Genesis 49

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
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.	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, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.	2 Gather round, sons of Jacob, and listen; listen to Israel your father.
3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:	3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my vigour, and the first-fruit of my manhood, foremost in pride,foremost in strength,
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.	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 are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.	5 Simeon and Levi are brothers in carrying out their malicious plans.
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.	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 anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and 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 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.	8 Judah, your brothers wil praise you: you grip your enemies by the neck, your father's sons wil do youhomage.
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?	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 depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.	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 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:	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 shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.	12 His eyes are darkened with wine and his teeth are white with milk.
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.	13 Zebulun wil live by the seashore and be a sailor on board the ships, with Sidon on his flank.
14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:	14 Issachar is a strong donkey lying down among sheepfolds.
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.	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 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.	16 Dan wil govern his people like any other of the tribes of Israel.
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.	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 have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.	18 I long for your deliverance, Yahweh!
19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.	19 Gad wil be raided by raiders, and he wil raid at their heels.
20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.	20 Rich the food produced by Asher: he will furnish food fit for kings.
21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.	21 Naphtali is a swift hind bearing lovely fawns.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:	22 Joseph is a fruitful plant near a spring whose tendrils reach over the wal .
23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:	23 Archers in their hostility drew their bows and attacked him.
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:)	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 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:	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 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.	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 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.	27 Benjamin is a ravening wolf, in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he is still sharing outthe spoil.'
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.	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 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,	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 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.	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 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.	31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried. There Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; andthere I buried Leah-
32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.	32 the field and the cave in it which were bought from the Hittites.'
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.	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.