Genesis 49

1 And Jacob called to his sons, and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.

And Jacob called his sons, and said to them,

2 Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken to Israel your father.

Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear me, sons of Jacob; hear Israel, hear your father.

3 Reuben, thou are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power.

Ruben, thou [art] my first-born, thou my strength, and the first of my children, hard to be endured, [hard and] self-willed.

4 Boiling over as water, thou shall not have the pre-eminence, because thou went up to thy father's bed, then thou defiled it; he went up to my couch.

Thou wast insolent like water, burst not forth with violence, for thou wentest up to the bed of thy father; then thou defiledst the couch, whereupon thou wentest up.

5 Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence are their swords.

Symeon and Levi, brethren, accomplished the injustice of their cutting off.

6 O my soul, come not thou into their council, to their assembly, my glory, be not thou united, for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hocked an ox.

Let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not mine inward parts contend in their conspiracy, for in their wrath they slew men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Cursed be their wrath, for it was willful, and their anger, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

8 Judah, thy brothers shall praise thee. Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.

Juda, thy brethren have praised thee, and thy hands shall be on the back of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall do thee reverence.

9 Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him up?

Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, thou art gone up, having couched thou liest as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and to him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of nations.

11 Binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

Binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the branch [of it], he shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

His eyes shall be more cheering than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships. And his border shall be upon Sidon.

Zabulon shall dwell on the coast, and he [shall be] by a haven of ships, and shall extend to Sidon.

14 Issachar is a strong donkey, couching down between the sheepfolds.

Issachar has desired that which is good; resting between the inheritances.

15 And he saw a resting place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant. And he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under task work.

And having seen the resting place that it was good, and the land that it was fertile, he subjected his shoulder to labour, and became a husbandman.

16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall judge his people, as one tribe too in Israel.

17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.

And let Dan be a serpent in the way, besetting the path, biting the heel of the horse (and the rider shall fall backward),

18 I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah.

waiting for the salvation of the Lord.

19 Gad, a troop shall press upon him, but he shall press upon their heel.

Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him; but he shall plunder him, [pursuing him] closely.

20 Out of the Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Aser, his bread [shall be] fat; and he shall yield dainties to princes.

21 Naphtali is a hind let loose. He gives goodly words.

Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit.

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a fountain, his branches run over the wall.

Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me.

23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and persecute him,

Against whom men taking evil counsel reproached [him], and the archers pressed hard upon him.

24 but his bow abode in strength. And the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

But their bow and arrows were mightily consumed, and the sinews of their arms were slackened by the hand of the mighty one of Jacob; thence is he that strengthened Israel from the God of thy father;

25 even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

and my God helped thee, and he blessed thee with the blessing of heaven from above, and the blessing of the earth possessing all things, because of the blessing of the breasts and of the womb,

26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my forefathers to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

the blessings of thy father and thy mother—it has prevailed above the blessing of the lasting mountains, and beyond the blessings of the everlasting hills; they shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the head of the brothers of whom he took the lead.

27 Benjamin is a wolf that ravens. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at evening he shall divide the spoil.

Benjamin, as a ravening wolf, shall eat still in the morning, and at evening he gives food.

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke to them and blessed them; every man according to his blessing he blessed them.

All these [are] the twelve sons of Jacob; and their father spoke these words to them, and he blessed them; he blessed each of them according to his blessing.

29 And he ordered them, and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

And he said to them, I am added to my people; ye shall bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Chettite,

30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying place.

in the double cave which is opposite Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, the cave which Abraam bought of Ephron the Chettite, for a possession of a sepulchre.

31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah,

There they buried Abraam and Sarrha his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; there they buried Lea;

32 the field and the cave that is in it, which was purchased from the sons of Heth.

in the portion of the field, and of the cave that was in it, [purchased] of the sons of Chet.

33 And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.

And Jacob ceased giving charges to his sons; and having lifted up his feet on the bed, he died, and was gathered to his people.