Γένεσις 49
1 ἐκάλεσεν δὲ Ιακωβ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν συνάχθητε ἵνα ἀναγγείλω ὑμῖν τί ἀπαντήσει ὑμῖν ἐπ’ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν
Jacob called his sons together, and said, “Gather round so I can tell you what's going to happen to you in the future.
2 ἀθροίσθητε καὶ ἀκούσατε υἱοὶ Ιακωβ ἀκούσατε Ισραηλ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν
Come here, sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father.
3 Ρουβην πρωτότοκός μου σύ ἰσχύς μου καὶ ἀρχὴ τέκνων μου σκληρὸς φέρεσθαι καὶ σκληρὸς αὐθάδης
Reuben. You are my firstborn, conceived when I was strong, born when I was vigorous! You were above all others is position, above all others in power.
4 ἐξύβρισας ὡς ὕδωρ μὴ ἐκζέσῃς ἀνέβης γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν κοίτην τοῦ πατρός σου τότε ἐμίανας τὴν στρωμνήν οὗ ἀνέβης
But you boil over like water, so you won't be above anyone anymore, because you went and slept with my concubine; you violated my marriage bed.
5 Συμεων καὶ Λευι ἀδελφοί συνετέλεσαν ἀδικίαν ἐξ αἱρέσεως αὐτῶν
Simeon and Levi are two of the same kind—they use their weapons for destructive violence.
6 εἰς βουλὴν αὐτῶν μὴ ἔλθοι ἡ ψυχή μου καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ συστάσει αὐτῶν μὴ ἐρείσαι τὰ ἥπατά μου ὅτι ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτῶν ἀπέκτειναν ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ αὐτῶν ἐνευροκόπησαν ταῦρον
I refuse to be part of their decisions; I refuse to participate in what they do. For they killed men in their anger; they crippled cattle just for fun.
7 ἐπικατάρατος ὁ θυμὸς αὐτῶν ὅτι αὐθάδης καὶ ἡ μῆνις αὐτῶν ὅτι ἐσκληρύνθη διαμεριῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν Ιακωβ καὶ διασπερῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν Ισραηλ
I curse their anger because it is too harsh; I curse their fury because it is too cruel! I will separate their descendants throughout Jacob; I will scatter them throughout Israel.
8 Ιουδα σὲ αἰνέσαισαν οἱ ἀδελφοί σου αἱ χεῖρές σου ἐπὶ νώτου τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου προσκυνήσουσίν σοι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ πατρός σου
Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will defeat your enemies. Your father's sons shall bow down to you in respect.
9 σκύμνος λέοντος Ιουδα ἐκ βλαστοῦ υἱέ μου ἀνέβης ἀναπεσὼν ἐκοιμήθης ὡς λέων καὶ ὡς σκύμνος τίς ἐγερεῖ αὐτόν
My son Judah is a young lion coming back from eating its prey. He crouches and lies down like a lion. Like a lion, who would dare to disturb him?
10 οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ιουδα καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν
Judah will always hold the scepter, and the staff of authority will always be at his feet until Shiloh comes; the nations will obey him.
11 δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ ἕλικι τὸν πῶλον τῆς ὄνου αὐτοῦ πλυνεῖ ἐν οἴνῳ τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς τὴν περιβολὴν αὐτοῦ
He ties his donkey to the vine, his donkey's colt to the best vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the red juice of grapes.
12 χαροποὶ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ οἴνου καὶ λευκοὶ οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτοῦ ἢ γάλα
His eyes sparkle more than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 Ζαβουλων παράλιος κατοικήσει καὶ αὐτὸς παρ’ ὅρμον πλοίων καὶ παρατενεῖ ἕως Σιδῶνος
Zebulun will live on the seashore and provide a harbor for ships; his territory will extend towards Sidon.
14 Ισσαχαρ τὸ καλὸν ἐπεθύμησεν ἀναπαυόμενος ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν κλήρων
Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between two saddle bags.
15 καὶ ἰδὼν τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν ὅτι καλή καὶ τὴν γῆν ὅτι πίων ὑπέθηκεν τὸν ὦμον αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ πονεῖν καὶ ἐγενήθη ἀνὴρ γεωργός
He sees that the place where he's resting is good, and the land is lovely, so he's willing to lower his back to accept the burden and to work as a slave.
16 Δαν κρινεῖ τὸν ἑαυτοῦ λαὸν ὡσεὶ καὶ μία φυλὴ ἐν Ισραηλ
Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 καὶ γενηθήτω Δαν ὄφις ἐφ’ ὁδοῦ ἐγκαθήμενος ἐπὶ τρίβου δάκνων πτέρναν ἵππου καὶ πεσεῖται ὁ ἱππεὺς εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω
Dan will be as dangerous as a snake beside the road, a viper by the path that bites the horse's heel, throwing its rider off backwards.
