Genesis 49

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 Jacob cal ed his sons and said, 'Gather round, so that I can tell you what is in store for you in the final days.	1 And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen; listen to Israel your father.	2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:
3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my vigour, and the first-fruit of my manhood, foremost in pride,foremost in strength,	3 Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.
4 uncontrol ed as water: you wil not be foremost, for you climbed into your father's bed, and so defiledmy couch, to my sorrow.	4 Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers in carrying out their malicious plans.	5 Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.
6 May my soul not enter their council nor my heart join their company, for in their rage they have kil edmen and hamstrung oxen at their whim.	6 Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.
7 Accursed be their rage for its ruthlessness, their wrath for its ferocity. I shall disperse them in Jacob, Ishall scatter them through Israel.	7 Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I Will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers wil praise you: you grip your enemies by the neck, your father's sons wil do youhomage.	8 Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp; You stand over your prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, amighty lion: who dare rouse him?	9 Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?
10 The sceptre shall not pass from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute bebrought him and the peoples render him obedience.	10 The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.
11 He tethers his donkey to the vine, to its stock the foal of his she-donkey. He washes his clothes inwine, his robes in the blood of the grape.	11 Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, 0 my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
12 His eyes are darkened with wine and his teeth are white with milk.	12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun wil live by the seashore and be a sailor on board the ships, with Sidon on his flank.	13 Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey lying down among sheepfolds.	14 Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.
15 When he saw how good the resting-place and how pleasant the country, he bowed his shoulder tothe load and became a slave to forced labour.	15 dummy verses inserted by amos
16 Dan wil govern his people like any other of the tribes of Israel.	16 He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.
17 May Dan be a snake on the road, a viper on the path, who bites the horse on the hock so that itsrider falls off backwards!
18 I long for your deliverance, Yahweh!	18 Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.
19 Gad wil be raided by raiders, and he wil raid at their heels.	19 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that his rider may fall backward.
20 Rich the food produced by Asher: he will furnish food fit for kings.	20 I will look for thy salvation, 0 Lord.
21 Naphtali is a swift hind bearing lovely fawns.	21 Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.
22 Joseph is a fruitful plant near a spring whose tendrils reach over the wal .	22 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.
23 Archers in their hostility drew their bows and attacked him.	23 Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.
24 But their bows were broken by a mighty One, the sinews of their arms were snapped by the power ofthe Mighty One of Jacob, by the Name of the Stone of Israel,	24 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.
25 the God of your father who assists you, El Shaddai who blesses you: blessings of heaven above,blessings of the deep lying below, blessings of the breasts and womb,	25 But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.
26 blessings of the grain and flowers, blessings of the eternal mountains, bounty of the everlasting hil s-- may they descend on Joseph's head, on the crown of the one dedicated from among his brothers!	26 His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.
27 Benjamin is a ravening wolf, in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he is still sharing outthe spoil.'	27 dummy verses inserted by amos
28 Al these make up the tribes of Israel, twelve in number, and this is what their father said to them ashe bade them farewell, giving each an appropriate blessing.	28 The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
29 Then he gave them these instructions, 'I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with myancestors, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the cave in the field at Machpelah, facing Mamre, in Canaan, which Abraham bought from Ephronthe Hittite as a burial site of his own.	30 The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.
31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; andthere I buried Leah-	31 Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.
32 the field and the cave in it which were bought from the Hittites.'	32 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.
33 When Jacob had finished giving his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, andbreathing his last was gathered to his people.	33 And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people : bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,
	34 Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought togather with the field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to bury in.