ይስሐቅ ያዕቆብን ባረከው
1ይስሐቅ አርጅቶ፣ ዐይኖቹ ደክመው ማየት በተሳናቸው ጊዜ፣ ታላቁን ልጁን ዔሳውን ጠርቶ፣ “ልጄ ሆይ” አለው።
እርሱም፣ “እነሆ፤ አለሁ” አለ።
2ይስሐቅም እንዲህ አለ፤ “ይኸው እኔ አርጅቻለሁ፤ የምሞትበትንም ቀን አላውቅም 3ስለዚህ የዐደን መሣሪያህን፦ የፍላጻ ኰረጆህንና ቀስትህን ይዘህ ወደ ዱር ሂድ፤ አድነህም አምጣልኝ። 4ከመሞቴ በፊት እንድመርቅህ የምወድደውን ዐይነት ጣዕም ያለው ምግብ አዘጋጅተህ አብላኝ።”
5ይስሐቅ ለልጁ የተናገረውን ርብቃ ትሰማ ስለ ነበር፣ ዔሳው የታዘዘውን ለማምጣት ለዐደን እንደ ወጣ፣ 6ርብቃ ለልጇ ለያዕቆብ እንዲህ አለችው፤ “አባትህ ዔሳውን፣ 7‘ከመሞቴ በፊት በእግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ፊት እንድመርቅህ፣ ጥሩ ጣዕም ያለው ምግብ እንድበላ አዘጋጅልኝ።’ ሲለው ሰምቻለሁ፤ 8ልጄ ሆይ፤ እንግዲህ የምነግርህን በጥሞና ስማኝ፤ የምልህንም አድርግ። 9ተነሣና ወደ መንጋው ሄደህ ሁለት ፍርጥም ያሉ የፍየል ጠቦቶች አምጣልኝ፤ እኔም አባትህ የሚወድደውን ዐይነት ምግብ አዘጋጅለታለሁ፤ 10እርሱም ከመሞቱ በፊት እንዲመርቅህ ይዘህለት ግባና ይብላ።”
11ያዕቆብም እናቱን ርብቃን እንዲህ አላት፤ “ወንድሜ ዔሳው ሰውነቱ ጠጕራም ነው፤ የእኔ ገላ ግን ለስላሳ ነው። 12ታዲያ፣ አባቴ ቢዳስሰኝ እንዳታለልሁት ያውቃል፤ ይህ ከሆነ ደግሞ፣ በምርቃት ፈንታ ርግማን አተርፋለሁ ማለት ነው።”
13እናቱም፣ “ልጄ ሆይ፤ የአንተ ርግማን በእኔ ላይ ይድረስ፤ ግድ የለህም፤ እንደ ነገርሁህ ሄደህ ጠቦቶቹን አምጣልኝ” አለችው።
14እርሱም ሄዶ ጠቦቶቹን ለእናቱ አመጣላት፤ እርሷም ልክ አባቱ እንደሚወድደው ዐይነት አጣፍጣ ጥሩ ምግብ አዘጋጀችለት። 15ከዚያም ርብቃ በቤት ያስቀመጠችውን የታላቁን ልጇን የዔሳውን ምርጥ ልብስ አንሥታ ለታናሹ ልጇ ለያዕቆብ አለበሰችው። 16እንዲሁም የዐንገቱን ለስላሳ ክፍል የጠቦቶቹን ቈዳ አለበሰችው። 17ከዚያም ያሰናዳችውን ጣፋጭ መብልና እንጀራ ለያዕቆብ ሰጠችው።
18ያዕቆብም ወደ አባቱ ሄዶ፣ “አባቴ ሆይ” አለ፤ ይስሐቅም፣ “እነሆ፤ አለሁ ልጄ፤ ለመሆኑ አንተ ማን ነህ?” አለው።
19ያዕቆብም አባቱን፣ “እኔ የበኵር ልጅህ ዔሳው ነኝ፤ ያዘዝኸኝን አድርጌአለሁ፤ እስቲ ቀና በልና እንድትመርቀኝ ዐድኜ ካመጣሁት ብላ” አለ።
20ይስሐቅ ልጁን፣ “ልጄ ሆይ፤ ከመቼው ቀንቶህ መጣህ?” ሲል ጠየቀው። ያዕቆብም፣ “እግዚአብሔር አምላክህ (ያህዌ ኤሎሂም) አሳካልኝ” ብሎ መለሰለት።
21ይስሐቅም ያዕቆብን፣ “ልጄ ሆይ፤ አንተ በርግጥ ልጄ ዔሳው መሆንህን እንዳውቅ፣ እስቲ ቀረብ በልና ልዳብስህ” አለው።
22ያዕቆብም ወደ አባቱ ወደ ይስሐቅ ተጠጋ፤ አባቱም በእጁ እየዳሰሰው፣ “ይህ ድምፅ የያዕቆብ ድምፅ ነው፤ እጆቹ ግን የዔሳው እጆች ናቸው” አለ። 23እጆቹ እንደ ወንድሙ እንደ ዔሳው እጆች ጠጕራም ስለ ሆኑ፣ ይስሐቅ ያዕቆብን ለይቶ ማወቅ አልቻለም፤ ስለዚህ ባረከው። 24ይስሐቅም፣ “በርግጥ አንተ ልጄ ዔሳው ነህ?” ሲል ጠየቀው። ያዕቆብም፣ “አዎን፤ ነኝ” ብሎ መለሰ።
25ከዚያም፣ “በል እንግዲህ ልጄ፤ እንድመርቅህ፣ ዐድነህ ካመጣኸው አቅርብልኝና ልብላ” አለው።
ያዕቆብም ምግቡን ለአባቱ አቀረበለት፤ የወይን ጠጅም አመጣለት፤ እርሱም በላ፤ ጠጣም። 26ከዚያም አባቱ ይስሐቅ፣ ያዕቆብን፣ “ልጄ ሆይ፤ እስቲ ቀረብ በልና ሳመኝ” አለው።
27ያዕቆብም ቀርቦ ሳመው፤ ይስሐቅ የያዕቆብን ልብስ ካሸተተ በኋላ እንዲህ ብሎ መረቀው፤
“እነሆ፤ የልጄ ጠረን፣
እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) እንደ ባረከው፣
እንደ መስክ መዐዛ ነው።
28እግዚአብሔር (ኤሎሂም) የሰማይን ጠል፣
የምድርንም በረከት፣
የተትረፈረፈ እህልና የወይን ጠጅ ይስጥህ።
29መንግሥታት ይገዙልህ፤
ሕዝቦችም ተደፍተው እጅ ይንሡህ፤
የወንድሞችህ ጌታ ሁን፤
የእናትህም ልጆች ተደፍተው እጅ ይንሡህ፤
የሚረግሙህ የተረገሙ ይሁኑ፤
የሚባርኩህ የተባረኩ ይሁኑ።”
