Old/New Testament
27 Forsooth Isaac waxed eld, and his eyes dimmed, and he might not see. And he called Esau, his more son, and said to him, My son! Which answered, I am present. (And Isaac grew old, and his eyes dimmed, and he could not see. And he called his elder son Esau, and said to him, My son! And he answered, I am here.)
2 To whom the father said, Thou seest that I have waxed eld, and I know not the day of my death[a].
3 Take thine arms (Take thy weapons), (an) arrow case, and a bow, and go out; and when thou hast taken anything by hunting,
4 make me a stew thereof, as thou knowest that I will, and bring it to me that I eat, (so) that (afterward) my soul (can) bless thee before that I die. (make for me a stew out of it, as thou knowest that I like, and bring it to me so that I can eat it, and then I shall bless thee before that I die.)
5 And when Rebecca had heard this thing, and he had gone forth into the field that he fulfill the behest of his father,
6 she said to her son Jacob, I heard thy father speaking with Esau, thy brother, and saying to him,
7 Bring thou to me of thine hunting, and make thou meats, that I eat, and that I bless thee before the Lord before that I die. (Bring thou to me some of thy hunting, and make thou for me some stew, so that I can eat it, and then I shall bless thee before the Lord, before that I die.)
8 Now therefore, my son, assent to my counsels,
9 and go to the flock, and bring to me twain (of) the best kids, that I make meats of those to thy father, which he shall eat gladly; (and go to the flock, and bring me two of the best goat kids, so that I can make thy father’s favourite meal out of them, which I know that he shall gladly eat;)
10 and (so) that when thou hast brought in those meats, and he hath eaten, he (shall) bless thee before that he die.
11 To whom Jacob answered, Thou knowest that Esau my brother is an hairy man, and I am smooth;
12 (so) if my father shall touch (me), or draw me to him, and feel me, I dread lest he guess that I would scorn him, and he bring in cursing on me for blessing (and I bring in a curse upon myself, and not a blessing).
13 To whom his mother said, My son, this cursing be in me (My son, any curse shall be upon me); only hear thou my voice, and go, and bring that that I said.
14 (And so) He went, and brought it, and gave it to his mother. She made ready meats, as she knew that his father would have (And she prepared the meat, in the way that she knew that his father would like it),
15 and she clothed Jacob in [the] full good clothes of Esau, which she had at home with herself (which she had there at home with her).
16 And she wrapped his hands about with little skins of (goat) kids, and covered the nakedness of his neck;
17 and she gave to him the stew (and then she gave him the stew), and betook (to) him [the] loaves, which she had baked.
18 And when these were brought in, he said, My father! And he answered, I (am) here; (but) who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said, I am Esau, thy first begotten son. I have done to thee as thou commandedest to me; rise thou up, and sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul bless me. (And Jacob said, I am Esau, thy first-born son. I have done for thee as thou commandedest me; rise thou up, and sit, and eat my venison, and then afterward thou can bless me.)
20 Again Isaac said to his son, My son, how mightest thou find (this) venison so soon? Which answered, It was God’s will, that this thing that I would, should come soon to me. (And Isaac said to his son, My son, how mightest thou find this venison so soon? And Jacob answered, It was God’s will, that what I desired, should come so soon to me.)
21 And Isaac said, My son, come thou hither, (so) that I (can) touch thee, and that I prove whether thou be my son Esau, or nay.
22 (And) Jacob nighed to his father; and when Isaac had feeled him, he said, Soothly the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands be the hands of Esau.
23 And Isaac knew not Jacob, for the hairy hands showed the likeness of the elder son. Therefore Isaac blessed Jacob (And so that is why Isaac would soon bless Jacob),
24 and (so he) said (again), Art thou my son Esau? (And) Jacob answered, I am.
