| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 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 could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." "Here I am," he answered. |
| 2"Look how old I am! I could die any day now, | 2Isaac said, "I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death. |
| 3so go find your weapons, take your bow and arrows, go outside, and hunt some game for me. | 3Now then, get your equipment--your quiver and bow--and go out to the open country to hunt 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." | 4Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing 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 was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt 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 say to 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 game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing 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, my son, listen carefully and do 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 out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. |
| 10Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies." | 10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing 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. | 11Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "But my brother Esau is a hairy man while 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." | 12What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than 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." | 13His mother said to him, "My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; 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 them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked 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 the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had 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 also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. |
| 17Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob, | 17Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. |
| 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." "Yes, my son," he answered. "Who is it?" |
| 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. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing." |
| 20"How did you get it so quickly, my son?" Isaac asked. Jacob responded, "…because the LORD your God made me successful." | 20Isaac asked his son, "How did you find it so quickly, my son?" "The LORD your God gave me success," 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 near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not." |
| 22So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands." | 22Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched 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, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. |
| 24He asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. | 24"Are you really my son Esau?" he asked. "I am," he 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. | 25Then he said, "My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some 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, "Come here, my son, and kiss me." |
| 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 went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that 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 heaven's dew and earth's richness-- 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 nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother 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, | 30After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, his brother Esau came in from 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?" | 31He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, "My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing." |
| 32But his father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn son," he answered | 32His father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I am your son," he answered, "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." | 33Isaac trembled violently and said, "Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him--and indeed he will 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 burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me--me too, my father!" |
| 35Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing." | 35But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and took 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 said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!" Then he asked, "Haven't you reserved any 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 answered Esau, "I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly 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 one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" Then Esau wept aloud. |
| 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. | 39His father Isaac answered him, "Your dwelling will be away from the earth's richness, away from the dew of heaven 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 the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off 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." | 41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He 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. | 42When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself 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: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. |
| 44and stay there with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides. | 44Stay with him for a while 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?" | 45When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come 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'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living." |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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