Genesis 27
27
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
5Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.”
11Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
13His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.”
14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18He went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
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 give me your blessing.”
20Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied.
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”
22Jacob went 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.” 23He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24“Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.
25Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”
27So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over 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.”
30After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob#27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39His father Isaac answered him,
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”
41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
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Genesis 27: NIV
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Genesis 27
27
Rebekah and Jacob tricked Isaac
1A long time later, when Isaac was old, his eyes got really weak and he couldn’t see. One day, Isaac sent somebody to get his oldest son Esau. Then Esau came to him, and Isaac said, “My son.”
And Esau said, “Yes, Father?”
2And Isaac said, “Listen, I am very old. Maybe I will die soon. 3-4You are my oldest son, so you will be the next leader for our family. I have to do a ceremony with you, to show that you will be the next leader. First, I want you to get your bow and arrows. Go out bush and kill a wild animal, then cook it and make some good food for me, just the way I like it. Then bring me that food, and I will eat it. Then I will do that ceremony with you, to show that you are the next leader for our family. I will ask God to be good to you as the next leader for our family. I have to do that ceremony before I die.”
5Isaac’s wife Rebekah was nearby, and she heard Isaac say those things to Esau. But Isaac didn’t know that she heard him.
After that, Esau did what Isaac told him to do. He got his bow and arrows, and he went out bush to look for a wild animal to kill.
6Straight away, Rebekah talked to her son Jacob. She said, “I heard your father talk to your brother Esau. 7Your father said, ‘Go and kill a wild animal and make some good food for me. I will eat that food, and then I will do a ceremony with you. I will ask God to be good to you as the next leader for our family, and I know that God will listen. I have to do that ceremony before I die.’ ”
8Then Rebekah said to Jacob, “My son, I want you to be the next leader for our family, not your brother Esau. So listen to me and do what I say. 9Go to the place where we keep our goats. Get 2 really good young goats and bring them back here. I will cook those goats and make some good food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10Then I will give you that food to take to your father. He can’t see, so he will think that you are Esau, and he will do that ceremony with you before he dies. He will ask God to be good to you as the next leader for our family.”
11But Jacob said to Rebekah, “You know that my brother Esau has hair all over his skin. But I have smooth skin, I don’t have any hair on my skin. 12Maybe my father will touch my smooth skin, and then he will know that I am Jacob, not Esau. And he will know that I am tricking him. Then my father will not ask God to be good to me. No, he will ask God to curse me, and God will make trouble for me.”
13But Rebekah said, “Don’t worry. If God wants to curse you, I will ask him to curse me instead. Just do what I say. Go and get those 2 young goats for me.”
14So Jacob went and got 2 young goats, and he took them to his mother Rebekah. She cooked those goats, and she made some good food, just the way Jacob’s father liked it. 15Rebekah’s older son Esau, his best clothes were in Rebekah’s tent, so Rebekah got those clothes and gave them to her younger son Jacob, and she told him to put them on. 16Then she took some bits of hairy skin from the 2 goats, and she tied those bits of skin around Jacob’s arms and neck. 17Then Rebekah gave Jacob the good food that she made, and some bread. 18Jacob took that food, and he went to his father Isaac’s room. Jacob said, “Father.” And Isaac said, “Yes, son. Who are you? Are you Esau, or are you Jacob?”
19Then Jacob lied and said, “I am Esau, your older son. I killed a wild animal and I made some good food for you, just like you said. Sit up and eat it. Then you can ask God to be good to me as the next leader for our family.”
20But Isaac said, “My son, how did you get that wild animal so quickly?”
Jacob lied again and said, “God, the one that looks after you, he let me find that wild animal really quickly.”
21Then Isaac said, “My son, come close to me, so that I can touch your arms. If your arms are hairy, then I will know that you really are my son Esau.”
22So Jacob went close to his father Isaac, and Isaac touched Jacob’s arms. Then Isaac said, “Your voice is like Jacob’s voice, but your arms are like Esau’s arms. They are really hairy.” You see, when Isaac touched Jacob’s arms, he touched those bits of hairy goat skin that Rebekah tied around Jacob’s arms. That’s the reason why Isaac said, “Your arms are like Esau’s arms.”
23So Isaac didn’t know that Jacob tricked him. He thought, “Now I know that this is Esau, because his arms are really hairy. I will eat that food that he made, and then I will ask God to be good to him as the next leader for our family.”
24Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And Jacob lied and said, “Yes, I am.”
25So Isaac said, “My son, bring me that food that you made. I will eat that food, and then I will ask God to be good to you as the next leader for our family.” Then Jacob gave Isaac that food, and Isaac ate it. Jacob also gave Isaac some wine, and Isaac drank it.
