Genesis 49
1 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.
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 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:
Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And listen to your father Israel.
3 Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.
Reuben! You [are] my firstborn, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength;
4 Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, and didst defile his couch.
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 brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.
Simeon and Levi [are] brothers! Instruments of violence—their espousals!
6 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.
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 fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will 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 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.
Judah! Your brothers praise you! Your hand [is] on the neck of your enemies, Sons of your father bow themselves to you.
9 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?
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 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.
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 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.
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 more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with milk!
13 Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as 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 shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.
Issachar [is] a strong donkey, Crouching between the two folds;
15 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.
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 judge his people like another tribe in Israel.
Dan judges his people, As one of the tribes of Israel;
17 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.
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 will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
For Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!
19 Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.
Gad! A troop assaults him, But he assaults last.
20 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.
Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he gives delicacies of a king.
21 Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.
Naphtali [is] a doe sent away, Who is giving beautiful young ones.
22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.
Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall;
23 But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.
And embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate him;
24 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.
Benjamin! A wolf tears; In the morning he eats prey, And at evening he apportions spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.
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 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,
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 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.
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 they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried.
(there they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah);
the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from sons of Heth.”
33 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.
And Jacob finishes commanding his sons, and gathers up his feet to the bed, and expires, and is gathered to his people.
