¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “My father.”

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”^(A)

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.^(B) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,^(C) so that you may give me your blessing.”^(D)

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,^(E)” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,^(F) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac,^(G) who touched^(H) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;^(I) so he proceeded to bless him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”^(J)

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed^(K) him^(L). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,^(M) he blessed him and said,

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”^(A)

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”^(B)

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.^(C)”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?^(D) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!^(E)”

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

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully^(H) and took your blessing.”^(I)

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob^[a]?^(J) This is the second time he has taken advantage of^(K) me: He took my birthright,^(L) and now he’s taken my blessing!”^(M) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.^(N) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.^(O)

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,^(P)

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge^(V) against Jacob^(W) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning^(X) for my father are near; then I will kill^(Y) my brother Jacob.”^(Z)

All Israel Will Be Saved

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant^(A) of this mystery,^(B) brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited:^(C) Israel has experienced a hardening^(D) in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,^{(E) 26} and in this way^[a] all Israel will be saved.^(F) As it is written:

²⁸ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies^(H) for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs,^{(I) 29} for God’s gifts and his call^(J) are irrevocable.^{(K) 30} Just as you who were at one time disobedient^(L) to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, ³¹ so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now^[d] receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. ³² For God has bound everyone over to disobedience^(M) so that he may have mercy on them all.

Psalm 105^(A)

³ Jacob sent messengers^(A) ahead of him to his brother Esau^(B) in the land of Seir,^(C) the country of Edom.^{(D) 4} He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord^(E) Esau: ‘Your servant^(F) Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban^(G) and have remained there till now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.^(H) Now I am sending this message to my lord,^(I) that I may find favor in your eyes.^(J)’”

⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”^(K)

⁷ In great fear^(L) and distress^(M) Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,^[a](N) and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,^[b] the group^[c] that is left may escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,^(O) God of my father Isaac,^(P) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’^{(Q) 10} I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness^(R) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff^(S) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.^{(T) 11} Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid^(U) he will come and attack me,^(V) and also the mothers with their children.^{(W) 12} But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand^(X) of the sea, which cannot be counted.^(Y)’”