18 τὴν σωτηρίαν περιμένω κυρίου
I trust in you to save me, Lord.
19 Γαδ πειρατήριον πειρατεύσει αὐτόν αὐτὸς δὲ πειρατεύσει αὐτῶν κατὰ πόδας
Raiders will attack Gad, but he will attack their heels.
20 Ασηρ πίων αὐτοῦ ὁ ἄρτος καὶ αὐτὸς δώσει τρυφὴν ἄρχουσιν
Asher will have delicious food—he'll produce fancy food for royalty.
21 Νεφθαλι στέλεχος ἀνειμένον ἐπιδιδοὺς ἐν τῷ γενήματι κάλλος
Naphtali is a deer that's free to run; it gives birth to beautiful fawns.
22 υἱὸς ηὐξημένος Ιωσηφ υἱὸς ηὐξημένος ζηλωτός υἱός μου νεώτατος πρός με ἀνάστρεψον
Joseph is a fruitful tree, a fruitful tree beside a spring, whose branches climb over the wall.
23 εἰς ὃν διαβουλευόμενοι ἐλοιδόρουν καὶ ἐνεῖχον αὐτῷ κύριοι τοξευμάτων
The archers viciously attacked him; they shot their arrows at him with hate.
24 καὶ συνετρίβη μετὰ κράτους τὰ τόξα αὐτῶν καὶ ἐξελύθη τὰ νεῦρα βραχιόνων χειρῶν αὐτῶν διὰ χεῖρα δυνάστου Ιακωβ ἐκεῖθεν ὁ κατισχύσας Ισραηλ
But he held his bow steady, and his arms and hands moved quickly in the strength of the Mighty One of Jacob, who is called the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25 παρὰ θεοῦ τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ ἐβοήθησέν σοι ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἐμὸς καὶ εὐλόγησέν σε εὐλογίαν οὐρανοῦ ἄνωθεν καὶ εὐλογίαν γῆς ἐχούσης πάντα ἕνεκεν εὐλογίας μαστῶν καὶ μήτρας
The God of your father will help you and the Almighty will bless you with blessings from the heavens above, with blessings from the depths below, with blessings for many children.
26 εὐλογίας πατρός σου καὶ μητρός σου ὑπερίσχυσεν ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις ὀρέων μονίμων καὶ ἐπ’ εὐλογίαις θινῶν ἀενάων ἔσονται ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν Ιωσηφ καὶ ἐπὶ κορυφῆς ὧν ἡγήσατο ἀδελφῶν
The blessings your father received were greater than the blessings of his forefathers, more than the blessings of the eternal mountains. May they be upon the head of Joseph, on the forehead of the one set apart as a leader from his brothers.
27 Βενιαμιν λύκος ἅρπαξ τὸ πρωινὸν ἔδεται ἔτι καὶ εἰς τὸ ἑσπέρας διαδώσει τροφήν
Benjamin is a vicious wolf. In the morning he destroys his enemies, in the evening he divides the loot.”
28 πάντες οὗτοι υἱοὶ Ιακωβ δώδεκα καὶ ταῦτα ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῶν καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτούς ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν εὐλογίαν αὐτοῦ εὐλόγησεν αὐτούς
These are all of the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father told them as he blessed them, each according to their respective blessings.
29 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἐγὼ προστίθεμαι πρὸς τὸν ἐμὸν λαόν θάψατέ με μετὰ τῶν πατέρων μου ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ Εφρων τοῦ Χετταίου
Then he gave them the following instructions: “I'm going to die soon. Bury me with my forefathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
30 ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ διπλῷ τῷ ἀπέναντι Μαμβρη ἐν τῇ γῇ Χανααν ὃ ἐκτήσατο Αβρααμ τὸ σπήλαιον παρὰ Εφρων τοῦ Χετταίου ἐν κτήσει μνημείου
This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought together with the field from Ephron the Hittite to own as a burial site.
31 ἐκεῖ ἔθαψαν Αβρααμ καὶ Σαρραν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ ἐκεῖ ἔθαψαν Ισαακ καὶ Ρεβεκκαν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκεῖ ἔθαψα Λειαν
Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried there, and I buried Leah there.
32 ἐν κτήσει τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ τοῦ σπηλαίου τοῦ ὄντος ἐν αὐτῷ παρὰ τῶν υἱῶν Χετ
The field and the cave were bought from the Hittites.”
33 καὶ κατέπαυσεν Ιακωβ ἐπιτάσσων τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξάρας τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην ἐξέλιπεν καὶ προσετέθη πρὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ
When Jacob finished giving these instructions he pulled up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his forefathers in death.
