Good News Translation GNT
English Standard Version ESV
1 Isaac was now old and had become blind. He sent for his older son Esau and said to him, "Son!" "Yes," he answered.
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When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.”
2 Isaac said, "You see that I am old and may die soon.
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He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.
3 Take your bow and arrows, go out into the country, and kill an animal for me.
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Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me,
4 Cook me some of that tasty food that I like, and bring it to me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my final blessing before I die."
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and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5 While Isaac was talking to Esau, Rebecca was listening. So when Esau went out to hunt,
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Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,
6 she said to Jacob, "I have just heard your father say to Esau,
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Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau,
7 "Bring me an animal and cook it for me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.'
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‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’
8 Now, son," Rebecca continued, "listen to me and do what I say.
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Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you.
9 Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats, so that I can cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much.
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Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves.
10 You can take it to him to eat, and he will give you his blessing before he dies."
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And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 But Jacob said to his mother, "You know that Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin.
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But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
12 Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him; in this way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing."
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Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”
13 His mother answered, "Let any curse against you fall on me, my son; just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me."
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His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”
14 So he went to get them and brought them to her, and she cooked the kind of food that his father liked.
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So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved.
15 Then she took Esau's best clothes, which she kept in the house, and put them on Jacob.
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Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16 She put the skins of the goats on his arms and on the hairless part of his neck.
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And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 She handed him the tasty food, along with the bread she had baked.
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And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 Then Jacob went to his father and said, "Father!" "Yes," he answered. "Which of my sons are you?"
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So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob answered, "I am your older son Esau; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing."
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Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
20 Isaac said, "How did you find it so quickly, son?" Jacob answered, "The Lord your God helped me find it."
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But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.”
21 Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer so that I can touch you. Are you really Esau?"
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Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22 Jacob moved closer to his father, who felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms feel like Esau's arms."
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So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. He was about to give him his blessing,
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And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him.
24 but asked again, "Are you really Esau?" "I am," he answered.
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He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”
25 Isaac said, "Bring me some of the meat. After I eat it, I will give you my blessing." Jacob brought it to him, and he also brought him some wine to drink.
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Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father said to him, "Come closer and kiss me, son."
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Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”
27 As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelled his clothes - so he gave him his blessing. He said, "The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed.
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So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,“See, the smell of my sonis as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
28 May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine!
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May God give you of the dew of heavenand of the fatness of the earthand plenty of grain and wine.
29 May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother's descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed."
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Let peoples serve you,and nations bow down to you.Be lord over your brothers,and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.Cursed be everyone who curses you,and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
30 Isaac finished giving his blessing, and as soon as Jacob left, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
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As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his 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."
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He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.”
32 "Who are you?" Isaac asked. "Your older son Esau," he answered.
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His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
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."
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Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”
34 When Esau heard this, he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, "Give me your blessing also, father!"
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As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
35 Isaac answered, "Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing."
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But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”
36 Esau said, "This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob. 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?"
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Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved 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!"
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Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”
38 Esau continued to plead with his father: "Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!" He began to cry.
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Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39 Then Isaac said to him, "No dew from heaven for you, No fertile fields for you.
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Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,and away from the dew of heaven on high.
40 You will live by your sword, But be your brother's slave. Yet when you rebel, You will break away from his control."
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By your sword you shall live,and you shall serve your brother;but when you grow restlessyou shall break his yoke from your neck.”
41 Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, "The time to mourn my father's death is near; then I will kill Jacob."
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Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 But when Rebecca heard about Esau's plan, she sent for Jacob and said, "Listen, your brother Esau is planning to get even with you and kill you.
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But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.
43 Now, son, do what I say. Go at once to my brother Laban in Haran,
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Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran
44 and stay with him for a while, until your brother's anger cools down
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and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away—
45 and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send someone to bring you back. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?"
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until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”
46 Rebecca said to Isaac, "I am sick and tired of Esau's foreign wives. If Jacob also marries one of these Hittites, I might as well die."
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Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.