27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter,(A) a man of the open country,(B) while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game,(C) loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.(D)

29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew,(E) Esau came in from the open country,(F) famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew!(G) I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[a])(H)

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.(I)

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear(J) to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright(K) to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.(L) He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelek(M)

26 Now there was a famine in the land(N)—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines(O) in Gerar.(P) The Lord appeared(Q) to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt;(R) live in the land where I tell you to live.(S) Stay in this land for a while,(T) and I will be with you(U) and will bless you.(V) For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands(W) and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.(X) I will make your descendants(Y) as numerous as the stars in the sky(Z) and will give them all these lands,(AA) and through your offspring[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,[c](AB) because Abraham obeyed me(AC) and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees(AD) and my instructions.(AE) So Isaac stayed in Gerar.(AF)

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,(AG)” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines(AH) looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?(AI)

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us?(AJ) One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms(AK) this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”(AL)

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,(AM) because the Lord blessed him.(AN) 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.(AO) 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants(AP) that the Philistines envied him.(AQ) 15 So all the wells(AR) that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up,(AS) filling them with earth.

16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us;(AT) you have become too powerful for us.(AU)

17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar,(AV) where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells(AW) that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled(AX) with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!”(AY) So he named the well Esek,[d] because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled(AZ) over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.[e] 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth,[f](BA) saying, “Now the Lord has given us room(BB) and we will flourish(BC) in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba.(BD) 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.(BE) Do not be afraid,(BF) for I am with you;(BG) I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants(BH) for the sake of my servant Abraham.”(BI)

25 Isaac built an altar(BJ) there and called on the name of the Lord.(BK) There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.(BL)

26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.(BM) 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?(BN)

28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you;(BO) so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty(BP) with you 29 that you will do us no harm,(BQ) just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”(BR)

30 Isaac then made a feast(BS) for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath(BT) to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well(BU) they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah,[g] and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.[h](BV)

Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing

34 When Esau was forty years old,(BW) he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.(BX) 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.(BY)

27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see,(BZ) he called for Esau his older son(CA) and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he answered.

Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.(CB) Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country(CC) to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like(CD) and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing(CE) before I die.”(CF)

Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country(CG) to hunt game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob,(CH) “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’(CI) Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:(CJ) Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats,(CK) so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.(CL) 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing(CM) before he dies.”

11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man(CN) while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me?(CO) I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse(CP) on myself rather than a blessing.”

13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me.(CQ) Just do what I say;(CR) go and get them for me.”

14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.(CS) 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes(CT) of Esau her older son,(CU) which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.(CV) 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

18 He went to his father and said, “My father.”

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”(CW)

19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.(CX) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,(CY) so that you may give me your blessing.”(CZ)

20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,(DA)” he replied.

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,(DB) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac,(DC) who touched(DD) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;(DE) so he proceeded to bless him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”(DF)

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

27 So he went to him and kissed(DG) him(DH). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,(DI) he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son
    is like the smell of a field
    that the Lord has blessed.(DJ)
28 May God give you heaven’s dew(DK)
    and earth’s richness(DL)
    an abundance of grain(DM) and new wine.(DN)
29 May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.(DO)
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.(DP)
May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.(DQ)

30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”(DR)

32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”(DS)

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.(DT)

33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?(DU) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!(DV)

34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry(DW) and said to his father, “Bless(DX) me—me too, my father!”

35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully(DY) and took your blessing.”(DZ)

36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[i]?(EA) This is the second time he has taken advantage of(EB) me: He took my birthright,(EC) and now he’s taken my blessing!”(ED) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.(EE) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.(EF)

39 His father Isaac answered him,(EG)

“Your dwelling will be
    away from the earth’s richness,
    away from the dew(EH) of heaven above.(EI)
40 You will live by the sword
    and you will serve(EJ) your brother.(EK)
But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.(EL)

41 Esau held a grudge(EM) against Jacob(EN) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning(EO) for my father are near; then I will kill(EP) my brother Jacob.”(EQ)

42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau(ER) had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.(ES) 43 Now then, my son, do what I say:(ET) Flee at once to my brother Laban(EU) in Harran.(EV) 44 Stay with him for a while(EW) until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him,(EX) I’ll send word for you to come back from there.(EY) Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite(EZ) women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land,(FA) from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”(FB)

28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed(FC) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.(FD) Go at once to Paddan Aram,[j](FE) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.(FF) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.(FG) May God Almighty[k](FH) bless(FI) you and make you fruitful(FJ) and increase your numbers(FK) until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,(FL) so that you may take possession of the land(FM) where you now reside as a foreigner,(FN) the land God gave to Abraham.” Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,(FO) and he went to Paddan Aram,(FP) to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,(FQ) the brother of Rebekah,(FR) who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 25:30 Edom means red.
  2. Genesis 26:4 Or seed
  3. Genesis 26:4 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)
  4. Genesis 26:20 Esek means dispute.
  5. Genesis 26:21 Sitnah means opposition.
  6. Genesis 26:22 Rehoboth means room.
  7. Genesis 26:33 Shibah can mean oath or seven.
  8. Genesis 26:33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.
  9. Genesis 27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.
  10. Genesis 28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
  11. Genesis 28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai

27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.

21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.

24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

28 And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.

30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

27 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I.

And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.

And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.

Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

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

12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

13 And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.

22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

25 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank.

26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:

28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

30 And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31 And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me.

32 And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

37 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

39 And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;

40 And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

42 And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

44 And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;

45 Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day?

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

28 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother's brother.

And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.