Genesis 27-29

21st Century King James Version

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

² And he said, “Behold now, I am old; I know not the day of my death.

³ Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field and take me some venison.

⁴ And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.”

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

⁶ And Rebekah spoke unto Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

⁷ ‘Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before my death.’

⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

⁹ Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth;

¹⁰ and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat and that he may bless thee before his death.”

¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

¹² My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”

¹³ And his mother said unto him, “Upon me be thy curse, my son; only obey my voice, and go, fetch me them.”

¹⁴ And he went, and fetched and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved.

¹⁵ And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son;

¹⁶ and she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck.

¹⁷ And she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ And he came unto his father, and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here am I. Who art thou, my son?”

¹⁹ And Jacob said unto his father, “I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.”

²⁰ And Isaac said unto his son, “How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.”

²¹ And Isaac said unto Jacob, “Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.”

²² And Jacob went near unto 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 discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

²⁴ And he said, “Art thou my very son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ And he said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee.” And he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

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

²⁷ And he came near, and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.

²⁸ Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine.

²⁹ Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee!”

³⁰ And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹ And he also had made savory meat, and brought it unto his father and said unto his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.”

³² And Isaac his father said unto him, “Who art thou?” And he said, “I am thy son, thy firstborn, Esau.”

³³ And Isaac trembled exceedingly and said, “Who? Where is he that hath taken venison and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.”

³⁴ And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

³⁵ And he said, “Thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing.”

³⁶ And he said, “Is not he rightly named Jacob [that is, A supplanter]? For he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, “Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him. And what shall I do now unto thee, my son?”

³⁸ And Esau said unto his father, “Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, “Behold, thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.

⁴⁰ And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.”

⁴¹ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then will I slay my brother Jacob.”

⁴² And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, “Behold, thy brother Esau doth comfort himself concerning thee, purposing to kill thee.

⁴³ Now therefore my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother in Haran,

⁴⁴ and tarry with him a few days until thy brother’s fury turn away—

⁴⁵ until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him. Then I will send and fetch thee from thence. Why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?”

28 And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him and said unto him, “Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

² Arise, go to Padanaram to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father, and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.

³ And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

⁴ and give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.”

⁵ And Isaac sent away Jacob; and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶ When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram to take him a wife from thence, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,”

⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padanaram,

⁸ and Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father—

⁹ then went Esau unto Ishmael, and added unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

¹⁰ And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.

¹¹ And he alighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

¹² And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac: The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.

¹⁴ And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

¹⁵ And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”

¹⁶ And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.”

¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How fearsome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it.

¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel [that is, The house of God]; but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

²⁰ And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on,

²¹ so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God.

²² And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God’s house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give a tenth unto Thee.”

29 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

² And he looked, and behold, a well in the field, and lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks; and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.

³ And thither were all the flocks gathered; and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.

⁴ And Jacob said unto them, “My brethren, from whence be ye?” And they said, “Of Haran are we.”

⁵ And he said unto them, “Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ And he said unto them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well; and behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.”

⁷ And he said, “Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together. Water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ And they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and until they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we water the sheep.”

⁹ And while he yet spoke with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them.

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 rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother.

¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.

¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, “Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.” And he abode with him the space of a month.

¹⁵ And Laban said unto Jacob, “Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? Tell me, what shall thy wages be?”

¹⁶ And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷ Leah was tendereyed, but Rachel was beautiful and wellfavored.

¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel, and said, “I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.”

¹⁹ And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man. Abide with me.”

²⁰ And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

²¹ And Jacob said unto Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.”

²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.

²³ And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

²⁴ And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah, Zilpah his maid for a handmaid.

²⁵ And it came to pass that in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and he said to Laban, “What is this thou hast done unto me? Did not I serve with thee for Rachel? Why then hast thou beguiled me?”

²⁶ And Laban said, “It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷ Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this other also, for which service thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.”

²⁸ And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week; and he gave him Rachel his daughter for a wife also.

²⁹ And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

³¹ And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben [that is, See a son]; for she said, “Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction. Now therefore my husband will love me.”

³³ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, He hath therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon [that is, Hearing].

³⁴ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore was his name called Levi [that is, Joined].

³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son; and she said, “Now will I praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah [that is, Praise], and ceased bearing.