Gen 49:1-27 | ESV | STEP | Then Jacob called his sons and said , Gather yourselves together , that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come .

‏ Genesis 49:1-27

Jacob Blesses His Sons

1 ^aThen Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you ^bin days to come.

2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are ^cmy firstborn,
my might, and the ^dfirstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you ^ewent up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 ^f“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons ^gof violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
^hO my glory, ⁱbe not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they ^jhamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will ^kdivide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, ^lyour brothers shall praise you;
^myour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
ⁿyour father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is ^oa lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^pHe stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The ^qscepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff ^rfrom between his feet,
until tribute comes to him; ^{▼▼By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh}
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His ^teyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 ^u“Zebulun shall dwell at the ^vshore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 ^w“Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds. ^{▼▼Or between its saddlebags}
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and ^ybecame a servant at forced labor.
16 ^z“Dan shall ^aajudge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan ^abshall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I ^acwait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 ^ad“Raiders shall raid ^aeGad, ^{▼▼ Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid}
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 ^ag“Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 ^ah“Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns. ^{▼▼Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold}
22 “Joseph is ^aja fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall. ^{▼▼Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall}
23 The archers ^albitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet ^amhis bow remained unmoved;
his arms ^{▼▼Hebrew the arms of his hands} were made agile
by the hands of the ^aoMighty One of Jacob
(from there is ^apthe Shepherd, ^{▼▼Or by the name of the Shepherd} ^arthe Stone of Israel),
25 ^asby the God of your father who will help you,
by ^atthe Almighty ^{▼▼Hebrew Shaddai} ^avwho will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties ^awof the everlasting hills. ^{▼▼A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills}
May they be ^ayon the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 ^az“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening ^badividing the spoil.”