Genesis 49
49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
1Then Jacob called his sons to him. He said, “Come here to me, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future.
2“Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to Israel, your father.”
3“Reuben, my first son, you are my strength.
Your birth showed I could be a father.
You have the highest position among my sons,
and you are the most powerful.
4But you are uncontrolled like water,
so you will no longer lead your brothers.
This is because you got into your father’s bed
and shamed me by having sexual relations with my slave girl.
5“Simeon and Levi are brothers
who used their swords to do violence.
6I will not join their secret talks,
and I will not meet with them to plan evil.
They killed men because they were angry,
and they crippled oxen just for fun.
7May their anger be cursed, because it is too violent.
May their violence be cursed, because it is too cruel.
I will divide them up among the tribes of Jacob
and scatter them through all the tribes of Israel.
8“Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will grab your enemies by the neck,
and your brothers will bow down to you.
9Judah is like a young lion.
You have returned from killing, my son.
Like a lion, he stretches out and lies down to rest,
and no one is brave enough to wake him.
10Kings will come from Judah’s family;
someone from Judah will always be on the throne.
Judah will rule until Shiloh comes,
and the nations will obey him.
11He ties his donkey to a grapevine,
his young donkey to the best branch.
He can afford to use wine to wash his clothes
and the best wine to wash his robes.
12His eyes are dark like the color of wine,
and his teeth are as white as the color of milk.
13“Zebulun will live near the sea.
His shore will be a safe place for ships,
and his land will reach as far as Sidon.
14“Issachar is like a strong donkey
who lies down while carrying his load.
15When he sees his resting place is good
and how pleasant his land is,
he will put his back to the load
and become a slave.
16“Dan will rule his own people
like the other tribes in Israel.
17Dan will be like a snake by the side of the road,
a dangerous snake lying near the path.
That snake bites a horse’s leg,
and the rider is thrown off backward.
18“Lord, I wait for your salvation.
19“Robbers will attack Gad,
but he will defeat them and drive them away.
20“Asher’s land will grow much good food;
he will grow food fit for a king.
21“Naphtali is like a female deer that runs free,
that has beautiful fawns.
22“Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit,
a healthy vine watered by a spring,
whose branches grow over the wall.
23Archers attack him violently
and shoot at him angrily,
24but he aims his bow well.
His arms are made strong.
He gets his power from the Mighty God of Jacob
and his strength from the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25Your father’s God helps you.
God Almighty blesses you.
He blesses you with rain from above,
with water from springs below,
with many babies born to your wives,
and many young ones born to your animals.
26The blessings of your father are greater
than the blessings of the oldest mountains,
greater than the good things of the long-lasting hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,
on the forehead of the one who was separated from his brothers.
27“Benjamin is like a hungry wolf.
In the morning he eats what he has caught,
and in the evening he divides what he has taken.”
28These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them. He gave each son the blessing that was right for him. 29Then Israel gave them a command and said, “I am about to die. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30That cave is in the field of Machpelah east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought the field and cave from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place. 31Abraham and Sarah his wife are buried there. Isaac and Rebekah his wife are buried there, and I buried my wife Leah there. 32The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittite people.” 33After Jacob finished talking to his sons, he lay down. He put his feet back on the bed, took his last breath, and died.
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Genesis 49: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 49
49
Jacob told his sons about things that will happen later on
1Then Jacob sent somebody to bring all his sons to him. And Jacob said to his sons, “Come to me, all of you, and I will tell you about the things that will happen to you and your families. These things will happen later on. 2Come near to me, my sons. I am your father Jacob, and my other name is Israel. Listen to me.”
Jacob talked to Reuben
3Then Jacob said,
“Reuben, you are my oldest son.
You were born first. You were born at that time when I was a strong young man.
You were the most important and the most powerful of all my sons.
4But then you went and did whatever you wanted, just like the wild water in the sea.
You took one of my wives, and you slept with her, like a man sleeps with his wife.
That was a wrong and dirty thing you did. You made me really shamed.
So you will not be my most important son any more.”
Jacob talked about Simeon and Levi
5Then Jacob said,
“Simeon and Levi are just like each other.
They both like to fight, and they use long knives to hurt people and kill them.
6They got really angry, so they killed a big mob of men.
They are like people that caught a lot of cows and cut their legs, for no reason.
They make secret plans, but I will not do that with them.
I will not go with them to do bad things.
7I’m asking God to curse Simeon and Levi, because they are really angry men, and they properly hurt people.
So God will split up their tribes, and he will send their people all over the land.
He will mix them up with all the other tribes of the Israel nation.”
Jacob talked to Judah
8Then Jacob said,
“Judah, your tribe will fight against their enemies, and your tribe will win.
Then the tribes of all your brothers, they will say that your tribe is really great,
and they will bend down in front of your tribe, to show them respect.”
