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.

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 hearken unto Israel your father.

Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken 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.

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

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.

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; weapons of violence their kinship.

Simeon and Levi brethren: 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 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 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 stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and 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.

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 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?

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 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 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 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 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 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.

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

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

Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down 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 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 shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall judge his people like another 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 serpent in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels that his rider may fall backward.

18 I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.

I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

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

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

20 As for Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield 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 vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain; its branches run 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 dealt bitterly with him, and shot at him, and hated him;

But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and 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 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 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 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 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 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 is a wolf that raveneth; in the morning he devoureth the prey, and at even he divideth the spoil.'

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 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 every 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 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 before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.

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 Rebekah 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 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 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.