25 The first one came out red-looking,[a] covered with hair[b] like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 25:25 In Hb, the word red-looking sounds like “Edom”; Gn 32:3.
  2. Genesis 25:25 In Hb, the word hair sounds like “Seir”; Gn 32:3.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled[a] his clothes, he blessed him and said:

Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give to you—
from the dew of the sky(A)
and from the richness of the land(B)
an abundance of grain and new wine.(C)
29 May peoples serve you(D)
and nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brothers;
may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.(E)

30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from the hunt. 31 He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

32 But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”

33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”

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

35 But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?[b](G) For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

37 But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”

38 Esau said to his father, “Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.[c]

39 Then his father Isaac answered him:

Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you rebel,[d]
you will break his yoke from your neck.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 27:27 Lit smelled the smell of
  2. Genesis 27:36 = He Grasps the Heel
  3. Genesis 27:38 Lit Esau lifted up his voice and wept
  4. Genesis 27:40 Hb obscure

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