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 to his sons, and said, Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall you in the last days.

2 Assemble yourselves and hear ye sons of Jacob, —And hearken unto Israel your father!

Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob: and hearken 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, thou [art] my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellence of dignity, and the excellence of 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!

Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou [it]; he went up to my couch.

5 Simeon and Levi, are brethren, —Instruments of violence, are their agreements:

Simeon and Levi [are] brethren: instruments of cruelty [are in], their habitations.

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.

O my soul, come not thou into their secret; to their assembly, my honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down 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 anger, for [it was] fierce: and their wrath, 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:

Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand [shall be] on the neck of thy enemies: thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

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 whelp; from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse 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:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh shall come: and to him [shall be] the gathering of the people.

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 his ass's colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

12 Darker—his eyes, than wine, —Whiter—his teeth than milk!

His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with 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 at the haven of the sea; and he [shall be] for a haven of ships; and his border [shall be] to Zidon.

14 Issachar, an ass of strength, —couching between the pens;

Issachar [is] a strong ass, couching down between two burdens:

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 he saw that rest [was] good, and the land that [it was] pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute.

16 Dan, shall vindicate his people, —as one of the tribes of Israel;

Dan shall judge 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: —

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

18 For thy salvation, have I waited O Yahweh!

I have waited for thy salvation O LORD.

19 Gad! a troop shall troop on him, —But, he, shall troop on the rear.

Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

20 Out of Asher, fatness, is his food, —So, he, setteth forth dainties for a king.

Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

21 Naphtali, is a slender hind, —That putteth forth antlers of beauty.

Naphtali [is] a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

22 A fruitful bough, is Joseph, A fruitful bough over a fountain, —Branches creeping over a wall.

Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:

23 So they attack him and have shot, —So they enclose him, do the masters of arrows.

The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated 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 his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob: from thence [is] the shepherd 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:

[Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, 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 thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

27 Benjamin a wolf that teareth in pieces, In the morning, he eateth prey, And at eventide, he divideth spoil.

Benjamin shall raven [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall 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: and this [is it] which their father spoke to them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

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 charged them, and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that [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: —

In the cave that [is] in the field of Machpelah, which [is] before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.

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 Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah, )

32 buying the field and the cave that is therein, from the sons of Heth.

The purchase of the field and of the cave that [is] in it, [was] from the children 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 when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered to his people.