Genesis 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.

Genesis 27

1Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.

2And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.

3Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting,

4Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it, that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee before I die.

5And when Rebecca had heard this; and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father's commandment,

6She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:

7Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.

8Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:

9And go thy way to the flock; bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth.

10Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.

11And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth.

12If my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him: and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.

13And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: Only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.

14He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.

15And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her.

16And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.

17And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.

18Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?

19And Jacob said: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me. Arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, My son? He answered: It was the will of God what I sought came quickly in my way

21And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not.

22He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,

24He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.

25Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also. Which after he had drunk,

26He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.

27He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which Lord hath blessed.

28God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.

29And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee. Be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.

30Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,

31And brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that thy soul may bless me.

32And Isaac said to him: Why? Who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son Esau.

33Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he then the even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? And I have blessed him; and he shall be blessed.

34Esau having heard his father's words roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.

35And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.

36But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me, lo, this second time. My first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?

37Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants. I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?

38And Esac said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee, bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,

39Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,

40Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve thy brother. And the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.

41Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.

42These things were told to Rebecca. And she sent and called Jacob her son, and said to him, Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee.

43Now therefore, my son, hear my voice: Arise and flee to Laban, my brother, to Haran:

44And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,

45And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him. Afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons 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 stock of this land, I choose not to live.

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Genesis 27

Genesis 27