26Then Isaac said to Jacob, “My son, come close to me and kiss me on the cheek.” 27So Jacob went close to Isaac and kissed him, and Isaac smelled the clothes that Jacob was wearing, those clothes that belonged to Esau. Then Isaac thought again, “Yes, I know that this is Esau.”#Hebrews 11:20
Then Isaac asked God to be good to his son and to the people born into his son’s family later on. He said,
“My son smells like land where God makes lots of good things grow.
28I’m asking God to send water to make your land wet,
so that your land will grow really good food plants,
and so that you will have lots of food and wine.
29I’m asking God to make you boss over other nations,#Genesis 12:3
so that those other nations will work for you and show you respect.
I’m asking God to make you boss over your relatives,
so that they will show you respect.
If anyone makes trouble for you, I’m asking God to curse them,
but if anyone is good to you, I’m asking God to be good to them.”
30After Isaac finished saying those things, Jacob left Isaac’s room.
Esau found out that Jacob cheated him
Straight away after that, Esau came home. He had a wild animal that he killed out bush. 31Esau cooked that wild animal and made some good food, just like Rebekah did. Then Esau took that food to his father Isaac. Esau said, “My father, I killed a wild animal and cooked it for you. Please sit up and eat this good food. Then you can ask God to be good to me as the next leader for our family.”
32Then Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
And Esau said, “I am your son Esau, your older son.”
33Isaac got a big shock, and his body started to shake. Isaac said, “But another man already killed a wild animal and made food for me. He gave that food to me, and I ate it. I want to know, who was that man? I asked God to be good to him, as the next leader for our family, and I know for sure that God will do that.”
34Then Esau got really upset, and he yelled out. Then he said, “My father, please ask God to be good to me too.”
35But Isaac said, “No, I can’t do that. Your brother Jacob tricked me. He pretended to be you, and he got me to do that ceremony with him, instead of you. I asked God to be good to him, and he will be the next leader for our family.”
36Then Esau got angry, and he said, “My brother is called Jacob, and that is the right name for him. That name can mean he cheats. Yes, Jacob cheated me 2 times. First, he made me promise that I will let him be the most important son, instead of me.#Genesis 25:29-34 And look, now he got our father to do that ceremony with him, and he will be the next leader for our family.”
Then Esau talked to Isaac again. He said, “Is there something else that you can ask God to do for me? Please ask God to do something good for me too.”
37But Isaac said, “No, I can’t do that. I made your brother Jacob boss over you, and I made him boss over all his other relatives too, so that they will have to work for him. And I asked God to keep giving Jacob plenty of good food and wine. So there’s nothing I can ask God to do for you, my son.”
38Then Esau kept on talking to Isaac. He said, “Please, my father, ask God to do just one good thing for me. Please ask God to be good to me too.” Then Esau started to cry really loud.#Hebrews 12:17
39Then his father Isaac said to him,
“I’m telling you that you and the people born into your family later on, you will live in a place where the ground is dry.
God won’t send any water to wet that land, and there won’t be any good food plants growing there.#Hebrews 11:20
40Your tribe will always fight and steal from other people to get their food.
Your brother’s tribe will be boss over your tribe.
But one day, your tribe will fight back, and then your brother’s tribe will not be boss over your tribe any more.”#Genesis 36:8; 2 Kings 8:20
Esau wanted to kill Jacob
41Esau was really angry, because Jacob tricked their father, and their father made Jacob the next leader for their family. So Esau hated Jacob. And Esau said to himself, “My father is going to die soon. When he dies, we will all cry for a time, and then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42But somebody told Rebekah that her older son Esau said those things. So Rebekah sent somebody to get her younger son Jacob. Then she said to Jacob, “Listen. Your brother Esau wants to do payback to you. He is planning to kill you. 43So, my son, do what I say. Leave this place straight away, and go quickly to the town called Haran, in Paddan Aram country. My brother Laban lives in that place. 44Stay with Laban for a little while, until your brother Esau stops being angry. 45One day, Esau will forget about what you did, and he will not be angry with you any more. Then I will send somebody to Haran to get you, and you can come back here. But if you stay here now, Esau will kill you, and then somebody else will do payback to Esau and kill him. I don’t want both of you to die on the same day. So you have to go away from this place.”
Rebekah talked to Isaac about a wife for Jacob
46Then Rebekah went and talked to her husband Isaac. She wanted Isaac to send Jacob away, so that Jacob will be safe from his brother Esau. But she didn’t tell Isaac what she said to Jacob. She said, “You know those 2 women that our son Esau married. They are from the Heth tribe, and their people live here in Canaan country. Those women make my life rubbish. If our son Jacob keeps on living here in Canaan country, maybe he will marry a woman from the Heth tribe too. Then my life will be so rubbish, I will want to die.”
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