Genesis 49
1 Then Jacob called his sons, and he said to them: “Gather together, so that I may announce what will happen to you in the last days.
And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times.
2 Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.
Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father.
3 Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.
Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:
4 You are being poured out like water, may you not increase. For you climbed onto your father’s bed, and you defiled his resting place.
But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean.
5 The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.
Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their secret designs.
6 Let not my soul go by their counsel, nor my glory be within their meeting. For in their fury they killed a man, and in their self-will they undermined a wall.
Take no part in their secrets, O my soul; keep far away, O my heart, from their meetings; for in their wrath they put men to death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded.
7 Cursed be their fury, because it was obstinate, and their indignation, because it was harsh. I will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel.
A curse on their passion for it was bitter; and on their wrath for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken up, driving them from their places in Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be at the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father will reverence you.
To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s young. You have gone up to the prey, my son. While resting, you have lain like a lion. And just like a lioness, who would rouse him?
Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken?
10 The scepter from Judah and the leader from his thigh will not be taken away, until he who will be sent arrives, and he will be the expectation of Gentiles.
The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule.
11 Tying his young colt to the vineyard, and his donkey, O my son, to the vine, he will wash his robe in wine, and his cloak in the blood of the grape.
Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zebulun will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon.
14 Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.
Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks:
15 He saw that rest would be good, and that the land was excellent. And so he bent his shoulder to carry, and he became a servant under tribute.
And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing; so he let them put weights on his back and became a servant.
16 Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe in Israel.
Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a viper in the path, biting the hooves of horses, so that his rider may fall backward.
May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road, biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall.
18 I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.
I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.
Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight.
20 Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.
Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings.
21 Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.
Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones.
22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and stately to behold; the daughters run back and forth on the wall.
Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain;
23 But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied him.
He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him:
24 His bow sits in strength, and the bands of his arms and hands have been let loose by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob. From there he went forth as a pastor, the stone of Israel.
But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the Stone of Israel:
25 The God of your father will be your helper, and the Almighty will bless you with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the abyss that lies beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body:
26 The blessings of your father are strengthened by the blessings of his fathers, until the desire of the hills of eternity shall arrive. May they be at the head of Joseph, and at the summit of the Nazarite, among his brothers.
Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat the prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoil.”
Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat: in the morning he takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he has taken.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. These things their father spoke to them, and he blessed each one with their proper blessings.
These are the twelve tribes of Israel: and these are the words their father said to them, blessing them; to every one he gave his blessing.
29 And he instructed them, saying: “I am being gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought, along with its field, from Ephron the Hittite, as a possession for burial.
In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his resting-place.
31 There they buried him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.
There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to rest.
In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth.
33 And having finished these commands by which he instructed his sons, he drew his feet onto the bed, and he passed away. And he was gathered to his people.
And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and went the way of his people.
