Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may ^atell you what shall befall you ^bin the last days:

2

“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,

And listen to Israel your father.

3

“Reuben, you are ^amy firstborn,

My might and the beginning of my strength,

The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

4

Unstable as water, you shall not excel,

Because you ^awent up to your father’s bed;

Then you defiled it—

He went up to my couch.

5

“Simeon and Levi are brothers;

Instruments of ¹cruelty are in their dwelling place.

6

^aLet not my soul enter their council;

Let not my honor be united ^bto their assembly;

^cFor in their anger they slew a man,

And in their self‑will they ¹hamstrung an ox.

7

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;

And their wrath, for it is cruel!

^aI will divide them in Jacob

And scatter them in Israel.

8

“Judah,^a you are he whom your brothers shall praise;

^bYour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

^cYour father’s children shall bow down before you.

9

Judah is ^aa lion’s whelp;

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

^bHe ¹bows down, he lies down as a lion;

And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

10

^aThe ¹scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor ^ba lawgiver from between his feet,

^cUntil Shiloh comes;

^dAnd to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

11

Binding his donkey to the vine,

And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

He washed his garments in wine,

And his clothes in the blood of grapes.

12

His eyes are darker than wine,

And his teeth whiter than milk.

13

“Zebulun^a shall dwell by the haven of the sea;

He shall become a haven for ships,

And his border shall ^badjoin Sidon.

14

“Issachar^a is a strong donkey,

Lying down between two burdens;

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He saw that rest was good,

And that the land was pleasant;

He bowed ^ahis shoulder to bear a burden,

And became a band of slaves.

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“Dan^a shall judge his people

As one of the tribes of Israel.

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^aDan shall be a serpent by the way,

A viper by the path,

That bites the horse’s heels

So that its rider shall fall backward.

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^aI have waited for your salvation, O Lord!

19

“Gad,^a¹ a troop shall ²tramp upon him,

But he shall triumph at last.

20

“Bread from ^aAsher shall be rich,

And he shall yield royal dainties.

21

“Naphtali^a is a deer let loose;

He uses beautiful words.

22

“Joseph is a fruitful bough,

A fruitful bough by a well;

His branches run over the wall.

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The archers have ^abitterly grieved him,

Shot at him and hated him.

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But his ^abow remained in strength,

And the arms of his hands were ¹made strong

By the hands of ^bthe Mighty God of Jacob

^c(From there ^dis the Shepherd, ^ethe Stone of Israel),

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^aBy the God of your father who will help you,

^bAnd by the Almighty ^cwho will bless you

With blessings of heaven 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,

^aUp to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.

^bThey shall be on the head of Joseph,

And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

27

“Benjamin is a ^aravenous wolf;

In the morning he shall devour the prey,

^bAnd at night he shall divide the spoil.”

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

Jacob’s Death and Burial

29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I ^aam to be gathered to my people; ^bbury me with my fathers ^cin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, ^awhich Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. 31 ^aThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, ^bthere they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.