âHere I am,â he answered.
2 Isaac said, âI am now an old man and donât know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your equipmentâyour quiver and bowâand go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.â
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, âLook, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 âBring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.â 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.â
11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, âBut my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.â
13 His mother said to him, âMy son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.â
14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18Â He went to his father and said, âMy father.â
âYes, my son,â he answered. âWho is it?â
19 Jacob said to his father, âI am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.â
20Â Isaac asked his son, âHow did you find it so quickly, my son?â
âThe Lord your God gave me success,â he replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, âCome near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.â
22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, âThe voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.â 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24 âAre you really my son Esau?â he asked.
âI am,â he replied.
25Â Then he said, âMy son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.â
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, âCome here, my son, and kiss me.â
27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,
âAh, the smell of my son
    is like the smell of a field
    that the Lord has blessed.
28Â May God give you heavenâs dew
    and earthâs richnessâ
    an abundance of grain and new wine.
29Â May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over 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.â
30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his fatherâs presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, âMy father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.â
32Â His father Isaac asked him, âWho are you?â
âI am your son,â he answered, âyour firstborn, Esau.â
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, âWho was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed himâand indeed he will be blessed!â
34 When Esau heard his fatherâs words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, âBless meâme too, my father!â
35 But he said, âYour brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.â
36 Esau said, âIsnât he rightly named Jacob? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now heâs taken my blessing!â Then he asked, âHavenât you reserved any blessing for me?â
37 Isaac answered Esau, âI have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?â
38Â Esau said to his father, âDo you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!â Then Esau wept aloud.
39Â His father Isaac answered him,
âYour dwelling will be
    away from the earthâs richness,
    away from the dew of heaven above.
40Â You will live by the sword
    and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.â
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, âThe days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.â
42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, âYour brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brotherâs fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, Iâll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?â
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, âIâm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.â
