Genesis
Chapter 27
1 When Isaac got old and could no longer see well, he called for his oldest son Esau and said, “My son.” Esau said to him, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Look, I am old and don’t know when I will die.”
3 Please take your weapons, your arrows, and your bow, go to the fields, and get me some deer meat.
4 Prepare tasty food for me, the kind I like, and bring it to me so I can eat and then bless you before I die.
5 Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. And Esau went to the field to hunt for deer meat and to bring it back.
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau, saying,
7 Bring me some deer meat and cook it well so I can eat and give you my blessing before I die.
8 Now, my son, listen to what I say and do it.
9 Go to the herd now and bring me two good young goats. I will cook a tasty meal for your father, one he likes.
10 Bring it to your father to eat, so he can bless you before he dies.
11 Jacob told his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is very hairy, and I have smooth skin.”
12 My father might touch me, and I will appear to him as a liar; and I will bring a curse on myself, not a blessing.
13 His mother said to him, “Let any curse fall on me, my son. Just listen to me and go get them for me.”
14 He went, got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother cooked tasty food that his father liked.
15 Rebekah took fine clothes belonging to her oldest son Esau, which she had at home, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them.
16 She put the goat kids’ skins on his hands and on his smooth neck.
17 She gave the tasty meat and bread she made to her son Jacob.
18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” His father replied, “I am here. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob told his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn; I did as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat the meat I brought, so you can bless me.”
20 And Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so fast, my son?” And he said, “Because God brought it to me.”
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son, to know if you are really my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac; Isaac touched him and said, “The voice sounds like Jacob, but the hands feel like Esau’s hands.”
23 He didn’t recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s, so he gave him a blessing.
24 He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he answered, “I am.”
25 He said, “Bring it to me so I can eat the meat from my son and then I will give you a blessing.” He gave it to him and he ate; he also gave him wine and he drank.
26 Isaac said to him, “Come here now and kiss me, my son.”
27 He came close and kissed him, and when he smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said, “The scent of my son is like the fragrance of a field that God has blessed.”
28 May God give you dew from the sky, rich soil on the earth, and an abundance of grain and wine.
29 Let people serve you and nations respect you. Be a leader to your brothers, and may your mother’s sons respect you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.
30 After Isaac finished blessing Jacob and while Jacob had just left, Esau returned from hunting.
31 He also prepared tasty food and took it to his father. He said to his father, “Please get up and eat your son’s hunted meat, so you can give me your blessing.”
32 Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” And he answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
33 Isaac shook with great fear and asked, “Who is the one who caught the deer and brought it to me? I ate it all before you arrived, and I gave him a blessing. Yes, he will stay blessed.”
34 When Esau heard what his father said, he wept loudly and bitterly, and said to his father, “Please bless me too, my father.”
35 He said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 He asked, “Isn’t he correctly called Jacob? He has cheated me twice: he took my birthright and now he has taken my blessing. Do you have any blessing left for me?”
37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look, I have made him your leader, and I have made all his brothers his helpers; I have also given him grain and wine. So what can I do for you now, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, father.” Then Esau cried loudly.
39 Isaac, his father, replied, “Look, your home will be in the richest parts of the land, and from the dew of the sky above.”
40 You will live by your sword and serve your brother; but when you gain power, you will break free from his control.
41 Esau hated Jacob for the blessing his father gave him. Esau thought, “When the time of mourning for my father is near, I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 Rebekah heard what Esau, her older son, said. She sent for Jacob, her younger son, and told him, “Look, your brother Esau wants to kill you to feel better.
43 Now, my son, listen to me; get up, escape to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 Stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger fades away.
45 Wait until your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him; then I will send for you and bring you back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?
46 Rebekah told Isaac, “I am tired of living because of Heth’s daughters. If Jacob marries one of Heth’s daughters, like the local women, what’s the point of my life?”