Genesis 27

Isaac Blesses Jacob

1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” Esau replied.

1And it came to pass when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim for seeing, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son,” and he answered him, “Behold, it is I.”

2“Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.

2And he said, “Behold, please, I have grown old; I do not know the day of my death.

3Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.

3And now take, please, your weapons—your quiver and your bow—and go out to the field, and hunt for me game.

4Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

4And make for me savory foods, as I have loved, and bring them to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

5Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,

5And Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.

6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,

6And Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I have heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying,

7‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’

7‘Bring me game and make for me savory foods, and I will eat and bless you before YHWH before my death.’

8Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.

8And now, my son, listen to my voice, according to what I am commanding you.

9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.

9Go now to the flock and take for me from there two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory foods for your father, as he loves.

10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”

10And you shall bring it to your father that he may eat it, so that he may bless you before his death.”

11Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.

11And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”

12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes as a deceiver, and I shall bring on myself a curse and not a blessing.”

13His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”

13And his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only listen to my voice and go get them for me.”

14So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.

14And he went and he got them and he brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory foods, as his father loved.

15And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.

15And Rebekah took the finest clothes of Esau her elder son that were with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob her younger son.

16She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

16And the skins of the kids of the goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

17Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.

17And she gave the savory foods and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob her son.

18So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”

“Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”

18And he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Behold, it is I. Who are you, my son?”

19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”

19And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told to me. Arise, please, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”

20But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”

“Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.

20And Isaac said to his son, “What is this—you have so quickly found it, my son?” And he said, “Because YHWH your God caused it to happen before me.”

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”

21And Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, please, and I will feel you, my son—are you he, my son Esau, or not?”

22So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

22And Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, and the hands are the hands of Esau.”

23Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother. And he blessed him,

24Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he replied, “I am.”

24and he said, “Are you he, my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

25“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.”

Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.

25And He said, “Bring it near to me and I will eat of the game, my son, so that my soul may bless you.” And he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought to him wine, and he drank.

26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

26And Isaac his father said to him, “Come near, please, and kiss me, my son.”

27So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said:

“Ah, the smell of my son

is like the smell of a field

that the LORD has blessed.

27And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and he blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that YHWH has blessed.

28May God give to you the dew of heaven

and the richness of the earth—

an abundance of grain and new wine.

28And may God give to you from the dew of the heavens, and from the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and new wine.

29May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

May you be the master of your brothers,

and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

29May peoples serve you and may nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. Those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”

Esau’s Lost Hope

30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.

30And it came to pass, as Isaac finished blessing Jacob, then it came to pass—Jacob had only just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father—that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

31And he also made savory foods and he brought them to his father, and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of the game of his son, that your soul may bless me.”

32But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?”

“I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.

32And Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

33Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”

33And Isaac trembled with an exceedingly great trembling, and said, “Who then is the one who hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of it all before you came, and I have blessed him? And indeed, he shall be blessed.”

34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”

34And Esau heard the words of his father, and he cried out an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and he said to his father, “Bless me also, my father!”

35But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

35And he said, “Your brother came with deceit and took your blessing.”

36So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

36And Esau said, “Is it because his name is called Jacob? And he has supplanted me these two times. He has taken my birthright, and behold, now he has taken my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved for me a blessing?”

37But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

37And Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him master over you, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants, and grain and new wine I have sustained him with; and for you now, what shall I do, my son?”

38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

38And Esau said to his father, “Is it one blessing, that you have my father? Bless me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39His father Isaac answered him:

“Behold, your dwelling place shall be

away from the richness of the land,

away from the dew of heaven above.

39And Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Behold, from the fatness of the earth shall be your dwelling, and from the dew of the heavens above.

40You shall live by the sword

and serve your brother.

But when you rebel,

you will tear his yoke from your neck.”

40And by your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve. And it shall come to pass when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

41And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father draw near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

42When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.

42And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called for Jacob her younger son, and she said to him, “Behold, Esau your brother is comforting himself concerning you, to kill you.

43So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.

43And now, my son, listen to my voice, and arise—flee for yourself to Laban my brother in Haran.

44Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—

44And you shall stay with him a few days, until the fury of your brother turns back—

45until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

45until the anger of your brother turns away from you. And he forgets that which you did to him. Then I will send and I will take you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”

46And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, why to me is life?”