Genesis
Chapter 49
1 Jacob called his sons and said, “Come here so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future.”
2 Come together and listen, children of Jacob; pay attention to Israel, your father.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the first sign of my power, the best in honor, and the best in force.
4 Like water, you will not succeed; for you slept in your father’s bed and soiled it—he climbed onto my bed.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; tools of violence are in their homes.
6 My soul, do not join their secrets; do not be part of their group, my respect. In their anger, they killed a person, and in their stubbornness, they destroyed a wall.
7 Their anger is cursed because it was strong; their rage is cursed because it was harsh. I will separate them in Jacob and spread them out in Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on your enemies’ neck; your father’s children will bow down to you.
9 Judah is like a young lion: after hunting, my son, you have rested. He lies down like a lion, and like a mighty lion; who dares to wake him?
10 Judah will always have a ruler, and a leader will come from his descendants, until Shiloh comes; and the people will follow him.
11 He tied his young donkey to the grapevine, and his colt to the best vine; he washed his clothes in wine, and his robes in grape juice.
12 His eyes will look red from wine, and his teeth will be white from milk.
13 Zebulun will live by the sea port; he will be a safe place for ships, and his land will reach to Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between two loads.
15 He saw that rest was good and the land beautiful; he bent his shoulder to work and became a laborer who pays taxes.
16 Dan will judge his people like one of the Israelite tribes.
17 Dan will be like a snake on the road, a viper on the path, that bites the horse’s heels, making its rider fall off.
18 I have waited for your salvation, God.
19 Gad will be attacked by a group, but in the end, he will win.
20 From Asher, his food will be rich, and he will provide fine foods fit for a king.
21 Naphtali is a free deer; he speaks beautiful words.
22 Joseph is like a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over the wall.
23 The archers hurt him badly, shot at him, and hated him.
24 His bow stayed strong, and his arms got strong by the mighty God of Jacob; from there comes the shepherd, the rock of Israel.
25 God, your father’s God, will help you; the Almighty will bless you with heaven’s blessings, the deep’s riches, and the fruitfulness of breast and womb.
26 Your father’s blessings are greater than those of my ancestors, reaching to the farthest everlasting hills. They will rest on Joseph’s head and on the forehead of the one set apart from his brothers.
27 Benjamin will hunt like a wolf: in the morning he will eat the prey, and at night he will share the loot.
28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel: their father spoke to each of them and gave them his blessing.
29 He gave them instructions, saying, “I will soon join my ancestors: bury me beside my fathers in the cave in Ephron the Hittite’s field.”
30 In the cave in Machpelah field, in front of Mamre in Canaan, Abraham bought it with the field from Ephron the Hittite to own as a burial place.
31 They buried Abraham and his wife Sarah there; they also buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah there; and I buried Leah there.
32 The buying of the field and the cave in it was from the Heth people.
33 After Jacob finished giving instructions to his sons, he pulled his legs up onto the bed, passed away, and joined his ancestors.