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.
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 Gather yourselves together, 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 beginning of my strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power [should be thine].
Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.
4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not have the excellence; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou the one who ascended 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 are their swords.
The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.
6 Into their secret shall my soul not come; unto their assembly my spirit shall not be united; for in their anger they slew the man, and in their self-will they lamed the ox.
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 is fierce; and their wrath, for it is 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, thou art the one thy brothers shall praise, thy hand shall be on the neck of thy enemies; thy father's children shall bow down unto 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 Like a lion's whelp, O Judah, from the prey, my son, thou risest: he stoopeth down, he croucheth 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 a lawgiver from between his feet; until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people 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 He bindeth unto the vine his foal, and to the vine-branch his ass's colt; he washeth his garments in wine, and in the blood of grapes his clothes;
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 from wine, and his teeth white from milk.
His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun shall dwell at the margin of the seas; and he shall be at the haven of ships; and his border shall be near to Zidon.
Zebulun will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong-boned ass, couching down between the stables.
Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.
15 And when he saw the resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant, he bent his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
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 by the way, an adder on the path, that biteth the horse in the 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 For thy salvation, I hope, O Lord.
I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, troops will band against him; but he shall wound their heel.
Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.
20 Out of Asher cometh fat bread, and he shall yield royal dainties.
Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.
21 Naphtali is [like] a fleet hind; he bringeth pleasant words.
Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; the branches of which 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 And they embittered his life, and they shot at him, and they hated him, the men of the arrows.
But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied him.
24 But his bow abode in strength, and his arm and his hands remained firm; from the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, from there thou becamest 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 From the God of thy father, who will help thee; and from the Almighty, who will bless thee, with blessings of heaven above, with blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath, with 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 With the blessings of thy father that have excelled the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: these shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brothers.
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 shall be as a wolf that rendeth: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at evening he shall divide 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 tribes of Israel, twelve in number; and this is what their father spoke unto them, and wherewith he blessed them; every one according to his proper blessing blessed he 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 near 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 field Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession as 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 Purchasing the field and the cave that is therein 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 he departed this life, 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.
