One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 57
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January 12
brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is
smooth. 12 What if my father touches me? He’ll
see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll
curse me instead of blessing me.”
13 But his mother replied, “Then let the curse
fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go
out and get the goats for me!”
14 So Jacob went out and got the young
goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and
prepared a delicious meal, just the way I saac
liked it. 15 Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes,
which were there in the house, and gave them
to her younger son, Jacob. 16 She covered his
arms and the smooth part of his neck with the
skin of the young goats. 17 Then she gave Jacob
the delicious meal, including freshly baked
bread.
18 So Jacob took the food to his father. “My
father?” he said.
“Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are
you—Esau or Jacob?”
19 Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn
son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild
game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me
your blessing.”
20
Isaac asked, “How did you find it so
quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God put it in my path!” Jacob
replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so
I can touch you and make sure that you really
are Esau.” 22 So Jacob went closer to his father,
and I saac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s,
but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. 23 But he
did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands
felt hairy just like Esau’s. So I saac prepared to
bless Jacob. 24 “But are you really my son Esau?”
he asked.
“Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.
25 Then Isaac said, “Now, my son, bring me
the wild game. Let me eat it, and then I will
give you my blessing.” So Jacob took the food
to his father, and Isaac ate it. He also drank the
wine that Jacob served him. 26 Then Isaac said
to Jacob, “Please come a little closer and kiss
me, my son.”
27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. And
when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,
he was finally convinced, and he blessed his
son. He said, “Ah! The smell of my son is like
the smell of the outdoors, which the Lord has
blessed!
28
“From the dew of heaven
and the richness of the earth,
may God always give you abundant
harvests of grain
and bountiful new wine.
29
May many nations become your servants,
and may they bow down to you.
May you be the master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down
to you.
All who curse you will be cursed,
and all who bless you will be blessed.”
30 As soon as
Isaac had finished blessing
Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his
father, Esau returned from his hunt. 31 Esau
prepared a delicious meal and brought it to
his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and
eat my wild game so you can give me your
blessing.”
32 But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”
Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn
son, Esau.”
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and
said, “Then who just served me wild game? I
have already eaten it, and I blessed him just
before you came. And yes, that blessing must
stand!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he let
out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what
about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.
35 But
Isaac said, “Your brother was here,
and he tricked me. He has taken away your
blessing.”
36 Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is
Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice.* First
he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he
has stolen my blessing. Oh, h
aven’t you saved
even one blessing for me?”
37 Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your
master and have declared that all his brothers
will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an
abundance of grain and w
ine—what is left for
me to give you, my son?”
38 Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one
blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then
Esau broke down and wept.
39 Finally, his father, I saac, said to him,
40
“You will live away from the richness of
the earth,
and away from the dew of the heaven
above.
You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free,
you will shake his yoke from your neck.”
41 From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: “I will soon be
mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my
brother, Jacob.”
42 But Rebekah heard about Esau’s plans. So
