Genesis 49
Jacob’s Last Words
1Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.23Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel:4
5Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power.6
7Turbulent as water, you will not excel, because you got into your father’s bed and you defiled it — he got into my bed.8
9Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are vicious weapons.10
11May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen.12
13Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel.14
15Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.16
17Judah is a young lion — my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness — who dares to rouse him?18
19The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.20
21He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes.22
23His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.24
25Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon.26
27Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags.28
29He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer.30
31Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.32
33Dan will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward.34
35I wait for your salvation, Lord.36
37Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.38
39Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies.40
41Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.42
43Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall.44
45The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him.46
47Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,48
49by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb.50
51The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.52
53Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.”54
55These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.56