Genesis 27
27
Jacob acquires his father’s blessing
1When Isaac had grown old and his eyesight was failing, he summoned his older son Esau and said to him, “My son?”
And Esau said, “I’m here.”
2He said, “I’m old and don’t know when I will die. 3So now, take your hunting gear, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out to the field, and hunt game for me. 4Make me the delicious food that I love and bring it to me so I can eat. Then I can bless you before I die.”
5Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just heard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and make me some delicious food so I can eat, and I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’ 8Now, my son, listen to me, to what I’m telling you to do. 9Go to the flock and get me two healthy young goats so I can prepare them as the delicious food your father loves. 10You can bring it to your father, he will eat, and then he will bless you before he dies.”
11Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me and thinks I’m making fun of him? I will be cursed instead of blessed.”
13His mother said to him, “Your curse will be on me, my son. Just listen to me: go and get them for me.” 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food that his father loved. 15Rebekah took her older son Esau’s favorite clothes that were in the house with her, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. 16On his arms and smooth neck she put the hide of young goats, 17and the delicious food and the bread she had made she put into her son’s hands.
18Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”
And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”
19Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your oldest son. I’ve made what you asked me to. Sit up and eat some of the game so you can bless me.”
20Isaac said to his son, “How could you find this so quickly, my son?”
He said, “The LORD your God led me right to it.”#27.20 Or made something good happen for me
21Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esau or not?” 22So Jacob approached his father Isaac, and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the arms are Esau’s arms.” 23Isaac didn’t recognize him because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms, so he blessed him.
24Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he said, “I am.”
25Isaac said, “Bring some food here and let me eat some of my son’s game so I can bless you.” Jacob put it before him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. 26His father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came close and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his clothes, he blessed him,
“See, the scent of my son
is like the scent of the field
that the LORD has blessed.
28May God give you
showers from the sky,
olive oil from the earth,
plenty of grain and new wine.
29May the nations serve you,
may peoples bow down to you.
Be the most powerful man among your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.”
Esau receives a secondary blessing
30After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. 31He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”
32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”
33Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”
34When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”
35Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me#27.36 Heb ya’acob, a wordplay on Jacob twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”
38Esau said to his father, “Do you really have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.
39His father Isaac responded and said to him,
“Now, you will make a home
far away from the olive groves of the earth,
far away from the showers of the sky above.
40You will live by your sword;
you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,#27.40 Heb uncertain
you will tear away his harness
from your neck.”
Jacob sent away for protection
41Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.
42Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. 43So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. 44Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, 45until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”
46Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?”
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Genesis 27: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Genesis 27
27
1 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were cloudy, and so he was not able to see. And he called his elder son Esau, and he said to him, "My son?" And he responded, "Here I am."
2 His father said to him: "You see that I am old, and I do not know the day of my death.
3 Take your weapons, the quiver and the bow, and go out. And when you have taken something by hunting,
4 make from it a small meal for me, just as you know I like, and bring it, so that I may eat and my soul may bless you before I die."
5 And when Rebekah had heard this, and he had gone out into the field to fulfill his father's order,
6 she said to her son Jacob: "I heard your father speaking with your brother Esau, and saying to him,
7 'Bring to me from your hunting, and make me foods, so that I may eat and bless you in the sight of the Lord before I die.'
8 Therefore, now my son, agree to my counsel,
9 and go straight to the flock, and bring me two of the best young goats, so that from them I may make meat for your father, such as he willingly eats.
10 Then, when you have brought these in and he has eaten, he may bless you before he dies."
11 He answered her: "You know that my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth.
12 If my father should lay hands on me and perceive it, I am afraid lest he think me willing to mock him, and I will bring a curse upon myself, instead of a blessing."
13 And his mother said to him: "Let this curse be upon me, my son. Yet listen to my voice, and go directly to bring what I said."
14 He went out, and he brought, and he gave to his mother. She prepared the meats, just as she knew his father liked.
15 And she clothed him with the very fine garments of Esau, which she had at home with her.
16 And she encircled his hands with little pelts from the young goats, and she covered his bare neck.
17 And she gave him the small meal, and she handed him the bread that she had baked.
18 When he had carried these in, he said, "My father?" And he answered, "I'm listening. Who are you, my son?"
19 And Jacob said: "I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you instructed me. Arise; sit and eat from my hunting, so that your soul may bless me."
20 And again Isaac said to his son, "How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "It was the will of God, so that what I sought met with me quickly."
21 And Isaac said, "Come here, so that I may touch you, my son, and may prove whether you are my son Esau, or not."
22 He approached 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."
23 And he did not recognize him, because his hairy hands made him seem similar to the elder one. Therefore, blessing him,
24 he said, "Are you my son Esau?" He answered, "I am."
25 Then he said, "Bring me the foods from your hunting, my son, so that my soul may bless you." And when he had eaten what was offered, he also brought forth wine for him. And after he finished it,
26 he said to him, "Come to me and give me a kiss, my son."
27 He approached and kissed him. And immediately he perceived the fragrance of his garments. And so, blessing him, he said: "Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give to you, from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, an abundance of grain and wine.
29 And may the peoples serve you, and may the tribes reverence you. May you be the lord of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down before you. Whoever curses you, may he be cursed, and whoever blesses you, may he be filled with blessings."
30 Scarcely had Isaac completed his words, and Jacob departed, when Esau arrived.
31 And he brought his father foods cooked from his hunting, saying, "Arise, my father, and eat from your son's hunting, so that your soul may bless me."
32 And Isaac said to him, "But who are you?" And he answered, "I am your firstborn son, Esau."
33 Isaac became frightened and very astonished. And wondering beyond what can be believed, he said: "Then who is he that a while ago brought me the prey from his hunting, from which I ate, before you arrived? And I blessed him, and he will be blessed."
34 Esau, having heard his father's words, roared out with a great outcry. And, being confounded, he said, "But bless me also, my father."
35 And he said, "Your twin came deceitfully, and he received your blessing."
36 But he responded: "Justly is his name called Jacob. For he has supplanted me yet another time. My birthright he took away before, and now, this second time, he has stolen my blessing." And again, he said to his father, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me also?"
37 Isaac answered: "I have appointed him as your lord, and I have subjugated all his brothers as his servants. I have reinforced him with grain and wine, and after this, my son, what more shall I do for you?"
38 And Esau said to him: "Have you only one blessing, father? I beg you, bless me also." And when he wept with a loud wail,
39 Isaac was moved, and he said to him: "In the fatness of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
40 will your blessing be. You will live by the sword, and you will serve your brother. But the time will arrive when you will shake off and release his yoke from your neck."
41 Therefore, Esau always hated Jacob, for the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And he said in his heart, "The days will arrive for the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob."
42 These things were reported to Rebekah. And sending and calling for her son Jacob, she said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you.
43 Therefore, now my son, listen to my voice. Rise up and flee to my brother Laban, in Haran.
44 And you will dwell with him for a few days, until the fury of your brother subsides,
45 and his indignation ceases, and he forgets the things that you have done to him. After this, I will send for you and bring you from there to here. Why should I be bereaved of both my sons in one day?"
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob accepts a wife from the stock of this land, I would not be willing to live."
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