The Book of Jasher

Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel

Faithfully Translated

FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW INTO ENGLISH

Chapter 47

Isaac Blesses his two Sons and Dies. His Property
is Divided. Esau takes all the personal Property and Jacob chooses the
Inheritance of the Land of Canaan, with the Cave of Machpelah for a Burying Place.

1 And Isaac the son of Abraham was still living in
those days in the land of Canaan; he was very aged, one hundred and eighty years
old, and Esau his son, the brother of Jacob, was in the land of Edom, and he and
his sons had possessions in it amongst the children of Seir.

2 And Esau heard that his father’s time was drawing
nigh to die, and he and his sons and household came unto the land of Canaan, unto
his father’s house, and Jacob and his sons went forth from the place where they
dwelt in Hebron, and they all came to their father Isaac, and they found Esau and
his sons in the tent.

3 And Jacob and his sons sat before his father Isaac,
and Jacob was still mourning for his son Joseph.

4 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Bring me hither thy sons
and I will bless them; and Jacob brought his eleven children before his father Isaac.

5 And Isaac placed his hands upon all the sons of
Jacob, and he took hold of them and embraced them, and kissed them one by one, and
Isaac blessed them on that day, and he said unto them, May the God of your fathers
bless you and increase your seed like the stars of heaven for number.

6 And Isaac also blessed the sons of Esau, saying,
May God cause you to be a dread and a terror to all that will behold you, and to
all your enemies.

7 And Isaac called Jacob and his sons, and they all
came and sat before Isaac, and Isaac said unto Jacob, The Lord God of the whole
earth said unto me, Unto thy seed will I give this land for an inheritance if thy
children keep my statutes and my ways, and I will perform unto them the oath which
I swore unto thy father Abraham.

8 Now therefore my son, teach thy children and thy
children’s children to fear the Lord, and to go in the good way which will please
the Lord thy God, for if you keep the ways of the Lord and his statutes the Lord
will also keep unto you his covenant with Abraham, and will do well with you and
your seed all the days.

9 And when Isaac had finished commanding Jacob and
his children, he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered unto his people.

10 And Jacob and Esau fell upon the face of their
father Isaac, and they wept, and Isaac was one hundred and eighty years old when
he died in the land of Canaan, in Hebron, and his sons carried him to the cave of
Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth for a possession of
a burial place.

11 And all the kings of the land of Canaan went with
Jacob and Esau to bury Isaac, and all the kings of Canaan showed Isaac great honor
at his death.

12 And the sons of Jacob and the sons of Esau went
barefooted round about, walking and lamenting until they reached Kireath-arba.

13 And Jacob and Esau buried their father Isaac in
the cave of Machpelah, which is in Kireath-arba in Hebron, and they buried him with
very great honor, as at the funeral of kings.

14 And Jacob and his sons, and Esau and his sons,
and all the kings of Canaan made a great and heavy mourning, and they buried him
and mourned for him many days.

15 And at the death of Isaac, he left his cattle and
his possessions and all belonging to him to his sons; and Esau said unto Jacob,
Behold I pray thee, all that our father has left we will divide it in two parts,
and I will have the choice, and Jacob said, We will do so.

16 And Jacob took all that Isaac had left in the land
of Canaan, the cattle and the property, and he placed them in two parts before Esau
and his sons, and he said unto Esau, Behold all this is before thee, choose thou
unto thyself the half which thou wilt take.

17 And Jacob said unto Esau, Hear thou I pray thee
what I will speak unto thee, saying, The Lord God of heaven and earth spoke unto
our fathers Abraham and Isaac, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land for an
inheritance forever.

18 Now therefore all that our father has left is before
thee, and behold all the land is before thee; choose thou from them what thou desirest.

19 If thou desirest the whole land take it for thee
and thy children forever, and I will take this riches, and it thou desirest the
riches take it unto thee, and I will take this land for me and for my children to
inherit it forever.

20 And Nebayoth, the son of Ishmael, was then in the
land with his children, and Esau went on that day and consulted with him, saying.

21 Thus has Jacob spoken unto me, and thus has he
answered me, now give thy advice and we will hear.

22 And Nebayoth said, What is this that Jacob hath
spoken unto thee? behold all the children of Canaan are dwelling securely in their
land, and Jacob sayeth he will inherit it with his seed all the days.

23 Go now therefore and take all thy father’s riches
and leave Jacob thy brother in the land, as he has spoken.

24 And Esau rose up and returned to Jacob, and did
all that Nebayoth the son of Ishmael had advised; and Esau took all the riches that
Isaac had left, the souls, the beasts, the cattle and the property, and all the
riches; he gave nothing to his brother Jacob; and Jacob took all the land of Canaan,
from the brook of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, and he took it for an everlasting
possession, and for his children and for his seed after him forever.

25 Jacob also took from his brother Esau the cave
of Machpelah, which is in Hebron, which Abraham had bought from Ephron for a possession
of a burial place for him and his seed forever.

26 And Jacob wrote all these things in the book of
purchase, and he signed it, and he testified all this with four faithful witnesses.

27 And these are the words which Jacob wrote in the
book, saying: The land of Canaan and all the cities of the Hittites, the Hivites,
the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, and the Gergashites, all the seven
nations from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates.

28 And the city of Hebron Kireath-arba, and the cave
which is in it, the whole did Jacob buy from his brother Esau for value, for a possession
and for an inheritance for his seed after him forever.

29 And Jacob took the book of purchase and the signature,
the command and the statutes and the revealed book, and he placed them in an earthen
vessel in order that they should remain for a long time, and he delivered them into
the hands of his children.

30 Esau took all that his father had left him after
his death from his brother Jacob, and he took all the property, from man and beast,
camel and ass, ox and lamb, silver and gold, stones and bdellium, and all the riches
which had belonged to Isaac the son of Abraham; there was nothing left which Esau
did not take unto himself, from all that Isaac had left after his death.

31 And Esau took all this, and he and his children
went home to the land of Seir the Horite, away from his brother Jacob and his children.

32 And Esau had possessions amongst the children of
Seir, and Esau returned not to the land of Canaan from that day forward.

33 And the whole land of Canaan became an inheritance
to the children of Israel for an everlasting inheritance, and Esau with all his
children inherited the mountain of Seir.