Genesis 49
1 And Jacob called his sons, and said to them,
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.
2 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.
Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father.
3 Ruben, you [are] my firstborn, you my strength, and the first of my children, hard to be endured, [hard and] self-willed.
Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power:
4 You were insolent like water, burst not forth with violence, for you went up to the bed of your father; then you defiled the couch, whereupon you went up.
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.
5 Symeon and Levi, brethren, accomplished the injustice of their cutting off.
Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their secret designs.
6 Let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not mine inward parts contend in their conspiracy, for in their wrath they killed men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.
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.
7 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.
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.
8 Juda, your brethren have praised you, and your hands shall be on the back of your enemies; your father's sons shall do you reverence.
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.
9 Juda is a lion's whelp: from the tender plant, my son, you are gone up, having couched you lie as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall stir him up?
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?
10 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.
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.
11 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.
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:
12 His eyes shall be more cheering than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zabulon shall dwell on the coast, and he [shall be] by a haven of ships, and shall extend to Sidon.
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.
14 Issachar has desired that which is good; resting between the inheritances.
Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks:
15 And having seen the resting place that it was good, and the land that it was fertile, he subjected his shoulder to labor, and became a husbandman.
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.
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one tribe too in Israel.
Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 And let Dan be a serpent in the way, besetting the path, biting the heel of the horse (and the rider shall fall backward),
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.
18 waiting for the salvation of the Lord.
I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, a plundering troop shall plunder him; but he shall plunder him, [pursuing him] closely.
Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight.
20 Aser, his bread [shall be] fat; and he shall yield dainties to princes.
Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings.
21 Nephthalim is a spreading stem, bestowing beauty on its fruit.
Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones.
22 Joseph is a son increased; my dearly loved son is increased; my youngest son, turn to me.
Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain;
23 Against whom men taking evil counsel reproached [him], and the archers pressed hard upon him.
He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him:
24 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 your father;
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:
25 and my God helped you, and he blessed you 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,
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:
26 the blessings of your father and your 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.
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.
27 Benjamin, as a ravening wolf, shall eat still in the morning, and at evening he gives food.
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.
28 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.
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.
29 And he said to them, I am added to my people; you shall bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Chettite,
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,
30 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.
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.
31 There they buried Abraam and Sarrha his wife; there they buried Isaac, and Rebecca his wife; there they buried Lea;
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.
32 in the portion of the field, and of the cave that was in it, [purchased] of the sons of Chet.
In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth.
33 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.
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.
