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 unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And listen to your father Israel.
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto 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 art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power [should be thine].
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!
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.
5 Simeon and Levi [are] brothers! Instruments of violence—their espousals!
Simeon and Levi are brethren; 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.
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.
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 is fierce; and their wrath, for it is 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, 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.
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?
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?
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 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.
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;
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;
12 Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with milk!
His eyes shall be red from wine, and his teeth white from 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 margin of the seas; and he shall be at the haven of ships; and his border shall be near to Zidon.
14 Issachar [is] a strong donkey, Crouching between the two folds;
Issachar is a strong-boned ass, couching down between the stables.
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 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.
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 by the way, an adder on the path, that biteth the horse in the heels, so that his rider falleth backward.
18 For Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!
For thy salvation, I hope, O Lord.
19 Gad! A troop assaults him, But he assaults last.
Gad, troops will band against him; but he shall wound their heel.
20 Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he gives delicacies of a king.
Out of Asher cometh fat bread, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21 Naphtali [is] a doe sent away, Who is giving beautiful young ones.
Naphtali is [like] a fleet hind; he bringeth pleasant 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 spring; the branches of which run over the wall.
23 And embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate him;
And they embittered his life, and they shot at him, and they hated him, the men of the arrows.
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 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.
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—
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;
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.
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.
27 Benjamin! A wolf tears; In the morning he eats prey, And at evening he apportions spoil.”
Benjamin shall be as a wolf that rendeth: 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 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.
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 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,
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 field Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession as 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.”
Purchasing the field and the cave that is therein from the children 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 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.
