Genesis 27
1 When Isaac was old, he became almost blind. One day he summoned Esau, his firstborn/older son,
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 and said to him, “My son?” Esau replied, “Here I am!”
He said, “See here, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
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.
Therefore take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game 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 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 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,
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 said to her son, Jacob, “Listen to me. I heard your father talking to your brother, Esau, saying,
Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son and said, “See here, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother. He said,
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.’
'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 So now, my son, do what I am telling you.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command 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 good young goats; and I will make delicious food from them for your father, just like he 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].”
You will take it to your father, so that he may eat it, so that he may bless you before his death.”
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!
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “See, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am 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!”
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 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!”
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 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 the young goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made delicious food, just like 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.
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 also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and 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 him some bread and the tasty food that she had prepared.
She put the delicious food and the bread that she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 Jacob took it to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “I’m here; which of my sons are you?”
Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” He said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?”
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.”
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 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.”
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 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.”
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 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 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 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 did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau's hands, so Isaac blessed him.
24 But first Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob replied, “Yes, I am.”
He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He replied, “I am.”
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.
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 Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come here and kiss me.”
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now 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.
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 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 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 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 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, Jacob was just leaving the room where his father was, when his older brother, Esau, returned from hunting.
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 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 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 His father, Isaac, said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau, your firstborn son!”
Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
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 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 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 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 his father said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing!”
Isaac said, “Your brother came here deceitfully and has taken away 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?”
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 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 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 Esau said to his father, “My father, do you have only one blessing? My father, bless me, too!” Then Esau cried 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 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].
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 [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.”
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 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!”
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 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.
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 now, my son, listen carefully to what I am telling you. Escape quickly and go and stay with my brother Laban, in Haran [town].
Now therefore, my son, obey me and flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran.
44 Stay with him a while, until your older brother is no longer angry.
Stay with him for a while, until your brother's fury subsides,
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]
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 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!”
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?”
