Genesis 27
1 Senuit autem Isaac, et caligaverunt oculi eius, et videre non poterat: vocavitque Esau filium suum maiorem, et dixit ei: Fili mi? Qui respondit: Adsum.
When Isaac was old, he became almost blind. One day he summoned Esau, his firstborn/older son,
2 Cui pater: Vides, inquit, quod senuerim, et ignorem diem mortis meæ.
and said to him, “My son?” Esau replied, “Here I am!”
3 Sume arma tua, pharetram, et arcum, et egredere foras: cumque venatu aliquid apprehenderis,
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.
4 fac mihi inde pulmentum sicut velle me nosti, et affer ut comedam: et benedicat tibi anima mea antequam moriar.
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.”
5 Quod cum audisset Rebecca, et ille abiisset in agrum ut iussionem patris impleret,
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,
6 dixit filio suo Iacob: Audivi patrem tuum loquentem cum Esau fratre tuo, et dicentem ei:
Rebekah said to her son, Jacob, “Listen to me. I heard your father talking to your brother, Esau, saying,
7 Affer mihi de venatione tua, et fac cibos ut comedam, et benedicam tibi coram Domino antequam moriar.
‘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.’
8 Nunc ergo fili mi, acquiesce consiliis meis:
So now, my son, do what I am telling you.
9 et pergens ad gregem, affer mihi duos hœdos optimos, ut faciam ex eis escas patri tuo, quibus libenter vescitur:
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.
10 quas cum intuleris, et comederit, benedicat tibi priusquam moriatur.
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].”
11 Cui ille respondit: Nosti quod Esau frater meus homo pilosus sit, et ego lenis:
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!
12 si attrectaverit me pater meus, et senserit, timeo ne putet me sibi voluisse illudere, et inducam super me maledictionem pro benedictione.
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!”
13 Ad quem mater: In me sit, ait, ista maledictio, fili mi: tantum audi vocem meam, et pergens affer quæ dixi.
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!”
14 Abiit, et attulit, deditque matri. Paravit illa cibos, sicut velle noverat patrem illius.
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.
15 Et vestibus Esau valde bonis, quas apud se habebat domi, induit eum:
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.
16 pelliculasque hœdorum circumdedit manibus, et colli nuda protexit.
She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.
17 Deditque pulmentum, et panes, quos coxerat, tradidit.
Then she handed him some bread and the tasty food that she had prepared.
18 Quibus illatis, dixit: Pater mi? At ille respondit: Audio. Quis es tu fili mi?
Jacob took it to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “I’m here; which of my sons are you?”
19 Dixitque Iacob: Ego sum primogenitus tuus Esau: feci sicut præcepisti mihi: surge, sede, et comede de venatione mea, ut benedicat mihi anima tua.
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.”
20 Rursumque Isaac ad filium suum: Quo modo, inquit, tam cito invenire potuisti, fili mi? Qui respondit: Voluntas Dei fuit ut cito occurreret mihi quod volebam:
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.”
21 Dixitque Isaac: Accede huc, ut tangam te fili mi, et probem utrum tu sis filius meus Esau, an non.
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.”
22 Accessit ille ad patrem, et palpato eo, dixit Isaac: Vox quidem, vox Iacob est: sed manus, manus sunt Esau.
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.”
23 Et non cognovit eum, quia pilosæ manus similitudinem maioris expresserant. Benedicens ergo illi,
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.
24 ait: Tu es filius meus Esau? Respondit: Ego sum.
But first Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob replied, “Yes, I am.”
25 At ille: Affer mihi, inquit, cibos de venatione tua, fili mi, ut benedicat tibi anima mea. Quos cum oblatos comedisset, obtulit ei etiam vinum. quo hausto,
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.
26 dixit ad eum: Accede ad me, et da mihi osculum, fili mi.
Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come here and kiss me.”
27 Accessit, et osculatus est eum. Statimque ut sensit vestimentorum illius fragrantiam, benedicens illi, ait: Ecce odor filii mei sicut odor agri pleni, cui benedixit Dominus.
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.
28 Det tibi Deus de rore cæli, et de pinguedine terræ abundantiam frumenti et vini.
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.
29 Et serviant tibi populi, et adorent te tribus: esto dominus fratrum tuorum, et incurventur ante te filii matris tuæ. qui maledixerit tibi, sit ille maledictus: et qui benedixerit tibi, benedictionibus repleatur.
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.”
30 Vix Isaac sermonem impleverat: et egresso Iacob foras, venit Esau,
After Isaac finished blessing Jacob, Jacob was just leaving the room where his father was, when his older brother, Esau, returned from hunting.
31 coctosque de venatione cibos intulit patri, dicens: Surge pater mi, et comede de venatione filii tui: ut benedicat mihi anima tua.
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!”
32 Dixitque illi Isaac: Quis enim es tu? Qui respondit: Ego sum filius tuus primogenitus Esau.
His father, Isaac, said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau, your firstborn son!”
33 Expavit Isaac stupore vehementi: et ultra quam credi potest, admirans, ait: Quis igitur ille est qui dudum captam venationem attulit mihi, et comedi ex omnibus priusquam tu venires? benedixique ei, et erit benedictus.
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).”
34 Auditis Esau sermonibus patris, irrugiit clamore magno: et consternatus, ait: Benedic etiam et mihi, pater mi.
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!”
35 Qui ait: Venit germanus tuus fraudulenter, et accepit benedictionem tuam.
But his father said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing!”
36 At ille subiunxit: Iuste vocatum est nomen eius Iacob: supplantavit enim me en altera vice: primogenita mea ante tulit, et nunc secundo surripuit benedictionem meam. Rursumque ad patrem: Numquid non reservasti, ait, et mihi benedictionem?
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?”
37 Respondit Isaac: Dominum tuum illum constitui, et omnes fratres eius servituti illius subiugavi: frumento et vino stabilivi eum, et tibi post hæc, fili mi, ultra quid faciam?
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]
38 Cui Esau: Num unam, inquit, tantum benedictionem habes, pater? mihi quoque obsecro ut benedicas. Cumque eiulatu magno fleret,
Esau said to his father, “My father, do you have only one blessing? My father, bless me, too!” Then Esau cried very loudly.
39 motus Isaac, dixit ad eum: In pinguedine terræ, et in rore cæli desuper
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].
40 erit benedictio tua. Vives in gladio, et fratri tuo servies: tempusque veniet, cum excutias, et solvas iugum eius de cervicibus tuis.
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.”
41 Oderat ergo semper Esau Iacob pro benedictione qua benedixerat ei pater: dixitque in corde suo: Venient dies luctus patris mei, et occidam Iacob fratrem meum.
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!”
42 Nunciata sunt hæc Rebeccæ: quæ mittens et vocans Iacob filium suum, dixit ad eum: Ecce Esau frater tuus minatur ut occidat te.
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.
43 Nunc ergo, fili mi, audi vocem meam, et consurgens fuge ad Laban fratrem meum in Haran:
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].
44 habitabisque cum eo dies paucos, donec requiescat furor fratris tui,
Stay with him a while, until your older brother is no longer angry.
45 et cesset indignatio eius, obliviscaturque eorum quæ fecisti in eum: postea mittam, et adducam te inde huc. cur utroque orbabor filio in uno die?
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]
46 Dixitque Rebecca ad Isaac: Tædet me vitæ meæ propter filias Heth: si acceperit Iacob uxorem de stirpe huius terræ, nolo vivere.
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!”
