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Esau Begs for Isaac's Blessing

30 Isaac finished giving his blessing, and as soon as Jacob left, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He also cooked some tasty food and took it to his father. He said, “Please, father, sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing.”

32 “Who are you?” Isaac asked.

“Your older son Esau,” he answered.

33 Isaac began to tremble and shake all over, and he asked, “Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever.”

34 When Esau heard this, he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, “Give me your blessing also, father!”

35 Isaac answered, “Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing.”

36 (A)Esau said, “This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob.[a] He took my rights as the first-born son, and now he has taken away my blessing. Haven't you saved a blessing for me?”

37 Isaac answered, “I have already made him master over you, and I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son!”

38 (B)Esau continued to plead with his father: “Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!” He began to cry.

39 (C)Then Isaac said to him,

“No dew from heaven for you,
No fertile fields for you.
40 (D)You will live by your sword,
But be your brother's slave.
Yet when you rebel,[b]
You will break away from his control.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 27:36 This name sounds like the Hebrew for “cheat.”
  2. Genesis 27:40 rebel; or grow restless.

30 After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s 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, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”(A)

32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”(B)

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.(C)

33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?(D) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!(E)

34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry(F) and said to his father, “Bless(G) me—me too, my father!”

35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully(H) and took your blessing.”(I)

36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[a]?(J) This is the second time he has taken advantage of(K) me: He took my birthright,(L) and now he’s taken my blessing!”(M) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.(N) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.(O)

39 His father Isaac answered him,(P)

“Your dwelling will be
    away from the earth’s richness,
    away from the dew(Q) of heaven above.(R)
40 You will live by the sword
    and you will serve(S) your brother.(T)
But when you grow restless,
    you will throw his yoke
    from off your neck.(U)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.