Isaac Blesses Jacob (Hebrews 11:20)
1 CPDV Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were cloudy, and so he was not able to see. And he called his elder son Esau, and he said to him, “My son?” And he responded, “Here I am.” BSB BSB: When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
2 CPDV His father said to him: “You see that I am old, and I do not know the day of my death. BSB BSB: “Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death.
3 CPDV Take your weapons, the quiver and the bow, and go out. And when you have taken something by hunting, BSB BSB: Take your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out into the field to hunt some game for me.
4 CPDV make from it a small meal for me, just as you know I like, and bring it, so that I may eat and my soul may bless you before I die.” BSB BSB: Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5 CPDV And when Rebekah had heard this, and he had gone out into the field to fulfill his father’s order, BSB BSB: Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,
6 CPDV she said to her son Jacob: “I heard your father speaking with your brother Esau, and saying to him, BSB BSB: Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau,
7 CPDV ‘Bring to me from your hunting, and make me foods, so that I may eat and bless you in the sight of the Lord before I die.’ BSB BSB: ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
8 CPDV Therefore, now my son, agree to my counsel, BSB BSB: Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you.
9 CPDV and go straight to the flock, and bring me two of the best young goats, so that from them I may make meat for your father, such as he willingly eats. BSB BSB: Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.
10 CPDV Then, when you have brought these in and he has eaten, he may bless you before he dies.” BSB BSB: Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 CPDV He answered her: “You know that my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth. BSB BSB: Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned.
12 CPDV If my father should lay hands on me and perceive it, I am afraid lest he think me willing to mock him, and I will bring a curse upon myself, instead of a blessing.” BSB BSB: What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
13 CPDV And his mother said to him: “Let this curse be upon me, my son. Yet listen to my voice, and go directly to bring what I said.” BSB BSB: His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
14 CPDV He went out, and he brought, and he gave to his mother. She prepared the meats, just as she knew his father liked. BSB BSB: So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.
15 CPDV And she clothed him with the very fine garments of Esau, which she had at home with her. BSB BSB: And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
16 CPDV And she encircled his hands with little pelts from the young goats, and she covered his bare neck. BSB BSB: She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 CPDV And she gave him the small meal, and she handed him the bread that she had baked. BSB BSB: Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
18 CPDV When he had carried these in, he said, “My father?” And he answered, “I’m listening. Who are you, my son?” BSB BSB: So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
19 CPDV And Jacob said: “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you instructed me. Arise; sit and eat from my hunting, so that your soul may bless me.” BSB BSB: Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”
20 CPDV And again Isaac said to his son, “How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “It was the will of God, so that what I sought met with me quickly.” BSB BSB: But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.
21 CPDV And Isaac said, “Come here, so that I may touch you, my son, and may prove whether you are my son Esau, or not.” BSB BSB: Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
22 CPDV He approached his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: “The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob. But the hands are the hands of Esau.” BSB BSB: So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 CPDV And he did not recognize him, because his hairy hands made him seem similar to the elder one. Therefore, blessing him, BSB BSB: Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24 CPDV he said, “Are you my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” BSB BSB: Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.”
25 CPDV Then he said, “Bring me the foods from your hunting, my son, so that my soul may bless you.” And when he had eaten what was offered, he also brought forth wine for him. And after he finished it, BSB BSB: “Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 CPDV he said to him, “Come to me and give me a kiss, my son.” BSB BSB: Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
27 CPDV He approached and kissed him. And immediately he perceived the fragrance of his garments. And so, blessing him, he said: “Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord has blessed. BSB BSB: So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
28 CPDV May God give to you, from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, an abundance of grain and wine. BSB BSB: May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 CPDV And may the peoples serve you, and may the tribes reverence you. May you be the lord of your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down before you. Whoever curses you, may he be cursed, and whoever blesses you, may he be filled with blessings.” BSB BSB: May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”
Esau’s Lost Hope 30 CPDV Scarcely had Isaac completed his words, and Jacob departed, when Esau arrived. BSB BSB: As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt.
31 CPDV And he brought his father foods cooked from his hunting, saying, “Arise, my father, and eat from your son’s hunting, so that your soul may bless me.” BSB BSB: He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32 CPDV And Isaac said to him, “But who are you?” And he answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.” BSB BSB: But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?” “I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
33 CPDV Isaac became frightened and very astonished. And wondering beyond what can be believed, he said: “Then who is he that a while ago brought me the prey from his hunting, from which I ate, before you arrived? And I blessed him, and he will be blessed.” BSB BSB: Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”
34 CPDV Esau, having heard his father’s words, roared out with a great outcry. And, being confounded, he said, “But bless me also, my father.” BSB BSB: When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
35 CPDV And he said, “Your twin came deceitfully, and he received your blessing.” BSB BSB: But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 CPDV But he responded: “Justly is his name called Jacob. For he has supplanted me yet another time. My birthright he took away before, and now, this second time, he has stolen my blessing.” And again, he said to his father, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me also?” BSB BSB: So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37 CPDV Isaac answered: “I have appointed him as your lord, and I have subjugated all his brothers as his servants. I have reinforced him with grain and wine, and after this, my son, what more shall I do for you?” BSB BSB: But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
38 CPDV And Esau said to him: “Have you only one blessing, father? I beg you, bless me also.” And when he wept with a loud wail, BSB BSB: Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39 CPDV Isaac was moved, and he said to him: “In the fatness of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above, BSB BSB: His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above.
40 CPDV will your blessing be. You will live by the sword, and you will serve your brother. But the time will arrive when you will shake off and release his yoke from your neck.” BSB BSB: You shall live by the sword and serve your brother. But when you rebel, you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
41 CPDV Therefore, Esau always hated Jacob, for the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And he said in his heart, “The days will arrive for the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.” BSB BSB: Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 CPDV These things were reported to Rebekah. And sending and calling for her son Jacob, she said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau is threatening to kill you. BSB BSB: When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.
43 CPDV Therefore, now my son, listen to my voice. Rise up and flee to my brother Laban, in Haran. BSB BSB: So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 CPDV And you will dwell with him for a few days, until the fury of your brother subsides, BSB BSB: Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides—
45 CPDV and his indignation ceases, and he forgets the things that you have done to him. After this, I will send for you and bring you from there to here. Why should I be bereaved of both my sons in one day?” BSB BSB: until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46 CPDV And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob accepts a wife from the stock of this land, I would not be willing to live.” BSB BSB: Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”