Genesis 49

1 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.

And Jacob called to his sons, and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.

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

Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken to Israel your father.

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

Reuben, thou are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power.

4 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!

Boiling over as water, thou shall not have the pre-eminence, because thou went up to thy father's bed, then thou defiled it; he went up to my couch.

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

Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence are their swords.

6 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.

O my soul, come not thou into their council, to their assembly, my glory, be not thou united, for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hocked an ox.

7 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.

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.

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

Judah, thy brothers shall praise thee. Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.

9 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?

Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him up?

10 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.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and to him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

11 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;

Binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

12 Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with milk!

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

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

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships. And his border shall be upon Sidon.

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

Issachar is a strong donkey, couching down between the sheepfolds.

15 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.

And he saw a resting place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant. And he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under task work.

16 Dan judges his people, As one of the tribes of Israel;

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

17 Dan is a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, Which is biting the horse’s heels, And its rider falls backward.

Dan shall be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.

18 For Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!

I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah.

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

Gad, a troop shall press upon him, but he shall press upon their heel.

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

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

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

Naphtali is a hind let loose. He gives goodly words.

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

Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a fountain, his branches run over the wall.

23 And embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate him;

The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and persecute him,

24 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.

but his bow abode in strength. And the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

25 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—

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 couches beneath, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

26 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.

The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my forefathers 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 who was separate from his brothers.

27 Benjamin! A wolf tears; In the morning he eats prey, And at evening he apportions spoil.”

Benjamin is a wolf that ravens. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at evening he shall divide the spoil.

28 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.

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke to them and blessed them; every man according to his blessing he blessed them.

29 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;

And he ordered 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,

30 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;

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 from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying place.

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

There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah,

32 the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from sons of Heth.”

the field and the cave that is in it, which was purchased from the sons of Heth.

33 And Jacob finishes commanding his sons, and gathers up his feet to the bed, and expires, and is gathered to his people.

And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.