Genesis 49

1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the end of days.

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.

2 Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.

3 Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the first-fruits of my strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.

Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.

4 Unstable as water, have not thou the excellency; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it — he went up to my couch.

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.

5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship.

The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.

6 Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed oxen.

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.

7 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.

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.

8 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.

Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be at the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father will reverence you.

9 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?

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?

10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

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.

11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washeth his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes;

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.

12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

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

13 Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his flank shall be upon Zidon.

Zebulun will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

14 Issachar is a large-boned ass, couching down between the sheep-folds.

Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.

15 For 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 task-work

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.

16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe in Israel.

17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider falleth backward.

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.

18 I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.

I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.

19 Gad, a troop shall troop upon him; but he shall troop upon their heel.

Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.

20 As for Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.

21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.

22 Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain; its branches run over the wall.

Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and stately to behold; the daughters run back and forth on the wall.

23 The archers have dealt bitterly with him, and shot at him, and hated him;

But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied him.

24 But his bow abode firm, and the arms of his hands were made supple, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from thence, from the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,

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.

25 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.

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.

26 The blessings of thy father are mighty beyond 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 the prince among his brethren.

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.

27 Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth; in the morning he devoureth the prey, and at even he divideth the spoil.'

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat the prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke unto them and 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 each one with their proper blessings.

29 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,

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,

30 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 burying-place.

opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought, along with its field, from Ephron the Hittite, as a possession for burial.

31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.

There they buried him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.

32 The field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.'

33 And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered unto his people.

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.