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: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

2 Gather yourselves together, 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 beginning of my strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power [should be thine].

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

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.

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 are their swords.

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

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 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?

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 a lawgiver from between his feet; until Shiloh come, and unto 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 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 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 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.

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

14 Issachar is a strong-boned ass, couching down between the stables.

Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down 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 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 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 serpent in the path, that biteth the horse’s heels that his rider may fall backward.

18 For thy salvation, I hope, O Lord.

I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

19 Gad, troops will band against him; but he shall wound their heel.

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

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

Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.

21 Naphtali is [like] a fleet hind; he bringeth pleasant words.

Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of 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 comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.

23 And they embittered his life, and they shot at him, and they hated him, the men of the arrows.

But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and 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 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 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 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 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 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 be as a wolf that rendeth: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at evening 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 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 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 near 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 field Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession as 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 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 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.