27 (2) And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

(3) now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and catch me some venison;

(4) and make me savoury food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die.

(5) And Rivqa heard when Yiżĥaq spoke to ῾Esav his son. And ῾Esav went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

(6) And Rivqa spoke to Ya῾aqov her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak to ῾Esav thy brother, saying,

(7) Bring me venison, and make me savoury food, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.

(8) Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

(9) Go now to the flock, and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats; and I will make them into savoury food for thy father, such as he loves:

(10) and thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.

(11) And Ya῾aqov said to Rivqa his mother, Behold, ῾Esav my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

(12) my father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

(13) And his mother said to him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

(14) And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury food, such as his father loved.

(15) And Rivqa took the best clothes of her eldest son ῾Esav, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Ya῾aqov her younger son:

(16) and she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

(17) and she gave the savoury food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Ya῾aqov.

(18) And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I: who art thou, my son?

(19) And Ya῾aqov said to his father, I am ῾Esav thy firstborn; I have done according as thou didst tell me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

(20) And Yiżĥaq said to his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because, the Lord thy God sent me good speed.

(21) And Yiżĥaq said to Ya῾aqov, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou art really my son ῾Esav or not.

(22) And Ya῾aqov went near to Yiżĥaq his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Ya῾aqov’s voice, but the hands are the hands of ῾Esav.

(23) And he recognised him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother ῾Esav’s hands: so he blessed him.

(24) And he said, Art thou really my son ῾Esav? And he said, I am.

(25) And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank.

(26) And his father Yiżĥaq said to him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

(27) And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelt the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed:

27 (28) therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

(29) let peoples serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be those that curse thee, and blessed be those that bless thee.

(30) And it came to pass, as soon as Yiżĥaq had made an end of blessing Ya῾aqov, and Ya῾aqov was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Yiżĥaq his father, that ῾Esav his brother came in from his hunting.

(31) And he also had made savoury food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.

(32) And Yiżĥaq his father said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn ῾Esav.

(33) And Yiżĥaq trembled very much, and said, Who then is he that has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? moreover, he shall be blessed.

(34) And when ῾Esav heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, me also, O my father.

(35) And he said, Thy brother came with cunning and has taken away thy blessing.

(36) And he said, Is not he rightly named Ya῾aqov? for he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

(37) And Yiżĥaq answered and said to ῾Esav, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now for thee, my son?

(38) And ῾Esav said to his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father.

(39) And ῾Esav raised his voice, and wept. And Yiżĥaq his father answered and said to him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;

(40) and by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

(41) And ῾Esav hated Ya῾aqov because of the blessing with which his father blessed him: and ῾Esav said in his heart, When the days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Ya῾aqov.

(42) And these words of ῾Esav, her elder son, were told to Rivqa: and she sent and called Ya῾aqov her younger son, and said to him, Behold, thy brother ῾Esav comforts himself, purposing to kill thee.

(43) Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee to Lavan my brother, to Ḥaran;

(44) and dwell with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;

(45) until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from there: why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?

(46) And Rivqa said to Yiżĥaq, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Ḥet: if Ya῾aqov take a wife of the daughters of Ḥet, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life be to me?

28 (1) And Yiżĥaq called Ya῾aqov, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Kena῾an.

(2) Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Betu᾽el thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from there of the daughters of Lavan thy mother’s brother.

(3) And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayst be a multitude of people;

(4) and give thee the blessing of Avraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayst inherit the land in which thou art a sojourner, and which God gave to Avraham.

28 (5) And Yiżĥaq sent away Ya῾aqov: and he went to Paddan-aram to Lavan, son of Betu᾽el the Arammian, the brother of Rivqa, mother of Ya῾aqov and ῾Esav.

(6) When ῾Esav saw that Yiżĥaq had blessed Ya῾aqov, and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take him a wife from there; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Kena῾an:

(7) and that Ya῾aqov obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan-aram,

(8) and ῾Esav saw that the daughters of Kena῾an pleased not Yiżĥaq his father;

(9) then ῾Esav went and took to wife besides the wives he had, Maĥalat the daughter of Yishma᾽el Avraham’s son, the sister of Nevayot.

