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.
And Jacob called his sons, and said to them,
2 Assemble yourselves and hear ye sons of Jacob, —And hearken unto Israel your father!
Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear me, sons of Jacob; hear Israel, hear your father.
3 Reuben, my first-born, thou, My vigour, and the first-fruit of my strength, —Pre-eminence of elevation and pre-eminence of power:
Ruben, you [are] my firstborn, you my strength, and the first of my children, hard to be endured, [hard and] self-willed.
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!
You were insolent like water, burst not forth with violence, for you went up to the bed of your father; then you defiled the couch, whereupon you went up.
5 Simeon and Levi, are brethren, —Instruments of violence, are their agreements:
Symeon and Levi, brethren, accomplished the injustice of their cutting off.
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.
Let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not mine inward parts contend in their conspiracy, for in their wrath they killed men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.
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 wrath, for it was wilful, and their anger, for it was cruel: I will divide 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:
Juda, your brethren have praised you, and your hands shall be on the back of your enemies; your father's sons shall do you reverence.
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?
Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, you are gone up, having couched you lie as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up?
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:
A ruler shall not fail from Juda, nor a prince from his loins, until there come the things stored up for him; and he is the expectation of nations.
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:
Binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the branch [of it], he shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
12 Darker—his eyes, than wine, —Whiter—his teeth than milk!
His eyes shall be more cheering than wine, and his teeth 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.
Zabulon shall dwell on the coast, and he [shall be] by a haven of ships, and shall extend to Sidon.
14 Issachar, an ass of strength, —couching between the pens;
Issachar has desired that which is good; resting between the inheritances.
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.
And having seen the resting place that it was good, and the land that it was fertile, he subjected his shoulder to labour, and became a husbandman.
16 Dan, shall vindicate his people, —as one of the tribes of Israel;
Dan shall judge his people, as one tribe too in 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: —
And let Dan be a serpent in the way, besetting the path, biting the heel of the horse (and the rider shall fall backward),
18 For thy salvation, have I waited O Yahweh!
waiting for the salvation of the Lord.
19 Gad! a troop shall troop on him, —But, he, shall troop on the rear.
Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him; but he shall plunder him, [pursuing him] closely.
20 Out of Asher, fatness, is his food, —So, he, setteth forth dainties for a king.
Aser, his bread [shall be] fat; and he shall yield dainties to princes.
21 Naphtali, is a slender hind, —That putteth forth antlers of beauty.
Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit.
22 A fruitful bough, is Joseph, A fruitful bough over a fountain, —Branches creeping over a wall.
Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me.
23 So they attack him and have shot, —So they enclose him, do the masters of arrows.
Against whom men taking evil counsel reproached [him], and the archers pressed hard upon him.
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:
But their bow and arrows were mightily consumed, and the sinews of their arms were slackened by the hand of the mighty one of Jacob; thence is he that strengthened Israel from the God of your father;
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:
and my God helped you, and he blessed you with the blessing of heaven from above, and the blessing of the earth possessing all things, because of the blessing of the breasts and of the 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 and your mother—it has prevailed above the blessing of the lasting mountains, and beyond the blessings of the everlasting hills; they shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the head of the brothers of whom he took the lead.
27 Benjamin a wolf that teareth in pieces, In the morning, he eateth prey, And at eventide, he divideth spoil.
Benjamin, as a ravening wolf, shall eat still in the morning, and at evening he gives food.
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.
All these [are] the twelve sons of Jacob; and their father spoke these words to them, and he blessed them; he blessed each of them according to his 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:
And he said to them, I am added to my people; you shall bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Chettite,
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: —
in the double cave which is opposite Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, the cave which Abraam bought of Ephron the Chettite, for a possession of a sepulchre.
31 There, buried they Abraham, and Sarah his wife, There, buried they Isaac, and Rebekah his wife, —And there, buried I Leah: —
There they buried Abraam and Sarrha his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; there they buried Lea;
32 buying the field and the cave that is therein, from the sons of Heth.
in the portion of the field, and of the cave that was in it, [purchased] of the sons of Chet.
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.
And Jacob ceased giving charges to his sons; and having lifted up his feet on the bed, he died, and was gathered to his people.
