When Isaac was very old and blind, he called for his oldest son, Esau, and asked him, “My son?”
“I am here, father,” Esau answered.
“As you can see, I am now an old man,” Isaac said. “And I may die any day now. So please take your hunting gear—your bow and arrows—and go out into the field and hunt some wild game for me. Then prepare me a savory meal, the food I love, and bring it to me. After I eat it, I will bless you from my innermost being before I die.”
Now, Rebekah was eavesdropping on their conversation. So, when Esau left for the field to hunt for game to cook for Isaac, she found Jacob and said to him, “I just overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare a savory meal for me. Afterward I will bless you in the presence of YAHWEH before I die.’ Listen carefully, my son, and do everything I tell you. Go out to the flock and bring me two of the best young goats. I’ll cook them for your father and prepare a delicious meal, the way he loves it. Then, you take it to him to eat and your father will bless you before he dies.”
Jacob objected, “But my brother Esau is covered with hair, and I’m smooth skinned. If my father feels my hairless skin, he’ll know I’m not Esau. He’ll think I’m a trickster, and I’ll end up bringing a curse upon myself rather than a blessing!”
“My son,” his mother said, “let any curse against you fall on me alone! Just do what I say and go and get the goats for me.”
So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared a delicious meal, just the way his father loved it. Then Rebekah picked out the best clothes of her older son Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob. She covered Jacob’s hands and the soft part of his neck with goatskins. Then she handed Jacob the tasty dish and the bread that she had prepared and he took them to Isaac.
“Father?” Jacob said.
Isaac replied, “Which one of my sons are you?”
Jacob answered, “It’s I—Esau—your firstborn. I have done as you asked. Please, sit up. Eat some of this delicious game you love so that you may give me your innermost blessing.”
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