Jacob’s Deception

1Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 2Then [a]Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. 3Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; 4and prepare a delicious meal for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

5Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, 7‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious meal for me, so that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.’ 8So now, my son, listen to [b]me [c]as I command you. 9Go now to the flock and [d]bring me two choice [e]young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves. 10Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” 11But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. 12Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a [f]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” 13But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.” 14So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved. 15Then Rebekah took the [g]best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16And she put the skins of the [h]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made [i]to her son Jacob.

18Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that [j]you may bless me.” 20Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God made it [k]come to me.” 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, and he touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. 24And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” 25So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that [l]I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” 27So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said,

“See, the smell of my son

Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed;

28Now may God give you of the dew of heaven,

And of the fatness of the earth,

And an abundance of grain and new wine;

29May peoples serve you,

And nations bow down to you;

Be master of your brothers,

And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be those who curse you,

And blessed be those who bless you.”

The Stolen Blessing

30Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that [m]you may bless me.” 32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33Then Isaac [n]trembled violently, and said, “Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate from all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!” 35And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” 36Then Esau said, “[o]Is he not rightly named [p]Jacob, for he has betrayed me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and I have given to him all his relatives [q]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.” So Esau raised his voice and wept.

39Then his father Isaac answered and said to him,

“Behold, [r]away from the [s]fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,

And [t]away from the dew of heaven from above.

40“And by your sword you shall live,

And you shall serve your brother;

But it shall come about when you become restless,

That you will [u]break his yoke from your neck.”

41So Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said [v]to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 43Now then, my son, obey my voice, and arise, [w]flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! 44Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury [x]subsides, 45until your brother’s anger [y]against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send word and get you from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

46And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of [z]living because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

[a] 2 Lit he
[b] 8 Lit my voice
[c] 8 Lit according to what
[d] 9 Lit take
[e] 9 Lit kids of goats
[f] 12 Lit mocker
[g] 15 Lit desirable; or choice
[h] 16 Lit kids of the goats
[i] 17 Lit into the hand of
[j] 19 Lit your soul
[k] 20 Lit meet me
[l] 25 Lit my soul
[m] 31 Lit your soul
[n] 33 Lit trembled with a very great trembling
[o] 36 Or Was he then named Jacob that he has
[p] 36 Fr Heb verb meaning to seize someone by the heel, and so to betray
[q] 37 Lit for
[r] 39 Or of
[s] 39 Lit fatness
[t] 39 Or of
[u] 40 Lit tear off
[v] 41 Lit in his heart
[w] 43 Lit flee for yourself
[x] 44 Lit turns away
[y] 45 Lit turns away from you
[z] 46 Lit my life