30ይስሐቅ ያዕቆብን መርቆ እንዳበቃ፣ ያዕቆብ ገና ከአባቱ ዘንድ ሳይወጣ ወዲያውኑ፣ ወንድሙ ዔሳው ከዐደን ተመለሰ። 31እርሱም ደግሞ ጣፋጭ ምግብ በማዘጋጀት ለአባቱ አቅርቦ፣ “አባቴ ሆይ፤ እንድትመርቀኝ፣ እስቲ ቀና በልና ካደንሁት ብላ” አለው።
32አባቱ ይስሐቅም፣ “አንተ ደግሞ ማን ነህ?” ሲል ጠየቀው። እርሱም፣ “እኔማ የበኵር ልጅህ ዔሳው ነኝ” አለው።
33በዚህ ጊዜ ይስሐቅ ክፉኛ እየተንቀጠቀጠ፣ “ታዲያ ቀደም ሲል ዐድኖ ያመጣልኝ ማን ነበር? አንተ ከመምጣትህ በፊት በልቼ መረቅሁት፤ እርሱም በርግጥ የተባረከ ይሆናል” አለው።
34ዔሳው የአባቱን ቃል ሲሰማ፣ ድምፁን ከፍ በማድረግ ምርር ብሎ አለቀሰ፤ አባቱንም፣ “አባቴ ሆይ፤ እኔንም ደግሞ እባክህ መርቀኝ” አለው።
35ይስሐቅም፣ “ወንድምህ መጥቶ አታልሎኝ ምርቃትህን ወስዶብሃል” አለው።
36ዔሳውም፣ “ይህ ሰው ያዕቆብ መባሉ ትክክል አይደለምን? እኔን ሲያታልለኝ ይህ ሁለተኛ ጊዜው ነው፤ መጀመሪያ ብኵርናዬን ወሰደብኝ፤ አሁን ደግሞ ምርቃቴን ቀማኝ” አለ። ቀጥሎም፣ “ታዲያ ለእኔ ያስቀረኸው ምንም ምርቃት የለም?” ብሎ ጠየቀ።
37ይስሐቅም ለዔሳው፣ “በአንተ ላይ የበላይነት እንዲኖረው፣ ወንድሞቹ ሁሉ አገልጋዮቹ እንዲሆኑ፣ እህሉ፣ የወይን ጠጁም የተትረፈረፈ እንዲሆንለት መርቄዋለሁ። ታዲያ ልጄ፣ ለአንተ ምን ላደርግልህ እችላለሁ?” ሲል መለሰለት።
38ዔሳውም አባቱን፣ “አባቴ ሆይ፤ ምርቃትህ ይህችው ብቻ ናትን? እባክህ አባቴ፣ እኔንም መርቀኝ” አለው፤ ድምፁንም ከፍ አድርጎ አለቀሰ።
39አባቱ ይስሐቅም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤
“መኖሪያህ
ከምድር በረከት፣
ከላይም ከሰማይ ጠል የራቀ ይሆናል፤
40በሰይፍ ትኖራለህ፤
የወንድምህም አገልጋይ ትሆናለህ።
አምርረህ በተነሣህ ጊዜ ግን፣
ቀንበሩን ከጫንቃህ ላይ፣
ወዲያ ትጥላለህ።”
ያዕቆብ ወደ ላባ ሸሸ
41አባቱ ያቆብን ስለ መረቀው፣ ዔሳው በያዕቆብ ላይ ቂም ያዘ፤ በልቡም፣ “ግድ የለም፤ የአባቴ መሞቻው ተቃርቧል፤ ከልቅሶው በኋላ ወንድሜን ያዕቆብን እገድላለሁ” ብሎ ዐሰበ።
42ርብቃ፣ ታላቁ ልጇ ዔሳው ያሰበው በተነገራት ጊዜ ታናሹን ልጇን ያዕቆብን አስጠርታ እንዲህ አለችው፤ “ወንድምህ ዔሳው ሊገድልህ ጊዜ እየጠበቀ ነው፤ 43አሁንም፣ ልጄ ሆይ፤ እኔ የምልህን አድርግ፤ በካራን ምድር ወደሚኖረው ወደ ላባ ቶሎ ሽሽ። 44የወንድምህ ቍጣ እስከሚበርድ እዚያው ቈይ፤ 45ነገር ግን ቍጣው በርዶለት ያደረግህበትን ከረሳ በኋላ፣ እንድትመለስ እልክብህና ትመጣለህ። ሁለታችሁንም በአንድ ቀን ለምን ልጣ?”
46ከዚያም ርብቃ ይስሐቅን፣ “ዔሳው ባገባቸው በኬጢያውያን ሴቶች ምክንያት መኖር አስጠልቶኛል፤ ያዕቆብም ከዚሁ አገር ከኬጢያውያን ሴቶች ሚስት የሚያገባ ከሆነ፣ ሞቴን እመርጣለሁ” አለችው።
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for his elder son Esau and said to him, ‘My son.’
‘Here I am,’ he answered.
2Isaac said, ‘I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3Now then, get your equipment – your quiver and bow – and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.’
5Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, ‘Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7“Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.” 8Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.’
11Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.’
13His mother said to him, ‘My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.’
14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.
18He went to his father and said, ‘My father.’
‘Yes, my son,’ he answered. ‘Who is it?’
19Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’
20Isaac asked his son, ‘How did you find it so quickly, my son?’
‘The Lord your God gave me success,’ he replied.
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.’
22Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.’ 23He did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24‘Are you really my son Esau?’ he asked.
‘I am,’ he replied.
25Then he said, ‘My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.’
Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come here, my son, and kiss me.’
27So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of 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.
28May God give you heaven’s dew
and earth’s richness –
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed.’
30After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, ‘My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.’
32His father Isaac asked him, ‘Who are you?’
‘I am your son,’ he answered, ‘your firstborn, Esau.’
33Isaac trembled violently and said, ‘Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him – and indeed he will be blessed!’
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, ‘Bless me – me too, my father!’
35But he said, ‘Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.’
36Esau said, ‘Isn’t he rightly named Jacob27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!’ Then he asked, ‘Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?’
37Isaac answered Esau, ‘I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?’
38Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!’ Then Esau wept aloud.
39His father Isaac answered him,
‘Your dwelling will be
away from the earth’s richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck.’
41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’
42When Rebekah was told what her elder son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, ‘Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say: flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?’
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.’
