Adverts
1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together to my side so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.
2 “Gather together to listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to what your father Israel says.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the first sign of my strength, superior in honor, superior in power.
Adverts
4 Turbulent as the waters, it will no longer be superior, because you climbed into your father's bed, into my bed, and dishonored him.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, nor participate in their assembly, because in their anger they killed men and at their pleasure they maimed oxen, cutting their tendons.
7 Cursed be his wrath, so tremendous, and his fury, so cruel! I will divide them throughout the lands of Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel.
8 “Judah, his brothers will praise him, his hand will be on the neck of his enemies; Your father's sons will bow down to you.
9 Judah is a young lion. You come up, my son, after killing your prey. Like a lion he sits; and lies down like a lioness; Who has the courage to wake him up?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the rod of command from his descendants, until he to whom it belongs comes, and to him the nations will obey.
11 He will tie his donkey to a vine, and his colt to the choicest branch; He will wash his clothes in wine, his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 Your eyes will be darker than wine; his teeth, whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun will live by the sea and become a port for ships; its borders will extend to Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a strong donkey, lying among his burdens.
15 When he sees how good his resting place is and how pleasant his land is, he will bow his shoulders to the burden and submit to forced labor.
16 “Dan will defend the rights of his people like any of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper by the wayside, biting the horse's heel and making its rider fall backwards.
18 “O Lord, I await your deliverance!
19 “Gad will be attacked by a band, but it is he who will attack and pursue him.
20 “Asher’s table will be plentiful; he will offer king's delicacies.
21 “Naftali is a loose gazelle, which is why he celebrates.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful tree, a fruitful tree on the edge of a fountain, whose branches reach over the wall.
23 With resentment archers attacked him, shooting arrows at him with hostility.
24 But his bow remained steadfast, his arms strong, agile to shoot, by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 by the God of your father, who helps you, the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings from the high heavens, blessings from the depths, blessings of fertility and plenty.
26 Your father's blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, the delights of the eternal hills. May all these blessings rest upon the head of Joseph, upon the forehead of him who was separated from among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a predatory wolf; in the morning he devours his prey and in the afternoon he divides the spoil.”
28 These are the ones who formed the twelve tribes of Israel, and that is what their father told them, when he blessed them, giving each one the blessing that belonged to him.
29 Then Jacob gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my ancestors. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, in Canaan, a field that Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as burial property.
31 There were buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, and Isaac and Rebekah his wife; I also buried Leah there.
32 “Both the field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites. “
33 After finishing giving these instructions to his sons, Jacob lay down, expired and was reunited with his ancestors.
