Genesis 49
1 Then called Jacob unto his sons, —and said—Gather yourselves together, and let me tell you, that which shall befall you in the afterpart of the days.
Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
2 Assemble yourselves and hear ye sons of Jacob, —And hearken unto Israel your father!
Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
3 Reuben, my first-born, thou, My vigour, and the first-fruit of my strength, —Pre-eminence of elevation and pre-eminence of power:
Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Boiling over like water, thou mayest not have pre-eminence, Because thou didst mount the bed of thy father, —Then, wast thou profane—My marriage-bed, he mounted!
Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.
5 Simeon and Levi, are brethren, —Instruments of violence, are their agreements:
Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Into their circle, do not thou enter my soul! In their convocation, do not thou join mine honour! For in their anger, they slew brave men, And in their wantonness, they ham-strung oxen.
May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
7 Accursed, be their anger, because fierce, And their wrath because cruel, —I divide them in Jacob, And I disperse them in Israel.
Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, as for thee, thy brethren shall praise thee when thy hand is on the neck of thy foes, —The sons of thy father, shall bow them-selves down to thee:
Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9 A lion’s whelp, is Judah, From the prey, my son hast thou come up! He hath stooped—hath crouched As a lion—or as a lioness, Who shall rouse him?
Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the commander’s staff from between his feet, —Until that he come in as a Shiloh, And, his, be the obedience of the peoples:
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
11 Binding, to the vine, his ass, And to the choice vine his ass’s colt, He hath washed in wine his raiment, And in the blood of grapes, his mantle:
He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 Darker—his eyes, than wine, —Whiter—his teeth than milk!
His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 Zebulon, by a haven of seas, shall he settle down, —Even he, by a haven of ships, With his utmost part upon Zidon.
Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
14 Issachar, an ass of strength, —couching between the pens;
Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
15 Then beholdeth he rest, that it is good, And the ground that it is pleasant, —So he bendeth his shoulder to bear, And becometh a tributary servant.
He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.
16 Dan, shall vindicate his people, —as one of the tribes of Israel;
Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 It cometh to pass that, Dan, is a serpent upon the way, A horned viper, upon the path, —That biteth the heels of the horse, And his rider falleth backwards: —
He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 For thy salvation, have I waited O Yahweh!
I await Your salvation, O LORD.
19 Gad! a troop shall troop on him, —But, he, shall troop on the rear.
Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
20 Out of Asher, fatness, is his food, —So, he, setteth forth dainties for a king.
Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
21 Naphtali, is a slender hind, —That putteth forth antlers of beauty.
Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
22 A fruitful bough, is Joseph, A fruitful bough over a fountain, —Branches creeping over a wall.
Joseph is a fruitful vine— a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
23 So they attack him and have shot, —So they enclose him, do the masters of arrows.
The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
24 But abideth, as an enduring one, his bow, And supple are the arms of his hands, —From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, From thence, is the Shepherd the Stone of Israel:
Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 From the GOD of thy father who doth help thee And GOD Almighty who doth bless thee, Blessings of the heavens, above, Blessings of the abyss, couching beneath, —Blessings of breasts and womb:
by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of thy father, have prevailed, Over the blessings of the perpetual mountains, The charm of the age-abiding hills, —They turn out to be, for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brethren.
The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
27 Benjamin a wolf that teareth in pieces, In the morning, he eateth prey, And at eventide, he divideth spoil.
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 All these, are the twelve tribes of Israel, —And this, is that which their father spake to them when he blessed them, Each man severally according to the blessing wherewith he blessed them.
These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
29 Then commanded he them and said unto them—I, am about to be gathered unto my people, Bury me among my fathers, —within the cave, that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite:
Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah which is over against Mamre, in the land of Canaan, —which Abraham bought, along with the field, from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace: —
The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
31 There, buried they Abraham, and Sarah his wife, There, buried they Isaac, and Rebekah his wife, —And there, buried I Leah: —
There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.
32 buying the field and the cave that is therein, from the sons of Heth.
The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
33 So Jacob made an end of commanding his sons, and gathered up his feet into the couch, —and ceased to breathe and was gathered unto his people.
When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.
