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Jacob received a blessing from Isaac by trickery
1 When Isaac was old, he became almost blind. One day he summoned Esau, his firstborn/older son,
2 and said to him, “My son?” Esau replied, “Here I am!”
3 Isaac said, “Listen to me. I am very old, and I do not know when I will die. So now take your bow and quiver full of arrows and go out into the countryside, and hunt for a wild animal for me.
4 Kill one and prepare the kind of tasty meat that I like. Then bring it to me so that after I eat it, I can give you a blessing before I die.”
5 Rebekah was listening as Isaac said that to his son, Esau. So when Esau left the tent to go to the countryside to hunt for a wild animal in order to kill it and bring it back,
6 Rebekah said to her son, Jacob, “Listen to me. I heard your father talking to your brother, Esau, saying,
7 ‘Go and kill some wild animal and bring it here, and prepare the meat in a tasty way, so that I may eat it, and then before I die I can give you my blessing while Yahweh is listening.’
8 So now, my son, do what I am telling you.
9 Go out to the flock and kill two nice young goats and bring the meat to me. Then I will prepare some tasty food for your father, the way he likes it.
10 Then you can take it to your father, in order that he can eat it, and then, before he dies, he will give his blessing to you, and not to your older brother.”
11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “But my brother Esau’s skin has hair all over it, and my skin is not like that! My skin is smooth!
12 What will happen if my father touches me? He will realize that I am tricking him, and as a result ◄I will be cursed/he will say that God will do bad things to► me, not a blessing!”
13 His mother replied, “If that happens, let the curse be on me. You do what I am telling you. Go and get the goats for me!”
14 So Jacob went and killed two goats and brought them to his mother. Then with the meat his mother prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked.
15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s clothes that were with her in the tent, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
16 She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.
17 Then she handed him some bread and the tasty food that she had prepared.
18 Jacob took it to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “I’m here; which of my sons are you?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn son. I did what you told me to do. Sit up and eat some of the meat so that you can then bless me.”
20 But Isaac asked his son, “My son, how is it that you were able to find and kill an animal so quickly?” Jacob replied, “Because Yahweh, whom you worship, enabled me to be successful.”
21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near to me, my son, so that I can touch you and determine whether you are really my son Esau.”
22 So Jacob went close to him. Isaac. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy, like the hands of your older brother, Esau.”
23 Isaac did not recognize Jacob, because he was blind and because Jacob’s hands were now hairy, like those of his older brother, Esau. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob.
24 But first Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob replied, “Yes, I am.”
25 Isaac said, “My son, bring me some of the meat that you have cooked, so that I may eat it and then give you my blessing.” So Jacob brought him some, and he ate it. Jacob also brought him some wine, and he drank it.
26 Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come here and kiss me.”
27 So Jacob came close to him, and his father kissed him on the cheek. Isaac smelled the clothes Jacob was wearing. They smelled like Esau’s clothes. So he said,
“Truly, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed.
28 I ask that God will send down to you dew from heaven to water your fields,
and cause you to have abundant crops,
good harvests of grain, and grapes for wine.
29 I ask that people of many nations will serve you and bow down to you.
I ask that you will rule over your brothers,
and that your mother’s descendants will also bow down to you.
I ask that God will curse/punish those who ◄curse you/ask God to do bad things to you►,
and bless those who bless you.”
30 After Isaac finished blessing Jacob, Jacob was just leaving the room where his father was, when his older brother, Esau, returned from hunting.
31 Esau cooked some tasty meat and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “My father, please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have cooked, so that you can then give me your blessing!”
32 His father, Isaac, said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am Esau, your firstborn son!”
33 Then Isaac, realizing that it was not Esau who had come earlier, trembled very violently. He said, “Then who is it that brought me some meat from an animal that he had hunted and killed, and I ate it all? He was here just before you came. I blessed him, and I cannot ◄take back that blessing/declare that those things will not happen to him►.”
34 When Esau heard those words of his father, he cried loudly. He was very disappointed. He said to his father, “My father, bless me, too!”
35 But his father said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing!”
36 Esau said, “It is right [RHQ] that his name is Jacob, which means ‘cheat,’ because he deceived me two times. The first time he took my rights from being his firstborn son, and this time he took my blessing!” Then he asked, “Do you not have any blessing left for me?”
37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “I have declared that your younger brother will rule over you, and declared that all his relatives will serve him. And I have said that God will give him plenty of grain and grapes for wine. So, my son, ◄what can I do for you?/There is nothing more that I can do for you!►” [RHQ]
38 Esau said to his father, “My father, do you have only one blessing? My father, bless me, too!” Then Esau cried very loudly.
39 His father Isaac answered and said to him,
“The place where you will live will be far from the fertile soil and from the dew that God sends from heaven to water the fields.
40 You will rob and kill people [MTY] in order to get what you need to live,
and you will be as though you are your brother’s slave.
But when you decide to rebel against him, you will ◄free yourself from/no longer be under► his control.”
Jacob fled from Esau
41 So, because his father had given a blessing to Jacob, and not to him, Esau hated his younger brother. Esau thought to himself, “After my father dies and we finish mourning for him, I will kill Jacob!”
42 But Rebekah found out what her older son, Esau, was thinking. So she summoned her younger son, Jacob, and said to him, “Listen to me. Your older brother, Esau, is comforting himself by planning to kill you, to get revenge because of your deceiving your father.
43 So now, my son, listen carefully to what I am telling you. Escape quickly and go and stay with my brother Laban, in Haran town.
44 Stay with him a while, until your older brother is no longer angry.
45 When he forgets what you did to him, I will send a message to you, to tell you to return from there. If Esau kills you, others will kill him, and then both my sons would die at the same time!” [RHQ]
46 Rebekah also said to Isaac, “These foreign women whom Esau has married, who are descendants of Heth, are making my life miserable. I would prefer to die than to see Jacob marry a woman from the descendants of Heth in this area!”