Chapter 27

Jacob’s Deception

1 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ahis eyes were too dim to see, that he called his bolder son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”

2 1aIsaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.

3 “Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ahunt game for me;

4 and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that amy soul may bless you before I die.”

5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,

6 aRebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,

7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’

8 “Now therefore, my son, alisten to 1me 2as I command you.

9 “Go now to the flock and 1bring me two choice 2young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

10 “Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

11 Jacob 1answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a ahairy man and I am a smooth man.

12 “aPerhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a 1deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”

13 But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only aobey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

14 So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

15 Then Rebekah took the 1best agarments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

16 And she put the skins of the 1young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

17 She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, 1to her son Jacob.

18 Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. aGet up, please, sit and eat of my game, that 1byou may bless me.”

20 Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “aBecause the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.”

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that aI may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were ahairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

24 And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

25 So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that 1aI may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.”

27 So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ablessed him and said,

“See, bthe smell of my son

Is like the smell of a field cwhich the Lord has blessed;

28 Now may aGod give you of the dew of heaven,

And of the bfatness of the earth,

And an abundance of grain and new wine;

29 aMay peoples serve you,

And nations bow down to you;

bBe master of your brothers,

cAnd may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

dCursed be those who curse you,

And blessed be those who bless you.”

The Stolen Blessing

30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “aLet my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that 1byou may bless me.”

32 Isaac his father said to him, “aWho are you?” And he said, “I am your son, byour firstborn, Esau.”

33 Then Isaac 1trembled violently, and said, “aWho was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? bYes, and he shall be blessed.”

34 When Esau heard the words of his father, ahe cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

35 And he said, “aYour brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”

36 Then he said, “1Is he not rightly named aJacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37 But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him ayour master, and all his 1relatives I have given to him 2as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?”

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and awept.

39 Then aIsaac his father answered and said to him,

“Behold, 1baway from the 2fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,

And 1away from the dew of heaven from above.

40 “By your sword you shall live,

And your brother ayou shall serve;

But it shall come about bwhen you become restless,

That you will 1break his yoke from your neck.”

41 So Esau abore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said 1to himself, “bThe days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

42 Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

43 “Now therefore, my son, aobey my voice, and arise, 1flee to bHaran, to my brother cLaban!

44 “Stay with him aa few days, until your brother’s fury 1subsides,

45 until your brother’s anger 1against you subsides and he forgets awhat you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46 Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of 1living because of athe daughters of Heth; bif Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”