Genesis 27

Revised Geneva Translation

27 And when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim (so that he could not see), he called Esau, his eldest son, and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “I am here.”

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

³ “Therefore, now, please take your instruments — your quiver and your bow — and get to the field, so that you may hunt food.

⁴ “Then make me savory meat (such as I love) and bring it to me so that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now, Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau, his son. And Esau went into the field to hunt for food, and to bring it.

⁶ Then, Rebekah spoke to Jacob, her son, saying, “Behold, I have heard your father talking with Esau, your brother, saying,

⁷ “‘Bring me food, and make me savory meat, so that I may eat and bless you before the LORD before my death.’

⁸ “Now, therefore, my son, hear my voice in that which I command you.

⁹ “Get to the flock now and bring me two good kids from the goats there, so that I may make pleasant meat from them for your father (such as he loves).

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

¹¹ But Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, “Behold, Esau, my brother, is rough; and I am smooth.

¹² “My father may possibly feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver. So shall I bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”

¹³ But his mother said to him, “May your curse be upon me, my son. Only hear my voice; and go and bring them to me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother. And his mother made pleasant meat, such as his father loved.

¹⁵ And Rebekah took fair clothes of her elder son, Esau, which were in her house, and clothed Jacob, her younger son.

¹⁶ And she covered his hands and the smooth of his neck with the skins of the kids of the goats.

¹⁷ Afterward, she put the pleasant meat and bread which she had prepared in the hand of her son, Jacob.

¹⁸ And when he came to his father, he said, “My father.” Who answered, “I am here. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you bid me. Please rise. Sit up and eat my food, so that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ Then Isaac said to his son, “How have you found it so quickly, my son?” Who said, “Because the LORD your God brought it to my hand.”

²¹ Again, Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near now, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are my son, Esau, or not.”

²² Then Jacob came 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 (For he did not know him because his hands were rough, as his brother Esau’s hands. Therefore, he blessed him.)

²⁴ Again he said, “Are you my son, Esau?” Who answered, “Yes.”

²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it here to me and I will eat of my son’s food, so that my soul may bless you.” And he brought it to him; and he ate. Also, he brought him wine; and he drank.

²⁶ Afterward, his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”

²⁷ And he came near and kissed him. Then he smelled the savor of his garments and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.

²⁸ “Therefore, God give you of the dew of Heaven, and the fatness of the Earth, and plenty of wheat and wine.

²⁹ “Let people be your servants and nations bow down to you. Be Lord over your brothers and let your mother’s children honor you. Cursed be he who curses you; and blessed be he who blesses you.”

³⁰ And when Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob and Jacob had barely gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father, then Esau, his brother, came from his hunting.

³¹ And he also prepared savory meat and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s food, so that your soul may bless me.”

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

³³ Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who and where is he who hunted food and brought it to me; and I have eaten of all before you came? And I have blessed him; therefore, he shall be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great cry and bitter, out of measure, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, my father.”

³⁵ Who answered, “Your brother came with subtlety and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ Then he said, “Was he not justly called “Jacob”? For he has deceived me these two times. He took my birthright; and lo, now has he taken my blessing.” Also, he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Then Isaac answered, and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord; and I have made all his brothers his servants. And I have furnished him with wheat and wine. And what now shall I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Then Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me; me, also, my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ Then Isaac, his father, answered, and said to him, “Behold, the fatness of the Earth shall be your dwelling place, and you shall have of the dew of Heaven from above.

⁴⁰ “And by your word you shall live and shall be your brother’s servant. But it shall come to pass, when you shall get restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

⁴¹ Therefore Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau thought in his mind, “The days of mourning for my father will come shortly. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.”

⁴² And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother, Esau, is comforting himself by plotting to kill you.

⁴³ “Now therefore my son, hear my voice. Arise and flee to Haran, to my brother Laban,

⁴⁴ “and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fierceness is assuaged,

⁴⁵ “and until your brother’s wrath turns away from you and he forget the things which you have done to him. Then I will send and take you from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ Also, 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 like these of the daughters of the land, what good will my life be?”