And it was when Izhak was old and his eyes were darkened from seeing,--because when his father was binding him he had seen the Throne of Glory, and from that time his eyes had begun to darken,--that he called Esau his elder son, on the fourteenth of Nisan, and said to him, My son, behold, this night they on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it. And he said, Behold, I am.

And he said, Behold, now I am old; I know not the day of my death:

but now take thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow; and go forth into the field, and take me venison,

and make me food such as I love, and bring to me, and I will eat, that my sould may bless thee ere I die.

And Rivekah heard by the Holy Spirit as Izhak spake with Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to take venison to bring it.

And Rivekah spake to Jakob her son, saying, Behold, this night those on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it; and I have heard thy father speaking with Esau thy brother, saying,

Bring me venison, and make me food, and I will bless thee in the presence of the Lord before I die. And now my son

receive from me what I command thee:

Go now to the house of the flock, and take me from thence two fat kids of the goats; one for the pascha, and one for the oblation of the feast; and I will make of them food for thy father such as he loveth.

And thou shalt carry to thy father, and he will eat, that he may bless thee before his death.

And because Jakob was afraid to sin, fearing lest his father might curse him, he said, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes like one who derideth him, and bring upon me a curse and not a blessing.

And she said, If with blessings he bless thee, they shall be upon thee and upon thy sons; and if with curses he should curse thee, they shall be upon me and upon my soul: therefore receive from me, and go and take for me.

And he went and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made food such as his father loved.

And Rivekah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam's; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jakob her younger son.

And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck.

And the food and the bread she had made she set in the hand of Jakob her son.

And he entered unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Behold me: who art thou, my son?

And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou spakest with me. Arise now, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

And Izhak said to his son, What is this that thou hast found so soon, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God had prepared it before me.

And Izhak said to Jakob, Come near now, and I will feel thee, my son, whether thou be my son Esau or not.

And Jakob drew near to Izhak his father, who touched him, and said, This voice is the voice of Jakob, nevertheless the feeling of the hands is as the feeling of the hands of Esau.

But he recognised him not, because his hands were hairy as the hands of Esau his brother, and he blessed him.

And he said, But art thou my son Esau? And he said, I am.

And he said, Draw near, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he approached him, and he ate; and he had no wine; but an angel prepared it for him, from the wine which had been kept in its grapes from the days of the beginning of the world; and he gave it into Jakob's hand, and Jakob brought it to his father, and he drank.

And Izhak his father said, Draw near now, and kiss me, my son;

and Jakob drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his vestments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of the fragrant incense which is to be offered on the mountain of the house of the sanctuary, which shall be called a field which the Lord hath blessed, and that He hath chosen, that therein His Shekinah might dwell.

Therefore the Word of the Lord give thee of the good dews which descend from the heavens, and of the good fountains that spring up, and make the herbage of the earth to grow from beneath, and plenty of provision and wine.

Let peoples be subject to thee, all the sons of Esau, and kingdoms bend before thee, all the sons of Keturah; a chief and a ruler be thou over thy brethren, and let the sons of thy mother salute thee. Let them who curse thee, my son, be accursed as Bileam bar Beor; and them who bless thee be blessed as Mosheh the prophet, the scribe of Israel.

And it was when Izhak had finished blessing Jakob, and Jakob had only gone out about two handbreadths from Izhak his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

And the Word of the Lord had impeded him from taking clean venison; but he had found a certain dog, and killed him, and made food of him, and brought to his father, and said to his father, Arise, my father, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

And Izhak his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy firstborn, Esau.

And Izhak was moved with great agitation when he heard the voice of Esau, and the smell of his food rose in his nostrils as the smell of the burning of Gehennam; and he said, Who is he who hath got venison, and come to me, and I have eaten of all which he brought me before thou camest, and I have blessed him, and he shall, too, be blessed?

When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a cry exceeding great and bitter, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, my father! And he said,

Thy brother hath come with subtilty, and hath received from me thy blessing.

And he said, His name is truly called Jakob; for he hath dealt treacherously with me these two times: my birthright he took, and, behold, now he hath received my blessing! And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have appointed him a ruler over thee, and all his brethren have I made to be his servants, and with provision and wine have I sustained him: and now go, leave me; for what can I do for thee, my son?

And Esau answered his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

And Izhak answered and said to Esau, Behold, among the good fruits of the earth shall be thy habitation, and with the dews of the heavens from above.

And upon thy sword shalt thou depend, entering at every place: yet thou shalt be supple and credulous, and be in subjection to thy brother; but it will be that when his sons become evil, and fall from keeping the commandments of the law, thou shalt break his yoke of servitude from off thy neck.

And Esau kept hatred in his heart against Jakob his brother, on account of the order of blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, I will not do as Kain did, who slew Habel in the life (time) of his father, for which his father begat Sheth, but will wait till the time when the days of mourning for the death of my father come, and then will I kill Jakob my brother, and will be found the killer and the heir.

And the words of Esau her elder son, who thought in his heart to kill Jakob, were shown by the Holy Spirit to Rivekah, and she sent, and called Jakob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, Esau thy brother lieth in wait for thee, and plotteth against thee to kill thee.

And now, my son, hearken to me: arise, escape for thy life, and go unto Laban my brother, at Haran,

and dwell with him a few days, until the wrath of thy brother be abated,

until thy brother's anger have quieted from thee, and he have forgotten what thou hast done to him; and I will send and take thee from thence. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day: thou being slain, and he driven forth, as Hava was bereaved of Habel, whom Kain slew, and both were removed from before Adam and Hava all the days of the life of Adam and Hava?

And Rivekah said to Izhak, I am afflicted in my life on account of the indignity of the daughters of Heth. If Jakob take a wicked wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these of the daughters of the people of the land, what will life be to me?