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 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, you sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father.

Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And listen to your father Israel.

3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

Reuben! You [are] my firstborn, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength;

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.

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 are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

Simeon and Levi [are] brothers! Instruments of violence—their espousals!

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.

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 anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and 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 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.

Judah! Your brothers praise you! Your hand [is] on the neck of your enemies, Sons of your father bow themselves to you.

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?

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 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 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 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:

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

Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with 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.

Zebulun dwells at a haven of the seas, And he [is] for a haven of ships; And his side [is] to Sidon.

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

Issachar [is] a strong donkey, Crouching between the two folds;

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.

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, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan judges his people, As one of the tribes of 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.

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 have waited for your salvation, O LORD.

For Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!

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

Gad! A troop assaults him, But he assaults last.

20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he gives delicacies of a king.

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

Naphtali [is] a doe sent away, Who is giving beautiful young ones.

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall;

23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

And embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate 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: )

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 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:

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 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.

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 shall shred as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he 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: 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, 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, 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 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 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.

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

(there they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah);

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

the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from sons 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 Jacob finishes commanding his sons, and gathers up his feet to the bed, and expires, and is gathered to his people.