Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, the sons of Abraham’s son Isaac and Rebekah, Isaac’s first cousin once removed. Esau, the firstborn, was red and hairy. His brother Jacob was notoriously deceptive; he was pulling Esau’s leg from the day he was born.

When Isaac was old and blind, he told his favorite son Esau to go hunt and prepare some food for him, and then he would bless Esau. But while Esau was out hunting, Rebekah helped her favorite son Jacob steal Esau’s blessing. She prepared two goats that Jacob brought her from their flock, so Jacob could take the food to Isaac.

Jacob went to his father wearing some of Esau’s clothes to make him smell like Esau, and some goatskins to make him feel hairy like Esau. Isaac thought his son had come back awfully quickly and sounded an awful lot like Jacob. But he felt like Esau and he smelled like Esau and said he was Esau, so Isaac blessed him. Then Jacob left and Esau came to Isaac to get his blessing, but Isaac was out of blessings.

Later, Jacob beat God at wrestling and forced him to bless him too. And Jacob was blessed.

The end.

The moral of the story

Deception and force are effective ways to get blessings.