Genesis 27

Isaac blesses Jacob

1After Isaac had become old and almost blind, he called in his firstborn son Esau, who asked him, “Father, what can I do for you?”

2Isaac replied, “I am old and might die at any time. 3So take your bow and arrows, then go out in the fields, and kill a wild animal. 4Cook some of that tasty food that I love so much and bring it to me. I want to eat it once more and give you my blessing before I die.”

5Rebekah had been listening, and as soon as Esau left to go hunting, 6she said to Jacob, “I heard your father tell Esau 7to kill a wild animal and cook some tasty food for your father before he dies. Your father said this because he wants to bless your brother with the LORD as his witness. 8Now, my son, listen carefully to what I want you to do. 9Go and kill two of your best young goats and bring them to me. I'll cook the tasty food that your father loves so much. 10Then you can take it to him, so he can eat it and give you his blessing before he dies.”

11“My brother Esau is a hairy man,” Jacob reminded her. “And I am not. 12If my father touches me and realizes I am trying to trick him, he will put a curse on me instead of giving me a blessing.”

13Rebekah insisted, “Let his curse fall on me! Just do what I say and bring me the meat.” 14So Jacob brought the meat to his mother, and she cooked the tasty food that his father liked. 15Then she took Esau's best clothes and put them on Jacob. 16She also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goatskins 17and gave him some bread and the tasty food she had cooked.

18Jacob went to his father and said, “Father, here I am.”

“Which one of my sons are you?” his father asked.

19Jacob replied, “I am Esau, your firstborn, and I have done what you told me. Please sit up and eat the meat I have brought. Then you can give me your blessing.”

20Isaac asked, “My son, how did you find an animal so quickly?”

“The LORD your God was kind to me,” Jacob answered.

21“My son,” Isaac said, “come closer, where I can touch you and find out if you really are Esau.” 22Jacob went closer. His father touched him and said, “You sound like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy like Esau's.” 23And so Isaac blessed Jacob, thinking he was Esau.

24Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

“Yes, I am,” Jacob answered.

25So Isaac told him, “Serve me the wild meat, and I can give you my blessing.”

Jacob gave him some meat, and he ate it. He also gave him some wine, and he drank it. 26Then Isaac said, “Son, come over here and kiss me.” 27While Jacob was kissing him, Isaac caught the smell of his clothes and said:#He 11.20.

“The smell of my son

is like a field

the LORD has blessed.

28God will bless you, my son,

with dew from heaven

and with fertile fields,

rich with grain and grapes.

29Nations will be your servants#Gn 12.3.

and bow down to you.

You will rule over your brothers,

and they will kneel

at your feet.

Anyone who curses you

will be cursed;

anyone who blesses you

will be blessed.”

30Straight after Isaac had given Jacob his blessing and Jacob had gone, Esau came back from hunting. 31He cooked the tasty food, brought it to his father, and said, “Father, please sit up and eat the meat I have brought you, so you can give me your blessing.”

32“Who are you?” Isaac asked.

“I am Esau, your firstborn son.”

33Isaac started trembling and said, “Then who brought me some wild meat just before you came in? I ate it and gave him a blessing that cannot be taken back.”

34Esau cried loudly and begged, “Father, give me a blessing too!”

35Isaac answered, “Your brother tricked me and stole your blessing.”

36Esau replied, “My brother deserves the name Jacob,#27.36 Jacob: In Hebrew “Jacob” sounds like “cheat”. because he has already cheated me twice. The first time he cheated me out of my rights as the firstborn son, and now he has cheated me out of my blessing.” Then Esau asked his father, “Don't you still have any blessing left for me?”#Gn 25.29-34.

37“My son,” Isaac answered, “I have made Jacob the ruler over you and your brothers, and all of you will be his servants. I have also promised him all the grain and grapes that he needs. There's nothing left that I can do for you.”

38“Father,” Esau asked, “don't you have more than one blessing? You can surely give me a blessing too!” Then Esau started crying again.#He 12.17.

39So his father said:#He 11.20.

“Your home will be far

from that fertile land,

where dew comes down

from the heavens.

40You will live by the power#Gn 36.8; 2 K 8.20.

of your sword

and be your brother's slave.

But when you decide to be free,

you will break loose.”

41Esau hated his brother Jacob because he had stolen the blessing that was supposed to be his. So he said to himself, “Just as soon as my father dies, I'll kill Jacob.”

42When Rebekah found out what Esau planned to do, she sent for Jacob and told him, “Son, your brother Esau is just waiting for the time when he can kill you. 43Now listen carefully and do what I say. Go to the home of my brother Laban in Haran 44and stay with him for a while. When Esau stops being angry 45and forgets what you have done to him, I'll send for you to come home. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?”#27.45 lose…day: Esau would be hunted down as a murderer if he killed Jacob, and so Rebekah would lose both of her sons.

46Rebekah later told Isaac, “Those Hittite wives of Esau are making my life miserable! If Jacob marries a Hittite woman, I'd be better off dead.”

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Genesis 27

Isaac Blesses Jacob

1When Isaac was old and #ch. 48:10; 1 Sam. 3:2his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3#ch. 25:27, 28Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul #ch. 10:25; 48:9, 15; 49:28; Deut. 33:1may 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 speak to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8Now therefore, my son, #ver. 13obey my voice as I command you. 9Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10And you shall bring it to your father to eat, #ver. 4so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, #ch. 25:25my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12Perhaps my father #ver. 21, 22 will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring #[Deut. 27:18]a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13His mother said to him, #[1 Sam. 25:24; 2 Sam. 14:9; Matt. 27:25]“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

14So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the #ver. 27best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. 16And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of 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, that your soul 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, “Please come near, that I #ver. 12may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23And he did not recognize him, because #ver. 16 his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. #Heb. 11:20So he blessed him. 24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25Then he said, “Bring it near to me, #ver. 10that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near 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 Isaac smelled the smell of his garments #[See ver. 23 above] and blessed him and said,

“See, #[Hos. 14:6]the smell of my son

is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!

28May God give you of #Deut. 33:13; Zech. 8:12; [ch. 49:25; 2 Sam. 1:21] the dew of heaven

and of the fatness of the earth

and #Deut. 7:13; 33:28; Joel 2:19plenty of grain and wine.

29Let peoples serve you,

and nations #[ch. 49:8] bow down to you.

# [2 Sam. 8:14] Be lord over your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

# ch. 12:3; Num. 24:9 Cursed be everyone who curses you,

and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, #Heb. 12:17he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36Esau said, #ch. 25:26 “Is he not rightly named Jacob?#27:36 Jacob means He takes by the heel, or He cheats For he has cheated me these two times. #ch. 25:33He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, #ver. 29; [2 Sam. 8:14] I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and #ver. 28with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And #[See ver. 34 above]Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

“Behold, #ver. 28; ch. 36:6, 7away from#27:39 Or Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,

and away from#27:39 Or and of the dew of heaven on high.

40By your sword you shall live,

and you #ch. 25:23; [2 Sam. 8:14]; See Obad. 18-21 shall serve your brother;

but when you grow restless

# [2 Kgs. 8:20-22] you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

41Now Esau #[ch. 37:4] hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, #ch. 50:3, 4, 10 “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; #[Amos 1:11; Obad. 10]then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— 45until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, #ch. 26:34, 35; 28:8 “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.#27:46 Hebrew daughters of Heth #ch. 24:3If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

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