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 calls to his sons and says, “Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which happens with you in the latter end of the days.
2 Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And listen to your father Israel.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
Reuben! You [are] my firstborn, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength;
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.
Unstable as water, you are not abundant; For you have gone up your father’s bed; Then you have defiled [it]: He went up my couch!
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
Simeon and Levi [are] brothers! Instruments of violence—their espousals!
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.
Into their secret, do not come, O my soul! Do not be united to their assembly, O my glory; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince.
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 [is] their anger, for [it is] fierce, And their wrath, for [it is] sharp; I divide them in Jacob, And I 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.
Judah! Your brothers praise you! Your hand [is] on the neck of your enemies, Sons of your father bow themselves to you.
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?
A lion’s whelp [is] Judah, For prey, my son, you have gone up; He has bent, he has crouched as a lion, And as a lioness; who causes him to arise?
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 scepter does not turn aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Until his Seed comes; And His [is] the obedience of peoples.
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.
Binding to the vine his donkey, And to the choice vine the colt of his donkey, He has washed in wine his clothing, And in the blood of grapes his covering;
12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with milk!
13 Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
Zebulun dwells at a haven of the seas, And he [is] for a haven of ships; And his side [is] to Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
Issachar [is] a strong donkey, Crouching between the two folds;
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.
And he sees rest, that [it is] good, And the land, that [it is] pleasant, And he inclines his shoulder to bear, And is a servant for tribute.
16 Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan judges his people, As one of the tribes of 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.
Dan is a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, Which is biting the horse’s heels, And its rider falls backward.
18 I await Your salvation, O LORD.
For Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!
19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
Gad! A troop assaults him, But he assaults last.
20 Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he gives delicacies of a king.
21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Naphtali [is] a doe sent away, Who is giving beautiful young ones.
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine— a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall;
23 The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
And embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate 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,
And his bow abides in strength, And strengthened are the arms of his hands By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, From where is a shepherd, a son 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.
By the God of your father who helps you, And the Mighty One who blesses you, Blessings of the heavens from above, Blessings of the deep lying under, Blessings of breasts and 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.
Your father’s blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, To the limit of the perpetual heights They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate [from] his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
Benjamin! A wolf tears; In the morning he eats prey, And at evening he apportions 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, and this [is] that which their father has spoken to them, and he blesses them; each according to his blessing he has blessed them.
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 commands them and says to them, “I am being gathered to my people; bury me by my fathers, at the cave which [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite;
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.
in the cave which [is] in the field of Machpelah, which [is] on the front of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place;
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 Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah);
32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from sons of Heth.”
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 Jacob finishes commanding his sons, and gathers up his feet to the bed, and expires, and is gathered to his people.
