Study Desk

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see,^(a) he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he answered, "Here I am."

He said, "Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death.

Take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me.^(b)

Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die."^(c)

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in,

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said,

‘Bring me the game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord 's presence before I die.'

Now obey every order I give you, my son.

Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves.

Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies."

Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, "Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin.^(d)

Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself."

His mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me."

So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved.

Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them.

She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.

Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

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

Jacob replied 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 bless me."

But Isaac said to his son, "How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?" He replied, "Because the Lord your God worked it out for me."

Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?"

So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

Again he asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he replied, "I am."

Then he said, "Serve me, and let me eat some of my son's game so that I can bless you." Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.

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

So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled^[a] 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.

May God give to you— from the dew of the sky^(e) and from the richness of the land^(f)— an abundance of grain and new wine.^(g)

May peoples serve you^(h) and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow down to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those who bless you will be blessed.⁽ⁱ⁾

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from the hunt.

He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father, "Let my father get up and eat some of his son's game, so that you may bless me."

But his father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am Esau your firstborn son."

Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. "Who was it then," he said, "who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!"

When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me too, my father!"^(j)

But he replied, "Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing."

So he said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob?^[b](k) For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing." Then he asked, "Haven't you saved a blessing for me?"

But Isaac answered Esau: "Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?"

Esau said to his father, "Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!" And Esau wept loudly.^[c]

Then his father Isaac answered him: Look, your dwelling place will be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of the sky above.

You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you rebel,^[d] you will break his yoke from your neck.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

and stay with him for a few days until your brother's anger subsides—

until your brother's rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?"