25 And Isaac said, My son, bring thou to me meats of thine hunting, that my soul bless thee. And when Isaac had eaten these meats brought (to him), Jacob brought also wine to Isaac, and when this was drunken, (And Isaac said, My son, bring thou to me the meats of thy hunting, and then afterward I shall bless thee. And when Isaac had eaten the meat brought to him, Jacob also brought him some wine, and when he had drunk it,)
26 Isaac said to him, My son, come thou hither, and give to me a kiss.
27 Jacob nighed, and kissed him; and anon as Isaac feeled the odour of his clothes, he blessed him, and said, Lo! the odour of my son as the odour of a plenteous field which the Lord hath blessed. (And Jacob came over, and kissed him; and when Isaac smelled the aroma of his clothes, at once he blessed him, saying, Lo! the aroma of my son is like the aroma of a plentiful field which the Lord hath blessed.)
28 God give to thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of [the] earth, (and of the) abundance of wheat, and of wine, and of oil; (May God give thee the dew from heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of corn, or of grain, and wine, and oil;)
29 and (may) peoples serve thee, and lineages worship thee; be thou lord of thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother be bowed (low) before thee; be he cursed that curseth thee, and he that blesseth thee, be he [full-]filled with blessings (be they cursed who curse thee, but let those who bless thee, be filled full with blessings).
30 Scarcely Isaac had filled the word, and when Jacob was gone out, Esau came, (Scarcely had Isaac finished speaking, and Jacob had gone out, then Esau came in from his hunting,)
31 and brought in meats sodden of the hunting to the father, and said, My father, rise thou, and eat of the hunting of thy son, that thy soul bless me. (and he brought in boiled meats for his father, and said, My father, rise thou up, and eat of thy son’s hunting, and then afterward thou can bless me.)
32 And Isaac said, Who art thou? Which answered, I am Esau, thy first begotten son. (And Isaac said, Who art thou? And Esau answered, I am Esau, thy first-born son.)
33 Isaac dreaded with a great astonishing; and he wondered more than it may be believed, and said, Who therefore is he which a while ago brought to me venison taken, and I ate of all things before that thou camest; and I blessed him? and he shall be blessed. (And Isaac dreaded with great astonishment; and he wondered more than it can be imagined, and he said, Then who was it, who just a short while ago, brought me the newly caught venison, and I ate all of it before that thou camest in; and I blessed him? and yea, he shall be blessed.)
34 When the words of the father were heard, Esau roared with a great cry, and was astonished, and said, My father, bless thou also me. (And when he heard his father’s words, Esau roared with a great cry, and was astonished, and said, My father, thou must also bless me!)
35 Which said (And Jacob said), Thy brother came prudently [Thy brother came (be)guilingly], and took (away) thy blessing.
36 And Esau added, Justly his name is called Jacob, for lo! he [hath] supplanted me (yet) another time; before he took away my first begotten things, and now the second time, he [hath] ravished privily my blessing. And again he said to the father, Whether thou hast not reserved a blessing also to me? (And Esau added, His name is rightly called Jacob, that is, the Heel, or the Supplanter, for lo! now he hath supplanted me the second time; first he took away my birthright as the first-born son, and now he hath cheated me out of my blessing. And again he said to his father, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?)
37 Isaac answered, I have made him thy lord, and I have made subject all his brethren to his servage; I have stablished him in wheat, and wine, and oil; and (so), my son, what shall I do to thee after these things? (Isaac answered, I have made him thy lord, and I have made all of his brothers to be in servitude to him, that is, to be his slaves; I have established him with corn, or with grain, and wine, and oil; and so now, my son, after all these things, what is left that I can do for thee?)
38 To whom Esau said, Father, whether thou hast only one blessing? I beseech thee, that also thou bless me. And when Esau wept with great yelling, (To whom Esau said, Father, hast thou only one blessing? I beseech thee, that thou also bless me. And when Esau wept with great yelling,)
39 Isaac was stirred, and said to him, Thy blessing shall be (not) in the fatness of [the] earth, and in the dew of heaven from above; (Isaac was stirred, and said to him, Thy dwelling shall be far from the fatness of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven above;)
40 thou shalt live by (the) sword, and thou shalt serve thy brother, and (then the) time shall come when thou shalt shake away, and unbind his yoke from [off] thy nolls.
