Genesis 49

Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather round, and I'll tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to your father Israel.

Reuben, you're my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
first in rank and first in power.

But unruly as water, you won't be first any longer,
because you went up onto your father's bed,
onto my couch, and defiled it.

Simeon and Levi are brothers.
Their swords are weapons of violence.

Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their gathering,
because in their anger they killed men
and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.

Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury, so cruel.
I'll scatter them in Jacob
and spread them out in Israel.

Judah, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.
Your father's sons will bow down to you.

Judah's a lion's cub.
You come up from the kill, my son.
He crouches down, he lies like a lion —
and like a lioness, who'd dare rouse him?

The sceptre won't leave Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs,
and the obedience of the nations is his.

He'll tie his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch.
He'll wash his clothes in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.

His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.

Zebulun will live by the sea.
He'll be a harbour for ships,
and his border will run to Sidon.

Issachar's a strong donkey,
lying down among the saddlebags.

When he sees how good his resting place is
and how pleasant his country,
he'll bend his shoulder to the load
and put himself to forced labour.

Dan will judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper on the path,
that bites a horse's heel
so the rider falls backward.

I wait for Your salvation, Lord.

Gad will be raided by raiders,
but he'll raid at their heels.

Asher's food will be rich.
He'll provide delicacies fit for a king.

Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.

Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches climb over a wall.

Archers attacked him bitterly.
They shot at him and harassed him.

But his bow stayed steady,
his strong arms stayed limber,
by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

by your father's God, who helps you,
by the Almighty, who blesses you
with blessings of the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lies below,
blessings of breast and womb.

Your father's blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than the bounty of the everlasting hills.
Let all of them rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the spoil.”

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing that suited him.

Then he gave them these instructions. “I'm about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in Canaan, the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

That's where Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, and where Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and where I buried Leah.

The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.