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 called unto his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.
2 Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.
Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; And hearken unto Israel your father.
3 Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of 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.
Unstable as water, thou shalt not have the excellency; Because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed: Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
5 The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.
Simeon and Levi are brethren; Weapons of violence are their swords.
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.
O my soul, come not thou into their council; Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their selfwill they houghed an ox.
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.
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.
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.
Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise: Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; Thy father’s sons shall bow down before thee.
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 lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up: He stooped down, he couched as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
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 sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come; And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
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.
Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; He hath washed his garments in wine, And his vesture in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
His eyes shall be red 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.
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea: And he shall be for an haven of ships; And his border shall be upon Zidon.
14 Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.
Issachar is a strong ass, Couching down between the sheepfolds:
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 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 taskwork.
16 Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe in Israel.
Dan shall judge 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.
Dan shall be a serpent in the way, An adder in the path, That biteth the horse’s heels, So that his rider falleth backward.
18 I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.
I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19 Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.
Gad, a troop shall press upon him: But he shall press upon their heel.
20 Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.
Naphtali is a hind let loose: He giveth goodly words.
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 fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a fountain; His branches run over the wall.
23 But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied him.
The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him, and persecuted 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 his bow abode in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong, By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (From thence is the shepherd, 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 thy father, who shall help thee, And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee, With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath, Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.
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.
The blessings of thy father Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
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 that ravineth: In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at even he shall divide the spoil.
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.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
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 charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is 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 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 buryingplace:
31 There they buried him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.
there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah:
the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children 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 made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
