Genesis 49

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW JERUSALEM
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.	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.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:	2 Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen; listen to Israel your father.
3 Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.	3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my vigour, and the first-fruit of my manhood, foremost in pride,foremost in strength,
4 Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.	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.
5 Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.	5 Simeon and Levi are brothers in carrying out their malicious plans.
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.	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.
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.	7 Accursed be their rage for its ruthlessness, their wrath for its ferocity. I shall disperse them in Jacob, Ishall scatter them through Israel.
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.	8 Judah, your brothers wil praise you: you grip your enemies by the neck, your father's sons wil do youhomage.
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?	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?
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.	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.
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.	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.
12 His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.	12 His eyes are darkened with wine and his teeth are white with milk.
13 Zabulon shall dwell on the sea shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.	13 Zebulun wil live by the seashore and be a sailor on board the ships, with Sidon on his flank.
14 Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.	14 Issachar is a strong donkey lying down among sheepfolds.
15 dummy verses inserted by amos	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.
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.	16 Dan wil govern his people like any other of the tribes of Israel.
	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 Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.	18 I long for your deliverance, Yahweh!
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.	19 Gad wil be raided by raiders, and he wil raid at their heels.
20 I will look for thy salvation, 0 Lord.	20 Rich the food produced by Asher: he will furnish food fit for kings.
21 Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.	21 Naphtali is a swift hind bearing lovely fawns.
22 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.	22 Joseph is a fruitful plant near a spring whose tendrils reach over the wal .
23 Nephtali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.	23 Archers in their hostility drew their bows and attacked him.
24 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold; the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.	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,
25 But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.	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,
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.	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!
27 dummy verses inserted by amos	27 Benjamin is a ravening wolf, in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he is still sharing outthe spoil.'
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.	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.
	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 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.	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.
31 Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.	31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; andthere I buried Leah-
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.	32 the field and the cave in it which were bought from the Hittites.'
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,	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.
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.