Genesis 27
27
Jacob acquires his father’s blessing
1When Isaac had grown old and his eyesight was failing, he summoned his older son Esau and said to him, “My son?”
And Esau said, “I’m here.”
2He said, “I’m old and don’t know when I will die. 3So now, take your hunting gear, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out to the field, and hunt game for me. 4Make me the delicious food that I love and bring it to me so I can eat. Then I can bless you before I die.”
5Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just heard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and make me some delicious food so I can eat, and I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’ 8Now, my son, listen to me, to what I’m telling you to do. 9Go to the flock and get me two healthy young goats so I can prepare them as the delicious food your father loves. 10You can bring it to your father, he will eat, and then he will bless you before he dies.”
11Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me and thinks I’m making fun of him? I will be cursed instead of blessed.”
13His mother said to him, “Your curse will be on me, my son. Just listen to me: go and get them for me.” 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food that his father loved. 15Rebekah took her older son Esau’s favorite clothes that were in the house with her, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. 16On his arms and smooth neck she put the hide of young goats, 17and the delicious food and the bread she had made she put into her son’s hands.
18Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”
And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”
19Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your oldest son. I’ve made what you asked me to. Sit up and eat some of the game so you can bless me.”
20Isaac said to his son, “How could you find this so quickly, my son?”
He said, “The LORD your God led me right to it.”#27.20 Or made something good happen for me
21Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esau or not?” 22So Jacob approached his father Isaac, and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the arms are Esau’s arms.” 23Isaac didn’t recognize him because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms, so he blessed him.
24Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he said, “I am.”
25Isaac said, “Bring some food here and let me eat some of my son’s game so I can bless you.” Jacob put it before him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. 26His father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came close and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his clothes, he blessed him,
“See, the scent of my son
is like the scent of the field
that the LORD has blessed.
28May God give you
showers from the sky,
olive oil from the earth,
plenty of grain and new wine.
29May the nations serve you,
may peoples bow down to you.
Be the most powerful man among your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.”
Esau receives a secondary blessing
30After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. 31He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”
32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”
33Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”
34When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”
35Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me#27.36 Heb ya’acob, a wordplay on Jacob twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”
38Esau said to his father, “Do you really have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.
39His father Isaac responded and said to him,
“Now, you will make a home
far away from the olive groves of the earth,
far away from the showers of the sky above.
40You will live by your sword;
you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,#27.40 Heb uncertain
you will tear away his harness
from your neck.”
Jacob sent away for protection
41Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.
42Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. 43So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. 44Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, 45until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”
46Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?”
Currently Selected:
Genesis 27: CEB
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Genesis 27
27
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for his elder son Esau 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 that 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 her elder son Esau, 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 recognise 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 elder 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.’
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
![None](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimageproxy.youversionapi.com%2F58%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fweb-assets.youversion.com%2Fapp-icons%2Fen.png&w=128&q=75)
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.