Genesis, 49

1. 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.

1. Jacob then called his sons and said,

2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

2. "Gather round, sons of Jacob. And listen to your father Israel!

3. Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

3. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my manhood! excelling in honor and excelling in power.

4. 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.

4. Restless as water, you will excel no more for you went to your father's wife, on to my bed and defiled it.

5. Simeon and Levi [are] brethren; instruments of cruelty [are in] their habitations.

5. Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.

6. 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.

6. Let me not share their counsel! Let my heart keep far from their company, for in anger they killed men, and hamstrung oxen at their pleasure.

7. 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.

7. A curse on their anger for it is fierce; a curse on their fury, so cruel! I will divide them among Jacob, and scatter them among Israel.

8. 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.

8. Judah, your brothers will praise you! You shall seize your enemies by the neck! Your father's sons shall bow before you.

9. 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?

9. Judah, a young lion! You return from the prey, my son! Like a lion he stoops and crouches, and like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

10. 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].

10. The scepter shall not be taken from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and who has the obedience of the nations.

11. 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:

11. He ties his foal to a vine, and his ass' colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine and his robe in the juice of grapes.

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

12. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he [shall be] for an haven of ships; and his border [shall be] unto Zidon.

13. Zebulun lives by the seashore; he is a haven for the ships, and his flank stretches to Sidon.

14. Issachar [is] a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

14. Issachar is a sturdy ass, lolling beside the sheepfolds.

15. 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.

15. He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant. He bends his back to the burden and submits to forced labor.

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

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

17. 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.

17. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper on the path, that bites the horse's heels, making the rider fall backwards!

18. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

18. In your salvation, I hope, O Yahweh!

19. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

19. Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.

20. Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

20. Asher's food will be rich, and he will provide delicacies fit for a king!

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

21. Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.

22. Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:

22. Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.

23. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:

23. Archers attacked him fiercely and sorely provoked him;

24. 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:)

24. but his bow remained steady, and his arms nimble, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob; because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel;

25. [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:

25. because of the God of your father, your Helper! because of God Almighty who blesses you with blessings from heaven above, with blessings from the deep below! with blessings of the breast and the womb!

26. 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.

26. The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, the bounty of the everlasting hills! May they all rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the one who is a prince among his brothers!

27. Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

27. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf! In the morning he devours his prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil!"

28. 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.

28. These are all the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what his father said when he blessed them, giving each one a special and appropriate blessing.

29. 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,

29. He then gave them these instructions: "I am soon to be gathered to my people; bury me near my fathers, in the cave in the field of Ephron, the Hittite;

30. 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.

30. in the cave in the field of Machpelah, to the east of Mamre in Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.

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

31. It was there that Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There they buried Leah.

32. The purchase of the field and of the cave that [is] therein [was] from the children of Heth.

32. The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites."

33. 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.

33. When Jacob had given these instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed; he breathed his last and was gathered to his people.