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again.
         32  That very same day Isaac’s servants came to tell him, “We have found water”—in the well they had been digging. 33  So he named the well, “The Well of the Oath,” * and the city that grew up there was named “Oath,” * and is called that to this day.
         34  Esau, at the age of forty, married a girl named Judith, daughter of Be-eri the Hethite; and he also married Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hethite. 35  But Isaac and Rebekah were bitter about his marrying them.
    Genesis 27
    One day, in Isaac’s old age when he was almost blind, he called for Esau his oldest son.
    Isaac: “My son?”
    Esau: “Yes, Father?”
    2-4   Isaac: “I am an old man now, and expect every day to be my last. Take your bow and arrows out into the fields and get me some venison, and prepare it just the way I like it—savory and good—and bring it here for me to eat, and I will give you the blessings that belong to you, my firstborn son, * before I die.”
         5  But Rebekah overheard the conversation. So when Esau left for the field to hunt for the venison, 6-7  she called her son Jacob and told him what his father had said to his brother.
    8-10   Rebekah: “Now do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flocks and bring me two young goats, and I’ll prepare your father’s favorite dish from them. Then take it to your father, and after he has enjoyed it he will bless you before his death, instead of Esau!” *
    11-12   Jacob: “But Mother! He won’t be fooled that easily. * Think how hairy Esau is, and how smooth my skin is! What if my father feels me? He’ll think I’m making a fool of him and curse me instead of blessing me!”
    13   Rebekah: “Let his curses be on me, dear son. Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats.”
         14  So Jacob followed his mother’s instructions, bringing the dressed kids, which she prepared in his father’s favorite way. 15  Then she took Esau’s best clothes—they were there in the house—and instructed Jacob to put them on. 16  And she made him a pair of gloves from the hairy skin of the young goats, and fastened a strip of the hide around his neck; 17  then she gave him the meat, with its rich aroma, and some fresh-baked bread.
         18  Jacob carried the platter of food into the room where his father was lying.
    Jacob: “Father?”
    Isaac: “Yes? Who is it, my son—Esau or Jacob?”
    19   Jacob: “It’s Esau, your oldest son. I’ve done as you told me to. Here is the delicious venison you wanted. Sit up and eat it, so that you will bless me with all your heart!”
    20   Isaac: “How were you able to find it so quickly, my son?”
    Jacob: “Because Jehovah your God put it in my path!”
    21   Isaac: “Come over here. I want to feel you and be sure it really is Esau!”
         22  (Jacob goes over to his father. He feels him!)
    Isaac: (to himself) “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s!”
         23  (The ruse convinces Isaac and he gives Jacob his blessings):
    24   Isaac: “Are you really Esau?”
    Jacob: “Yes, of course.”
    25   Isaac: “Then bring me the venison, and I will eat it and bless you with all my heart.”
         (Jacob takes it over to him and Isaac eats; he also drinks the wine Jacob brings him.)
    26   Isaac: “Come here and kiss me, my son!”
         (Jacob goes over and kisses him on the cheek. Isaac sniffs his clothes, and finally seems convinced.)
    27-29   Isaac: “The smell of my son is the good smell of the earth and fields that Jehovah has blessed. May God always give you plenty of rain for your crops, and good harvests and grapes. May many nations be your slaves. Be the master of your brothers. May all your relatives bow low before you. Cursed are all who curse you, and blessed are all who bless you.”
         30  (As soon as Isaac has blessed Jacob, and almost before Jacob leaves the room, Esau arrives, coming in from his hunting. 31  He also has