New Living Translation | International Standard Version |
1One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.” “Yes, Father?” Esau replied. | 1Eventually, Isaac grew so old that he could not see. One day, he called his eldest son Esau. "My son," he called out to him. |
2“I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die. | 2"Look how old I am! I could die any day now, |
3Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. | 3so go find your weapons, take your bow and arrows, go outside, and hunt some game for me. |
4Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.” | 4Then prepare some food, just the way I like it, and bring it to me so that I can eat and bless you before I die." |
5But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game, | 5Now Rebekah overheard Isaac while he was speaking to his son Esau. When Esau had gone out to the field to hunt and bring in some game, |
6she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau, | 6Rebekah gave these instructions to her son Jacob: "Quick! Pay attention!" she said. "I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. He told him, |
7‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’ | 7Bring me some game and then prepare some food for me so I can eat and bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.' |
8Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. | 8So now, my son, listen to what I have to say and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you. |
9Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. | 9Go to the flock and bring me two healthy young goats. I'll prepare some delicious food for your father, just the way he loves it. |
10Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.” | 10Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies." |
11“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. | 11"But look!" Jacob pointed out to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I'm smooth skinned. |
12What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.” | 12My father might touch me and he'll realize that I'm deceiving him. Then, I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing." |
13But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!” | 13"My son," she replied, "let any curse against you fall on me. Just listen to me, then go and get them for me." |
14So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it. | 14So out he went, got them, and brought them to his mother, who then prepared some delicious food, just the way his father liked it. |
15Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. | 15Then Rebekah took some garments that belonged to her elder son Esau—the best ones available—and put them on her younger son Jacob. |
16She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. | 16She put some goat skins over his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. |
17Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread. | 17Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob, |
18So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said. “Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?” | 18who went to his father and said, "My father…" "It's me!" he replied. "Which one are you, my son?" |
19Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.” | 19"I'm Esau, your firstborn!" Jacob told his father. "I've done what you asked, so please sit up and eat what I caught, so you can bless me." |
20Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied. | 20"How did you get it so quickly, my son?" Isaac asked. Jacob responded, "…because the LORD your God made me successful." |
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.” | 21So Isaac told Jacob, "Come here, my son, so I can feel you and know for sure whether or not you're my son Esau." |
22So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. | 22So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands." |
23But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob. | 23He didn't recognize Jacob, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau, so Isaac blessed him. |
24“But are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “Yes, I am,” Jacob replied. | 24He asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. |
25Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him. | 25"Come closer to me," Isaac replied, "so I can eat some of the game, my son, and then bless you." So Jacob came closer, and Isaac ate. Jacob also brought wine so his father could drink. |
26Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.” | 26After this, Jacob's father Isaac told him, "Come closer and kiss me, my son." |
27So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the LORD has blessed! | 27So Jacob drew closer to kiss him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his son's clothes, he blessed him and said, "How my son's scent is the fragrance of the field that the LORD has blessed. |
28“From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine. | 28May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine. |
29May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.” | 29May people serve and bow before you; may you be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow before you; may anyone who curses you be cursed; and may anyone who blesses you be blessed." |
30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt. | 30Just after Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left his father Isaac, Jacob's brother Esau returned from hunting, |
31Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.” | 31prepared some delicious food, brought it to his father, and told him, "Can you get up now, father, so you may eat some of your son's game and then bless me?" |
32But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.” | 32But his father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn son," he answered |
33Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!” | 33At this, Isaac began to tremble violently. "Who then," he asked, "hunted some game and brought it to me to eat before you arrived, so that I've blessed him? Indeed, he is blessed." |
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged. | 34When Esau realized what his father Isaac was saying, he began to wail out loud bitterly. "Bless me," he cried, "even me, too, my father!" |
35But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.” | 35Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing." |
36Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?” | 36Then he said, "Isn't his name rightly called Jacob?" Esau asked. "He has circumvented me this second time. First, he took away my birthright, and now, look how he also stole my blessing." Then he added, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?" |
37Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?” | 37In response, Isaac told Esau, "Look! I've predicted that he's going to become your master, and I've assigned all his brothers to be his servants. What then can I do for you, my son?" |
38Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept. | 38Then Esau implored his father, "Don't you have even one blessing for me, my father? Bless me, even me too, my father!" Then Esau lifted his voice and wept bitterly. |
39Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him, “You will live away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the heaven above. | 39At this, his father Isaac replied to him, "Look! Away from the fertile land will be your dwellings; away from the dew of the skies above. |
40You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck.” Jacob Flees to Paddan-Aram | 40By your sword you'll live; but you'll serve your brother. But when you've become restless, you'll break off his yoke from your neck." |
41From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.” | 41So Esau harbored animosity toward Jacob because of the way his father had blessed him. Esau kept saying to himself, "The time to mourn for my father is very near. That's when I'm going to kill my brother Jacob." |
42But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. | 42Eventually, what Rebekah's older son Esau had been saying was reported to her, so she sent for her younger son Jacob and warned him, "Look! Your brother is planning to get even by killing you. |
43So listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran. | 43Son, you'd better do what I say! Get up, run off to my brother Laban in Haran, |
44Stay there with him until your brother cools off. | 44and stay there with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides. |
45When he calms down and forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you to come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” | 45After that happens and he has forgotten what you've done to him, I'll send for you so you can return from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?" |
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.” | 46Rebekah also told herself, "Heth's daughters are making me tired of living. If Jacob marries one of Heth's daughters, and she turns out to be just like these other local women, what kind of life would there be left for me?" |
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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