God's New Bible

The First Book of Moses: Genesis

Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 27 -

(Hebrews 11:20)
1
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”Here I am,” Esau replied.
2
Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
3
Take your weaponsyour quiver and bowand go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
4
Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5
Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,
6
Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
7
Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
8
Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
9
Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.
10
Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11
Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
12
What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
13
His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
14
So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.
15
And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
16
She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17
Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
18
So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
19
Jacob said 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.”
20
But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.
21
Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
22
So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23
Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24
Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
25
“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.
26
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
27
So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
28
May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth an abundance of grain and new wine.
29
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”

Esau’s Lost Hope

30
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
31
He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32
But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?”I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
33
Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed himand indeed, he will be blessed!”
34
When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
35
But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36
So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?(a) For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37
But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
38
Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39
His father Isaac answered him:Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above.
40
You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
41
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42
When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.
43
So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
44
Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides
45
until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women.(b) If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”

Footnotes

(a)27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel or he deceives.
(b)27:46 Or daughters of Heth
(Hebrews 11:20)
1
When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My son?” He said to him, “Here I am.”
2
He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death.
3
Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and get me venison.
4
Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5
Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
6
Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,
7
Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before the LORD before my death.’
8
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you.
9
Go now to the flock and get me two good young goats from there. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves.
10
You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”
11
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
12
What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.”
13
His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.”
14
He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved.
15
Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son.
16
She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck.
17
She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18
He came to his father, and said, “My father?” He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19
Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.”
20
Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He said, “Because the LORD your God gave me success.”
21
Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22
Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23
He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.
24
He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
25
He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.” He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.
26
His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.”
27
He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said,Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.
28
God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
29
Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

Esau’s Lost Hope

30
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31
He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.”
32
Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
33
Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.”
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, even me also, my father.”
35
He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.”
36
He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”
37
Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?”
38
Esau said to his father, “Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.
39
Isaac his father answered him,Behold, your dwelling will be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the sky from above.
40
You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. It will happen, when you will break loose, that you will shake his yoke from off your neck.”
41
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42
The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
43
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran.
44
Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away
45
until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done 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 weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”