Genesis 49
49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
Dt 33:1–29
1#Nu 24:14; Jer 23:20Jacob called to his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, so that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.
2#Ps 34:11 Gather yourselves together and hear, sons of Jacob,
and listen to your father Israel.
3#Dt 21:17; Ge 29:32 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the beginning of my strength,
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.
4#Ge 35:22; Dt 27:20 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.
5#Ge 29:33–34; 34:25–31 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6#Ps 26:9; Ge 34:30 Let my soul not enter into their council;
let my glory not be united with their assembly;
for in their anger they killed men
and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
7#Jos 19:1–9; 1Ch 4:24–31 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8#1Ch 5:2; Ge 27:29 Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down before you.
9#Nu 24:9; Rev 5:5 Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have goneup.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
and as a lion, who dares rouse him?
10#Nu 24:17; Ps 60:7 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes;
and to him will be the obedience of the people.
11#2Ki 18:32 He tethers his foal to the vine,
and his colt to the choicest vine;
he washes his garments in wine,
his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12#Pr 23:29 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13#Dt 33:18–19; Ge 30:20 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea;
and he shall be a haven of ships.
His border shall be at Sidon.
14#Ge 30:18; 1Ch 12:32 Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between two burdens;
15he saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to bear the burden
and became a slave to forced labor.
16#Ge 30:6; Dt 33:22 Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17Dan shall be a serpent by the road,
a viper on the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider will fall backward.
18#Ps 119:166; 119:174 I wait for Your salvation, O Lord!
19#Ge 30:11 Gad shall be attacked by raiding bands,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20#Ge 30:13; Dt 33:24–25 Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21#Dt 33:23; Ge 30:8 Naphtali is a doe set loose;
he gives beautiful words.
22#Ge 41:52 Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring,
whose branches run over the wall.
23#Ge 37:24; 37:28 The archers bitterly attacked him,
they shot at him and hated him.
24#Ps 132:2; 132:5 But his bow remained firm.
His arms were agile
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25#Ge 28:13; 17:1 because of the God of your father who will help you,
and by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings from heaven above,
blessings from the deep that lies beneath,
the blessings of the breasts and the womb.
26#Dt 33:15–16; Hab 3:6 The blessings of your father have surpassed
the blessings of my fathers,
up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph,
and on the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27#Ge 35:18; Jdg 20:21 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
and at night he divides the spoil.”
28These are all the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, each with the blessing appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29#Ge 47:30; 50:13Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31#Ge 25:9; 35:29They buried Abraham and Sarah his wife there. They buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife there, and I buried Leah there. 32The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the children of Heth.”
33#Ge 49:29; 25:8When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Military Bible Association
Genesis 49
49
1And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.
2Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob: hearken to Israel your father.
3Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.
4Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.
5Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.
6Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.
7Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel. I Will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.
8Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise. Thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.
9Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up. Resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him?
10The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent: and he shall be the expectation of nations.
11Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.
12His eyes are more beautiful than wine: and his teeth whiter than milk.
13Zabulon shall dwell on the sea-shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.
14Issachar shall be a strong ass lying down between the borders.
15He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent. And he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute.
16Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.
17Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that his rider may fall backward.
18I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.
19Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward.
20Aser: his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings.
21Nephtali: a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.
22Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold: the daughters run to and fro upon the wall.
23But they that held darts provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him.
24His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.
25The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come. May they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.
27Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil.
28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one, with their proper blessings.
29And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite,
30Over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to bury in.
31There they buried him, and Sara his wife. There was Isaac buried with Rebecca his wife. There also Lia doth lie buried.
32And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died. And he was gathered to his people.
An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.