Genesis 49

1 And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last 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 Gather yourselves together, and hear, you 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, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning 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, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed; then defiled you 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 brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

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

6 O my soul, come not you into their secret; to their assembly, my honor, be not you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall.

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, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you.

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, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; 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 scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people 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 to the vine, and his ass’s colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes 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 haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be to Zidon.

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

14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

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

15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute.

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 by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall 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 have waited for your salvation, O LORD.

I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

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 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 gives goodly words.

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

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose 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 sorely grieved 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 stayed in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from there 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 Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, 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 your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to 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 brothers.

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 shall shred as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide 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 to 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 to them, I am to be 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 before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burial plot.

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 purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

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