Genesis 27
27
1Isaac had become old. His eyes were so weak he couldn’t see anymore. One day he called for his older son Esau. He said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2Isaac said, “I’m an old man now. And I don’t know when I’ll die. 3Now then, get your weapons. Get your bow and arrows. Go out to the open country. Hunt some wild animals for me. 4Prepare for me the kind of tasty food I like. Bring it to me to eat. Then I’ll give you my blessing before I die.”
5Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. Esau left for the open country. He went to hunt for a wild animal and bring it back. 6Then Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau. 7He said, ‘Bring me a wild animal. Prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I’ll give you my blessing before I die. The Lord will be my witness.’ ” 8Rebekah continued, “My son, listen carefully. Do what I tell you. 9Go out to the flock. Bring me two of the finest young goats. I will prepare tasty food for your father. I’ll make it just the way he likes it. 10I want you to take it to your father to eat. Then he’ll give you his blessing before he dies.”
11Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau’s body is covered with hair. But my skin is smooth. 12What if my father touches me? He would know I was trying to trick him. He would curse me instead of giving me a blessing.”
13His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse be on me. Just do what I say. Go and get the goats for me.”
14So he went and got the goats. He brought them to his mother. And she prepared some tasty food. She made it just the way his father liked it. 15The clothes of her older son Esau were in her house. She took Esau’s best clothes and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She covered his hands with the skins of the goats. She also covered the smooth part of his neck with them. 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,” Isaac answered. “Who is it?”
19Jacob said to his father, “I’m your oldest son Esau. I’ve done as you told me. Please sit up. Eat some of my wild meat. Then 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. I want to know whether you really are my son Esau.”
22Jacob went close to his father. Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob. But the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23Isaac didn’t recognize Jacob. Jacob’s hands were covered with hair like those of his brother Esau. So Isaac blessed him. 24“Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” Jacob replied.
25Isaac said, “My son, bring me some of your wild meat to eat. Then I’ll give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him. So Isaac ate. Jacob also brought some wine. And Isaac drank. 26Then Jacob’s father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son. Kiss me.”
27So Jacob went to him and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the clothes, he gave Jacob his blessing. He said,
“It really is the smell of my son.
It’s like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28May God give you dew from heaven.
May he give you the richness of the earth.
May he give you plenty of grain and fresh wine.
29May nations serve you.
May they bow down to you.
Rule over your brothers.
May the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed.
And may those who bless you be blessed.”
30When Isaac finished blessing him, Jacob left his father. Just then his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31He too prepared some tasty food. He brought it to his father. Then Esau said to him, “My father, please sit up. Eat some of my wild meat. Then give me your blessing.”
32His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
“I’m your son,” he answered. “I’m Esau, your oldest son.”
33Isaac began to shake all over. He said, “Then who hunted a wild animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my blessing. And he will certainly be blessed!”
34Esau heard his father’s words. Then he yelled loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Bless me too, my father!”
35But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He took your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Isn’t Jacob just the right name for him? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me. First, he took my rights as the oldest son. And now he’s taken my blessing!” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved any blessing for me?”
37Isaac answered Esau, “I’ve made him ruler over you. I’ve made all his relatives serve him. And I’ve provided him with grain and fresh 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 loudly.
39His father Isaac answered him,
“You will live far away from the fruit of the earth.
You will live far away from the dew of heaven above.
40You will live by using the sword.
And you will serve your brother.
But you will grow restless.
Then you will throw off the heavy load
he has caused you to carry.”
41Esau was angry with Jacob. He was angry because of the blessing his father had given to Jacob. He said to himself, “The days of sorrow over my father’s death are near. Then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.”
42Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said. So she sent for her younger son Jacob. She said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to get back at you by killing you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say. Run away at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44Stay with him until your brother’s anger calms down. 45When he forgets what you did to him, I’ll let you know. Then you can come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46Then Rebekah spoke to Isaac. She said, “I’m sick of living because of Esau’s Hittite wives. Suppose Jacob also marries a Hittite woman. If he does, my life won’t be worth living.”
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Genesis 27: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Genesis 27
27
1And it came to pass when Isaac had become old, and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, that he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, My son! And he said to him, Here am I. 2And he said, Behold now, I am become old; I know not the day of my death. 3And now, I pray thee, take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field and hunt me venison, 4and prepare me a savoury dish such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, in order that my soul may bless thee before I die. 5And Rebecca heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt venison, to bring it.
6And Rebecca spoke to Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak to Esau thy brother, saying, 7Bring me venison, and prepare me a savoury dish, that I may eat, and bless thee before Jehovah, before my death. 8And now, my son, hearken to my voice in that which I command thee. 9Go, I pray thee, to the flock, and fetch me thence two good kids of the goats. And I will make of them a savoury dish for thy father, such as he loves. 10And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, in order that he may bless thee before his death. 11And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall be in his sight as one who mocks him, and I shall bring a curse on me, and not a blessing. 13And his mother said to him, On me be thy curse, my son! Only hearken to my voice, and go, fetch them. 14And he went, and fetched and brought them to his mother. And his mother prepared a savoury dish such as his father loved. 15And Rebecca took the clothes of her elder son Esau, the costly ones which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son; 16and she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck; 17and she gave the savoury dishes and the bread that she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.
18And he came to his father, and said, My father! And he said, Here am I: who art thou, my son? 19And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou didst say to me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, in order that thy soul may bless me. 20And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Jehovah thy God#GodHebrew: Elohim put it in my way. 21And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be really my son Esau or not. 22And Jacob drew near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23And he did not discern him, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands; and he blessed him. 24And he said, Art thou really my son Esau? And he said, It is I. 25And he said, Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son's venison, in order that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26And his father Isaac said to him, Come near, now, and kiss me, my son. 27And he came near, and kissed him. And he smelt the smell of his clothes, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed. 28And God#GodHebrew: Elohim give thee of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of corn and new wine. 29Let peoples serve thee, And races bow down to thee. Be lord over thy brethren, And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be they that curse thee, And blessed be they that bless thee.
30And it came to pass when Isaac had ended blessing Jacob, and when Jacob was only just gone out from Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came from his hunting. 31And he also had prepared savoury dishes, and he brought them in to his father, and said to his father, Let my father arise and eat of his son's venison, in order that thy soul may bless me. 32And Isaac his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau. 33Then Isaac trembled with exceeding great trembling, and said, Who was he, then, that hunted venison and brought it to me? And I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him; also blessed he shall be. 34When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me — me also, my father! 35And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and has taken away thy blessing. 36And he said, Is it not therefore he was named Jacob, for he has supplanted me now twice? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? 37And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have made him lord over thee, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants, and with corn and new wine have I supplied him — and what can I do now for thee, my son? 38And Esau said to his father, Hast thou then but one blessing, my father? bless me — me also, my father! And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above; 40And by thy sword shalt thou live; And thou shalt serve thy brother; And it shall come to pass when thou rovest about, That thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
41And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand, and I will slay my brother Jacob. 42And the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebecca. And she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, comforts himself that he will kill thee. 43And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran; 44and abide with him some days, until thy brother's fury turn away — 45until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget what thou hast done to him; then I will send and fetch thee thence. Why should I be bereaved even of you both in one day? 46And Rebecca said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good should my life do me?
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.