49:1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: Gather round so that I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
49:2 Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob listen to your father Israel.
49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honour, excelling in power.
49:4 Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.
49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers their swords [The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.] are weapons of violence.
49:6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
49:7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
49:8 Judah, [Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.] your brothers will praise you your hand will be on the neck of your enemies your father’s sons will bow down to you.
49:9 You are a lion’s cub, O Judah you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness who dares to rouse him?
49:10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs [Or until Shiloh comes or until he comes to whom tribute belongs] and the obedience of the nations is his.
49:11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk. [Or will be dull from wine, his teeth white from milk]
49:13 Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships his border will extend towards Sidon.
49:14 Issachar is a scrawny [Or strong] donkey lying down between two saddlebags. [Or campfires]
49:15 When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labour.
49:16 Dan [Dan here means he provides justice.] will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
49:17 Dan will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backwards.
49:18 I look for your deliverance, O LORD.
49:19 Gad [Gad can mean attack and band of raiders.] will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.
49:20 Asher’s food will be rich he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
49:21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. [Or free he utters beautiful words]
49:22 Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall. [Or Joseph is a wild colt, a wild colt near a spring, a wild donkey on a terraced hill]
49:23 With bitterness archers attacked him they shot at him with hostility.
49:24 But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed [Or archers will attack...will shoot...will remain...will stay] supple, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
49:25 because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, [Hebrew Shaddai] who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breast and womb.
49:26 Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than [Or of my progenitors, as great as] the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among [Or the one separated f
49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.
49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
49:29 Then he gave them these instructions: I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
49:30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field.
49:31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.
49:32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. [Or the sons of Heth]
49:33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.