CHAPTER 27
1 Forsooth Isaac waxed eld [or old], and his eyes dimmed, and he might not see. And he called Esau, his more or older son, and said to him, My son! Which answered, I am present.
2 To whom the father said, Thou seest that I have waxed eld, and I know not the day of my death*.
3 Take thine arms, an arrow case, and a bow, and go out; and when thou hast taken anything by hunting,
4 make me a stew thereof, as thou knowest that I will or desire, and bring it to me that I eat, that my soul bless thee before that I die.
5 And when Rebecca had heard this thing, and he had gone forth into the field that he fulfill the behest of his father,
6 she said to her son Jacob, I heard thy father speaking with Esau, thy brother, and saying to him,
7 Bring thou to me of thine hunting, and make thou meats, that I eat, and that I bless thee before the Lord before that I die.
8 Now therefore, my son, assent to my counsels,
9 and go to the flock, and bring to me twain [or two]of the best kids, that I make meats of those to thy father, which he shall eat gladly;
10 and that when thou hast brought in those meats, and he hath eaten, he bless thee before that he die.
11 To whom Jacob answered, Thou knowest that Esau my brother is an hairy man, and I am smooth;
12 if my father shall touch or draw me to him, and feel me, I dread lest he guess that I would scorn him, and he bring in cursing on me for blessing.
13 To whom his mother said, My son, this cursing be in me; only hear thou my voice, and go, and bring that that I said.
14 He went, and brought it, and gave it to his mother. She made ready meats, as she knew that his father would have,
15 and she clothed Jacob in [the] full good clothes of Esau, which she had at home with herself.
16 And she wrapped his hands about with little skins of goat kids, and covered the nakedness of his neck;
17 and she gave to him the stew, and betook him [the] loaves, which she had baked.
18 And when these were brought in, he said, My father! And he answered, I am here; who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said, I am Esau, thy first begotten son. I have done to thee as thou commandedest to me; rise thou up, and sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul bless me.
20 Again Isaac said to his son, My son, how mightest thou find this venison so soon? Which answered, It was God’s will, that this thing that I would, should come soon to me.
21 And Isaac said, My son, come thou hither, that I touch thee, and that I prove whether thou be my son Esau, or nay.
22 Jacob nighed to his father; and when Isaac had feeled him, he said, Soothly the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands be the hands of Esau.
23 And Isaac knew not Jacob, for the hairy hands showed the likeness of the elder son. Therefore Isaac blessed Jacob,
24 and said again, Art thou my son Esau? Jacob answered, I am.
25 And Isaac said, My son, bring thou to me meats of thine hunting, that my soul bless thee. And when Isaac had eaten these meats brought, Jacob brought also wine to Isaac, and when this was drunken,
26 Isaac said to him, My son, come thou hither, and give to me a kiss.
27 Jacob nighed, and kissed him; and anon as Isaac feeled the odour of his clothes, he blessed him, and said, Lo! the odour of my son as the odour of a plenteous field which the Lord hath blessed.
28 God give to thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of [the] earth, abundance [or plenty] of wheat, and of wine, and of oil;
29 and peoples serve thee, and lineages worship thee; be thou lord of thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother be bowed before thee; be he cursed that curseth thee, and he that blesseth thee, be he [full-]filled with blessings.
30 Scarcely Isaac had filled the word, and when Jacob was gone out, Esau came,
31 and brought in meats sodden of the hunting to the father, and said, My father, rise thou, and eat of the hunting of thy son, that thy soul bless me.
32 And Isaac said, Who art thou? Which answered, I am Esau, thy first begotten son.
33 Isaac dreaded with a great aston-ishing; and he wondered more than it may be believed, and said, Who therefore is he which a while ago brought to me venison taken, and I ate of all things before that thou camest; and I blessed him? and he shall be blessed.
34 When the words of the father were heard, Esau roared with a great cry, and was astonied, and said, My father, bless thou also me.
35 Which said, Thy brother came prudently [or beguilingly], and took thy blessing.
36 And Esau added, Justly his name is called Jacob, for lo! he [hath] supplanted me another time; before he took away my first begotten things, and now the second time, he [hath] ravished privily my blessing. And again he said to the father, Whether thou hast not reserved a blessing also to me?
37 Isaac answered, I have made him thy lord, and I have made subject all his brethren to his servage; I have stablished him in wheat, and wine, and oil; and so, my son, what shall I do to thee after these things?
38 To whom Esau said, Father, whether thou hast only one blessing? I beseech thee, that also thou bless me. And when Esau wept with great yelling,
39 Isaac was stirred, and said to him, Thy blessing shall not be in the fatness of [the] earth, and in the dew of heaven from above;
40 thou shalt live by sword, and thou shalt serve thy brother, and time shall come when thou shalt shake away, and unbind his yoke from [off] thy nolls.
41 Therefore Esau hated evermore Jacob for the blessing by which the father had blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning of my father shall come, and I shall slay Jacob, my brother.
42 These things were told to Rebecca, and she sent, and called her son Jacob, and said to him, Lo! Esau, thy brother, menaceth [or threateneth] to slay thee;
43 now therefore, my son, hear thou my voice, and rise thou up, and flee to Laban, my brother, into Haran;
44 and thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the strong vengeance of thy brother rest, and his indignation cease,
45 and till he forget those things which thou hast done against him. Afterward I shall send, and I shall bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be made sonless of ever either son in one day?
46 And Rebecca said to Isaac, It annoyeth or vexeth me of my life for the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the kindred of this land, I will not live.
* CHAPTER 27:2 Isaac would still be alive more than 20 years after this event(!).