20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.(A)

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27 So he went to him and kissed(A) him(B). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,(C) he blessed him and said,

“Ah, the smell of my son
    is like the smell of a field
    that the Lord has blessed.(D)
28 May God give you heaven’s dew(E)
    and earth’s richness(F)
    an abundance of grain(G) and new wine.(H)
29 May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.(I)
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.(J)
May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.(K)

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.”(L)

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

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

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

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

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

36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[a]?(U) This is the second time he has taken advantage of(V) me: He took my birthright,(W) and now he’s taken my blessing!”(X) 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.(Y) 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.(Z)

39 His father Isaac answered him,(AA)

“Your dwelling will be
    away from the earth’s richness,
    away from the dew(AB) of heaven above.(AC)
40 You will live by the sword
    and you will serve(AD) your brother.(AE)
But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.(AF)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.

Go at once to Paddan Aram,[a](A) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.(B) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.(C) May God Almighty[b](D) bless(E) you and make you fruitful(F) and increase your numbers(G) until you become a community of peoples.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7
  2. Genesis 28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai

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