Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, My son; and he said to him, Here I am. 2 And he said, See now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death. 3 And now, I beg you, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out into the fields, and hunt venison for me; 4 and make me savoury food such as I love, and bring it for me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.

5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the fields to hunt for venison, to bring it home, 6 Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob, and said, Look, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esau, saying, 7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury food so that I may eat, and I will bless you before Yehowah, before my death. 8 And now, my son, obey my voice in what I command you. 9 Go at once to the flock, and from it take for me two good kids of the goats; and I will make them into savoury food for your father, such as he loves; 10 and you shall bring it for your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death. 11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, See, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall be like a deceiver in his eyes; and I shall bring on myself a curse, and not a blessing. 13 Then his mother said to him, Let any curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go and fetch them for me. 14 And he went and fetched them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savoury food such as his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took the finest clothes belonging to her elder son Esau, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; 16 and she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth of his neck; 17 and she placed the savoury food and the bread which she had made into the hands of her son Jacob.

18 Then he went to his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here I am; who are you, my son? 19 And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me. Come now, sit and eat my venison, so that you may bless me. 20 But Isaac said to his son, How did you find it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because Yehowah your God brought it before me. 21 And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near now, and I will feel you, my son, whether you are my very son Esau, or not. 22 So Jacob drew near to his father Isaac; and he fed him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are Esau's. 23 But he did not detect him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 And he said, Are you my very son Esau? And he said, I am. 25 And he said, Bring it to me, and I will eat my son's venison, so that I may bless you. And he brought it to him, and he ate it; and he brought him wine, and he drank it. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, Come near now and kiss me, my son. 27 And he drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his clothes, and blessed him; and he said,

See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which Yehowah has blessed. 28 And God shall give you of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and abundance of corn and new wine. 29 People shall serve you, and nations shall bow low to you. Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed are those who curse you and blessed are those who bless you.

30 And then when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had just gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31 And he too made savoury food and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, Let my father arise, and eat his son's venison, so that you may bless me. 32 Then his father Isaac said to him, Who are you? and he said, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. 33 And Isaac began to tremble very greatly, and said, Who then is he who has hunted venison and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all of it before you came, and have blessed him? And indeed, he shall be blessed! 34 When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out very loudly and bitterly, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father! 35 And he said, Your brother came in deceitfully, and has taken your blessing. 36 And he said, Is he not aptly named Jacob?* For he has now supplanted me twice. He took away my birthright, and see, now he has taken my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me? 37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, Alas, I have made him lord over you, I have given him all his brothers as servants; and I have sustained him with corn and new wine. And what now can I do for you, my son? 38 And Esau said to his father, Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau raised his voice and wept. * That is Supplanter

39 Then his father Isaac answered and said to him,

Behold, of the fatness of the earth shall be your habitation, and of the dew of heaven from above. 40 And by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother;

and when you go free, you shall break his yoke from off your neck.

41 And Esau bore ill-will towards 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; then I will kill my brother Jacob. 42 And the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, See, your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. 43 And now, my son, obey my voice, and arise, run away to my brother Laban, in Haran. 44 And live with him for a while, until your brother's fury turns away, 45 until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and fetch you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?

46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I hate my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob should take a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these of the daughters of the land, what would life hold for me?