- 1
- Then Jacob called for his sons
and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in
days to come.
- 2
- "Assemble and listen,
sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
- 3
- "Reuben, you are my
firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honour,
excelling in power.
- 4
- Turbulent as the waters, you
will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch
and defiled it.
- 5
- "Simeon and Levi are
brothers-- their swords are weapons of violence.
- 6
- Let me not enter their
council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their
anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
- 7
- Cursed be their anger, so
fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse
them in Israel.
- 8
- "Judah, your brothers
will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your
father's sons will bow down to you.
- 9
- You are a lion's cub, O Judah;
you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness--who dares to rouse him?
- 10
- The sceptre will not depart
from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to
whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.
- 11
- He will tether his donkey to a
vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
- 12
- His eyes will be darker than
wine, his teeth whiter than milk.
- 13
- "Zebulun will live by the
seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon.
- 14
- "Issachar is a raw-boned
donkey lying down between two saddlebags.
- 15
- When he sees how good is his
resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the
burden and submit to forced labour.
- 16
- "Dan will provide justice
for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
- 17
- Dan will be a serpent by the
roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse's heels so that its
rider tumbles backward.
- 18
- "I look for your
deliverance, O LORD.
- 19
- "Gad will be attacked by
a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.
- 20
- "Asher's food will be
rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
- 21
- "Naphtali is a doe set
free that bears beautiful fawns.
- 22
- "Joseph is a fruitful
vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.
- 23
- With bitterness archers
attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.
- 24
- But his bow remained steady,
his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of
Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
- 25
- because of your father's God,
who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of
the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the
breast and womb.
- 26
- Your father's blessings are
greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than the bounty of the
age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the
prince among his brothers.
- 27
- "Benjamin is a ravenous
wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the
plunder."
- 28
- All these are the twelve
tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed
them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
- 29
- Then he gave them these
instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my
fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
- 30
- the cave in the field of
Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from
Ephron the Hittite, along with the field.
- 31
- There Abraham and his wife
Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I
buried Leah.
- 32
- The field and the cave in it
were bought from the Hittites. "
- 33
- When Jacob had finished giving
instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his
last and was gathered to his people.
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