my son?” Isaac asked. “Because the Lord your God sent it my way,” Jacob replied.
Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because the LORD your God gave me success.”
21 “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.”
Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “It's Jacob's voice but Esau's hands.”
Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 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.
He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.
24 “It's really you, my son Esau?” he asked again. “Yes, it's me,” Jacob replied.
He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
25 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.
He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.” He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Afterwards he said to Isaac, “Come here and kiss me, my son.”
His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.”
27 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.”
He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.
28 “May God use the dew of heaven and fertile land to give you rich harvests of grain and new wine!
God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
29 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.”
Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
30 After Isaac finished blessing Jacob—in fact Jacob had just left his father—Esau returned from his hunting trip.
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31 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.”
He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.”
32 “Who are you?” Isaac asked him. “I'm your son, your firstborn son, Esau,” he replied.
Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
33 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.”
Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.”
34 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!”
When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.”
35 But Isaac replied, “You brother came and deceived me—he stole your blessing!”
He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.”
36 “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?”
He said, “Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Have not you reserved a blessing for me?”
37 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?”
Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?”
38 “Do you only have one blessing, my father?” Esau asked. “Please bless me too!” Then Esau began to cry very loudly.
Esau said to his father, “Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.
39 Then his father Isaac declared, “Listen! You will live far away from fertile land, far from the dew of heaven that falls from above.
Isaac his father answered him, “Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the sky from above.
40 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.”
You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you will shake his yoke from off your neck.”
41 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!”
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 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.
The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
43 So, my son, listen carefully to what I tell you. Leave immediately and go to my brother Laban in Haram.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran.
44 Stay with him for a while until your brother's anger cools down.
Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away—
45 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?”
until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”
46 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!”
Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”
