Genesis 49

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	KING JAMES BIBLE
1 Jacob called his sons and said: "Gather around, that I may tell you what is to happen to you in days to come.	1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 "Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father.	2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3 "You, Reuben, my first-born, my strength and the first fruit of my manhood, excelling in rank and excelling in power!	3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Unruly as water, you shall no longer excel, for you climbed into your father's bed and defiled my couch to my sorrow.	4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
5 "Simeon and Levi, brothers indeed, weapons of violence are their knives.	5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 Let not my soul enter their council, or my spirit be joined with their company; For in their fury they slew men, in their willfulness they maimed oxen.	6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 Cursed be their fury so fierce, and their rage so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob, disperse them throughout Israel.	7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
8 "You, Judah, shall your brothers praise --your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you.	8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah, like a lion's whelp, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches like a lion recumbent, the king of beasts--who would dare rouse him?	9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs, While tribute is brought to him, and he receives the people's homage.	10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 He tethers his donkey to the vine, his purebred ass to the choicest stem. In wine he washes his garments his robe in the blood of grapes.	11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.	12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 "Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore (This means a shore for ships), and his flank shall be based on Sidon.	13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14 "Issachar is a rawboned ass, crouching between the saddlebags.	14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15 When he saw how good a settled life was, and how pleasant the country, He bent his shoulder to the burden and became a toiling serf.	15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16 "Dan shall achieve justice for his kindred like any other tribe of Israel.	16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside, a horned viper by the path, That bites the horse's heel, so that the rider tumbles backward.	17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
18 "(I long for your deliverance, O LORD!)	18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19 "Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he shall raid at their heels.	19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 "Asher's produce is rich, and he shall furnish dainties for kings.	20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21 "Naphtali is a hind let loose which brings forth lovely fawns.	21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22 "Joseph is a wild colt ,a wild colt by a spring, a wild ass on a hillside.	22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23 Harrying and attacking, the archers opposed him;	23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But each one's bow remained stiff, as their arms were unsteady, By the power of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,	24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 The God of your father, who helps you, God Almighty, who blesses you, With the blessings of the heavens above, the blessings of the abyss that crouches below, The blessings of breasts and womb,	25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 the blessings of fresh grain and blossoms, The blessings of the everlasting mountains, the delights of the eternal hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.	26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors 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.
27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; mornings he devours the prey, and evenings he distributes the spoils."	27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said about them, as he bade them farewell and gave to each of them an appropriate message.	28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
29 Then he gave them this charge: "Since I am about to be taken to my kindred, bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite,	29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground.	30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, 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 that had been purchased from the Hittites."	32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
33 When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was taken to his kindred.	33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.