| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 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. | 1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son!" "Here I am!" Esau replied. |
| 2"Look how old I am! I could die any day now, | 2Isaac said, "Since I am so old, I could die at any time. |
| 3so go find your weapons, take your bow and arrows, go outside, and hunt some game for me. | 3Therefore, take your weapons--your quiver and your bow--and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild 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." | 4Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I 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, | 5Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, |
| 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, "Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, |
| 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 wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.' |
| 8So now, my son, listen to what I have to say and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you. | 8Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell 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. | 9Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I'll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. |
| 10Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies." | 10Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies." |
| 11"But look!" Jacob pointed out to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I'm smooth skinned. | 11"But Esau my brother is a hairy man," Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, "and I have smooth skin! |
| 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." | 12My father may touch me! Then he'll think I'm mocking him and I'll bring a curse on myself instead of 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." | 13So his mother told him, "Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and 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 the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. |
| 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 her older son Esau's best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. |
| 16She put some goat skins over his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. | 16She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. |
| 17Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob, | 17Then she handed the tasty food and the bread 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?" | 18He went to his father and said, "My father!" Isaac replied, "Here I am. Which 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've done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me." |
| 20"How did you get it so quickly, my son?" Isaac asked. Jacob responded, "…because the LORD your God made me successful." | 20But Isaac asked his son, "How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the LORD your God brought it to me," he replied. |
| 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, "Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau." |
| 22So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands." | 22So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's." |
| 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 Isaac blessed Jacob. |
| 24He asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. | 24Then he asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. |
| 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. | 25Isaac said, "Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you." So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank. |
| 26After this, Jacob's father Isaac told him, "Come closer and kiss me, my son." | 26Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here 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 Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying, "Yes, my son smells like the scent of an open 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. | 28May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty 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. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed." |
| 30Just after Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left his father Isaac, Jacob's brother Esau returned from hunting, | 30Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. |
| 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?" | 31He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, "My father, get up and eat some of your son's wild game. Then you can bless me." |
| 32But his father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn son," he answered | 32His father Isaac asked, "Who are you?" "I am your firstborn son," he replied, "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." | 33Isaac began to shake violently and asked, "Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed 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 his father's words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, "Bless me too, my father!" |
| 35Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing." | 35But Isaac replied, "Your brother came in here deceitfully and took 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?" | 36Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back 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?" | 37Isaac replied to Esau, "Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, 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 that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!" Then Esau wept loudly. |
| 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. | 39So his father Isaac said to him, "Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky 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." | 40You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off 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 hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, "The time of mourning for my father is 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. | 42When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. |
| 43Son, you'd better do what I say! Get up, run off to my brother Laban in Haran, | 43Now then, my son, do what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in Haran. |
| 44and stay there with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides. | 44Live with him for a little while until your brother's rage 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?" | 45Stay there until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I'll send someone to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you 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?" | 46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!" |
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