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Jacob's Deception

¹ Now when Isaac was old and ^(C1)his eyes were too dim to see, he called his ^(C2)elder and favorite son Esau and said to him, "My son." And Esau answered him, "Here I am."^2 (C1)Isaac said, "See here, I am old; ^(F1)I do not know ^(F2)when I may die.³ "So now, please take your hunting gear, your quiver of arrows and your bow, and go out into the open country and ^(C1)hunt game for me;⁴ and make me a savory and delicious dish of meat, the kind I love, and bring it to me to eat, so that ^(C1)my soul may bless you as my firstborn son before I die."

⁵ But Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau his son; and when Esau had gone to the open country to hunt for game that he might bring back,^6 (C1)Rebekah said to Jacob her younger and favorite son, "Listen carefully: I heard your father saying to Esau your brother,⁷ 'Bring me some game and make me a savory and delicious dish of meat, so that I may eat it, and declare my blessing on you ^(F1)in the presence of the LORD before my death.'⁸ "So now, my son, ^(C1)listen carefully to me and do exactly as I command you.⁹ "Go now to the flock and bring me two good and suitable young goats, and I will make them into a savory dish of meat for your father, the kind he loves to eat.¹⁰ "Then you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death."¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Listen, Esau my brother is a ^(C1)hairy man and I am a smooth skinned man.¹² "^(C1)Suppose my father touches me and feels my skin; then I will be seen by him as a cheat (imposter), and I will bring his curse on me and not a blessing."¹³ But his mother said to him, "May your curse be on me, my son; only listen and ^(C1)obey me, and go, bring the young goats to me."¹⁴ So Jacob went and got the two young goats, and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared a delicious dish of food with a delightful aroma, the kind his father loved to eat.¹⁵ Then Rebekah took her elder son Esau's best ^(C1)clothes, which were with her in her house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.¹⁶ And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.¹⁷ Then she gave her son Jacob the delicious meat and the bread which she had prepared.

¹⁸ So he went to his father and said, "My father." And Isaac said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now please, ^(C1)sit up and eat some of my game, so that ^(C2)you may bless me."²⁰ Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son?" And he said, "^(C1)Because the LORD your God caused it to come to me."²¹ But Isaac wondered and said to Jacob, "Please come close to me so that ^(C1)I may touch you, my son, and determine if you are really my son Esau or not."²² So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."²³ He could not recognize him as Jacob, because his hands were ^(C1)hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.²⁴ But he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" Jacob answered, "I am."²⁵ Then Isaac said, "Bring the food to me, and I will eat some of my son's game, so that ^(C1)I may bless you." He brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank.²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come, my son, and kiss me."²⁷ So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and ^(C1)blessed him and said,

"^(C2)The scent of my son Esau
Is like the aroma of a field ^(C3)which the LORD has blessed;

²⁸ Now may ^(C1)God give you of the dew of heaven to water your land,
And of the ^(C2)fatness (fertility) of the earth,
And an abundance of grain and ^(F1)new wine; ^(VR1)

^29 (C1)May peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you;
^(C2)Be lord and master over your brothers,
^(C3)And may your mother's sons bow down to you.
^(C4)May those who curse you be cursed,
And may those who bless you be blessed."

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.³¹ Esau also made a delicious dish of meat and brought it to his father and said to him, "^(C1)Let my father get up and eat some of his son's game, so that ^(C2)you may bless me."³² Isaac his father said to him, "^(C1)Who are you?" And he replied, "I am your son, ^(C2)your firstborn, Esau."³³ Then Isaac trembled violently, and he said, "^(C1)Then who was the one who was just here who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. ^(C2)Yes, and he in fact shall be (shall remain) blessed."³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(C1)he cried out with a great and extremely bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!" ^(VR1)35 Isaac said, "^(C1)Your brother came deceitfully and has fraudulently taken away your blessing for himself."³⁶ Esau replied, "Is he not rightly named ^(F1)(C1)Jacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, "Listen carefully: I have made Jacob ^(C1)your lord and master; I have given him all his brothers and relatives as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then, can I do for you, my son?"³⁸ Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." Then Esau no longer able to restrain himself raised his voice and ^(C1)wept loudly.

³⁹ Then ^(C1)Isaac his father answered and prophesied and said to him,

"Your dwelling shall be away from ^(C2)the fertility of the earth
And away from the dew of heaven above;

⁴⁰ But you shall live by your sword,
And ^(C1)serve your brother;
However it shall come to pass ^(C2)when you break loose from your anger and hatred,
That you will tear his yoke off your neck and you will be free of him."

⁴¹ So Esau ^(C1)hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, "^(C2)The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."⁴² When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you.⁴³ "So now, my son, listen and ^(C1)do what I say; go, escape to my brother ^(C2)Laban in ^(C3)Haran!⁴⁴ "Stay with him for ^(C1)a while, until your brother's anger subsides.⁴⁵ "When your brother's anger toward you subsides and he forgets ^(C1)what you did to him, then ^(F1)I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in a single day?"

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of living because of ^(C1)the daughters of Heth these insolent wives of Esau. ^(C2)If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?" ^(VR1)