Isaac Blesses Jacob
Genesis 27, verse 1. Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.” Genesis 27, verse 2. Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death. Genesis 27, verse 3. Now therefore, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. Genesis 27, verse 4. Then make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Genesis 27, verse 5. Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt game for his father. Genesis 27, verse 6. So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her younger son, saying, “Indeed, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, Genesis 27, verse 7. ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ Genesis 27, verse 8. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Genesis 27, verse 9. Go now to the sheep and bring me from there two kids, choice and good, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Genesis 27, verse 10. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it and bless you before his death.” Genesis 27, verse 11. Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. Genesis 27, verse 12. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” Genesis 27, verse 13. But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” Genesis 27, verse 14. So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved. Genesis 27, verse 15. Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. Genesis 27, verse 16. She also put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the exposed part of his neck. Genesis 27, verse 17. Then she gave the savory food and the bread she had prepared into the hands of her son Jacob. Genesis 27, verse 18. Thus he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Genesis 27, verse 19. Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” Genesis 27, verse 20. But Isaac said to his son, “How is it you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.” Genesis 27, verse 21. Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esau or not.” Genesis 27, verse 22. So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's.” Genesis 27, verse 23. Thus he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. Genesis 27, verse 24. Then he said, “Are you my son Esau?” He said, “I am.” Genesis 27, verse 25. He said, “Bring your game to me, my son, and I will eat from it, that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Genesis 27, verse 26. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” Genesis 27, verse 27. So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing. Thus he blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field the Lord has blessed. Genesis 27, verse 28. Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Genesis 27, verse 29. Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. And cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you.”
Esau's Lost Blessing
Genesis 27, verse 30. Now it happened, as soon as Isaac finished blessing Jacob his son, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. Genesis 27, verse 31. He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless me.” Genesis 27, verse 32. And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” Genesis 27, verse 33. Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed, he shall be blessed.” Genesis 27, verse 34. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!” Genesis 27, verse 35. But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.” Genesis 27, verse 36. Then Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing.” So he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” Genesis 27, verse 37. Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed, I have made him your lord, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?” Genesis 27, verse 38. Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” But when Isaac was troubled, Esau lifted up his voice and wept. Genesis 27, verse 39. Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above. Genesis 27, verse 40. By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Jacob Sent to Laban
Genesis 27, verse 41. Thus Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his mind, “Let the days of mourning for my father draw near, then I will kill my brother Jacob.” Genesis 27, verse 42. So the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you. Genesis 27, verse 43. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee to Mesopotamia to my brother Laban in Haran. Genesis 27, verse 44. And stay with him a few days, until your brother's anger Genesis 27, verse 45. and wrath turn away from you, and he forgets what you did to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?” Genesis 27, verse 46. Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of this land, what good will my life be to me?”