Isaac Blesses Jacob

(Hebrews 11:20)

When 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 

“Look,” said [Isaac],“I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death. 3 Take your weapons — your quiver and bow — and go out into the field to hunt some game for me. 4 Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

5 

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game [and] bring [it back], 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob“Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, 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.’

8 

Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. 9 Go 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. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”

11 

Jacob answered his mother Rebekah,“Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned. 12 What 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.”

13 

His mother replied“Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”

14 

So [Jacob] went and got [two goats] and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob 16 vvv She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.

18 

So [Jacob] went to his father and said,“My father.”

“Here I am!” he answered.“Which one are you, my son?”

19 

Jacob 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.”

20 

But 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.

21 

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

22 

So 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.” 23 [Isaac] did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

24 

Again he asked,“Are you really my son Esau?”

And he replied,“I am.”

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.

26 

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

27 

So 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 

May God give to you the dew of heaven

and the richness of the earth —

an abundance of grain and new wine.

29 

May 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.”

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