Genesis 27

¹And Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau his elder son, and said to him: My son? Who answered: Here I am.

²To whom his father: Thou seest, quoth he, that I am old, and know not the day of my death.

³Take thy instruments, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken any thing by hunting,

⁴make me broth thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring that I may eat, and my soul may bless thee before I die.

⁵Which when Rebecca had heard, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father's commandment,

⁶she said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:

⁷Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of our Lord before I die.

⁸Now therefore, my son, assent to my counsel:

⁹and go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth:

¹⁰Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.

¹¹To whom he answered: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is an hairy man, and I am smooth:

¹²if my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have deluded him, and I shall bring upon me a curse for a blessing.

¹³To whom his mother said: This curse, my son, light upon me, only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.

¹⁴He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, even as she knew his father liked.

¹⁵And she did on him the garments of Esau very good, which she had at home with her:

¹⁶and the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.

¹⁷And she gave him the broth, and delivered him bread that she had baked.

¹⁸Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou my son?

¹⁹And Jacob said: I am thy first begotten Esau: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my hunting, that thy soul may bless me.

²⁰And again Isaac to his son: How couldest thou, said he, find it so quickly, my son? Who answered: It was the will of God that that which I would came quickly in my way.

²¹And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not.

²²He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice verily, is the voice of Jacob: but the hands are the hands of Esau.

²³And he knew him not, because his hairy hands had made him like unto the elder. Blessing him therefore,

²⁴he said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.

²⁵But he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. Which when they were brought and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,

²⁶he said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.

²⁷He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he felt the fragrant savour of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the savour of my son is as the savour of a plentiful field, which our Lord hath blessed.

²⁸God give thee of the dew of heaven, & of the fatness of the earth abundance of corn and wine.

²⁹And let peoples serve thee, and tribes adore thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and thy mother's children bow they before thee. He that shall curse thee, be he cursed: and he that shall bless thee, be he replenished with blessings.

³⁰Isaac had scarce ended his words, and Jacob now gone forth abroad, but Esau came,

³¹and brought in to his father meats made of his hunting, saying: Arise my father, and eat of thy son's hunting; that thy soul may bless me.

³²And Isaac said to him: Why! Who art thou? Who answered: I am thy first begotten son Esau.

³³Isaac was amazed and astonished exceedingly, and marveling more than a man can believe, said: Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I did eat of all things before thou camest, and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.

³⁴Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry; and being dismayed, said: Bless me also, my father.

³⁵Who said: Thy brother came deceitfully and took thy blessing.

³⁶But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo the second time: my first-birth-right he took before, and now the second time he hath stolen my blessing. And again to his father he said: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?

³⁷Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and all his brethren I have made subject to his service: with corn and wine I have established him, and for thee, my son, what shall I do more after this?

³⁸To whom Esau said: Hast thou one only blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept that he howled again,

³⁹Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,

⁴⁰shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.

⁴¹Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him; and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill Jacob my brother.

⁴²These things were told to Rebecca: who sending and calling Jacob her son, said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee.

⁴³Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and get thee up and fly to Laban my brother into Haran:

⁴⁴and thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the fury of thy brother be assuaged,

⁴⁵and his indignation cease, and he forget those things which thou hast done to him: afterward I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both sons in one day?

⁴⁶And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life for the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I list not live.