Genesis 49
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.
2 Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.
4 Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.
Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, and didst defile his couch.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.
6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.
9 Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
Juda is a lion’s whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.
11 He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.
15 He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.
He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.
16 Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.
17 He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.
Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels that his rider may fall backward.
18 I await Your salvation, O LORD.
I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.
20 Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.
21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine— a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.
23 The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.
24 Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.
25 by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.
The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.
28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.
29 Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,
30 The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to bury in.
31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.
There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.
32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.
And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people.
