Genesis 27
27
The Stolen Blessing
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see,#Gn 48:10; 1Sm 3:2 he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
2He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. 3So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.#Gn 25:27–28 4Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”#Gn 27:19,25,31; 48:9,15–16; Dt 33:1; Heb 11:20
5Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. 9Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father — the kind he loves. 10Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.#Gn 25:25 12Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”
13His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”
14So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 17Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
18When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”
And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19Jacob replied 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.”
20But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.”
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”
22So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he replied, “I am.”
25Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled#27:27 Lit smelled 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 to you —
from the dew of the sky#Gn 27:39; Dt 32:2; 33:13,28; 2Sm 1:21; Pr 3:20; Is 18:4; Hs 14:5; Hg 1:10; Zch 8:12
and from the richness of the land#Nm 18:12 —
an abundance of grain and new wine.#Dt 7:13; Jl 2:19
29May peoples serve you#Gn 25:23; Is 45:14; 49:7,23; 60:12–14
and nations bow in homage to you.
Be master over your relatives;
may your mother’s sons bow in homage to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.#Gn 12:3; Nm 24:9
30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting. 31He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”
33Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” #Heb 12:17
35But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?#27:36 = He Grasps the Heel#Gn 25:26,32–34 For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”
38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.#27:38 Lit Esau lifted up his voice and wept
39His father Isaac answered him,
Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.
40You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you rebel,#27:40 Hb obscure
you will break his yoke from your neck.
Esau’s Anger
41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides — 45until your brother’s rage turns away from you 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 you both in one day?”
46So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hethite girls.#Gn 26:34–35; 28:8 If Jacob marries someone from around here,#27:46 Lit someone like these daughters of the land like these Hethite girls, what good is my life?” #Gn 24:3
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 27
27
Jacob Tricks Isaac
1When Isaac was old, his eyesight was poor, so he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, “Son.”
Esau answered, “Here I am.”
2Isaac said, “I am old and don’t know when I might die. 3So take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the field for an animal for me to eat. 4When you prepare the tasty food that I love, bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.” 5So Esau went out in the field to hunt.
Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau. 6She said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7‘Kill an animal and prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8So obey me, my son, and do what I tell you. 9Go out to our goats and bring me two of the best young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them. 10Then you will take the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies.”
11But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth! 12If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me but will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him.”
13So Rebekah said to him, “If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said. Go get the goats for me.”
14So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother, and she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed. 15She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house and put them on the younger son Jacob. 16She also took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and neck. 17Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18Jacob went in to his father and said, “Father.”
And his father said, “Yes, my son. Who are you?”
19Jacob said to him, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.”
20But Isaac asked his son, “How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God helped me to find it.”
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son. Then I will know if you are really my son Esau.”
22So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau.” 23Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau’s hands, so Isaac blessed him. 24Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”
25Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food, and I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank. 26Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.” 27So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes, he blessed him and said,
“The smell of my son
is like the smell of the field
that the Lord has blessed.
28May God give you plenty of rain
and good soil
so that you will have plenty of grain and new wine.
29May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
May you be master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
May everyone who curses you be cursed,
and may everyone who blesses you be blessed.”
30Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. 31He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you and then bless me.”
32Isaac asked, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your firstborn son—Esau.”
33Then Isaac trembled greatly and said, “Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him, and it is too late now to take back my blessing.”
34When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father!”
35But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Jacob is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own, and now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you, and all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and new wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”
38But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.
39Isaac said to him,
“You will live far away from the best land,
far from the rain.
40You will live by using your sword,
and you will be a slave to your brother.
But when you struggle,
you will break free from him.”
41After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. He thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob.”
42Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. 43So, my son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once! 44Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry. 45In time, your brother will not be angry, and he will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons on the same day.”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.