Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was ^(A)old and ^(B)his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered him, “Here I am.”

² Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I ^(C)do not know the day of my death. ^3 (D)Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. ⁴ And make me ^[a]savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul ^(E)may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. ⁶ So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and make ^[b]savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, ^(F)obey my voice according to what I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make ^(G)savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he ^(H)may bless you before his death.”

¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, ^(I)Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. ¹² Perhaps my father will ^(J)feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring ^(K)a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

¹³ But his mother said to him, ^(L)“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ¹⁴ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother ^(M)made ^[c]savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took ^(N)the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ So he went 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 just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, ^(O)that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I ^(P)may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because ^(Q)his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

²⁴ Then 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 game, so ^(R)that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ And he came near and ^(S)kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said:

Esau’s Lost Hope^(AB)

³⁰ Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also had made ^[d]savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and ^(AC)eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”

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

So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—^(AD)and indeed he shall be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(AE)he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ And Esau said, ^(AF)“Is he not rightly named ^[e]Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, ^(AG)“Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with ^(AH)grain and wine I have ^[f]sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”

³⁸ And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice ^(AI)and wept.

³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

Jacob Escapes from Esau

⁴¹ So Esau ^(AM)hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ^(AN)“The days of mourning for my father ^[h]are at hand; ^(AO)then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau ^(AP)comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban ^(AQ)in Haran. ⁴⁴ And stay with him a ^(AR)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 bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, ^(AS)“I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; ^(AT)if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and ^(AU)blessed him, and ^[i]charged him, and said to him: ^(AV)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ^2 (AW)Arise, go to ^(AX)Padan Aram, to the house of ^(AY)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of ^(AZ)Laban your mother’s brother.

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸ Also Esau saw ^(BE)that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and ^(BF)took ^(BG)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^(BH)the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

¹⁰ Now Jacob ^(BI)went out from Beersheba and went toward ^(BJ)Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he ^(BK)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there ^(BL)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

^13 (BM)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^(BN)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; ^(BO)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your ^(BP)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^(BQ)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and ^(BR)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(BS)I am with you and will ^(BT)keep^[k] you wherever you go, and will ^(BU)bring you back to this land; for ^(BV)I will not leave you ^(BW)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^(BX)this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, ^(BY)set it up as a pillar, ^(BZ)and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of ^(CA)that place ^[l]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ^20 (CB)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ^(CC)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me ^(CD)bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that ^(CE)I come back to my father’s house in peace, ^(CF)then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^(CG)shall be God’s house, ^(CH)and of all that You give me I will surely give a ^[m]tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 So Jacob went on his journey ^(CI)and came to the land of the people of the East. ² And he looked, and saw a ^(CJ)well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³ Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴ And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from ^(CK)Haran.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know ^(CL)Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ So he said to them, ^(CM)“Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel ^(CN)is coming with the sheep.”

⁷ Then he said, “Look, it is still ^[n]high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ Now while he was still speaking with them, ^(CO)Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and ^(CP)rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(CQ)kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(CR)her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. ^(CS)So she ran and told her father.

¹³ Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that ^(CT)he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, ^(CU)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, ^(CV)what should your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were ^[o]delicate, but Rachel was ^(CW)beautiful of form and appearance.

¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^(CX)“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(CY)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may ^(CZ)go in to her.” ²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and ^(DA)made a feast. ²³ Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his maid ^(DB)Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you ^(DC)deceived me?”

²⁶ And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our ^[p]country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27 (DD)Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

²⁸ Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. ²⁹ And Laban gave his maid ^(DE)Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰ Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also ^(DF)loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban ^(DG)still another seven years.

The Children of Jacob

³¹ When the Lord ^(DH)saw that Leah was ^[q]unloved, He ^(DI)opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³² So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name ^[r]Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely ^(DJ)looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am ^[s]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name ^[t]Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called ^[u]Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^(DK)Judah.^[v] Then she stopped bearing.