Genesis 27

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 When Isaac had grown old, and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he summoned hiselder son Esau. 'Son!' he said, and Esau replied, 'Here I am.'	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.
2 He then said, 'Look, I am old and do not know when I may die.	2 Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time.
3 Now take your weapons, your quiver and bow; go out into the country and hunt me some game.	3 Take your gear, therefore--your quiver and bow--and go out into the country to hunt some game for me.
4 Make me the kind of appetising dish I like and bring it to me to eat and I shal give you my specialblessing before I die.'	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."
5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac was talking to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the country tohunt game for his father,	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,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, 'I have just heard your father saying to your brother Esau,	6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Listen! I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,
7 "Bring me some game and make an appetising dish for me to eat and then I shal bless you inYahweh's presence before I die."	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.'
8 Now, son, listen to me and do as I tel you.	8 Now, son, listen carefully to what I tell you.
9 Go to the flock and bring me back two good kids, so that I can make the kind of special dish yourfather likes.	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.
10 Then take it to your father for him to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.'	10 Then bring it to your father to eat, that he may bless you before he dies."
11 Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, 'Look, my brother Esau is hairy, while I am smooth-skinned.	11 "But my brother Esau is a hairy man," said Jacob to his mother Rebekah, "and I am smooth-skinned!
12 If my father happens to touch me, he wil see I am cheating him, and I shall bring a curse down onmyself instead of a blessing.'	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."
13 But his mother replied, 'On me be the curse, my son! Just listen to me; go and fetch me the kids.'	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."
14 So he went to fetch them and brought them to his mother, and she made the kind of special dish hisfather liked.	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.
15 Rebekah took her elder son Esau's best clothes, which she had at home, and dressed her youngerson Jacob in them,	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;
16 covering his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skins of the kids.	16 and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck.
17 She then handed the special dish and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.	17 Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared.
18 He went to his father and said, 'Father!' 'Yes?' he replied. 'Which of my sons are you?'	18 Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?"
19 Jacob said to his father, 'I am Esau your first-born; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eatsome of the game I have brought and then give me your soul's blessing.'	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."
20 Isaac said to his son, 'Son, how did you succeed so quickly?' He replied, 'Because Yahweh your Godmade things go well for 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."
21 Isaac said to Jacob, 'Come closer, son, so that I can feel you and be sure whether you real y are myson Esau or not.'	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."
22 Jacob went closer to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, 'The voice is Jacob's voice but the armsare the arms of Esau!'	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."
23 He did not recognise him since his arms were hairy like his brother Esau's, and so he blessed him.	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.)
24 He said, 'Are you real y my son Esau?' And he replied, 'I am.'	24 Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied.
25 Isaac said, 'Serve it to me, so that I can eat my son's game and give you my special blessing.' Heserved it to him and he ate; he offered him wine, and he drank.	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.
26 His father Isaac said to him, 'Come closer, and kiss me, son.'	26 Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me."
27 He went closer and kissed his father, who sniffed the smel of his clothes. Then he blessed him,saying: Ah, the smel of my son is like the smel of a fertile field which Yahweh has blessed.	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!
28 May God give you dew from heaven, and the richness of the earth, abundance of grain and wine!	28 "May God give to you of the dew of the heavens And of the fertility of the earth abundance of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you and nations bow low before you! Be master of your brothers; let your mother'sother sons bow low before you! Accursed be whoever curses you and blessed be whoever blesses you!	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."
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob was leaving his father Isaac, hisbrother Esau returned from hunting.	30 Jacob had scarcely left his father, just after Isaac had finished blessing him, when his brother Esau came back from his hunt.
31 He too made an appetising dish and brought it to his father, 'Father, please eat some of your son'sgame and then give me your special blessing.'	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."
32 His father Isaac asked, 'Who are you?' 'I am your first-born son, Esau,' he replied.	32 "Who are you?" his father Isaac asked him. "I am Esau," he replied, "your first-born son."
33 At this Isaac was seized with a violent trembling and said, 'Who was it, then, that went hunting andbrought me the game? I finished eating it just before you came; I blessed him, and now blessed he wil remain!'	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!"
34 On hearing his father's words, Esau cried out loudly and bitterly and said to his father, 'Father, blessme too!'	34 On hearing his father's words, Esau burst into loud, bitter sobbing. "Father, bless me too!" he begged.
35 But he replied, 'Your brother came by fraud and took your blessing.'	35 When Isaac explained, "Your brother came here by a ruse and carried off your blessing,"
36 Esau said, 'His name should be Jacob right enough, for he has now supplanted me twice. First hetook my birthright, and look, now he has gone and taken my blessing! But', he added, 'have you not kept ablessing for me?'	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?"
37 Isaac replied to Esau, 'I have already made him your master; I have given him al his brothers asservants, I have given him grain and wine to sustain him. So what can I do for you, son?'	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?"
38 Esau said to his father, 'Can you bless only once, father? Father, bless me too.' Isaac remainedsilent, and Esau began to weep aloud.	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.
39 Then his father Isaac spoke again and said: 'Far from the richness of the earth and the dew ofheaven above, your home will be.	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!
40 By your sword you wil live, and your brother wil you serve. But when you win your freedom, you wilshake his yoke off your neck.'	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."
41 Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him, and Esau said to himself, 'Thetime to mourn for my father wil soon be here. Then I shal kil my brother Jacob.'	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."
42 When the words of Esau, her elder son, were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for her younger sonJacob and said to him, 'Look, your brother Esau means to take revenge and kil you.	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.
43 Now, son, listen to me; go at once and take refuge with my brother Laban in Haran.	43 Therefore, son, do what I tell you: flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,
44 Stay with him a while, until your brother's fury cools,	44 and stay with him a while until your brother's fury subsides
45 until your brother's anger is diverted from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then Ishall send someone to bring you back. I do not want to lose you both on one day!'	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?"
46 Rebekah said to Isaac, 'The Hittite women sicken me to death. If Jacob were to marry a Hittitewoman like these, one of the local women, what would there be left in life for me?'	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?"