Genesis 49

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 Then Jacob called his sons, and he said to them: “Gather together, so that I may announce what will happen to you in the last days.
2 Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen; listen to Israel your father.	2 Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen 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 Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.
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 You are being poured out like water, may you not increase. For you climbed onto your father’s bed, and you defiled his resting place.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers in carrying out their malicious plans.	5 The brothers Simeon and Levi: 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 by their counsel, nor my glory be within their meeting. For in their fury they killed a man, and in their self-will 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 obstinate, and their indignation, because it was harsh. I will divide them in Jacob, and I 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 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be at the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father will reverence you.
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 Judah is a lion’s young. You have gone up to the prey, my son. While resting, you have lain like a lion. And just like a lioness, who would 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 scepter from Judah and the leader from his thigh will not be taken away, until he who will be sent arrives, and he will be the expectation of Gentiles.
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 young colt to the vineyard, and his donkey, O my son, to the vine, he will wash his robe in wine, and his cloak 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 Zebulun will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey lying down among sheepfolds.	14 Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining 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 He saw that rest would be good, and that the land was excellent. And so he bent his shoulder to carry, and he became a servant under tribute.
16 Dan wil govern his people like any other of the tribes of Israel.	16 Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe in 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!	17 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a viper in the path, biting the hooves of horses, so that his rider may fall backward.
18 I long for your deliverance, Yahweh!	18 I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad wil be raided by raiders, and he wil raid at their heels.	19 Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.
20 Rich the food produced by Asher: he will furnish food fit for kings.	20 Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.
21 Naphtali is a swift hind bearing lovely fawns.	21 Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.
22 Joseph is a fruitful plant near a spring whose tendrils reach over the wal .	22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and stately to behold; the daughters run back and forth on the wall.
23 Archers in their hostility drew their bows and attacked him.	23 But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied him.
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 His bow sits in strength, and the bands of his arms and hands have been let loose by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob. From there he went forth as a pastor, the stone of Israel.
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 The God of your father will be your helper, and the Almighty will bless you with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the abyss that lies beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
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 The blessings of your father are strengthened by the blessings of his fathers, until the desire of the hills of eternity shall arrive. May they be at the head of Joseph, and at the summit of the Nazarite, among his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravening wolf, in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he is still sharing outthe spoil.'	27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat the prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoil.”
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 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. These things their father spoke to them, and he blessed each one with their proper blessings.
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,	29 And he instructed them, saying: “I am being gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which 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 opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought, along with its field, from Ephron the Hittite, as a possession for burial.
31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; andthere I buried Leah-	31 There they buried him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.
32 the field and the cave in it which were bought from the Hittites.'	32 And having finished these commands by which he instructed his sons, he drew his feet onto the bed, and he passed away. And he was gathered to his people.
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.