Genesis 49
49
Jacob reveals his sons’ destinies
1Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the coming days.
2Assemble yourselves and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.
3Reuben, you are my oldest son,
my strength and my first contender,#49.3 Or first of my power
superior in status and superior in might.
4As wild as the waters, you won’t endure,
for you went up to your father’s bed,
you went up#49.4 LXX; MT he went up and violated my couch.
5Simeon and Levi are brothers,
weapons of violence their stock in trade.
6May I myself never enter their council.
May my honor never be linked to their group;
for when they were angry, they killed men,
and whenever they wished, they maimed oxen.
7Cursed be their anger; it is violent,
their rage; it is relentless.
I’ll divide them up within Jacob
and disperse them within Israel.
8Judah, you are the one your brothers will honor;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you rise up.
He lies down and crouches like a lion;
like a lioness—who dares disturb him?
10The scepter won’t depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from among his banners.#49.10 Sam; MT his feet
Gifts will be brought to him;
people will obey him.
11He ties his male donkey to the vine,
the colt of his female donkey to the vine’s branches.
He washes his clothes in wine,
his garments in the blood of grapes.
12His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13Zebulun will live at the seashore;
he’ll live at the harbor of ships,
his border will be at Sidon.
14Issachar is a sturdy donkey,
bedding down beside the village hearths.#49.14 Or stubbornly lying beneath its saddlebags
15He saw that a resting place was good
and that the land was pleasant.
He lowered his shoulder to haul loads
and joined the work gangs.
16Dan#49.16 Or he judges, or settles disputes will settle disputes for his people,
as one of Israel’s tribes.
17Dan will be a snake on the road,
a serpent on the path,
biting a horse’s heels,
so its rider falls backward.
18I long for your victory, LORD.
19Gad#49.19 Or he attacks or good fortune will be attacked by attackers,
but he’ll attack their back.
20Asher#49.20 LXX, Syr, Vulg; MT from Asher grows fine foods,
and he will supply the king’s delicacies.
21Naphtali is a wild doe
that gives birth to beautiful fawns.#49.21 Or who gives beautiful words
22Joseph is a young bull,#49.22 Heb uncertain
a young bull by a spring,
who strides with oxen.#49.22 Heb uncertain
23They attacked him fiercely and fired arrows;
the archers attacked him furiously.
24But his bow stayed strong,
and his forearms were nimble,#49.24 Heb uncertain; or flexible
by the hands of the strong one of Jacob,
by the name of the shepherd, the rock of Israel,
25by God, your father, who supports you,
by the Almighty#49.25 Heb Shaddai or the Mountain One who blesses you
with blessings from the skies above
and blessings from the deep sea below,
blessings from breasts and womb.
26The blessings of your father exceed
the blessings of the eternal mountains,#49.26 LXX; Heb uncertain
the wealth of the everlasting hills.
May they all rest on Joseph’s head,
on the forehead of the one set apart from his brothers.
27Benjamin is a wolf who hunts:
in the morning he devours the prey;
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them by giving each man his own particular blessing.
Jacob’s death and burial
29Jacob ordered them, “I am soon to join my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave that’s in the field of Ephron the Hittite; 30in the cave that’s in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial property. 31That is where Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and where Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and where I buried Leah. 32It is the field and the cave in it that belonged to the Hittites.” 33After he finished giving orders to his sons, he put his feet up on the bed, took his last breath, and joined his people.
2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Genesis 49
49
1And Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall youf in the last days.
2Gather yourselves together, and hear, youf sons of Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of); and hearken unto Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator) yourf father.
3Re’uven (behold a son), youi [are] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4Unstable as water, youi shall not excel; because youi went up to youri father’s bed; then defiled youi [it]: he went up to my couch.
5Shim’on (heard; he who hears; man of hearing) and Levi (Levite) [Joined to] (joined) [are] brethren; instruments of cruelty [are in] their habitations.
6O my soul, come not youi into their secret; unto their assembly, my honour, be not youi united: for in their anger they killed a man, and in their stubbornness they dug down a wall.
7Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of), and scatter them in Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator).
8Y’hudah (Let the Powerful One be Praised [Yah]), youi [are he] whom you(i) brethren shall praise: your(i) hand [shall be] in the neck of youri enemies; your(i) father’s children shall bow down before youi.
9Y’hudah [is] a lion’s whelp (a cub; a young one): from the prey, my son, youi are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10The sceptre shall not depart from Y’hudah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Place of Rest] come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].
11Binding his foal unto the vine, and his donkey’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13Z’vulun (exalted; Glorious Dwelling Place) shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he [shall be] for an haven of ships; and his border [shall be] unto Tzidon [Hunting].
14Yissakhar (there is recompense) is a strong donkey couching down between two burdens:
15And he saw that rest [was] good, and the land that [it was] pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16Dan (Judge) shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator).
17Dan (Judge) shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
18I have waited for youri salvation, O Lord-Yehōvah (Messiah Pre-Incarnate).
19Gad, (troop; good fortune with much effort) a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20Out of Asher (happy) his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21Naftali (My Wrestling) [is] a hind let loose: he gives goodly words.
22Yosef (Increaser; May God the Powerful One add [Yah]) [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:
23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:
24But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] of Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of); (from there [is] the shepherd, the stone of Isra’el [he who holds onto God-The Creator])
25by the God-Elōhīm [The Living Word - The Many Powered] of youri father, who shall help youi; and by the EL Shaddai [The Powerful/Almighty Living Word], who shall bless youi with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26The blessings of youri father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Yosef, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
27Binyamin (This Son Is Strength) shall voracious [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil (plunder; prey; booty).
28All these [are] the twelve tribes of Isra’el (he who holds onto God-The Creator): and this [is it] that their father spoke unto them, and Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) them; every one according to his blessing he Blessed (Favored by God; happy; prosperous) them.
29And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that [is] in the field of ‘Efron (fawn-like) the Hitti (terrorists),
30In the cave that [is] in the field of Makhpelah (portion; double cave), which [is] before Mamre (firmness; fatling (fat cattle) offering), in the land of Kena’an (merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues), which Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] bought with the field of ‘Efron (fawn-like) the Hitti (terrorists) for a possession of a burying place.
31There they buried Avraham [exalted father/Fly They Will] and Sarah [Princess] his wife; there they buried Yitz’chak [Laughter] and Rivkah (Tied Up; Secured) his wife; and there I buried Le’ah (weary; grieved).
32The purchase of the field and of the cave that [is] in it [was] from the children of Het (terror).
33And when Ya’akov (he who holds onto the heel of) had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
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