49:1 Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the ①days to come.
▷ ①Lit end of the days
49:2 Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob;
Yes, listen to Israel your father.
49:3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
49:4 ①Uncontrollable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.
▷ ①Or Gushing over
49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Their ①swords are implements of violence.
▷ ①Or plans; meaning uncertain
49:6 May my soul not enter into their council;
May my glory not be united with their assembly;
For in their anger they killed ①men,
And in their self-will they lamed ②oxen.
▷ ①Lit a man ②Lit an ox
49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will scatter them in Jacob,
And disperse them among Israel.
49:8 “As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
49:9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He ①crouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a ②lion, who ③dares to stir him up?
▷ ①Lit bows down ②Lit lioness ③Lit shall
49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
①Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
▷ ①Or Until he comes to Shiloh; or Until he comes to whom it belongs
49:11 He ties his foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;
He washes his garments in wine,
And his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:12 His eyes are ①dull from wine,
And his teeth ②white from milk.
▷ ①Or darker than ②Or whiter than
49:13 “Zebulun will reside at the seashore;
And he shall be ①a harbor for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
▷ ①Lit a shore of ships
49:14 “Issachar is a ①strong donkey,
Lying down between the sheepfolds.
▷ ①Lit donkey of bone
49:15 When he saw that a resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
He bowed his shoulder to carry burdens,
And became a slave at forced labor.
49:16 “Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
49:17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
A horned viper in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that its rider falls backward.
49:18 For Your salvation I wait, LORD.
49:19 “As for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him,
But he will attack at their ①heels.
▷ ①Lit heel
49:20 “ ①As for Asher, his ②food shall be ③rich,
And he will yield royal delicacies.
▷ ①Lit From ②Or bread ③Lit fat
49:21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose;
He utters beautiful words.
49:22 “Joseph is a fruitful ①branch,
A fruitful ②branch by a spring;
Its ③branches hang over a wall.
▷ ①Lit son ②Lit son ③Lit daughters
49:23 The archers provoked him,
And shot at him and were hostile toward him;
49:24 But his bow remained ①firm,
And ②his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
▷ ①I.e., in an unyielding position ②Lit the arms of his hands
49:25 From the God of your father who helps you,
And ①by the ②Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
▷ ①Or with ②Heb Shaddai
49:26 The blessings of your father
Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to the ①furthest boundary of the everlasting hills;
May they be on the head of Joseph,
And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
▷ ①Lit limit; or desire
49:27 “Benjamin is a ①ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And in the evening he divides the spoils.”
▷ ①Lit a wolf that tears
49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them ①when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one ②with the blessing appropriate to him.
▷ ①Lit and ②Lit according to his blessing
49:29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
49:30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a ①burial site.
▷ ①Lit possession of a burial place
49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—
49:32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”
49:33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.