9Jacob also said,
“My son Judah is like a strong young lion,
like a lion that fought another animal and won,
like a lion that killed an animal and ate it.
He is like a lion that lies down to sleep,
and nobody is brave enough to wake it up.#Numbers 24:9; Revelation 5:5
10Judah’s tribe will always be important and powerful.
Leaders and big bosses will come from his tribe.
People from other countries will bring them gifts.
And people from different nations will respect them and do what they say.
11Judah’s land will be full of good grape vines.
His tribe will even tie their donkeys to those grape vines, so that the donkeys can eat the grapes.
They will make lots of grape juice and wine.
They will have even more grape juice and wine than water.
12There will be enough wine for everybody in Judah’s land,
and they will all have lots of milk to drink.”
Jacob talked about Zebulun
13Then Jacob said,
“Zebulun’s tribe will set up their camp next to the sea,
and it will be a safe place for ships.
The north bit of Zebulun’s land will be near the town called Sidon, in Fonisha country.”
Jacob talked about Issachar
14Then Jacob said,
“Issachar is like a strong donkey,
like a donkey with bags on its back, that lies down to rest.
15His tribe will see a country where the land is really good,
and they will want to live in that land.
So they will agree to work for the people that own that country,
and those people will make them work really hard.”
Jacob talked about Dan
16Then Jacob said,
“Dan’s tribe will have their own bosses, just like all the other tribes of the Israel nation.
Those bosses from Dan’s tribe, they will be good and fair to the people.
17Dan’s tribe will be smart, just like a clever snake.
They will wait for their enemies, like a snake hiding beside the road.
They will attack their enemies, and they will win against those enemies,
like a snake that bites a horse’s leg, so that the man on the horse will fall down.”
Jacob talked to God
18Then Jacob said, “God, I am waiting for you to save us.”
Jacob talked about Gad
19Then Jacob said,
“Bad men will attack Gad’s tribe, and those bad men will try to steal Gad’s things,
but Gad’s tribe will fight back and attack those men, and those men will run away.”
Jacob talked about Asher
20Then Jacob said,
“Asher’s land will grow really good food.
That food will be so good, rich bosses will pay a lot of money to eat it.”
Jacob talked about Naphtali
21Then Jacob said,
“Naphtali is like a wild animal called a deer,
that is free to run wherever it wants,
and has really pretty babies.”
Jacob talked about Joseph
22Then Jacob said,
“Lots of people will be born into Joseph’s family.
Yes, Joseph’s family will grow big, just like a grape vine that grows near a spring of water,
and has lots of fruit.
Its branches are so long, they grow over a big wall.
23Joseph’s enemies hated him,
they attacked him and made trouble for him.
24But he didn’t give up,
God helped him to stand strong.
Yes, God, my God, he is the one that has all the power.
God looks after his people properly, just like a man looks after his sheep properly.
God is like solid rock, he keeps his people safe.”
25Jacob kept on talking to Joseph. He said,
“My God will help you.
God has power over everything, and he will be good to you.
He will make rain come down from the sky,
and he will make water come up from springs under the ground,
so that your land will grow really good food.
You will have lots of kids and grand-kids,
and your animals will have lots of babies.
26I know that God will give you all those good things,
and they will be better than anything the old mountains can give you,
better than anything else on the earth.”
Then Jacob said,
“Joseph, you are more special than all your brothers,
so I’m asking God to give you all those good things.”
Jacob talked about Benjamin
27Then Jacob said,
“Benjamin’s tribe will be like a wild dog that is really hungry.
In the morning, they will kill their enemies and grab all their good things,
and in the night time, they will share those good things with each other.”
28In that way, Jacob talked to his 12 sons, and he told them about things that will happen to them and their families later on. He said different things to each of his sons, and those things that he said were right for each one of them.
You know, later on, Jacob’s 12 sons became the grand-fathers of the 12 tribes in the Israel mob.
Jacob told his sons to bury his body in a cave
29-30Then Jacob said to his sons, “I am going to die very soon. After I die, I want you mob to bury my body in that cave in Canaan country. My father’s body and my grand-father’s body are already in that cave. That cave is on some land in the place called Makpelah, to the east of Mamreh, in Canaan country. That land used to belong to a man from the Heth tribe, called Efron. My grand-father Abraham, he bought that land from Efron, to use as a grave.#Genesis 23:3-20 31And Abraham buried his wife Sarah there. Some time later, Abraham died, and they buried him in that same place. My father Isaac and his wife Rebekah, they are buried there too. And I also buried my wife Leah there.#Genesis 25:9-10; 35:29 32That land and that cave, they used to belong to the Heth people, but now that place belongs to our family.”
33Jacob finished saying all those things to his sons, and he lay down on his bed. Then he breathed for the last time, and he died.#Acts 7:15
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