Genesis 27:26–40

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

³⁰As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from his hunting. ³¹He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

³²But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”

³³Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”

³⁴When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!”^a

³⁵But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

³⁶So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?^Ab For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷But Isaac answered Esau, “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.^B

³⁹His father Isaac answered him,

Look, your dwelling place will be

away from the richness of the land,

away from the dew of the sky above.

⁴⁰You will live by your sword,

and you will serve your brother.

But when you rebel,^C

you will break his yoke from your neck.