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:
Forsothe Jacob clepide hise sones, and seide to hem, Be ye gaderid that Y telle what thingis schulen come to you in the laste daies;
2 Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
be ye gaderid, `and here, ye sones of Jacob, here ye Israel youre fadir.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
Ruben, my firste gendrid sone, thou art my strengthe and the bigynnyng of my sorewe; thou ouytist to be the former in yiftis, the more in lordschip;
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 sched out as watir; wexe thou not, for thou stiedist on the bed of thi fader, and defoulidist his bed.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
Symeon and Leuy, britheren, fiytynge vessils of wickidnesse;
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.
my soule come not in to the councel of hem, and my glorie be not in the congregacioun of hem; for in her woodnesse thei killiden a man, and in her wille thei myneden the wal;
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.
curside be the woodnesse of hem, for it is obstynat, and the indignacioun of hem for it is hard; Y schal departe hem in Jacob, and I schal scatere hem 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.
Judas, thi britheren schulen preise thee, thin hondis schulen be in the nollis of thin enemyes; the sones of thi fadir schulen worschipe 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?
`A whelp of lioun `is Judas; my sone thou stiedist to prey; thou restidist, and hast leyn as a lioun, and as a lionesse who schal reise hym?
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 septre schal not be takun awey fro Juda, and a duyk of his hipe, til he come that schal be sent, and he schal be abiding of hethene men;
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.
and he schal tye his colt at the vyner, and his femal asse at the vyne; A! my sone, he schal waische his stoole in wyn, and his mentil in the blood of grape;
12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
hise iyen ben fairere than wyn, and hise teeth ben whittere than mylk.
13 Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
Zabulon schal dwelle in the brenk of the see, and in the stondyng of schipis; and schal stretche til to Sydon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
Isachar, a strong asse,
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.
liggynge bitwixe termes, seiy reste, that it was good and seiy the lond that it was best, and he vndirsettide his schuldre to bere, and he was maad seruynge to tributis.
16 Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan schal deme his puple, as also another lynage 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.
Dan be maad a serpent in the weie, and cerastes in the path, and bite the feet of an hors, that the `stiere therof falle bacward; Lord,
18 I await Your salvation, O LORD.
Y schal abide thin helthe.
19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
Gad schal be gird, and schal fiyte bifor hym, and he schal be gird bihynde.
20 Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
Aser his breed schal be plenteuouse, and he schal yyue delicis to kyngis.
21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
Neptalym schal be an hert sent out, and yyuynge spechis of fairenesse.
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine— a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
Joseph, a sone encreessynge, `a sone encresinge, and fair in biholdyng; douytris runnen aboute on the wal,
23 The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
but hise brithren wraththeden hym, and chidden, and thei hadden dartis, and hadden enuye to hym.
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 bowe sat in the stronge, and the boondis of his armes, and hondis weren vnboundun bi the hond of the myyti of Jacob; of hym a scheepherd yede out, the stoon 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.
God of thi fadir schal be thin helpere, and Almyyti God schal blesse thee with blessyngis of heuene fro aboue, and with blessyngis of the see liggynge binethe, with blessyngis of tetis, and of wombe;
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 blessyngis of thi fadir ben coumfortid, the blessyngis of his fadris, til the desire of euerlastynge hillis cam; blessyngis ben maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the nol of Nazarei among his britheren.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
Beniamyn, a rauyschynge wolf, schal ete prey eerly, and in the euentid he schal departe spuylis.
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.
Alle these weren in twelue kynredis of Israel; her fadir spak these thingys to hem, and blesside hem alle by propre blessyngis,
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 comaundide hem, and seide, Y am gaderid to my puple, birie ye me with my fadris in the double denne, which is in the lond of Efron Ethei, ayens Manbre,
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 lond of Canaan, which denne Abraham bouyte with the feeld of Efron Ethei, in to possessioun of sepulcre.
31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.
There thei birieden hym, and Sare his wijf, also Ysaac was biried there with Rebecca his wijf; there also Lia liggith biried.
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 whanne the comaundementis weren endid, bi whiche he tauyte the sones, he gaderide hise feet on the bed, and diede, and he was put to his puple.