1 (1) The burden of the word of the Lord to Yisra᾽el by Mal᾽akhi. (2) I have loved you, says the Lord. Yet you say, In what hast Thou loved us? Was not ῾Esav Ya῾aqov’s brother? says the Lord: yet I loved Ya῾aqov, (3) and I hated ῾Esav, and laid his mountains waste, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness. (4) For Edom says, We are made destitute; but we will return and rebuild the desolate places. Thus says the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall be called, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord has indignation for ever. (5) And your eyes shall see, and you shall say, The Lord is great beyond the border of Yisra᾽el. (6) A son honours his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. And you say, In what have we despised Thy name? (7) You offer disgusting bread upon my altar; and you say, In what have we polluted Thee? In that you say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. (8) And if you offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if you offer a lame or sick animal, is that not evil? offer it now to thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or will he show you favour? says the Lord of hosts. (9) And now, I pray you, entreat God that he will be gracious to us: this has been your doing: will he show favour to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. (10) O that there were one among you who would shut the doors that you might not kindle fire on my altar for nought! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering at your hand. (11) For from the rising of the sun until it goes down, my name is great among the nations; and in every place incense is burnt and sacrifices are offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. (12) But you profane it, in that you suppose that the table of the Lord is disgusting, and its fruit contemptible to eat. (13) And you have said, Behold, what a weariness it is! and you have snuffed at it, says the Lord of hosts; and you have brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; so you have brought an offering: should I accept this at your hand? says the Lord. (14) But cursed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, and yet vows, and sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished: for I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is feared among the nations. 2 (1) And now, O you priests, this commandment is for you. (2) If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart. (3) Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it. (4) And you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant might be with Levi, says the Lord of hosts. (5) My covenant was with him for life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared me, and was afraid of my name. (6) The Tora of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not to be found on his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. (7) For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek Tora at his mouth: for he is a messenger of the Lord of hosts.

1. Anything which is joined with [the water of] a mikveh is like a mikveh. One may immerse in holes of a cavern and in crevices of a cavern just as they are. The pit of a cavern, one may not immerse in it unless it had a hole as big as the tube of a water-skin. Rabbi Judah said: when [is this the case]? When it stands by itself; but if it does not stand by itself, one may immerse in it just as it is.

2. If a bucket was full of utensils and they were immersed, they become clean; But if [the bucket] was not immersed, the water in the bucket is not considered as joined [with the water of the mikveh] unless it be joined [by means of a hole in the bucket which is as big] as the tube of a water-skin.

3. Three mikvehs, two of which held twenty seahs [of valid water] and the third held twenty seahs of drawn water, and that holding drawn water was at the side: If three persons went down and immersed themselves in them and [the water of the three mikvehs] joined, the mikvehs are clean and they that immersed themselves become clean. If the one holding the drawn water was in the middle and three persons went down and immersed themselves in them and [the water of the three mikvehs] joined, the mikvehs continue as they were before and they that immersed themselves are as they were before.

4. If a sponge or a bucket containing three logs of water fell into a mikveh, they do not make it invalid, because they have only said: "if three logs fell in."

5. A chest or a box which is in the sea: one may not immerse in them unless they have a hole as large as the tube of a water-skin. Rabbi Judah says: in the case of a large vessel [the hole should be] four handbreadths, and in a small one [the hole should be as large as] the greater part of it. If there was a sack or a basket [in the sea], one may immerse in them as they are, since the water is mixed together. If they are placed under a water-spout, they do not make the mikveh invalid. And they may be immersed and brought up in the ordinary way.

6. If there was a broken [earthenware] vessel in the mikveh and utensils were immersed in it, they become clean from their [former] uncleanness but are again rendered unclean because of the earthenware vessel. But if water flowed above it in any quantity, they are clean. If [water of] a spring flowed forth from an oven and a man went down and immersed himself in it, he is clean but his hands become unclean. But if [the water was as] high above the oven as the height of his hands, his hands also are clean.

7. Mikvaot can be joined together [if their connection is as big] as the tube of a water-skin in thickness and in space, in which two fingers can be fully turned round. If there is a doubt [whether it is as big] as the tube of a water skin or not, it is invalid, because [this is a mitzvah] from the Torah. The same applies also to the olive's bulk of a corpse and the olive's bulk of carrion and the lentil's bulk of a sheretz. Anything which remains in [the space measuring] the tube of a water-skin lessens [its measure]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: if it is any water creature whatsoever, [the mikvaot] remain clean.

8. Mikvaot may be made clean [by joining drawn water from] a higher [mikveh to valid water] from a lower [mikveh or drawn water from] a distant [mikveh to valid water] in a [mikveh] near at hand. How so? One brings a pipe of earthenware or of lead and puts his hand beneath it till it is filled with water; then he draws it along till [the two waters] touch even if it be by a hair's breadth it is sufficient. If in the higher [mikveh] there were forty seahs and nothing in the lower, one may draw water and carry it on the shoulder and place it in the higher [mikveh] till forty seahs have flowed down into the lower [mikveh].

