Genesis 27

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 When Isaac was so old that his eyesight had failed him, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes, father!" he replied.	1 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 Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time.	2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
3 Take your gear, therefore--your quiver and bow--and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.	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 With your catch prepare an appetizing dish for me, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my special blessing before I die."	4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
5 Rebekah had been listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau went out into the country to hunt some game for his father,	5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Listen! I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,	6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7 'Bring me some game and with it prepare an appetizing dish for me to eat, that I may give you my blessing with the LORD'S approval before I die.'	7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
8 Now, son, listen carefully to what I tell you.	8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9 Go to the flock and get me two choice kids. With these I will prepare an appetizing dish for your father, such as he likes.	9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10 Then bring it to your father to eat, that he may bless you before he dies."	10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
11 "But my brother Esau is a hairy man," said Jacob to his mother Rebekah, "and I am smooth-skinned!	11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
12 Suppose my father feels me? He will think I am making sport of him, and I shall bring on myself a curse instead of a blessing."	12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
13 His mother, however, replied: "Let any curse against you, son, fall on me! Just do as I say. Go and get me the kids."	13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
14 So Jacob went and got them and brought them to his mother; and with them she prepared an appetizing dish, such as his father liked.	14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.
15 Rebekah then took the best clothes of her older son Esau that she had in the house, and gave them to her younger son Jacob to wear;	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 with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck.	16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared.	17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?"	18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
19 Jacob answered his father: "I am Esau, your first-born. I did as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your special blessing."	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 But Isaac asked, "How did you succeed so quickly, son?" He answered, "The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with 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 Isaac then said to Jacob, "Come closer, son, that I may feel you, to learn whether you really are my son Esau or not."	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 So Jacob moved up closer to his father. When Isaac felt him, he said, "Although the voice is Jacob's, the hands are Esau's."	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 (He failed to identify him because his hands were hairy, like those of his brother Esau; so in the end he gave him his blessing.)	23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.
24 Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied.	24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.
25 Then Isaac said, "Serve me your game, son, that I may eat of it and then give you my blessing." Jacob served it to him, and Isaac ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.	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 did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me."	26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.
27 As Jacob went up and kissed him, Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes. With that, he blessed him, saying, "Ah, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the LORD has blessed!	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 "May God give to you of the dew of the heavens And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine.	28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
29 "Let peoples serve you, and nations pay you homage; 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."	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 Jacob had scarcely left his father, just after Isaac had finished blessing him, when his brother Esau came back from his hunt.	30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31 Then he too prepared an appetizing dish with his game, and bringing it to his father, he said, "Please, father, eat some of your son's game, that you may then give me your special blessing."	31 And he also had made savoury 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 "Who are you?" his father Isaac asked him. "I am Esau," he replied, "your first-born son."	32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.
33 With that, Isaac was seized with a fit of uncontrollable trembling. "Who was it, then," he asked, "that hunted game and brought it to me? I finished eating it just before you came, and I blessed him. Now he must remain blessed!"	33 And Isaac trembled very 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 On hearing his father's words, Esau burst into loud, bitter sobbing. "Father, bless me too!" he begged.	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 When Isaac explained, "Your brother came here by a ruse and carried off your blessing,"	35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
36 Esau exclaimed, "He has been well named Jacob! He has now supplanted me twice! First he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing." Then he pleaded, "Haven't you saved a blessing for me?"	36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? 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 Isaac replied: "I have already appointed him your master, and I have assigned to him all his kinsmen as his slaves; besides, I have enriched him with grain and wine. What then can I do for you, son?"	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 But Esau urged his father, "Have you only that one blessing, father? Bless me too!" Isaac, however, made no reply; and Esau wept aloud.	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 Finally Isaac spoke again and said to him: "Ah, far from the fertile earth shall be your dwelling; far from the dew of the heavens above!	39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;
40 "By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; But when you become restive, you shall throw off his yoke from your neck."	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 Esau bore Jacob a grudge because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "When the time of mourning for my father comes, I will kill my brother Jacob."	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 When Rebekah got news of what her older son Esau had in mind, she called her younger son Jacob and said to him: "Listen! Your brother Esau intends to settle accounts with you by killing you.	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, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
43 Therefore, son, do what I tell you: flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,	43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
44 and stay with him a while until your brother's fury subsides	44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;
45 (until your brother's anger against you subsides) and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back. Must I lose both of you in a single day?"	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 Rebekah said to Isaac: "I am disgusted with life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob also should marry a Hittite woman, a native of the land, like these women, what good would life be to me?"	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 which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?