Gen 27 | EE | STEP | Isaac became old. He could not see anything. He could not see because his eyes were weak. He called for Esau. Esau was his oldest son. Isaac said, ‘My son.’ Esau replied, ‘Yes’.

Genesis 27

Isaac blesses Jacob

1 Isaac became old. He could not see anything. He could not see because his eyes were weak. He called for Esau. Esau was his oldest son. Isaac said, ‘My son.’ Esau replied, ‘Yes’. 2 Isaac said ‘I am an old man. I do not know when I will die. 3 Now get your bow and arrows. Go out into the country. Kill some wild animals for me.’ ^{▼▼27:3 Bow in verse 3 means something to kill an animal. People use bows to shoot arrows. An arrow is like a stick with a sharp point at the end.}

4 Isaac said, ‘Prepare the food that I like to eat. And bring it to me. Bring it to me so that I can eat it. Then I can give you my blessing before I die.’ ^{▼▼27:4 In the Old Testament, a father gave his blessing to the oldest son. This son has the birthright. Isaac does not know that Esau sold his birthright. (See 25:31-34.) Esau does not tell Isaac that he has sold his birthright.}

5 Rebekah listened to what Isaac said to Esau. Esau went out into the country. He went to kill an animal and bring back the meat.

6 Rebekah said to Jacob ‘I heard your father say this to Esau. 7 “Bring me some meat. And prepare the food that I like to eat. Bring it to me. Then I can give you my blessing. I will bless you in front of the LORD. I will do this before I die.”’ 8 Rebekah said ‘Now my son, listen carefully. And do as I tell you. 9 Go out to the animals. Bring me two nice looking goats. Bring me two young goats. Then I will prepare some food that your father likes to eat. It will be prepared how he likes it. 10 Then take the food to your father to eat. Then he will give you his blessing before he dies.’ 11 Jacob said ‘Hair covers my brother’s skin. But my skin does not have any hair. 12 My father may touch me. Then he will know that I am telling him lies (words that are not true). Then he will not bless me. He will curse me.’ 13 Jacob’s mother said, ‘My son. Let the curse fall on me. Do what I say. Go and get the things that I told you.’ 14 Jacob went and got the goats. He brought them to his mother. She prepared some food. She prepared the food that Isaac liked to eat. 15 Then Rebekah took some of Esau’s clothes. They were his best clothes. Rebekah had them in her house. She put them on Jacob, her younger son. 16 She covered Jacob’s hands with the skin from the goats. She also covered the part of his neck that had no hair. ^{▼▼27:16 Goats have hair on their skin. Rebekah did this to make Isaac think that Jacob was Esau. If Isaac touched Jacob, he would think that Jacob was Esau. He would think that because of the hair on the skin.}

17 Then she gave Jacob (her son) the food that Isaac liked to eat. And she gave him some bread that she had made.

18 Jacob went to his father. He said ‘My father.’ Isaac replied ‘Yes, my son. Who is it?’ 19 Jacob said ‘I am Esau. I am your first born son. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my meat. Then you can give me your blessing.’ 20 Isaac asked his son ‘My son. How did you find it so quickly?’ Jacob replied, ‘The LORD your God helped me find it.’ ^{▼▼27:20 Jacob says ‘the LORD your God’. Jacob does not call God his own God.}

21 Isaac said to Jacob ‘Come near to me so that I can touch you. Then I will know if you really are my son Esau.’

22 Jacob went close to his father. Isaac touched him. He said ‘The voice is that of Jacob. But the hands are those of Esau.’ 23 Isaac did not know that it was Jacob. He did not know because he could feel the hair on Jacob’s hands. They felt like Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.

24 Isaac asked ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ Jacob replied ‘I am.’

25 Isaac said ‘My son, bring me some of your meat. I will eat it. Then I can give you my blessing.’ So Jacob brought the food to him. Isaac ate it. Then Jacob brought some wine. And Isaac drank it.

