1   When Isaac grew old and his eyes became so dim that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, ‘My son’, and he answered, ‘Here I am.’ 2   Isaac said, ‘Listen now: I am old and I do not know when I may die. 3   Take your hunting gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out into the country and get me some venison. 4   Then make me a savoury dish of the kind I like, and bring it to me to eat so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’ 5   Now Rebecca was listening as Isaac talked to his son Esau. When Esau went off into the country to find some venison and bring it home, 6   she said to her son Jacob, ‘I heard your father talking to your brother Esau, and he said, 7   “Bring me some venison and make it into a savoury dish so that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.” 8    9   Listen to me, my son, and do what I tell you. Go to the flock and pick me out two fine young kids, and I will make them into a savoury dish for your father, of the kind he likes. 10   Then take them in to your father, and he will eat them so that he may bless you before he dies.’ 11   Jacob said to his mother Rebecca, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. 12   Suppose my father feels me, he will know I am tricking him and I shall bring a curse upon myself instead of a blessing.’ 13   His mother answered him, ‘Let the curse fall on me, my son, but do as I say; go and bring me the kids.’ 14   So Jacob fetched them and brought them to his mother, who made them into a savoury dish of the kind that his father liked. 15   Then Rebecca took her elder son's clothes, Esau's best clothes which she kept by her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16   She put the goatskins on his hands and on the smooth nape of his neck; 17   and she handed her son Jacob the savoury dish and the bread she had made. 18   He came to his father and said, ‘Father.’ He answered, ‘Yes, my son; who are you?’ 19   Jacob answered his father, ‘I am Esau, your elder son. I have done as you told me. Come, sit up and eat some of my venison, so that you may give me your blessing.’ 20   Isaac said to his son, ‘What is this that you found so quickly?’, and Jacob answered, ‘It is what the Lord your God put in my way.’ 21   Isaac then said to Jacob, ‘Come close and let me feel you, my son, to see whether you are really my son Esau.’ 22   When Jacob came close to his father, Isaac felt him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’ 23   He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like Esau's, and that is why he blessed him. 24   He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’, and he answered, ‘Yes.’ 25   Then Isaac said, ‘Bring me some of your ^note

Jacob and Esau venison to eat, my son, so that I may give you my blessing.’ Then Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it; he brought wine also, and he drank it. 26   Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come near, my son, and kiss me.’ 27   So he came near and kissed him, and when Isaac smelt the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said:

  ‘Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of open country
    blessed by the Lord.
   28   God give you dew from heaven
  and the richness of the earth,
  corn and new wine in plenty!
   29   Peoples shall serve you,
  nations bow down to you.
    Be lord over your brothers;
  may your mother's sons bow down to you.
  A curse upon those who curse you;
  a blessing on those who bless you!’

30   Isaac finished blessing Jacob; and Jacob had scarcely left his father Isaac's presence, when his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31   He too made a savoury dish and brought it to his father. He said, ‘Come, father, and eat some of my venison, so that you may give me your blessing.’ 32   His father Isaac said, ‘Who are you?’ He said, ‘I am Esau, your elder son.’ 33   Then Isaac became greatly agitated ^note and said, ‘Then who was it that hunted and brought me venison? I ate it all before you came in and I blessed him, and the blessing will stand.’ 34   When Esau heard what his father said, he gave a loud and bitter cry and said, ‘Bless me too, father.’ 35   But Isaac said, ‘Your brother came treacherously and took away your blessing.’ 36   Esau said, ‘He is rightly called Jacob. ^noteThis is the second time he has supplanted me. He took away my right as the first-born and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you kept back any blessing for me?’ 37   Isaac answered, ‘I have made him lord over you, and I have given him all his brothers as slaves. I have bestowed upon him corn and new wine for his sustenance. What is there left that I can do for you, my son?’ 38   Esau asked his father, ‘Had you then only one blessing, father? Bless me too, my father.’ And Esau cried bitterly. 39   Then his father Isaac answered:

  ‘Your dwelling shall be far from the richness of the earth,
    far from the dew of heaven above.
    By your sword shall you live,
    and you shall serve your brother;
    but the time will come when you grow restive
    and break off his yoke from your neck.’

Jacob and Esau

41   Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing which his father had given him, and he said to himself, ‘The time of mourning for my father will soon be here; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ 42   When Rebecca was told what her elder son Esau was saying, she called her younger son Jacob, and she said to him, ‘Esau your brother is threatening to kill you. 43   Now, my son, listen to me. Slip away at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44   Stay with him for a while until your brother's anger cools. 45   When it has subsided and he forgets what you have done to him, I will send and fetch you back. Why should I lose you both in one day?’

46   Rebecca said to Isaac, ‘I am weary to death of Hittite women! If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like those who live here, my life will not be worth living.’

Previous section

Next section