< Genesis 49 >
1 Vocavit autem Iacob filios suos, et ait eis: Congregamini, ut annunciem quae ventura sunt vobis in diebus novissimis.
And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Congregamini, et audite filii Iacob, audite Israel patrem vestrum:
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3 Ruben primogenitus meus, tu fortitudo mea, et principium doloris mei: prior in donis, maior in imperio.
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Effusus es sicut aqua, non crescas: quia ascendisti cubile patris tui, et maculasti stratum eius.
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 et Levi fratres: vasa iniquitatis bellantia.
Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 In consilium eorum non veniat anima mea, et in coetu illorum non sit gloria mea: quia in furore suo occiderunt virum, et in voluntate sua suffoderunt murum.
O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 Maledictus furor eorum, quia pertinax: et indignatio eorum, quia dura: dividam eos in Iacob, et dispergam eos 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 Iuda, te laudabunt fratres tui: manus tua in cervicibus inimicorum tuorum, adorabunt te filii patris tui.
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
9 Catulus leonis Iuda: ad praedam fili mi ascendisti: requiescens accubuisti ut leo, et quasi leaena, quis suscitabit eum?
Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 NON AUFERETUR sceptrum de Iuda, et dux de femore eius, donec veniat qui mittendus est, et ipse erit expectatio gentium.
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Ligans ad vineam pullum suum, et ad vitem, o fili mi, asinam suam. Lavabit in vino stolam suam, et in sanguine uvae pallium suum.
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 Pulchriores sunt oculi eius vino, et dentes eius lacte candidiores.
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zabulon in littore maris habitabit, et in statione navium pertingens usque ad Sidonem.
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Sidon.
14 Issachar asinus fortis accubans inter terminos.
Issachar is a strong donkey couching down between two burdens:
15 Vidit requiem quod esset bona: et terram quod optima: et supposuit humerum suum ad portandum, factusque est tributis serviens.
And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16 Dan iudicabit populum suum sicut et alia tribus in Israel.
Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Fiat Dan coluber in via, cerastes in semita, mordens ungulas equi, ut cadat ascensor eius retro.
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 SALUTARE tuum expectabo Domine.
I have waited for thy salvation, O Yhwh.
19 Gad, accinctus praeliabatur ante eum: et ipse accingetur retrorsum.
Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 Aser, pinguis panis eius, et praebebit delicias regibus.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21 Nephthali, cervus emissus, et dans eloquia pulchritudinis.
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22 Filius accrescens Ioseph, filius accrescens et decorus aspectu: filiae discurrerunt super murum.
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23 Sed exasperaverunt eum, et iurgati sunt, invideruntque illi habentes iacula.
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 Sedit in forti arcus eius, et dissoluta sunt vincula brachiorum et manuum illius per manus potentis Iacob: inde pastor egressus est lapis 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 Deus patris tui erit adiutor tuus, et omnipotens benedicet tibi benedictionibus caeli desuper, benedictionibus abyssi iacentis deorsum, benedictionibus huberum et vulvae.
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 under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 Benedictiones patris tui confortatae sunt benedictionibus patrum eius: donec veniret desiderium collium aeternorum: fiant in capite Ioseph, et in vertice Nazaraei inter fratres suos.
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto 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 Beniamin lupus rapax, mane comedat praedam, et vespere dividet spolia.
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 Omnes hi in tribubus Israel duodecim: haec locutus est eis pater suus, benedixitque singulis benedictionibus propriis.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
29 Et praecepit eis, dicens: Ego congregor ad populum meum: sepelite me cum patribus meis in spelunca duplici quae est in agro Ephron Hethaei,
And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 contra Mambre in Terra Chanaan, quam emit Abraham cum agro ab Ephron Hethaeo in possessionem sepulchri.
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 Ibi sepelierunt eum, et Saram uxorem eius: ibi sepultus est Isaac cum Rebecca coniuge sua: ibi et Lia condita iacet.
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 therein was from the children of Heth.
33 Finitisque mandatis quibus filios instruebat, collegit pedes suos super lectulum, et obiit: appositusque est ad populum suum.
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.