Genesis 49

1 And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days.

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 Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.

Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:

3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, My might, and the firstfruits of my vigour: Excellency of dignity, and excellency of strength.

Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.

4 Impetuous as the waters, thou shalt have no pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father's couch: Then defiledst thou [it]: he went up to my bed.

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 brethren: Instruments of violence their swords.

Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.

6 My soul, come not into their council; Mine honour, be not united with their assembly; For in their anger they slew men, And in their wantonness houghed oxen.

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 [was] violent; And their rage, for it [was] cruel! I will divide 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 — [as to] thee, thy brethren will praise thee; Thy hand will be upon the neck of thine enemies; Thy father's children will bow down to thee.

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; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stoopeth, he layeth himself down as a lion, And as a lioness: who will rouse him up?

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 sceptre will not depart from Judah, Nor the lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh come, And to him will be the obedience of peoples.

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 bindeth his foal to the vine, And his ass's colt to the choice vine; He washeth his dress in wine, And his garment 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 The eyes are red with wine, And the teeth [are] white with milk.

His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 Zebulun will dwell at the shore of the seas; Yea, he will be at the shore of the ships, And his side [toucheth] upon Sidon.

Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

14 Issachar is a bony ass, Crouching down between two hurdles.

Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.

15 And he saw the rest that it was good, And the land that it was pleasant; And he bowed his shoulder to bear, And was a tributary 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 will judge his people, As another of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.

17 Dan will be a serpent on the way, A horned snake on the path, Which biteth the horse's heels, So that the rider falleth backwards.

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 wait for thy salvation, O Jehovah.

I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

19 Gad — troops will rush upon him; But he will rush upon the heel.

Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.

20 Out of Asher, his bread shall be fat, And he will give royal dainties.

Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

21 Naphtali is a hind let loose; He giveth goodly words.

Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough; A fruitful bough by a well; [His] branches shoot over 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 have provoked him, And shot at, and hated him;

But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.

24 But his bow abideth firm, And the arms of his hands are supple By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob. From thence is the shepherd, the stone 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 From the God of thy father, and he will help thee; And from the Almighty, and he will bless thee — With blessings of heaven from above, With blessings of the deep that lieth under, With blessings of the breast and of the 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 thy father surpass the blessings of my ancestors, Unto the bounds of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.

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 — [as] a wolf will he tear to pieces; In the morning he will devour the prey, And in the evening he will divide the booty.

Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them; and he blessed them: every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

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 And he charged them, and said to them, I am gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is 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 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite to Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite along with the field for a possession of a sepulchre.

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 they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife; 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 purchase of the field, and of the cave that is in it, was from the children of Heth.

33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered to his peoples.

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.