41 Therefore Esau hated evermore Jacob for the blessing by which the father had blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning of my father shall come, and (then) I shall slay Jacob, my brother. (And so Esau hated Jacob even more for the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father shall come, and then I shall kill my brother Jacob.)
42 These things were told to Rebecca, and she sent, and called (for) her son Jacob, and said to him, Lo! Esau, thy brother, menaceth to slay thee (Lo! Esau, thy brother, hath threatened to kill thee);
43 now therefore, my son, hear thou my voice, and rise thou up, and flee to Laban, my brother, into Haran (and flee to my brother Laban, in Haran);
44 and thou shalt dwell with him (for) a few days, till the strong vengeance of thy brother rest, and his indignation cease,
45 and till he forget those things which thou hast done against him. Afterward I shall send, and I shall bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be made sonless of ever either son in one day? (and until he forget those things which thou hast done against him. And then afterward I shall send for thee, and I shall bring thee back here. For why should I be deprived of both sons in one day?)
46 And Rebecca said to Isaac, It annoyeth me of my life for the daughters of Heth (I am weary to death of the daughters of the Hittites); if Jacob take a wife of the kindred of this land, I will not live.
28 And so Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and commanded to him, and said, Do not thou take a wife of the kin of Canaan;
2 but go thou, and walk forth into Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bethuel, [the] father of thy mother, and take to thee from thence a wife of the daughters of Laban, thine uncle. (but go thou forth to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, the father of thy mother, and get a wife for thyself from there, of one of the daughters of thy uncle Laban.)
3 Soothly Almighty God bless thee (And may Almighty God bless thee), and make thee to increase, and multiply thee, (so) that thou be into companies of peoples;
4 and God give to thee the blessing of Abraham, and to thy seed after thee, that thou wield the land of thy pilgrimage, which he promised to thy grand-sire. (and may God give thee the blessing of Abraham, and thy descendants after thee, so that thou possessest this land where thou art now living, which he promised to thy grandfather.)
5 And when Isaac had let go Jacob, Jacob went forth, and came into Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bethuel of Syria, the brother of Rebecca, his mother. (And so when Isaac had let Jacob go, he went forth, and came to Paddan-aram, and to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of his mother Rebecca.)
6 Forsooth Esau saw that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him (away) into Mesopotamia of Syria, that he should wed a wife of thence, and that after the blessing he commanded to Jacob, and said, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; (And Esau saw that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him away to Paddan-aram, so that he would wed a wife from there, and that after his blessing he had commanded to Jacob, and said, Thou shalt not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan;)
7 and that Jacob obeyed to his father and mother, and went into Syria; (and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother, and had gone away to Paddan-aram;)
8 also Esau proved thereby that his father beheld not gladly the daughters of Canaan. (and so Esau understood by this that his father did not approve of the daughters of Canaan.)
9 And (so) Esau went to Ishmael, and wedded a(nother) wife, without these which he had before (in addition to the two whom he had already wed), Mahalath[b], the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, the sister of Nebajoth.
10 Therefore Jacob went out of Beersheba, and went to Haran. (And so Jacob left Beersheba, and went toward Haran.)
11 And when he had come to some place, and would rest therein after the going down of the sun, he took (some) of the stones that lay there, and he put (them) under his head, and slept in the same place.
12 And he saw in [his] sleep a ladder standing on the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven; and he saw God’s angels going up and going down thereby,
13 and the Lord nighed to the ladder, saying to him, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and (the) God of Isaac; I shall give to thee and to thy seed the land in which thou sleepest.
