Chapter 49

And Jacob called⁴ unto his sons, and said,⁴ Gather¹⁰ yourselves together, that I may tell⁵⁵ you [that] which shall befall⁴ you in the last days.

Gather yourselves together,¹⁰ and hear,³ ye sons of Jacob; and hearken³ unto Israel your father.

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

Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel;⁵⁵ because thou wentest up¹ to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou¹⁴ [it]: he went up¹ to my couch.

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

O my soul, come⁴ not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united:⁴ for in their anger they slew¹ a man, and in their selfwill they digged down¹⁴ a wall.

Cursed⁷ [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel:¹ I will divide¹⁷ them in Jacob, and scatter⁵⁵ them in Israel.

Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise:⁵⁵ thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies;⁶ thy father's children shall bow down¹⁰¹ before thee.

Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up:¹ he stooped down,¹ he couched¹ as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?⁵⁵

The sceptre shall not depart⁴ from Judah, nor a lawgiver²⁶ from between his feet, until Shiloh come;⁴ and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].

Binding⁶ his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed¹⁴ his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

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

Zebulun shall dwell⁴ at the haven of the sea; and he [shall be] for an haven of ships; and his border [shall be] unto Zidon.

Issachar [is] a strong ass couching down⁶ between two burdens:

And he saw⁴ that rest [was] good, and the land that [it was] pleasant;¹ and bowed⁴ his shoulder to bear,² and became a servant⁶ unto tribute.

Dan shall judge⁴ his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth⁶ the horse heels, so that his rider⁶ shall fall⁴ backward.

I have waited¹⁴ for thy salvation, O LORD.

Gad, a troop shall overcome⁴ him: but he shall overcome⁴ at the last.

Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield⁴ royal dainties.

Naphtali [is] a hind let loose:⁷ he giveth⁶ goodly words.

Joseph [is] a fruitful⁶ bough, [even] a fruitful⁶ bough by a well; [whose] branches run over¹ the wall:

The archers ²⁶⁷¹ have sorely grieved¹⁷ him, and shot¹ [at him], and hated⁴ him:

But his bow abode⁴ in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong⁴ by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd,⁶ the stone of Israel:)

[Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help⁴ thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless¹⁷ thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth⁶ under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

The blessings of thy father have prevailed¹ above the blessings of my progenitors⁶ 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.

Benjamin shall ravin⁴ [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour⁴ the prey, and at night he shall divide¹⁷ the spoil.

All these [are] the twelve ⁸¹⁴⁷ tribes of Israel: and this [is it] that their father spake¹⁴ unto them, and blessed¹⁷ them; every one according to his blessing he blessed¹⁴ them.

And he charged¹⁷ them, and said⁴ unto them, I am to be gathered¹² unto my people: bury³ me with my fathers in the cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

In the cave that [is] in the field of Machpelah, which [is] before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought¹ with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

There they buried¹ Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried¹ Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried¹ Leah.

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

And when Jacob had made an end¹⁷ of commanding¹⁵ his sons, he gathered⁴ up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost,⁴ and was gathered¹¹ unto his people.