Genesis 49
1 Forsothe Jacob clepide hise sones, and seide to hem, Be ye gaderid that Y telle what thingis schulen come to you in the laste daies;
And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 be ye gaderid, `and here, ye sones of Jacob, here ye Israel youre fadir.
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken to Israel your father.
3 Ruben, my firste gendrid sone, thou art my strengthe and the bigynnyng of my sorewe; thou ouytist to be the former in yiftis, the more in lordschip;
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 thou art sched out as watir; wexe thou not, for thou stiedist on the bed of thi fader, and defoulidist his bed.
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then thou didst defile it: he went up to my couch.
5 Symeon and Leuy, britheren, fiytynge vessils of wickidnesse;
Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 my soule come not in to the councel of hem, and my glorie be not in the congregacioun of hem; for in her woodnesse thei killiden a man, and in her wille thei myneden the wal;
O my soul, come not thou into their secret; to their assembly, my honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 curside be the woodnesse of hem, for it is obstynat, and the indignacioun of hem for it is hard; Y schal departe hem in Jacob, and I schal scatere hem 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 Judas, thi britheren schulen preise thee, thin hondis schulen be in the nollis of thin enemyes; the sones of thi fadir schulen worschipe 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 whelp of lioun `is Judas; my sone thou stiedist to prey; thou restidist, and hast leyn as a lioun, and as a lionesse who schal reise hym?
Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The septre schal not be takun awey fro Juda, and a duyk of his hipe, til he come that schal be sent, and he schal be abiding of hethene men;
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh shall come; and to him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 and he schal tye his colt at the vyner, and his femal asse at the vyne; A! my sone, he schal waische his stoole in wyn, and his mentil in the blood of grape;
Binding his foal to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 hise iyen ben fairere than wyn, and hise teeth ben whittere than mylk.
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zabulon schal dwelle in the brenk of the see, and in the stondyng of schipis; and schal stretche til to Sydon.
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be to Zidon.
14 Isachar, a strong asse,
Issachar is a strong donkey crouching down between two burdens:
15 liggynge bitwixe termes, seiy reste, that it was good and seiy the lond that it was best, and he vndirsettide his schuldre to bere, and he was maad seruynge to tributis.
And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a slave at forced labour.
16 Dan schal deme his puple, as also another lynage in Israel.
Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan be maad a serpent in the weie, and cerastes in the path, and bite the feet of an hors, that the `stiere therof falle bacward; Lord,
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 Y schal abide thin helthe.
I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19 Gad schal be gird, and schal fiyte bifor hym, and he schal be gird bihynde.
Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 Aser his breed schal be plenteuouse, and he schal yyue delicis to kyngis.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21 Neptalym schal be an hert sent out, and yyuynge spechis of fairenesse.
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22 Joseph, a sone encreessynge, `a sone encresinge, and fair in biholdyng; douytris runnen aboute on the wal,
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23 but hise brithren wraththeden hym, and chidden, and thei hadden dartis, and hadden enuye to hym.
The archers have bitterly attacked him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 His bowe sat in the stronge, and the boondis of his armes, and hondis weren vnboundun bi the hond of the myyti of Jacob; of hym a scheepherd yede out, the stoon 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 there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel: )
25 God of thi fadir schal be thin helpere, and Almyyti God schal blesse thee with blessyngis of heuene fro aboue, and with blessyngis of the see liggynge binethe, with blessyngis of tetis, and of wombe;
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 blessyngis of thi fadir ben coumfortid, the blessyngis of his fadris, til the desire of euerlastynge hillis cam; blessyngis ben maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the nol of Nazarei among his britheren.
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my ancestors 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 Beniamyn, a rauyschynge wolf, schal ete prey eerly, and in the euentid he schal departe spuylis.
Benjamin shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 Alle these weren in twelue kynredis of Israel; her fadir spak these thingys to hem, and blesside hem alle by propre blessyngis,
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 and comaundide hem, and seide, Y am gaderid to my puple, birie ye me with my fadris in the double denne, which is in the lond of Efron Ethei, ayens Manbre,
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 lond of Canaan, which denne Abraham bouyte with the feeld of Efron Ethei, in to possessioun of sepulcre.
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 buryingplace.
31 There thei birieden hym, and Sare his wijf, also Ysaac was biried there with Rebecca his wijf; there also Lia liggith biried.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
The purchase of the field and of the cave that is in it was from the children of Heth.
33 And whanne the comaundementis weren endid, bi whiche he tauyte the sones, he gaderide hise feet on the bed, and diede, and he was put to his puple.
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered to his people.
