Genesis 49
1 And Jacob calleth unto his sons and saith, 'Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which doth happen with you in the latter end of the days.
And Jacob called his sons, and said to them,
2 'Be assembled, and hear, 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 power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength;
Ruben, thou [art] my first-born, thou my strength, and the first of my children, hard to be endured, [hard and] self-willed.
4 Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father's bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up!
Thou wast insolent like water, burst not forth with violence, for thou wentest up to the bed of thy father; then thou defiledst the couch, whereupon thou wentest up.
5 Simeon and Levi [are] brethren! Instruments of violence — their espousals!
Symeon and Levi, brethren, accomplished the injustice of their cutting off.
6 Into their secret, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince.
Let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not mine inward parts contend in their conspiracy, for in their wrath they slew men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.
7 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.
Cursed be their wrath, for it was willful, and their anger, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah! thou — thy brethren praise thee! Thy hand [is] on the neck of thine enemies, Sons of thy father bow themselves to thee.
Juda, thy brethren have praised thee, and thy hands shall be on the back of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall do thee reverence.
9 A lion's whelp [is] Judah, For prey, my son, thou hast gone up; He hath bent, he hath crouched as a lion, And as a lioness; who causeth him to arise?
Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, thou art gone up, having couched thou liest as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up?
10 The sceptre turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his [is] the obedience of 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 the colt of his ass, He hath washed in wine his clothing, And in the blood of grapes his covering;
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 Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth with milk!
His eyes shall be more cheering than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun at a haven of the seas doth dwell, And he [is] for a haven of ships; And his side [is] unto Zidon.
Zabulon shall dwell on the coast, and he [shall be] by a haven of ships, and shall extend to Sidon.
14 Issacher [is] a strong ass, Crouching between the two folds;
Issachar has desired that which is good; resting between the inheritances.
15 And he seeth rest that [it is] good, And the land that [it is] pleasant, And he inclineth his shoulder to bear, And is to tribute a 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 doth judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel;
Dan shall judge his people, as one tribe too in Israel.
17 Dan is a serpent by the way, An adder by the path, Which is biting the horse's heels, And its rider falleth backward.
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 I have waited, Jehovah!
waiting for the salvation of the Lord.
19 Gad! a troop assaulteth him, But he assaulteth last.
Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him; but he shall plunder him, [pursuing him] closely.
20 Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he giveth dainties of a king.
Aser, his bread [shall be] fat; and he shall yield dainties to princes.
21 Naphtali [is] a hind sent away, Who is giving beauteous young ones.
Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit.
22 Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall;
Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me.
23 And embitter him — yea, they have striven, Yea, hate him do archers;
Against whom men taking evil counsel reproached [him], and the archers pressed hard upon him.
24 And his bow abideth in strength, And strengthened are the arms of his hands By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, Whence is a shepherd, a son 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 thy father;
25 By the God of thy father who helpeth thee, And the Mighty One who blesseth thee, Blessings of the heavens from above, Blessings of the deep lying under, Blessings of breasts and womb; —
and my God helped thee, and he blessed thee 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 Thy father's blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the limit of the heights age-during They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate [from] his brethren.
the blessings of thy father and thy 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 teareth; In the morning he eateth prey, And at evening he apportioneth 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 hath spoken unto them, and he blesseth them; each according to his blessing he hath 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 And he commandeth them, and saith unto them, 'I am being gathered unto my people; bury me by my fathers, at the cave which [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite;
And he said to them, I am added to my people; ye shall bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Chettite,
30 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;
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 they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah);
There they buried Abraam and Sarrha his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; there they buried Lea;
32 the purchase of the field and of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from Sons of Heth.'
in the portion of the field, and of the cave that was in it, [purchased] of the sons of Chet.
33 And Jacob finisheth commanding his sons, and gathereth up his feet unto the bed, and expireth, and is 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.
