NET Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son!" "Here I am!" Esau replied.

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."

2Isaac said, "Since I am so old, I could die at any time.

2Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.

3Therefore, take your weapons--your quiver and your bow--and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me.

3"Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me;

4Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die."

4and prepare a savory dish 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 had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back,

5Rebekah 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, "Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,

6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,

7Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.'

7Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.'

8Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you!

8"Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you.

9Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I'll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them.

9"Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

10Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies."

10"Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."

11"But Esau my brother is a hairy man," Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, "and I have smooth skin!

11Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.

12My father may touch me! Then he'll think I'm mocking him and I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing."

12"Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."

13So his mother told him, "Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!"

13But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me."

14So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it.

14So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

15Then Rebekah took her older son Esau's best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob.

15Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

16She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

16And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

17Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

17She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.

18He went to his father and said, "My father!" Isaac replied, "Here I am. Which are you, my son?"

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've done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me."

19Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me."

20But Isaac asked his son, "How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the LORD your God brought it to me," he replied.

20Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me."

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau."

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

22So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's."

22So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

23He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau's hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.

23He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.

24Then he asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied.

24And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am."

25Isaac said, "Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you." So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank.

25So he said, "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that 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, "Come here and kiss me, my son."

26Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son."

27So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying, "Yes, my son smells like the scent of an open field which the LORD has blessed.

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;

28May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

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. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed."

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."

30Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt.

30Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, "My father, get up and eat some of your son's wild game. Then you can bless me."

31Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me."

32His father Isaac asked, "Who are you?" "I am your firstborn son," he replied, "Esau!"

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

33Isaac began to shake violently and asked, "Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!"

33Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed."

34When Esau heard his father's words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, "Bless me too, my father!"

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, even me also, O my father!"

35But Isaac replied, "Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away your blessing."

35And he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing."

36Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back a blessing for me?"

36Then he said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted 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?"

37Isaac replied to Esau, "Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?"

37But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?"

38Esau said to his father, "Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!" Then Esau wept loudly.

38Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and wept.

39So his father Isaac said to him, "Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.

39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.

40You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck."

40"By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck."

41So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, "The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!"

41So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

42When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you.

42Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent 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, do what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in Haran.

43"Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!

44Live with him for a little while until your brother's rage subsides.

44"Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury subsides,

45Stay there until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I'll send someone to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

45until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!"

46Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of 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?"

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