| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.” “Yes, Father?” Esau replied. | 1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied. |
| 2“I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die. | 2“Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death. |
| 3Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. | 3Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me. |
| 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.” | 4Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.” |
| 5But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game, | 5Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back, |
| 6she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau, | 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, |
| 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.’ | 7‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ |
| 8Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. | 8Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. |
| 9Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. | 9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves. |
| 10Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.” | 10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” |
| 11“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. | 11Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned. |
| 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.” | 12What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.” |
| 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!” | 13His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.” |
| 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. | 14So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved. |
| 15Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. | 15And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. |
| 16She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. | 16She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. |
| 17Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread. | 17Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made. |
| 18So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said. “Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?” | 18So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?” |
| 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.” | 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 bless me.” |
| 20Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied. | 20But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied. |
| 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.” | 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?” |
| 22So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. | 22So Jacob came 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.” |
| 23But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob. | 23Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. |
| 24“But are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “Yes, I am,” Jacob replied. | 24Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.” |
| 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. | 25“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank. |
| 26Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.” | 26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.” |
| 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! | 27So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. |
| 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. | 28May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine. |
| 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.” | 29May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of 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.” |
| 30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt. | 30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt. |
| 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.” | 31He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.” |
| 32But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.” | 32But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered. |
| 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!” | 33Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!” |
| 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. | 34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!” |
| 35But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.” | 35But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” |
| 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?” | 36So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?” |
| 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?” | 37But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” |
| 38Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept. | 38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud. |
| 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. | 39His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above. |
| 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 | 40You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.” |
| 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.” | 41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” |
| 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. | 42When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. |
| 43So listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran. | 43So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. |
| 44Stay there with him until your brother cools off. | 44Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides— |
| 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?” | 45until your brother’s rage against you wanes 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 both of you in one day?” |
| 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.” | 46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?” |
|
