1 Isaac was old and going blind. He called his older son Esau and said to him: »Son!« Esau answered: »Here I am.«

2 Isaac said: »I am old. I do not know when I will die.

3 »Please take your hunting equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open country and hunt some wild game for me.

4 »Prepare a good-tasting meal for me. Prepare it the way I like it. Bring it to me to eat so that I will bless you before I die.«

5 Rebekah listened while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. Esau went into the open country to hunt for some wild game to bring back.

6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob: »I have just heard your father speak to your brother Esau.

7 »He said: ‘Bring me some wild game, and prepare a good-tasting meal for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of Jehovah before I die.’

8 »Now listen to me, Son, and do what I tell you.

9 »Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats. I will cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much.

10 »You take it to him to eat. Then he will give you his blessing before he dies.«

11 Jacob said to his mother: »You know that Esau is a hairy man. I have smooth skin.

12 »Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him. That way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.«

13 His mother replied: »Let any curse against you fall on me, my son. Just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me.«

14 So Jacob brought the meat to his mother. And she cooked the tasty food that his father liked.

15 Then she took Esau’s best clothes and dressed Jacob in them.

16 She also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goatskins.

17 She gave her son Jacob the good-tasting meal and the bread she had prepared.

18 He went to his father and said: »Father?« »Yes,« he answered. »Who are you, Son?«

19 Jacob answered: »I am your older son Esau. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I brought you. Then you can give me your blessing.«

20 Isaac said: »How did you find it so quickly, son?« Jacob answered: »Jehovah your God helped me find it.«

21 Isaac said to Jacob: »Please come closer. Let me touch you. Are you really Esau?«

22 Jacob went closer. His father touched him. He said: »You sound like Jacob, but your hands feel hairy like Esau’s.«

23 So Isaac blessed Jacob, thinking he was Esau.

24 Isaac asked: »Are you really my son Esau?« »Yes, I am,« Jacob answered.

25 So Isaac told him: »Serve me the wild meat. I can give you my blessing.« Jacob gave him some meat, and he ate it. He also gave him some wine, and he drank it.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him: »Come close, my son, and kiss me.«

27 He came close and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his garments. Then he blessed him and said: »See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field Jehovah has blessed.«

28 »May God give you of the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine.

29 »May peoples serve you. And nations bow down to you. Be master of your brothers. And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you. Blessed be those who bless you.«

30 No sooner had Isaac finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob left his presence, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 He also prepared a good-tasting meal and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father: »Please, Father, eat some of the meat I have hunted for you so that you will bless me.«

32 »Who are you?« his father Isaac asked him. »I am your firstborn son, Esau,« he answered.

33 Isaac began to tremble and shake all over. He asked: »Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever.«

34 When Esau heard this he cried out loudly and bitterly. He said: »Give me your blessing also, Father!«

35 Isaac responded: »Your brother deceived me. He has taken your blessing.«

36 Esau said: »This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. He took my rights as the firstborn son. Now he has taken my blessing. Have you saved a blessing for me?«

37 Isaac answered: »I have already made him master over you. I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son!«

38 Esau pleaded: »Father, please! Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!« Esau broke down and wept.

39 Then Isaac said to him: »You will live off the land and what it yields.

40 »You will live by your sword. You will serve your brother. Soon you will become restless and break his yoke from your neck.«

41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. Esau said to himself: »The days of mourning for my father are near. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.«

42 When Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans to kill Jacob, she called her younger son, Jacob. She said: »Your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you.

43 »Go quickly, my son. Run away to my brother Laban in Haran.

44 »Stay with him until your brother’s anger cools down.

45 »When your brother’s anger is gone and he has forgotten what you did to him, I will let you know. Then you may come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?«

46 Rebekah said to Isaac: »I cannot stand Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.«