Genesis, 49

1. Jacob called his sons and said, 'Gather round, so that I can tell you what is in store for you in the final days.

1. Then Jacob called his sons, and said, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in days to come.

2. Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen; listen to Israel your father.

2. Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob, and hearken to Israel your father.

3. Reuben, you are my first-born, my vigour, and the first-fruit of my manhood, foremost in pride, foremost in strength,

3. Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the first fruits of my strength, pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power.

4. uncontrolled as water: you will not be foremost, for you climbed into your father's bed, and so defiled my couch, to my sorrow.

4. Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it -- you went up to my couch!

5. Simeon and Levi are brothers in carrying out their malicious plans.

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

6. May my soul not enter their council nor my heart join their company, for in their rage they have killed men and hamstrung oxen at their whim.

6. O my soul, come not into their council; O my spirit, be not joined to their company; for in their anger they slay men, and in their wantonness they hamstring oxen.

7. Accursed be their rage for its ruthlessness, their wrath for its ferocity. I shall disperse them in Jacob, I shall scatter them through Israel.

7. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

8. Judah, your brothers will praise you: you grip your enemies by the neck, your father's sons will do you homage.

8. Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you.

9. Judah is a lion's whelp; You stand over your prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, a mighty lion: who dare rouse him?

9. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?

10. The sceptre shall not pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute be brought him and the peoples render him obedience.

10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

11. He tethers his donkey to the vine, to its stock the foal of his she-donkey. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of the grape.

11. Binding his foal to the vine and his ass's colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes;

12. His eyes are darkened with wine and his teeth are white with milk.

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

13. Zebulun will live by the seashore and be a sailor on board the ships, with Sidon on his flank.

13. Zeb'ulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.

14. Issachar is a strong donkey lying down among sheepfolds.

14. Is'sachar is a strong ass, crouching between the sheepfolds;

15. When he saw how good the resting-place and how pleasant the country, he bowed his shoulder to the load and became a slave to forced labour.

15. he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant; so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a slave at forced labor.

16. Dan will govern his people like any other of the tribes of Israel.

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

17. May Dan be a snake on the road, a viper on the path, who bites the horse on the hock so that its rider falls off backwards!

17. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels so that his rider falls backward.

18. I long for your deliverance, Yahweh!

18. I wait for thy salvation, O LORD.

19. Gad will be raided by raiders, and he will raid at their heels.

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

20. Rich the food produced by Asher: he will furnish food fit for kings.

20. Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties.

21. Naphtali is a swift hind bearing lovely fawns.

21. Naph'tali is a hind let loose, that bears comely fawns.

22. Joseph is a fruitful plant near a spring whose tendrils reach over the wall.

22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.

23. Archers in their hostility drew their bows and attacked him.

23. The archers fiercely attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him sorely;

24. But their bows were broken by a mighty One, the sinews of their arms were snapped by the power of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Name of the Stone of Israel,

24. yet his bow remained unmoved, his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel),

25. the God of your father who assists you, El Shaddai who blesses you: blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep lying below, blessings of the breasts and womb,

25. by the God of your father who will help you, by God Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26. blessings of the grain and flowers, blessings of the eternal mountains, bounty of the everlasting hills -- may they descend on Joseph's head, on the crown of the one dedicated from among his brothers!

26. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was separate from his brothers.

27. Benjamin is a ravening wolf, in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he is still sharing out the spoil.'

27. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey, and at even dividing the spoil."

28. All these make up the tribes of Israel, twelve in number, and this is what their father said to them as he bade them farewell, giving each an appropriate blessing.

28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

29. Then he gave them these instructions, 'I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

29. Then he charged them, and said to them, "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

30. in the cave in the field at Machpelah, facing Mamre, in Canaan, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site of his own.

30. in the cave that is in the field at Mach-pe'lah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

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

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

32. the field and the cave in it which were bought from the Hittites.'

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

33. When Jacob had finished giving his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, and breathing his last was gathered to his people.

33. When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.