Genesis 27 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Jacob Steals Esau’s Blessing

Gen 27:1One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.”
“Yes, Father?” Esau replied.

Gen 27:2

Gen 27:2“I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die.

Gen 27:3

Gen 27:3Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

Gen 27:4

Gen 27:4Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.”

Gen 27:5

Gen 27:5But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game,

Gen 27:6

Gen 27:6she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau,

Gen 27:7

Gen 27:7‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’

Gen 27:8

Gen 27:8Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you.

Gen 27:9

Gen 27:9Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish.

Gen 27:10

Gen 27:10Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.”

Gen 27:11

Gen 27:11“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.

Gen 27:12

Gen 27:12What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.”

Gen 27:13

Gen 27:13But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!”

Gen 27:14

Gen 27:14So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it.

Gen 27:15

Gen 27:15Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob.

Gen 27:16

Gen 27:16She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats.

Gen 27:17

Gen 27:17Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread.

Gen 27:18

Gen 27:18So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said.
“Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”

Gen 27:19

Gen 27:19Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.”

Gen 27:20

Gen 27:20Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The LORD your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied.

Gen 27:21

Gen 27:21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.”

Gen 27:22

Gen 27:22So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said.

Gen 27:23

Gen 27:23But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob.

Gen 27:24

Gen 27:24“But are you really my son Esau?” he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.

Gen 27:25

Gen 27:25Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the wine that Jacob served him.

Gen 27:26

Gen 27:26Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss me, my son.”

Gen 27:27

Gen 27:27So Jacob went over and kissed him. And when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he was finally convinced, and he blessed his son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like the smell of the outdoors, which the LORD has blessed!

Gen 27:28

Gen 27:28“From the dew of heaven
and the richness of the earth,
may God always give you abundant harvests of grain
and bountiful new wine.

Gen 27:29

Gen 27:29May many nations become your servants,
and may they bow down to you.
May you be the master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
All who curse you will be cursed,
and all who bless you will be blessed.”

(Heb 12:17 )

Gen 27:30

Gen 27:30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt.

Gen 27:31

Gen 27:31Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.”

Gen 27:32

Gen 27:32But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.”

Gen 27:33

Gen 27:33Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!”

Gen 27:34

Gen 27:34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.

Gen 27:35

Gen 27:35But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.”

Gen 27:36

Gen 27:36Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice.[fn] First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?”

Gen 27:37

Gen 27:37Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?”

Gen 27:38

Gen 27:38Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept.

Gen 27:39

Gen 27:39Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him,
“You will live away from the richness of the earth,
and away from the dew of the heaven above.

Gen 27:40

Gen 27:40You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free,
you will shake his yoke from your neck.”

Jacob Flees to Paddan-Aram

Gen 27:41

Gen 27:41From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.”

Gen 27:42

Gen 27:42But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, “Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.

Gen 27:43

Gen 27:43So listen carefully, my son. Get ready and flee to my brother, Laban, in Haran.

Gen 27:44

Gen 27:44Stay there with him until your brother cools off.

Gen 27:45

Gen 27:45When he calms down and forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you to come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

Gen 27:46

Gen 27:46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick and tired of these local Hittite women! I would rather die than see Jacob marry one of them.”

See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NLT Footnotes

(27:36)

Jacob sounds like the Hebrew words for “heel” and “deceiver.”

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Genesis Chapter 27 — Additional Translations:

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Genesis 27 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

NLT Footnotes

Genesis Chapter 27 — Additional Translations:

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