Genesis 27
1 When Isaac was old, he became almost blind. One day he summoned Esau, his firstborn/older son,
Isaac was old and going blind. He called for Esau, his oldest son, and said, “My son.” “I'm here,” Esau replied.
2 and said to him, “My son?” Esau replied, “Here I am!”
“I'm old now,” said Isaac, “I may die soon, who knows?
3 Isaac said, “Listen to me. I am very old, and I do not know when I will die. So now take your bow and quiver full of arrows and go out into the countryside, and hunt for a wild animal for me.
So please take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the countryside for some meat for me.
4 Kill one and prepare the kind of tasty meat that I like. Then bring it to me so that after I eat it, I can give you a blessing 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 Rebekah was listening as Isaac said that to his son, Esau. So when Esau left the tent to go to the countryside to hunt for a wild animal in order to kill it 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, “Listen to me. I heard your father talking to your brother, Esau, saying,
Rebekah told her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father tell your brother,
7 ‘Go and kill some wild animal and bring it here, and prepare the meat in a tasty way, so that I may eat it, and then before I die I can give you my blessing while Yahweh is listening.’
‘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 So now, my son, do what I am telling you.
Now then, my son, listen to me and do exactly what I tell you.
9 Go out to the flock and [kill] two nice young goats and bring [the meat] to me. Then I will prepare some tasty food for your father, the way he likes it.
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 you can take it to your father, in order that he can eat it, and then, before he dies, he will give his blessing to you, [and not to your older brother].”
Then you take it to your father to eat, so he can bless you in the presence of the Lord before he dies.”
11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “But my brother Esau’s skin has hair all over it, and my skin is not like that! My skin is smooth!
“But listen,” Jacob replied to his mother Rebekah, “my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I'm a smooth man.
12 What will happen if my father touches me? He will realize that I am tricking him, and as a result (I will be cursed/he will say that God will do bad things to) me, not 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, “If that happens, let the curse be on me. You do what I am telling you. Go and get the goats 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 killed two goats and brought them to his mother. Then [with the meat] his mother prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked.
So Jacob went and got them and took them to his mother, and she made some tasty food, the way his father loved.
15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s clothes that were with her in the tent, 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 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 him some bread and the tasty food that she had prepared.
Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she'd made.
18 Jacob took it to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “I’m here; which of my sons are you?”
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 son. I did what you told me to do. Sit up and eat some of the meat so that you can then 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, “My son, how is it that you were able to find and kill an animal so quickly?” Jacob replied, “Because Yahweh, whom you worship, enabled me to be successful.”
“How did you find an animal so fast, my son?” Isaac asked. “Because the Lord your God sent it my way,” Jacob replied.
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near to me, my son, so that I can touch you and determine whether you are really my son Esau.”
“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 went close to him. Isaac. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy, like the hands of your older brother, 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 Jacob, [because he was blind] and because Jacob’s hands were now hairy, like those of his older brother, Esau. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob.
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 But first Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob replied, “Yes, I am.”
“It's really you, my son Esau?” he asked again. “Yes, it's me,” Jacob replied.
25 Isaac said, “My son, bring me some of the meat that you have cooked, so that I may eat it and then give you my blessing.” So Jacob brought him some, and he ate it. Jacob also brought him some wine, and he drank it.
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 Isaac said to him, “My son, come here and kiss me.”
Afterwards he said to Isaac, “Come here and kiss me, my son.”
27 So Jacob came close to him, and his father kissed him on the cheek. Isaac smelled the clothes Jacob was wearing. They smelled like Esau’s clothes. So he said, “Truly, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that Yahweh 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 I ask that God will send down to you dew from heaven [to water your fields], and cause you to have abundant crops, good harvests of grain, and grapes for wine.
“May God use the dew of heaven and fertile land to give you rich harvests of grain and new wine!
29 I ask that people of many nations will serve you and bow down to you. I ask that you will rule over your brothers, and that your mother’s descendants will also bow down to you. I ask that God will curse/punish those who (curse you/ask God to do bad things to you), and bless those who bless you.”
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 After Isaac finished blessing Jacob, Jacob was just leaving the room where his father was, when his older brother, Esau, returned from hunting.
After Isaac finished blessing Jacob—in fact Jacob had just left his father—Esau returned from his hunting trip.
31 Esau cooked some tasty meat and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “My father, please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have cooked, so that you can then give me your blessing!”
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 His father, Isaac, said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau, your firstborn son!”
“Who are you?” Isaac asked him. “I'm your son, your firstborn son, Esau,” he replied.
33 Then Isaac, realizing that it was not Esau who had come earlier, trembled very violently. He said, “Then who is it that brought me some meat from an animal that he had hunted and killed, and I ate it all? He was here just before you came. I blessed him, and I cannot (take back that blessing/declare that those things will not happen to him).”
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 those words of his father, he cried loudly. He was very disappointed. He said to his father, “My father, bless me, too!”
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 his father said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing!”
But Isaac replied, “You brother came and deceived me—he stole your blessing!”
36 Esau said, “It is right [RHQ] that his name is Jacob, which means ‘cheat,’ because he deceived me two times. The first time he took my rights from being his firstborn son, and this time he took my blessing!” Then he asked, “Do you not have any blessing left 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 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “I have declared that your younger brother will rule over you, and declared that all his relatives will serve him. And I have said that God will give him plenty of grain and grapes for wine. So, my son, (what can I do for you?/There is nothing more that I can do for you!)” [RHQ]
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, “My father, do you have only one blessing? My father, bless me, too!” Then Esau cried very loudly.
“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 and said to him, “The place where you will live will be far from the fertile soil and from the dew that God sends from heaven [to water the fields].
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 will [rob and] kill people [MTY] in order to [get what you need to] live, and you will be as though you are your brother’s slave. But when you decide to rebel against him, you will (free yourself from/no longer be under) his control.”
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 So, because his father had given a blessing to Jacob, and not to him, Esau hated his younger brother. Esau thought to himself, “After my father dies and we finish mourning for him, I will kill 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 But Rebekah found out what her older son, Esau, was thinking. So she summoned her younger son, Jacob, and said to him, “Listen to me. Your older brother, Esau, is [comforting himself by] planning to kill you, to get revenge because of your deceiving your father.
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, listen carefully to what I am telling you. Escape quickly and go and stay with my brother Laban, in Haran [town].
So, my son, listen carefully to what I tell you. Leave immediately and go to my brother Laban in Haram.
44 Stay with him a while, until your older brother is no longer angry.
Stay with him for a while until your brother's anger cools down.
45 When he forgets what you did to him, I will send a message to you, to tell you to return from there. If Esau kills you, [others will kill him, and] then both my sons would die at the same time!” [RHQ]
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 Rebekah also said to Isaac, “These [foreign] women whom Esau has married, who are descendants of Heth, are making my life miserable. I would prefer to die than to see Jacob marry a woman from the descendants of Heth in this area!”
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!”
