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 his sons, and he said to them: “Gather together, so that I may announce what will happen to you in the last days.
2 Assemble yourselves and hear ye sons of Jacob, —And hearken unto Israel your father!
Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, 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:
Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.
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 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 brethren, —Instruments of violence, are their agreements:
The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.
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 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 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 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 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 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:
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 Darker—his eyes, than wine, —Whiter—his teeth than milk!
His eyes are more beautiful 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.
Zebulun will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
14 Issachar, an ass of strength, —couching between the pens;
Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.
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 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, shall vindicate his people, —as one of the tribes of Israel;
Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe 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: —
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 thy salvation, have I waited O Yahweh!
I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad! a troop shall troop on him, —But, he, shall troop on the rear.
Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.
20 Out of Asher, fatness, is his food, —So, he, setteth forth dainties for a king.
Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.
21 Naphtali, is a slender hind, —That putteth forth antlers of beauty.
Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.
22 A fruitful bough, is Joseph, A fruitful bough over a fountain, —Branches creeping over a wall.
Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and stately to behold; the daughters run back and forth on the wall.
23 So they attack him and have shot, —So they enclose him, do the masters of arrows.
But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied 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:
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 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:
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 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 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 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 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 spake to them when he blessed them, Each man severally according to the blessing wherewith he 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 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 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 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: —
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, buried they Abraham, and Sarah his wife, There, buried they Isaac, and Rebekah his wife, —And there, buried I Leah: —
There they buried him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.
32 buying the field and the cave that is therein, from the sons of Heth.
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 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.
