49:1 Jacob summoned his sons saying:
Gather together so I can tell you
what will occur in the days ahead.
49:2 Get together to hear
my sons of Jacob.
Yes, listen to your teacher
49:3 Reuben, you are the eldest:
My power and beginning of my strength
exceeding in dignity and power.
49:4 Unruly as the waters
you will no longer excel
because you used your father’s bed
and defiled my chamber.
49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers
whose swords will be weapons of violence.
49:6 My heart won’t have their counsel
my praise won’t unite their assembly
for in their anger they murdered people
and in their greed they slaughtered oxen.
49:7 Cursed be their anger
for it is dangerous
and their wrath
for it is cruel.
As Jacob I will scatter them
and as
49:8
your strength will stiffneck your enemies
and your father’s sons will bow down to you.
49:9
From the prey my son will rise.
He will kneel and lie down as a lion.
And who will dare stir up a lion?
49:10 The scepter will not leave
nor the leader’s staff between his feet
until to whom it belongs appears
and him the people will follow.
49:11 He ties his foal to the vine
his donkey’s colt to the choice vine.
He washes his garments in wine
and his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:12 His eyes are dull from wine
and his teeth are white from milk.
49:13 Zebulun will live at the seashore
and shall be a harbor for ships
and his flank shall be toward
49:14 Issachar is a strong donkey
lying down between the sheepfolds.
49:15 When he saw a good resting place
and the land was pleasant
he lowered his shoulder
to carry the burdens
and become a slave at forced labor.
49:16 Dan shall govern his people
as one of the tribes of
49:17 Dan will be a snake on the road
a horned viper on the trail
that bites the horse’s heels
so its rider falls backward.
49:18 I await your salvation Yahweh!
49:19 With regard to Gad
raiders shall attack him
but he will attack at their rear.
49:20 Asher will have rich food
and he will yield royal delicacies.
49:21 Naphtali is a doe set free
who speaks in beautiful terms.
49:22 Joseph is a fruitful branch
a fruitful branch by a spring
with shoots that hang over a wall.
49:23 The archers fiercely attached him
shot at him and harassed him.
49:24 But his bow remained steady
And his arms stayed agile.
From the hands of Jacob’s Mighty One
Who is the Shepherd and Rock of Israel.
49:25 From the God of your teacher
Who comes to your aid
and by the Almighty who blesses you
with the gifts of heaven above
blessings of the deep lie beneath
blessings of the breasts and the womb.
49:26 The blessings of your teacher
surpass the blessings of the ancient ones
to the limits of the eternal heights.
May they be on the head of Joseph
and on the top of the head of one
distinguished among his brothers.
49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
By morning he devours the prey
and by evening he divides the spoils.
49:28 These were the twelve scions of
and this is what their teacher said to them
when he blessed them.
He blessed every one of them
with the blessing appropriate to him.
49:29 Then he instructed them saying:
I will be taken away to my people.
Bury me with my teachers in the cave
in the field of Ephron
the follower of Heth.
49:30 In the cave
in the field of Machpelah
opposite Mamre in
which Abraham bought
along with the field
from Ephron the Hittite
as a burial site.
49:31 That’s where they buried Abraham
and his wife Sarah
and buried Isaac
and his wife Rebekah
and where I buried Leah.
49:32 The field and the cave in it
were purchased from the followers of Heth.
49:33 When Jacob finished instructing his sons
he drew his feet into the bed
and breathed his last
and was taken up to his people.