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of [the] earth, (and) thou shalt be alarged to the east, and west, and to the north, and south; and all the lineages of [the] earth shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed (and all the families of the earth shall pray to be blessed as thee and thy descendants be blessed/and through thee and thy descendants, I shall bless all the families of the earth).
15 And I shall be thy keeper, whither ever thou shalt go; and I shall lead thee again into this land, and I shall not leave thee, no but I shall fulfill all [the] things which I have said (and I shall not leave thee, until I have fulfilled all the things which I have promised).
16 And when Jacob had waked of [the] sleep, he said, Verily the Lord is in this place, and I knew not. (And when Jacob had awakened from his sleep, he said, Truly the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.)
17 And he said dreading, How fearedful, or worshipful, is this place! Here is none other thing, no but the house of God, and the gate of heaven. (And he said with fear, or with reverence, How fearful, or how worshipful, is this place! This is nothing else, but the House of God, or Bethel, yea, the gateway to heaven/yea, heaven’s gate!)
18 Therefore Jacob rose early, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and raised (it) up into a title, or (a) sign, and poured out oil (from) above. (And so Jacob rose up early, and took the stone which he had put under his head, and set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on top of it.)
19 And he called the name of that city Bethel, which was called Luz before. (And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the city that was there before was called Luz.)
20 Also Jacob avowed a vow, and said, If God is with me, and keepeth me in the way in which I go (And Jacob vowed a vow, and said, If God is with me, and keepeth me safe on the way on which I go), and giveth to me loaves to eat, and clothes to be clothed with,
21 and I turn again in prosperity to the house of my father, the Lord shall be into God to me. (and I return safety to my father’s house, then the Lord shall be my God.)
22 And this stone, which I raised into a title, shall be called the house of God; and I shall offer tithes to thee of all things which thou shalt give to me. (And this stone, which I raised up as a sacred pillar, shall be called the House of God; and I shall offer a tithe, or a tenth, to thee, of all the things which thou shalt give me.)
18 And Jesus saw much people about him, and bade his disciples go over the water. [Soothly Jesus seeing many companies about him, commanded his disciples to go over the water.]
19 And a scribe approached, and said to him[a], Master, I shall follow thee, whither ever thou shalt go.
20 And Jesus said to him, Foxes have dens, and birds of the air have nests, but man's Son hath not wherein to rest his head. [And Jesus said to him, Foxes have burrows, or dens, and birds of the air have nests, but man's Son hath not where he shall rest his head.]
21 [Soothly] Another of his disciples said to him, Lord, suffer me to go first, and bury my father.
22 But Jesus said to him, Follow thou me, and let the dead men bury their dead men.
23 And when he was gone up into a little ship, his disciples followed him.
24 And lo! a great stirring was made in the sea, so that the ship was covered with waves; but he slept.
25 And his disciples came to him, and raised him, and said [And his disciples came nigh to him, and raised him, saying], Lord, save us; we perish.
26 And Jesus said to them, What be ye of little faith aghast[b]? Then he rose [up], and commanded to the winds and the sea, and a great peaceableness was made.
27 And men wondered, and said [saying], What manner man is this, for the winds and the sea obey to him?
28 And when he was come over the water into the country of men of Gergesenes, two men met him, that had devils, and came out of graves, full mad, so that no man might go by that way.[c]
29 And lo! they cried, and said [saying], What to us and to thee, Jesus, the Son of God? art thou come hither before the time to torment us?
30 And not far from them was a flock [a flock, or drove,] of many swine pasturing.
31 And the devils prayed him, and said [saying], If thou castest out us from hence, send us into the drove of swine.
32 And he said to them, Go ye. And they went out, and went into the swine; and lo! in a great rush all the drove went headlong into the sea, and they were dead in the waters.
33 And the herders fled away, and came into the city, and told all these things, and of them that had the fiends [and of them that had the devils].
34 And lo! all the city went out to meet Jesus; and when they had seen him, they prayed [him], that he would pass from their coasts.
2001 by Terence P. Noble