International Standard Version

New American Standard Bible 1995

1Eventually, Isaac grew so old that he could not see. One day, he called his eldest son Esau. "My son," he called out to him.

1Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am."

2"Look how old I am! I could die any day now,

2Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.

3so go find your weapons, take your bow and arrows, go outside, and hunt some game for me.

3"Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me;

4Then prepare some food, just the way I like it, and bring it to me so that I can eat and bless you before I die."

4and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die."

5Now Rebekah overheard Isaac while he was speaking to his son Esau. When Esau had gone out to the field to hunt and bring in some game,

5Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,

6Rebekah gave these instructions to her son Jacob: "Quick! Pay attention!" she said. "I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. He told him,

6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,

7Bring me some game and then prepare some food for me so I can eat and bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.'

7Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.'

8So now, my son, listen to what I have to say and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you.

8"Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you.

9Go to the flock and bring me two healthy young goats. I'll prepare some delicious food for your father, just the way he loves it.

9"Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

10Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies."

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

11"But look!" Jacob pointed out to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I'm smooth skinned.

11Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.

12My father might touch me and he'll realize that I'm deceiving him. Then, I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing."

12"Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."

13"My son," she replied, "let any curse against you fall on me. Just listen to me, then go and get them for me."

13But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me."

14So out he went, got them, and brought them to his mother, who then prepared some delicious food, just the way his father liked it.

14So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

15Then Rebekah took some garments that belonged to her elder son Esau—the best ones available—and put them on her younger son Jacob.

15Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

16She put some goat skins over his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

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

17Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob,

17She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.

18who went to his father and said, "My father…" "It's me!" he replied. "Which one are you, my son?"

18Then he came to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

19"I'm Esau, your firstborn!" Jacob told his father. "I've done what you asked, so please sit up and eat what I caught, so you can bless me."

19Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me."

20"How did you get it so quickly, my son?" Isaac asked. Jacob responded, "…because the LORD your God made me successful."

20Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me."

21So Isaac told Jacob, "Come here, my son, so I can feel you and know for sure whether or not you're my son Esau."

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

22So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands."

22So Jacob came close 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."

23He didn't recognize Jacob, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau, so Isaac blessed him.

23He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.

24He asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied.

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

25"Come closer to me," Isaac replied, "so I can eat some of the game, my son, and then bless you." So Jacob came closer, and Isaac ate. Jacob also brought wine so his father could drink.

25So he said, "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you." And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.

26After this, Jacob's father Isaac told him, "Come closer and kiss me, my son."

26Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son."

27So Jacob drew closer to kiss him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his son's clothes, he blessed him and said, "How my son's scent is the fragrance of the field that the LORD has blessed.

27So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, "See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed;

28May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine.

28Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine;

29May people serve and bow before you; may you be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow before you; may anyone who curses you be cursed; and may anyone who blesses you be blessed."

29May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; 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."

30Just after Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left his father Isaac, Jacob's brother Esau returned from hunting,

30Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31prepared some delicious food, brought it to his father, and told him, "Can you get up now, father, so you may eat some of your son's game and then bless me?"

31Then he also made 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, that you may bless me."

32But his father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn son," he answered

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

33At this, Isaac began to tremble violently. "Who then," he asked, "hunted some game and brought it to me to eat before you arrived, so that I've blessed him? Indeed, he is blessed."

33Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed."

34When Esau realized what his father Isaac was saying, he began to wail out loud bitterly. "Bless me," he cried, "even me, too, my father!"

34When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!"

35Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing."

35And he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing."

36Then he said, "Isn't his name rightly called Jacob?" Esau asked. "He has circumvented me this second time. First, he took away my birthright, and now, look how he also stole my blessing." Then he added, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

36Then he said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

37In response, Isaac told Esau, "Look! I've predicted that he's going to become your master, and I've assigned all his brothers to be his servants. What then can I do for you, my son?"

37But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?"

38Then Esau implored his father, "Don't you have even one blessing for me, my father? Bless me, even me too, my father!" Then Esau lifted his voice and wept bitterly.

38Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and wept.

39At this, his father Isaac replied to him, "Look! Away from the fertile land will be your dwellings; away from the dew of the skies above.

39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.

40By your sword you'll live; but you'll serve your brother. But when you've become restless, you'll break off his yoke from your neck."

40"By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck."

41So Esau harbored animosity toward Jacob because of the way his father had blessed him. Esau kept saying to himself, "The time to mourn for my father is very near. That's when I'm going to kill my brother Jacob."

41So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

42Eventually, what Rebekah's older son Esau had been saying was reported to her, so she sent for her younger son Jacob and warned him, "Look! Your brother is planning to get even by killing you.

42Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

43Son, you'd better do what I say! Get up, run off to my brother Laban in Haran,

43"Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!

44and stay there with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides.

44"Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury subsides,

45After that happens and he has forgotten what you've done to him, I'll send for you so you can return from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

45until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

46Rebekah also told herself, "Heth's daughters are making me tired of living. If Jacob marries one of Heth's daughters, and she turns out to be just like these other local women, what kind of life would there be left for me?"

46Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living 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 will my life be to me?"

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org