Genesis 27
27
Isaac Blesses Jacob
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2He said, “See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. 4Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father say to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. 9Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes; 10and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. 12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” 13His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.” 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; 16and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob.
18So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.” 20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. 24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and 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 of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
29Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother's sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Esau's Lost Blessing
30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son's game, so that you may bless me.” 32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.” 33Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all#27.33 Cn: Heb of all before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and blessed he shall be!” 34When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father!” 35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?#27.36 That is He supplants or He takes by the heel For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37Isaac answered Esau, “I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39Then his father Isaac answered him:
“See, away from#27.39 Or See, of the fatness of the earth shall your home be,
and away from#27.39 Or and of the dew of heaven on high.
40By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you break loose,#27.40 Meaning of Heb uncertain
you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Jacob Escapes Esau's Fury
41Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44and stay with him a while, until your brother's fury turns away— 45until your brother's anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Genesis 27
27
Jacob Tricks Isaac
1Isaac grew old, and his eyes became so weak that 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. Maybe I will die soon. 3So take your bow and arrows and go hunting. Kill an animal for me to eat. 4Prepare the food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat it. Then I will bless you before I die.” 5So Esau went hunting.
Rebekah was listening when Isaac told this to his son Esau. 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. 7Your father said, ‘Kill an animal for me to eat. Prepare the food for me, and I will eat it. Then, with the Lord as witness, I will bless you before I die.’ 8So listen, son, and do what I tell you. 9Go out to our goats and bring me two young ones. I will prepare them the way your father loves them. 10Then you will carry the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies.”
11But Jacob told his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am not hairy like him. 12If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse me because I tried to trick him.”
13So Rebekah said to him, “I will accept the blame if there is trouble. Do what I said. Go get the goats for me.”
14So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. His mother cooked the goats in the special way that Isaac loved. 15Then Rebekah took the clothes that her older son Esau loved to wear. She put these clothes on the younger son Jacob. 16She took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and on his neck. 17Then she got the food she had cooked and gave it to Jacob.
18Jacob went to his father and said, “Father.”
His father answered, “Yes, son. Who are you?”
19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat the meat from the animals that I hunted for you. Then you can bless me.”
20But Isaac said to his son, “How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly.”
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, I will know if you are really my son Esau.”
22So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau.” 23Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau’s. So Isaac blessed Jacob.
24Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”
The Blessing for Jacob
25Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate it. Then Jacob gave him some wine, and he drank it.
26Then Isaac said to him. “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,
“My son smells like the fields
the Lord has blessed.
28May God give you plenty of rain,
good crops, and wine.
29May the nations serve you
and many people bow down to you.
You will rule over your brothers.
Your mother’s sons will bow down to you and obey you.
Whoever curses you will be cursed.
Whoever blesses you will be blessed.”
Esau’s “Blessing”
30Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. 31Esau prepared the food in the special way his father loved. He brought it to his father and said, “Father, I am your son. Get up and eat the meat from the animals that I killed for you. Then you can bless me.”
32But Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your first son—Esau.”
33Then Isaac became so upset that he began to shake. He said, “Then who was it that cooked and brought me food before you came? I ate it all, and I blessed him. Now it is too late to take back my blessing.”
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he became very angry and bitter. He cried out and said to his father, “Then bless me also, father!”
35Isaac said, “Your brother tricked me! He came and took your blessing!”
36Esau said, “His name is Jacob.#27:36 Jacob This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “heel.” It also means “the one who follows” or “tricky.” That is the right name for him. He has tricked me twice. He took away my rights as the firstborn son. And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau said, “Have you saved any blessing for me?”
37Isaac answered, “I have already given Jacob the power to rule over you. And I said all his brothers would be his servants. I have given him the blessing for much grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”
38But Esau continued to beg his father. “Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me also, father!” Esau began to cry.
39Then Isaac said to him,
“You will not live on good land.
You will not have much rain.
40You will have to fight to live,
and you will be a slave to your brother.
But when you fight to be free,
you will break away from his control.”
Jacob Leaves the Country
41After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau said to himself, “My father will soon die, and after we are finished with that, I will kill Jacob.”
42Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you. 43So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him and hide. 44Stay with him for a short time until your brother stops being angry. 45When your brother forgets what you did to him, I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons the same day.”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I’ll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!”
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International