Genesis 27

The AIT Bible

Jacob Obtains Isaac's Blessing

1Now it happened, when Isaac had grown old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”

2And he said, “See now, I have grown old; I do not know the day of my death.

3So now, take up your gear, please—your quiver and your bow—and go out to the field and hunt game for me.

4And make me a savory dish, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my self may bless you before I die.

5Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game to bring in.

6And Rebekah said to Jacob her son, “Look, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying,

7‘Bring me game and make me a savory dish that I may eat, and I will bless you before Yahweh before my death.’

8So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I am commanding you.

9Go now to the flock and take for me from there two good young goats, and I will make them into a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

10Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

11But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes like one mocking him, and I will bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”

13But his mother said to him, “Upon me be your curse, my son; only listen to my voice and go, take them for me.”

14So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a savory dish, such as his father loved.

15Then Rebekah took the garments of Esau her older son, the finest ones that were with her in the house, and she clothed Jacob her younger son.

16And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

17And she put the savory dish and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob her son.

18And he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?”

19And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Rise now, sit and eat from my game, so that your self may bless me.”

20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because Yahweh your God brought it to me.”

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near now, that I may feel you, my son—whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

22So Jacob came near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother; so he blessed him.

24And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

25Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat from my son’s game, so that my self may bless you.” And he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26Then Isaac his father said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”

27So he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed.

28May God give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and new wine.

29May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.”

30Now it happened, when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31He too prepared savory food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

32Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

33Then Isaac trembled with a very great trembling and said, “Who then was it that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of it all before you came, and I blessed him? Indeed, he shall be blessed!”

34When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a very great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, my father!”

35But he said, “Your brother came in deceit and took your blessing.”

36He said, “Is it not that his name was called Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took my birthright, and now, look, he has taken my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

37Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Look, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants, and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. So for you then, what can I do, my son?”

38Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Look, away from the fatness of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of the heavens above.

40By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; but it shall come about, when you grow restless, that you will break his yoke from off your neck.”

Jacob Flees from Esau

41Esau harbored hatred against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are drawing near; then I will kill Jacob my brother.”

42The words of Esau her elder son were reported to Rebekah, so she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

43Now then, my son, listen to my voice: arise, flee to Laban my brother, to Haran,

44and stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,

45until your brother’s anger turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

46And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these, from the daughters of the land, what good is life to me?”

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Cross-references in this chapter

Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.

Jacob Obtains Isaac's Blessing

Jacob Flees from Esau