9. If a wall between two mikvaot had a perpendicular crack, [their waters] may be reckoned together; [If it was cracked] horizontally, they cannot be reckoned together, unless there is at one place [a hole as big] as the tube of a water-skin. Rabbi Judah says: the rule is reversed. If there is a breach from one [mikveh] to the other, [they can be reckoned together] if the height is as [the thickness of] the skin of garlic and the breadth like the tube of a water-skin.

10. The outlet of a bath-basin: if it is in the center, it renders [the bath] invalid [as a mikveh]; but if it is at the side, it does not render it invalid, because then it is like one mikveh adjoining another mikveh, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: if the bath- basin can contain a quarter-log of [water] before it reaches the outlet, it is valid; but if not, it is not valid. Rabbi Elazar bar Zadok says: if the outlet can contain any amount of [water], it is invalid.

11. The ‘purifier' in the bathhouse: the bottom was full of drawn [water] and the top full of valid [water], if [the space] in front of the hole can contain three logs it is invalid [as a mikveh]. How large must the hole be to contain three logs? 1/320th of the pool, the words of Rabbi Yose. But Rabbi Elazar says: even if the bottom [pipe] was full of valid [water] and the top [pipe] full of drawn [water] and by the hole's side were three logs, [the bath is] valid, for they have only said: "if three logs fell in."

§ The mishna teaches that with regard to any hand that is diligent to examine bodily emissions, among men, such a hand should be severed. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: Do we learn this statement as a practical halakha, i.e., that the court should actually sever his hand, or do we learn it as a mere curse, but not as an actual instruction to punish him in that manner? The Gemara elaborates: Do we learn it as a practical halakha like that prohibition against striking another, in which the same expression is used: With regard to anyone who raises his hand upon another, his hand should be severed, and Rav Huna indeed acted accordingly and severed the hand of an offender? Or perhaps do we learn it as a mere curse?

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Tarfon says: If one’s hand goes to his penis, his hand should be severed upon his navel. The Rabbis said to him: If so, in a case where a thorn was stuck in one’s belly, should he not remove it? Rabbi Tarfon said to them: Indeed, he should not remove it, and if he does so his hand should be severed. The Rabbis replied: But if his hand is severed while it is upon his navel, won’t his belly be split open? Rabbi Tarfon said to them: It is preferable that the belly of one who acts in this manner should be split open, and he should not descend into the pit of destruction.

The Gemara analyzes this discussion: Granted, if you say that we learn the statement in the mishna as a practical halakha, this is the meaning of that which the Rabbis said: But if his hand is severed upon his navel, won’t his belly be split open? But if you say that we learn the statement in the mishna as a mere curse, what is the meaning of the phrase: Won’t his belly be split open? The Gemara responds: Rather, what explanation is the alternative? That we learn the mishna as stating a practical halakha? That would not explain the exchange between the Rabbis to Rabbi Tarfon, because is it not sufficient that the hand be severed not upon his navel? In other words, even if the hand must actually be severed, it is not clear why it should be severed while it is upon his navel.

Rather, this is what Rabbi Tarfon is saying: With regard to anyone who inserts his hand below his navel, his hand should be severed. The Rabbis said to Rabbi Tarfon: If a thorn was stuck in one’s belly, should he not remove it? Rabbi Tarfon said to them: He should not. They responded: But won’t his belly be split open due to the thorn? Rabbi Tarfon said to them: It is preferable that his belly be split open, and he should not descend into the pit of destruction.

It is permissible to start forbidden work from the eve of Shabbat, even though it is finished on its own on Shabbat; as we are only forbidden to do forbidden work on the day of Shabbat itself. But when the work is done by itself on Shabbat, it is permissible for us to benefit from that which was done on its own on Shabbat.

How is this? We open water channels to a garden on the eve of Shabbat, and it fills up and continues the whole entire day. And we place the mugmar (sweet smelling smoke) under the clothes and they give off the smell and continue the whole entire Shabbat. And we place an eye-salve on the eye and a bandage on a wound and [the wounds] are medicated and continue the whole entire Shabbat. And we soak dyes and ink with the twilight [before Shabbat] and they soak and continue the whole entire Shabbat. And we put wool in the cauldron and strands of flax into the oven and they are transformed and continue the whole entire Shabbat. And we spread nets for wild animals, birds and fish with the twilight and they are trapped and continue the whole entire Shabbat. And we load the beams of the olive press and the wheel of the winepress with the twilight and the liquids flow [from the olives and grapes] and continue the whole entire Shabbat. And we light the lamp or the bonfire from the eve and it is lit and continues the whole entire Shabbat.

And we place a stewpot on top of the fire, or meat in the oven or on the coals, and they cook and continue the whole Shabbat and we eat it on Shabbat. But with this thing, there are things that are forbidden, [as a] decree lest he stoke the coals on Shabbat.