English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.”

1One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.” “Yes, Father?” Esau replied.

2He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.

2“I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die.

3Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me,

3Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

4and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

4Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.”

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

5But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game,

6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau,

6she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau,

7‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.’

7‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’

8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you.

8Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you.

9Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves.

9Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish.

10And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”

10Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.”

11But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

11“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.

12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”

12What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.”

13His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

13But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!”

14So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved.

14So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it.

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

15Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob.

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

16She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats.

17And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

17Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread.

18So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

18So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said. “Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”

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

19Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.”

20But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.”

20Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied.

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.”

22So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

22So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said.

23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.

23But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob.

24He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”

24“But are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.

25Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

25Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him.

26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”

26Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.”

27So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed!

27So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the LORD has blessed!

28May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.

28“From the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth, may God always give you abundant harvests of grain and bountiful new wine.

29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

29May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed.”

30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt.

31He also prepared delicious 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.”

31Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.”

32His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

32But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.”

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

33Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!”

34As soon as 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!”

34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.

35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”

35But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.”

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

36Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?”

37Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”

37Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?”

38Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

38Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept.

39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.

39Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him, “You will live away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the heaven above.

40By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

40You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck.” Jacob Flees to Paddan-Aram

41Now Esau hated 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 approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

41From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.”

42But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.

42But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.

43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran

43So listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran.

44and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away—

44Stay there with him until your brother cools off.

45until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

45When he calms down and forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you to come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.”

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.