Genesis 27
27
Jacob Tricks Isaac
1When Isaac was old, his eyes were not good. He could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him. Isaac said, “Son.”
Esau answered, “Here I am.”
2Isaac said, “I am old. I don’t know when I might die. 3So take your bow and arrows, and go hunting in the field. Kill an animal for me to eat. 4Prepare the tasty food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.” 5So Esau went out in the field to hunt.
Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau. 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. 7Your father said, ‘Kill an animal. Prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8So obey me, my son. Do what I tell you. 9Go out to our goats and bring me two young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them. 10Then you will take the food to your father. And he will bless you before he dies.”
11But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am smooth! 12If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me. He will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him.”
13So Rebekah said to him, “If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said. Go and get the goats for me.”
14So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. Then she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed. 15She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house. She put them on the younger son Jacob. 16She took the skins of the goats. And she put them on Jacob’s hands and neck. 17Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18Jacob went in to his father and said, “Father.”
And his father said, “Yes, my son. Who are you?”
19Jacob said to him, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.”
20But Isaac asked his son, “How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God led me to find it.”
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son. If I can touch you, I will know if you are really my son Esau.”
22So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice. But your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau.” 23Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 24Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”
25Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and Isaac ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank. 26Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.” 27So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes and blessed him. Isaac said,
“The smell of my son
is like the smell of the field
that the Lord has blessed.
28May God give you plenty of rain
and good soil.
Then you will have plenty of grain and wine.
29May nations serve you.
May peoples bow down to you.
May you be master over your brothers.
May your mother’s sons bow down to you.
May everyone who curses you be cursed.
And may everyone who blesses you be blessed.”
30Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. 31Esau also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you. Then bless me.”
32Isaac asked, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your firstborn son—Esau.”
33Then Isaac trembled greatly. He said, “Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him. And it is too late now to take back my blessing.”
34When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father!”
35But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Jacob# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “heel.” “Grabbing someone’s heel” is a Hebrew saying for tricking someone. is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own. And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you. And all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”
38But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.
39Isaac said to him,
“You will live far away from the best land,
far from the rain.
40You will live by using your sword
and be a slave to your brother.
But when you struggle,
you will break free from him.”
41After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. Esau thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. After that I will kill Jacob.”
42Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob. She said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. 43So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once! 44Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry. 45In time, your brother will not be angry. He will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons on the same day.”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die.”
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Genesis 27: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Genesis 27
27
Chapter 27
Isaac blesses Jacob
1Isaac became old. He could not see anything because his eyes were weak. He called for his older son, Esau. Isaac said, ‘My son.’ Esau replied, ‘Yes, I am here.’ 2Isaac said, ‘I am an old man. I may die very soon. 3Get your bow and your arrows. #27:3 People use bows to shoot arrows. An arrow is like a stick with a sharp point at the end. Go out into the country and kill some wild animals for me. 4Then prepare the food that I like to eat. Bring it to me so that I can eat it. Then I will give you my blessing before I die.’ #27:4 At that time a father gave his blessing to the oldest son. This son had the birthright. Isaac did not know that Esau had sold his birthright. See Genesis 25:31-34.
5Rebekah listened to what Isaac said to Esau. She waited until Esau went out to the country to kill an animal and bring back the meat. 6Then she said to Jacob, ‘I heard your father say this to Esau: 7“Bring me some meat and prepare the food that I like to eat. When I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing. I will bless you in front of the Lord before I die.” 8Now my son, listen carefully and do as I tell you. 9Go out to the animals and bring two goats to me. They must be very good young goats. Then I will prepare some food that your father likes to eat. I will cook the meat in the way that he likes. 10Then take the food to your father. When he has eaten it, he will give you his blessing before he dies.’
11Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, ‘That will be difficult. Hair covers my brother's skin. But my skin does not have any hair. 12My father may touch me. Then he will know that I am deceiving him. He will not bless me. He will curse me instead.’ 13Jacob's mother said, ‘My son, the curse will happen to me, not you. Do what I say. Go and get the things that I told you.’
14Jacob went and he got the goats. He brought them to his mother. She prepared some food in the way that Isaac liked to eat. 15Then Rebekah took some of Esau's best clothes that were in her house. She put them on Jacob, her younger son. 16She covered Jacob's hands with the skin from the goats. She also covered the part of his neck that had no hair. 17Then she gave to Jacob the food that Isaac liked to eat. And she gave him some bread that she had made.
18Jacob went to his father. He said, ‘My father.’ Isaac replied ‘Yes, my son. Who are you, Esau or Jacob?’ 19Jacob said, ‘I am Esau. I am your firstborn son. I have done as you told me. Please sit up. Eat some of the meat from the wild animal that I killed. Then you can bless me.’ 20Isaac asked his son, ‘My son, how did you find it so quickly?’ Jacob replied, ‘The Lord your God helped me find it.’ #27:20 Jacob said ‘the Lord your God’. Jacob did not call God his own God.
21Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come near to me so that I can touch you, my son. Then I will know if you really are my son Esau.’
22Jacob went near to his father. Isaac touched him and he said, ‘The voice is Jacob's voice. But the hands are Esau's hands.’ 23Isaac did not know that it was Jacob because he could feel the hair on Jacob's hands. They felt like Esau's hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.
24Isaac asked again, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ Jacob replied, ‘I am.’ 25Isaac said, ‘My son, bring me some of your meat. I will eat it. Then I will bless you.’ So Jacob brought the food to him and Isaac ate it. Jacob also brought some wine and Isaac drank it.
26Then Isaac said, ‘Come here my son and kiss me.’ 27So Jacob went to Isaac and kissed him. Isaac smelled the clothes that Jacob wore. Then Isaac blessed him. He said,
‘The smell of my son is like the smell of a field.
It is like a field that the Lord has blessed.
28May God give you rain for your crops,
so that they grow well in the good ground. #27:28 Crops are plants. They can be any plants that people or animals eat.
Then you will have plenty of grain for food.
And you will have grapes to make wine.
29May the people of many nations serve you.
May they respect you as their master.
You will rule over your brothers.
Yes, your mother's sons will bend down to respect you.
May God curse anyone who curses you.
And may he bless anyone who blesses you.’ #27:29 This is what God told Rebekah. See Genesis 25:23.
30When Isaac had blessed Jacob, Jacob left him. Just then, Esau came back from the country where he had killed an animal. 31He prepared nice food that Isaac liked to eat. Then he took the food to his father, Isaac. Esau said, ‘My father, please sit up. Eat some of the meat from the wild animal that I have killed. Then you can bless me.’
32His father Isaac asked, ‘Who are you?’ Esau replied, ‘I am your firstborn son, Esau.’ 33Isaac's body shook very much. He asked, ‘Who was it who killed an animal and brought the meat to me? Just before you came, I ate all of it. And then I blessed him. And God will certainly bless him!’ #27:33 Isaac's body shook. He now realizes what Jacob has done. He knows that he cannot remove his blessing from Jacob. The son that he loves cannot receive the blessing. Isaac knows that God will bless Jacob and not Esau.
34Esau heard what his father had said and he cried aloud. He was very upset. He said, ‘My father, please bless me too!’ 35But Isaac said, ‘Your brother came to me. He deceived me and he took your blessing away from you.’ 36Esau said, ‘Yes, “Jacob” is the right name for him. He has cheated me twice. First he took my birthright. Now he has taken my blessing as well!’ Then Esau asked his father, ‘You must still have some blessing left for me, don't you?’ #27:36 Jacob means ‘He deceives’. This is what ‘deceives’ means. Jacob says things that are not true. And he does things that are not right.
37Isaac replied, ‘I have made Jacob master over you. All his relatives will become his servants. I have given him crops and wine. So what can I still do to bless you, my son?’ #27:37 Isaac was saying that there is now no blessing for Esau.
38Esau said, ‘My father, you surely have one blessing left for me. Please bless me too!’ Then Esau wept loudly.
39Isaac replied,
‘You will not live in a place where the ground gives good food.
You will not have rain to make your crops grow.
40You will have to fight to get the things that you need.
You will serve your brother as your master.
But when you choose to turn against him,
you will become free from his power over you.’ #27:40 This was the only blessing that Isaac could give Esau. He could not take back the blessing that he gave to Jacob.
41Because Isaac had blessed Jacob, Esau hated his younger brother Jacob. Esau said quietly, ‘My father will die soon. When we have buried his body, I will kill my brother.’ 42Someone told Rebekah what her older son, Esau, had said. So she told her younger son, Jacob, to come to her. She said to him, ‘Your brother Esau wants to kill you, because of what you did to him. 43Now my son, do what I tell you. Quickly go away from here. Go to my brother Laban who lives in Haran. 44Live with him for a time. Stay there until your brother is not angry with you any longer. 45He may forget what you did to him. Then I will send a message to you, so that you can come back from Haran. I do not want to lose both of my sons in one day.’ #27:45 Rebekah thought that Esau and Jacob would kill each other. Or she thought that, if Esau killed Jacob, other people would have to kill Esau.
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I do not like living in the same place as Esau's wives. It makes me very upset, because they are Hittites. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women who live in this land, I will be very sad. I would rather die!’ #27:46 Rebekah wanted Isaac to send Jacob away to find a wife. He would send Jacob to go to his relatives. Rebekah wanted that to happen so that Esau would not be able to kill Jacob. Jacob stayed in Haran for 20 years. Rebekah did not see Jacob again.
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