Genesis 27

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
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 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.
2 Isaac then said, "As you can see, I am so old that I may now die at any time.	2 And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and 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 Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting,
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 Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it, that I may eat: and 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 when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father's commandment,
6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Listen! I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,	6 She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:
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 of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.
8 Now, son, listen carefully to what I tell you.	8 Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
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 And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth:
10 Then bring it to your father to eat, that he may bless you before he dies."	10 Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
11 "But my brother Esau is a hairy man," said Jacob to his mother Rebekah, "and I am smooth-skinned!	11 And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth.
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 If my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of 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 to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.
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 He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
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 she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
16 and with the skins of the kids she covered up his hands and the hairless parts of his neck.	16 And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.
17 Then she handed her son Jacob the appetizing dish and the bread she had prepared.	17 And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.
18 Bringing them to his father, Jacob said, "Father!" "Yes?" replied Isaac. "Which of my sons are you?"	18 Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. 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: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, 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 to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son?
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: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my 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 He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; 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 He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.
24 Again he asked him, "Are you really my son Esau?" "Certainly," he replied.	24 dummy verses inserted by amos
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 Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
26 Finally his father Isaac said to him, "Come closer, son, and kiss me."	26 He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, 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 He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which 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 God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance 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 And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let they mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.
30 Jacob had scarcely left his father, just after Isaac had finished blessing him, when his brother Esau came back from his hunt.	30 Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
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 brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy 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 said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son 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 Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said Who is he then the even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, 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 Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, 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 deceitfully and got 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 But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: my first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?
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 Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for 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 Esac said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,
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 Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in 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 Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from 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 Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill 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 These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob her son, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth 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, hear my voice: arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran:
44 and stay with him a while until your brother's fury subsides	44 And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till wrath of thy brother be assuaged,
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 And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons 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 Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.