Genesis 49

CHAPTER 49

1Forsooth Jacob called his sons, and said to them, Be ye gathered together, that I tell what things shall come to you in the last days;

2be ye gathered [together], and hear, ye sons of Jacob, hear ye Israel your father.

3Reuben, my first begotten son, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow; thou oughtest to be the former in gifts, the more in lordship;

4thou art shed [or poured] out as water; wax thou not, for thou ascend-edest [or went up] on the bed of thy father, and defouledest his bed.

5Simeon and Levi, brethren, fighting vessels of wickedness;

6my soul come not into the counsel of them, and my glory be not in the congregation of them; for in their strong vengeance, they killed a man, and in their [own] will, they under-mined the wall;

7cursed be the strong vengeance of them, for it is obstinate, and the indignation of them, for it is hard; I shall part them in Jacob, and I shall scatter them in Israel.

8Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee, thine hands shall be in the nolls of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee.

9Judah, the whelp of a lion; my son, thou hast gone up to the prey; thou restedest, and hast lain as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall raise him?

10The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, and a duke of his hip, till he come that shall be sent, and he shall be the abiding of heathen men;

11and he shall tie his colt at the vinery [or vineyard], and his she-ass at the vine; O! my son, he shall wash his stole in wine, and his mantle in the blood of the grape;

12his eyes be fairer than wine, and his teeth be whiter than milk.

13Zebulun shall dwell in the brink of the sea, and in the standing of ships; and he shall stretch till to Sidon.

14Issachar, a strong ass, lying betwixt [the] terms,

15saw rest, that it was good, and saw the land, that it was best, and he underset his shoulder to bear, and he was made serving to tributes#49:15 Either to rent, (Or to pay rent or taxes), as it is in Hebrew..

16Dan shall deem his people, as also another lineage in Israel.

17Dan be made a serpent in the way, and a cerastes, that is, an horned adder, in the path, and bite he the feet of an horse, that the rider of him fall backward;

18Lord, I shall abide thine health.

19Gad shall be girded, and he shall fight before him, and he shall be girded behind.

20Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall give delights to kings.

21Naphtali shall be an hart sent out, and giving speeches of fairness.

22Joseph, a son increasing, a son increasing, and fair in beholding; [the] daughters run about on the wall,

23but his brethren wrathed at him, and chided him, and they had darts, and had envy to him.

24His bow sat in the Strong, that is, the Lord, and the bonds of his arms and his hands were unbound by the hand of the mighty God of Jacob; of him a shepherd went out, the stone of Israel.

25God of thy father shall be thine helper, and Almighty God shall bless thee, with blessings of heaven from above, and with blessings of the sea lying beneath, with blessings of teats, and of the womb;

26the blessings of thy father be comforted, that is, be better than the blessings of his fathers, till the desire of everlasting hills came; blessings be made on the head of Joseph, and in the noll of Nazarite, that is, holy, among his brethren.

27Benjamin, a ravishing wolf, shall eat the prey early, and in the eventide he shall part spoils.

28All these were in [the] twelve kindreds of Israel; their father spake these things to them, and he blessed them all by proper blessings,

29and he commanded to them, and said, I am soon to be gathered to my people; bury ye me with my fathers in the double den, that is in the land of Ephron the Hittite,

30 that is, in the den in the field at Machpelah, against Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which den Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, into possession of a sepulchre.

31There they buried him, and Sarah his wife; also Isaac was buried there, with Rebecca his wife; there also Leah lieth buried.

32(This verse is omitted in the original text.)

33And when the behests were ended, by which he taught his sons, he gathered together his feet on the bed, and died, and he was put to his people.

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Berĕshith (Genesis) 49

1And Ya‛aqoḇ called his sons and said, “Gather together, so that I declare to you what is to befall you in the last days:

2“Gather together and hear, you sons of Ya‛aqoḇ, and listen to Yisra’ĕl your father.

3“Re’uḇĕn, you are my first-born, my power and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of exaltation and the excellency of power.

4“Boiling like water, you do not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then you defiled it – he went up to my couch.

5“Shim‛on and Lĕwi are brothers, their weapons are implements of violence.

6“Let my being not enter their council, let my esteem not be united to their assembly; because they killed a man in their displeasure, and they lamed an ox in pleasure.

7“Cursed be their displeasure for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is cruel! I divide them in Ya‛aqoḇ and scatter them in Yisra’ĕl.

8“You, Yehuḏah, your brothers praise you; your hand is on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children bow down before you.

9Yehuḏah is a lion’s cub; from the prey you have gone up, my son! He bowed down, he crouched like a lion. And like a lion, who does rouse him?”

10“The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehuḏah, nor an Inscriber from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him is the obedience of peoples.

11“Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.

12“His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

13“Zeḇulun dwells at the seashore, he is for a haven for ships, and his border is unto Tsiḏon.

14“Yissasḵar is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens,

15and he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, and he inclined his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a subject to slave labour.

16“Dan rightly rules his people as one of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl.

17“Dan is a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward.

18I have waited for your deliverance, O יהוה!”

19“Gaḏ, a raiding band raids him, but he raids its heel.

20“Bread from Ashĕr is rich, and he gives delicacies of a sovereign.

21“Naphtali is a deer let loose, he gives words of elegance.

22“Yosĕph is an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree, an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree by a fountain, his branches run over a wall.

23“And the archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him.

24But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Ya‛aqoḇ – from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisra’ĕl - ”

25from the Ěl of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens from above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26“The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the limit of the everlasting hills. They are on the head of Yosĕph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.

27“Binyamin is a wolf that tears, in the morning he eats prey, and at night he divides the spoil.”

28All these are the twelve tribes of Yisra’ĕl, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them, he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

29And he commanded them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Ḥittite,

30in the cave that is in the field of Maḵpĕlah, which is before Mamrĕ in the land of Kena‛an, which Aḇraham bought with the field of Ephron the Ḥittite as a possession for a burial-site.

31There they buried Aḇraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Yitsḥaq and Riḇqah his wife, and there I buried Lĕ’ah –

32the field purchased, and the cave which is in it, from the sons of Ḥĕth.”

33And when Ya‛aqoḇ ended commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

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