26 Then Isaac said ‘Come here my son. And kiss me.’ 27 So Jacob went to Isaac and kissed him. Isaac smelled the clothes that Jacob wore. Then Isaac blessed him. He said, ‘The smell of my son is like the smell of a field. It is like a field that God has blessed. 28 May God give you rain for your crops. Then may he give you a good harvest of crops, and grapes for wine. ^{▼▼27:28 Crops are plants. They can be any plants that people or animals eat. Harvest means the amount of crops that grow in the field.}

29 May you be the master of many peoples living in many countries. And may they bow down to you. Be master over your brothers. May the sons of your mother bow down to you. May people who curse you receive curses. And may people who bless you receive blessings.’ ^{▼▼27:29 Bow down. Bow here means to bend your body (as in 18:2).} ^{▼▼27:29 This is what God told Rebekah in 25:23.}

30 Isaac finished blessing Jacob. And Jacob left him. Then Esau came in from the country. He had killed an animal. 31 Esau prepared the food that Isaac liked to eat. Then he took the food to Isaac. Esau said ‘My father. Sit up and eat some of my meat. Then you can give me your blessing.’ ^{▼▼27:31 Esau does not know what Jacob has done. He does not know that Jacob has received the blessing.}

32 His father Isaac asked ‘Who are you?’ Esau replied ‘I am your son. I am your first born son Esau.’ 33 Isaac shook and trembled. He said ‘Who was it who killed the animal? Who brought it to me? I ate it, just before you came. And I blessed him. And he will get the blessing!’ ^{▼▼27:33 Isaac trembled. He now knows what Jacob has done. He knows that he cannot take his blessing away. The son that he loves cannot receive the blessing. Isaac knows that now. Isaac knows that God will bless Jacob and not Esau.}

34 Esau understood what his father had said. And he cried aloud. He said ‘Bless me. Bless me as well my father!’ 35 But Isaac said ‘Your brother came to me. He deceived me. And he took your blessing.’ 36 Esau said ‘Jacob is the right name for him. He has deceived me two times. He took my birthright. And now he has taken my blessing!’ Then Esau asked ‘Do you have any blessing left for me?’ ^{▼▼27:36 Jacob means ‘He deceives’. This is what ‘deceives’ means. Jacob says things that are not true. And he does things that are not right.}

37 Isaac replied ‘I have made him master over you. And I have made all his relatives his servants. I have given him crops and wine. So what can I do for you my son?’ ^{▼▼27:37 Isaac is saying that there is no blessing left for Esau.}

38 Esau said ‘My father! Do you have only one blessing? My father! Bless me as well!’ Then Esau wept aloud.

39 Isaac replied ‘You will not grow rich from the earth. You will not have rain to make your crops grow. 40 You will have to fight for everything. And your brother will rule over you. But after a time, you will break away from him, and from his descendants.’ ^{▼▼27:40 This is the only blessing that Isaac could give Esau. He could not take back the blessing that he gave to Jacob.}

41 Esau did not forget what Jacob had done. He hated Jacob because of the blessing that Isaac gave him. Esau said, ‘My father will die soon. Then I will kill my brother.’ 42 Someone told Rebekah what Esau had said. She sent for Jacob. She said to him ‘Your brother Esau wants to kill you. When he thinks about killing you, it helps him to feel better. 43 Now my son, do what I tell you. Go to my brother Laban. He lives in Haran. 44 Stay with him for a time. Stay there until your brother is not angry with you. 45 When Esau is not angry with you, I will send someone to tell you. When he forgets what you did to him, you can come back from Haran. I do not want to lose both of you in one day.’ ^{▼▼27:45 Rebekah thinks that Esau and Jacob will kill each other. Or that God will kill Esau, if he kills Jacob.} ^{▼▼27:45 Jacob stayed in Haran for 20 years. Rebekah did not see Jacob again.}

46 Rebekah said to Isaac ‘I do not like living with Esau’s wives. I do not like it because they are Hittites. My life will be worse if Jacob marries a Hittite woman (a woman from the people of this land).’ ^{▼▼27:46 Isaac does not want Jacob to marry a woman from the country that they live in. Rebekah knows this. She knows that Isaac will send Jacob away to find a wife. Isaac will send Jacob back to his relatives. Then Esau will not kill Jacob.}