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 last days.

And Jacob called his sons, and said to them,

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

Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear me, sons of Jacob; hear Israel, hear your father.

3 Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

Ruben, you [are] my firstborn, you my strength, and the first of my children, hard to be endured, [hard and] self-willed.

4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou [it: ] he went up to my couch.

You were insolent like water, burst not forth with violence, for you went up to the bed of your father; then you defiled the couch, whereupon you went up.

5 Simeon and Levi [are] brethren; instruments of cruelty [are in] their habitations.

Symeon and Levi, brethren, accomplished the injustice of their cutting off.

6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

Let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not mine inward parts contend in their conspiracy, for in their wrath they killed men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.

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 wrath, for it was wilful, and their anger, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

8 Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.

Juda, your brethren have praised you, and your hands shall be on the back of your enemies; your father's sons shall do you reverence.

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 an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, you are gone up, having couched you lie as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up?

10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].

A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of nations.

11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

Binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the branch [of it], 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 shall be more cheering 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] unto Zidon.

Zabulon shall dwell on the coast, and he [shall be] by a haven of ships, and shall extend to Sidon.

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

Issachar has desired that which is good; resting between the inheritances.

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 unto tribute.

And having seen the resting place that it was good, and the land that it was fertile, he subjected his shoulder to labour, and became a husbandman.

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

Dan shall judge his people, as one tribe too in Israel.

17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

And let Dan be a serpent in the way, besetting the path, biting the heel of the horse (and the rider shall fall backward),

18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

waiting for the salvation of the Lord.

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

Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him; but he shall plunder him, [pursuing him] closely.

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 princes.

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

Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit.

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

Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me.

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

Against whom men taking evil counsel reproached [him], and the archers pressed hard upon him.

24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel: )

But their bow and arrows were mightily consumed, and the sinews of their arms were slackened by the hand of the mighty one of Jacob; thence is he that strengthened Israel from the God of your father;

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 lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

and my God helped you, and he blessed you with the blessing of heaven from above, and the blessing of the earth possessing all things, because of the blessing of the breasts and of the womb,

26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above 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 him that was separate from his brethren.

the blessings of your father and your mother—it has prevailed above the blessing of the lasting mountains, and beyond the blessings of the everlasting hills; they shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the head of the brothers of whom he took the lead.

27 Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Benjamin, as a ravening wolf, shall eat still in the morning, and at evening he gives food.

28 All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel: and this [is it] that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

All these [are] the twelve sons of Jacob; and their father spoke these words to them, and he blessed them; he blessed each of them according to his blessing.

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 said to them, I am added to my people; you shall bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Chettite,

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 buryingplace.

in the double cave which is opposite Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, the cave which Abraam bought of Ephron the Chettite, for a possession of a sepulchre.

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 Abraam and Sarrha his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; there they buried Lea;

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

in the portion of the field, and of the cave that was in it, [purchased] of the sons of Chet.

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 unto his people.

And Jacob ceased giving charges to his sons; and having lifted up his feet on the bed, he died, and was gathered to his people.