Genesis 49

1 And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times.

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the end of days.

2 Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father.

Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

3 Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:

Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the first-fruits of my strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.

4 But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean.

Unstable as water, have not thou the excellency; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it — he went up to my couch.

5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their secret designs.

Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship.

6 Take no part in their secrets, O my soul; keep far away, O my heart, from their meetings; for in their wrath they put men to death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded.

Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed oxen.

7 A curse on their passion for it was bitter; and on their wrath for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken up, driving them from their places 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 To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you.

Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.

9 Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken?

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 a lioness; who shall rouse him up?

10 The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

11 Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes:

Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washeth his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes;

12 His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

13 The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon.

Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his flank shall be upon Zidon.

14 Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks:

Issachar is a large-boned ass, couching down between the sheep-folds.

15 And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing; so he let them put weights on his back and became a servant.

For he saw a resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under task-work

16 Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

17 May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road, biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall.

Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider falleth backward.

18 I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord.

I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.

19 Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight.

Gad, a troop shall troop upon him; but he shall troop upon their heel.

20 Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings.

As for Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

21 Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones.

Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

22 Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain;

Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain; its branches run over the wall.

23 He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him:

The archers have dealt bitterly with him, and shot at him, and hated him;

24 But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the Stone of Israel:

But his bow abode firm, and the arms of his hands were made supple, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from thence, from the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,

25 Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body:

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 coucheth beneath, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

26 Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers.

The blessings of thy father are mighty beyond 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 the prince among his brethren.

27 Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat: in the morning he takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he has taken.

Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth; in the morning he devoureth the prey, and at even he divideth the spoil.'

28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel: and these are the words their father said to them, blessing them; to every one he gave his blessing.

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

29 And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

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 In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his resting-place.

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 from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.

31 There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to rest.

There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.

32 In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth.

The field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.'

33 And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and went the way of his people.

And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered unto his people.