Genesis 49
1 Then Jacob called for his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what will happen to you in the future.
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.
2 Assemble yourselves and listen, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.
Be assembled, and hear, sons of Jacob, And listen to your father Israel.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, outstanding in dignity, and outstanding in power.
Reuben! You [are] my firstborn, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength;
4 Uncontrollable as rushing water, you will not have the preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed. Then you defiled it; you went up to my couch.
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!
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers. Weapons of violence are their swords.
Simeon and Levi [are] brothers! Instruments of violence—their espousals!
6 O my soul, do not come into their council; do not join in their meetings, for my heart has too much honor for that. For in their anger they killed men. It was for pleasure that they hamstrung oxen.
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.
7 May their anger be cursed, for it was fierce—and their fury, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
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.
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down before you.
Judah! Your brothers praise you! Your hand [is] on the neck of your enemies, Sons of your father bow themselves to you.
9 Judah is a lion's cub. My son, you have gone up from your victims. He stooped down, he crouched like a lion, like a lioness. Who would dare to awaken him?
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?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. The nations will obey him.
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.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes.
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;
12 His eyes will be as dark as wine, and his teeth as white as milk.
Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with milk!
13 Zebulun will live by the shore of the sea. He will be a harbor for ships, and his border will extend to Sidon.
Zebulun dwells at a haven of the seas, And he [is] for a haven of ships; And his side [is] to Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
Issachar [is] a strong donkey, Crouching between the two folds;
15 He sees a good resting place and the pleasant land. He will bend his shoulder to the burden and become a servant for the task.
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.
16 Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan judges his people, As one of the tribes of Israel;
17 Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous snake in the path that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.
Dan is a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, Which is biting the horse’s heels, And its rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, Yahweh.
For Your salvation I have waited, YHWH!
19 Gad—raiders will attack him, but he will attack them at their heels.
Gad! A troop assaults him, But he assaults last.
20 Asher's food will be rich, and he will provide royal delicacies.
Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he gives delicacies of a king.
21 Naphtali is a doe let loose; he will have beautiful fawns.
Naphtali [is] a doe sent away, Who is giving beautiful young ones.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough near a spring, whose branches climb over the wall.
Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall;
23 The archers will attack him and shoot at him and harass him.
And embitter him indeed, they have striven, Indeed, archers hate him;
24 But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
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.
25 The God of your father will help you and the Almighty God will bless you with blessings of the sky above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, and blessings of the breasts and womb.
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—
26 The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains or the desirable things of the ancient hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, even upon the crown of the head of the prince of his brothers.
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.
27 Benjamin is a hungry wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey, and in the evening he will divide the plunder.”
Benjamin! A wolf tears; In the morning he eats prey, And at evening he apportions spoil.”
28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. Each one he blessed with an appropriate blessing.
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.
29 Then he instructed them and said to them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my forefathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
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;
30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is near Mamre in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought for a burial place from Ephron the Hittite.
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;
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
(there they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah);
32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the people of Heth.”
the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from sons of Heth.”
33 When Jacob finished these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and went to his people.
And Jacob finishes commanding his sons, and gathers up his feet to the bed, and expires, and is gathered to his people.
