Genesis 27:1–29

THE STOLEN BLESSING

27When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see,^c he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered, “Here I am.”

²He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. ³So now take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.^{d 4}Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.”^e

⁵Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, ⁶Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, ⁷‘Bring me game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ ⁸Now, my son, listen to me and do what I tell you. ⁹Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. ¹⁰Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”

¹¹Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.^{f 12}Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”

¹³His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”

¹⁴So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. ¹⁵Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. ¹⁶She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

¹⁸When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”

And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹Jacob replied to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may bless me.”

²⁰But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”

He replied, “Because the Lord your God made it happen for me.”

²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”

²²So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. ²⁴Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he replied, “I am.”

²⁵Then he said, “Bring it closer to me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it closer to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled^A his clothes, he blessed him and said:

Ah, the smell of my son

is like the smell of a field

that the Lord has blessed.

²⁸May God give to you—

from the dew of the sky^g

and from the richness of the land^h—

an abundance of grain and new wine.ⁱ

²⁹May peoples serve you^j

and nations bow in worship to you.

Be master over your relatives;

may your mother’s sons bow in worship to you.

Those who curse you will be cursed,

and those who bless you will be blessed.^k