¹And it came to pass when Isaac was old that his eyesight was failing, and he called Esau his elder son and said to him, “My son”, and he said to him, “Here I am.” ²And he said, “Look now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. ³So now, take up your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the countryside and hunt game for me. ⁴And make a tasty meal the way I like it and bring it to me for me to eat, so that my whole being can bless you before I die.” ⁵Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac was speaking to Esau his son. Then when Esau had gone to the countryside to hunt for game to bring, ⁶Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son and said, “Look, I have heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷‘Bring me game and make a tasty meal for me to eat, and I will bless you before the Lord before my death.’ ⁸So now, my son, obey me with what I am commanding you. ⁹Go now to the flock and get me two good kids of the goats from there, and I will make from them a tasty meal for your father the way he likes it. ¹⁰Then you will bring it to your father, and he will eat, so that he blesses you before his death.” ¹¹Then Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, whereas I am a smooth man. ¹²Maybe my father will feel me, and I will be a mocker in his sight, and I will bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.” ¹³Then his mother said to him, “May your curse be on me, my son, but obey me and go and get me the goats.” ¹⁴So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the tasty meal the way his father liked it. ¹⁵Then Rebekah took the finest clothes which she had in the house of Esau her elder son and clothed Jacob her younger son with them. ¹⁶And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his forearms and around the smoothness of his neck. ¹⁷And she put the tasty meal and bread, which she had made, in the hand of Jacob her son. ¹⁸And he went to his father and said, “My father”, and he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you told me. Get up now, and sit and eat my game, so that your whole being can bless me.” ²⁰Then Isaac said to his son, “How come you have been so quick in finding it, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God made it happen before me.” ²¹Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, would you, and I will feel you, my son, to see if you really are my son Esau or not.” ²²So Jacob came near to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and he said, “The voice is Jacob's voice, but the forearms are Esau's forearms.” ²³And he did not recognize him, for his forearms were like the hairy forearms of Esau his brother, and he blessed him, ²⁴and he said, “Are you really my son Esau”, and he said, “Yes, I am.” ²⁵And he said, “Serve me some of my son's game, and I will eat it, so that my whole being can bless you.” So he served it to him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶And Isaac his father said to him, “Come close, would you, and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷So he came close and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and he blessed him, and he said,

“See, the smell of my son

Is as the smell of countryside

Which the Lord has blessed.

²⁸So may God give you the dew of heaven

And the fatness of the earth,

And abundance of corn and new wine.

²⁹Nations will serve you,

And various peoples will bow down to you;

Be master over your brothers,

And the sons of your mother will bow down to you.

Those who curse you will be cursed,

And those who bless you will be blessed.”

³⁰And it came to pass, when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had only just left the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came back from his hunting. ³¹And he also made a tasty meal and brought it to his father, and he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat his son's game, so that your whole being can bless me.” ³²Then Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” ³³Then Isaac trembled, trembling very greatly, and he said, “Who was it then who hunted game and brought it to me, which I ate all of before you came, and I blessed him, and he will be duly blessed?” ³⁴When Esau heard his father's words, he let out a very loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father.” ³⁵But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” ³⁶And he said, “Isn't this why he is called Jacob? For he has supplanted me twice now. He has taken my birthright, and now he has gone and taken my blessing.” And he said, “Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Look, I have appointed him master over you, and I have assigned all his brothers as servants to him, and I have sustained him with corn and new wine. So then, what can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸At this Esau said to his father, “Is your blessing just a single one, my father? Bless me, me too, my father.” And Esau raised his voice and wept. ³⁹Then Isaac his father answered and said to him,

“Behold, your dwelling place will be the fatness of the land

And benefiting from the dew of heaven above.

⁴⁰And you will live by your sword,

And serve your brother,

But it will come to pass

That as you roam around,

You will break off his yoke from your neck.”

⁴¹At this Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching, and I will kill Jacob my brother.” ⁴²But the words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah, so she sent for and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Look, Esau your brother is consoling himself over you, plotting to kill you. ⁴³So now, my son, obey me, and get up and flee to Laban my brother in Haran. ⁴⁴And stay with him for several days until your brother's fury subsides ⁴⁵– until your brother's anger recedes from you, and he forgets what you did to him – and I will send for you and take you back from there. Why should I be bereaved of the two of you on one day.” ⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am fed up with my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to take a wife from the daughters of Heth like these – from the daughters of the land – what purpose would my life have?”