Genesis 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?”

Learn More About New Revised Standard Version

Berĕshith (Genesis) 27

1And it came to be, when Yitsḥaq was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Ěsaw his elder son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

2And he said, “See now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death.

3“Now then, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt wild game for me.

4“And make me a tasty dish, such as I love, and bring it to me to eat, in order that my being does bless you before I die.”

5And Riḇqah heard when Yitsḥaq spoke to Ěsaw his son. And Ěsaw went to the field to hunt wild game and to bring it.

6And Riḇqah spoke to Ya‛aqoḇ her son, saying, “See, I heard your father speak to Ěsaw your brother, saying,

7Bring me wild game and make me a tasty dish to eat, and bless you in the presence of יהוה before my death.’

8“And now my son, listen to my voice according to what I command you.

9Please go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I make a tasty dish from them for your father, such as he loves.

10And you shall take it to your father, and he shall eat it, so that he might bless you before his death.

11And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Riḇqah his mother, “See, Ěsaw my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.

12What if my father touches me? Then I shall be like a deceiver in his eyes, and shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.

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

14And he went and fetched them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty dish, such as his father loved.

15And Riḇqah took the best garments of her elder son Ěsaw, which were with her in the house, and put them on Ya‛aqoḇ her younger son.

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

17Then she gave the tasty dish and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Ya‛aqoḇ.

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

19And Ya‛aqoḇ said to his father, “I am Ěsaw your first-born, I have done as you said to me. Please rise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

20But Yitsḥaq said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because יהוה your Elohim brought it to me.”

21Then Yitsḥaq said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Please come near, so that I feel you, my son, whether you truly are my son Ěsaw or not.”

22And Ya‛aqoḇ went near to Yitsḥaq his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Ya‛aqoḇ, but the hands are the hands of Ěsaw.”

23And he did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like his brother Ěsaw’s hands, and he blessed him.

24And he said, “Are you truly my son Ěsaw?” And he said, “I am.”

25And he said, “Bring it near to me, and let me eat of my son’s wild game, so that my being might bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate. And he brought him wine, and he drank.

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

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

28And Elohim give you of the dew of the heavens, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.

29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you!”

30And it came to be, as soon as Yitsḥaq had finished blessing Ya‛aqoḇ, and Ya‛aqoḇ had hardly left the presence of Yitsḥaq his father, that Ěsaw his brother came in from his hunting.

31And he too had made a tasty dish and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

32And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your first-born, Ěsaw.”

33Then Yitsḥaq trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who was it then who hunted wild game and brought it to me? And I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yes, he is blessed.”

34When Ěsaw heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me too, O my father!”

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

36And Ěsaw said, “Was his name, then, called Ya‛aqoḇ? For he has caught me by the heel these two times. He took my birthright, and see, now he has taken my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37Then Yitsḥaq answered and said to Ěsaw, “See, I have made him your master, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants. And I have sustained him with grain and wine. And what, then, shall I do for you, my son?”

38And Ěsaw said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me too, O my father!” And Ěsaw lifted up his voice and wept.

39And Yitsḥaq his father answered and said to him, “See, your dwelling is of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the heavens from above.

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

41And Ěsaw hated Ya‛aqoḇ because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Ěsaw said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father draw near, then I am going to kill my brother Ya‛aqoḇ.”

42And the words of Ěsaw her older son were reported to Riḇqah, and she sent and called Ya‛aqoḇ her younger son, and said to him, “See, your brother Ěsaw comforts himself concerning you, to kill you.

43“And now, my son, listen to my voice, and rise, flee to my brother Laḇan in Ḥaran.

44And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s wrath turns away,”

45until your brother’s displeasure turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. And I shall send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46And Riḇqah said to Yitsḥaq, “I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Ḥĕth. If Ya‛aqoḇ takes a wife from the daughters of Ḥĕth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what is my life to me?”

Learn More About The Scriptures 2009