Genesis 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. 3Take 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 the 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 obey every order I give you, my son. 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 worked it out 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, “Serve me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it 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 # 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 down to you.

Be master over your brothers;

may your mother’s sons bow down 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 the hunt. 31He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. Then 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? # = 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 only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father! ” And Esau wept loudly. # Lit Esau lifted up his voice and wept

39Then his 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, # 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 Hittite women. # Gn 26:34-35; 28:8 If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like one of them, # Lit of these daughters of the land what good is my life? ” # Gn 24:3

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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?”

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