Jacob Tricks his father
Genesis 27:1-40 (New International Version)
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak
that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him,
“My son.”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2Isaac said, “I am now
an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to
the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to
eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.”
5Now Rebekah was
listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country
to hunt game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her
son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so
that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’8Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I
can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his
blessing before he dies.”
11Jacob said to Rebekah
his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him
and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”
13His mother said to
him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for
me.”
14So he went and got
them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the
way his father liked it. 15Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her
older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with
the goatskins. 17Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty
food and the bread she had made.
18He went to his father
and said, “My father.”
“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”
19Jacob said to his
father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up
and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
20Isaac asked his son,
“How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lordyour
God gave me success,” he replied.
21Then Isaac said to
Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my
son Esau or not.”
22Jacob went close to
his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob,
but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23He did not recognize
him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded
to bless him. 24“Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“I am,” he replied.
25Then he said, “My son,
bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and
he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here,
my son, and kiss me.”
27So he went to him and
kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and
said,
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lordhas
blessed.
28May God give you
heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.”
30After Isaac finished
blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother
Esau came in from hunting. 31He too prepared some
tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father,
please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”
32His father Isaac asked
him, “Who are you?”
“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”
33Isaac trembled
violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I
ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”
34When Esau heard his
father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father,
“Bless me—me too, my father!”
35But he said, “Your
brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36Esau said, “Isn’t he
rightly named Jacob ? This is the second time he has taken
advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then
he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”
37Isaac answered Esau,
“I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants,
and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for
you, my son?”
38Esau said to his
father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!”
Then Esau wept aloud.
39His father Isaac
answered him,
“Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40You will live by the
sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.”
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