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.

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

Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen 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, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.

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!

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] brothers! Instruments of violence—their espousals!

The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.

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.

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

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 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 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 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 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 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;

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

His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than 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 will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

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

Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.

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.

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

Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe in 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.

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 Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!

I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.

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

Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.

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

Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.

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

Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.

22 Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step 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 embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate him;

But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied 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.

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 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—

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 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 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! A wolf tears; In the morning he eats prey, And at evening he apportions 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 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. These things their father spoke to them, and he blessed each one with their proper blessings.

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 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 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;

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 his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; 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 the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from 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 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.