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 older 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 here, 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.
Therefore take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
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 delicious food for me, the sort that I love, and bring it to me so I can eat it and 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,
Now Rebekah heard it when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it back.
6 Rebekah told her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father tell your brother,
Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son and said, “See here, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother. He said,
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 game and make me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of Yahweh 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 as 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 to the flock, and bring me two good young goats; and I will make delicious food from them for your father, just like 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 will take it to your father, so that he may eat it, 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, “See, 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.”
Perhaps my father will touch me, and I will seem to him as a deceiver. I will bring a curse upon me 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, “My son, let any curse fall on me. Just obey my voice, and go, bring them to 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.
So Jacob went and got the young goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made delicious food, just like 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 best clothes of Esau, her older 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 part of his neck.
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she'd made.
She put the delicious food and the bread that 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.
Jacob went 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 as you said to me. Now sit up and eat some of my game, that you 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 Yahweh your God brought it to me.”
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, “Come near me, so I may touch you, my son, and learn whether you are my true 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 over to Isaac his father; and Isaac touched 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.
Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau's hands, so Isaac 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 replied, “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.
Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, and I will eat of your game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought the food to him. Isaac ate, and Jacob brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Afterwards he said to Isaac, “Come here and kiss me, my son.”
Then 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.”
Jacob came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his clothes and blessed him. He said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed.
28 “May God use the dew of heaven and fertile land to give you rich harvests of grain and new wine!
May God give you a portion of the dew of heaven, a portion 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.”
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. May every one who curses you be cursed; may every one who blesses you be blessed.”
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 scarcely 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 delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Father, get up and eat some of your son's game, so that you 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 very much and said, “Who was it that hunted this game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him. Indeed, 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 a very great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, my father.”
35 But Isaac replied, “You brother came and deceived me—he stole your blessing!”
Isaac said, “Your brother came here deceitfully 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?”
Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and, see, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not 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 and said to Esau, “Look, I have made him your master, and I have given to him all his brothers as servants, and I have given him grain and new wine. What more can 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, “Have you not even one blessing for me, my father? Bless me, even me too, my father.” Esau wept loudly.
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 and said to him, “Look, the place where you live will be far from the richness of the earth, away from the dew of the sky 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.”
By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel, 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 that his father had given him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are near; after that 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 older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “See, your brother Esau is consoling 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 me and flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran.
44 Stay with him for a while until your brother's anger cools down.
Stay with him for a while, until your brother's fury subsides,
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 bring you back from there. Why should I lose 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 life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes one of the daughters of Heth as a wife, like these women, some of the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
