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Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you ain the 1days to come.

2 “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;And alisten to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn;My might and athe beginning of my strength,1Preeminent in dignity and 2preeminent in power.4 “1Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence,aBecause you went up to your father’s bed;Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.
5 “aSimeon and Levi are brothers;Their swords are implements of violence.6 “aLet my soul not enter into their council;Let not my glory be united with their assembly;Because in their anger they slew 1men,And in their self-will they lamed 2oxen.7 “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;And their wrath, for it is cruel.aI will 1disperse them in Jacob,And scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;aYour father’s sons shall bow down to you.9 “Judah is a alion’s whelp;From the prey, my son, you have gone up.bHe 1couches, he lies down as a lion,And as a 2lion, who 3dares rouse him up?10 “aThe scepter shall not depart from Judah,Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,1Until Shiloh comes,And bto him shall be the obedience of the peoples.11 “1aHe ties his foal to the vine,And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;bHe washes his garments in wine,And his robes in the blood of grapes.12 “His eyes are 1dull from wine,And his teeth 2white from milk.
13 “aZebulun will dwell at the seashore;And he shall be 1a haven for ships,And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
14 “Issachar is 1a strong donkey,aLying down between the 2sheepfolds.15 “When he saw that a resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,And became a slave at forced labor.
16 “aDan shall bjudge his people,As one of the tribes of Israel.17 “Dan shall be a serpent in the way,A horned snake in the path,That bites the horse’s heels,So that his rider falls backward.18 “aFor Your salvation I wait, O LORD.
19 “aAs for Gad, 1raiders shall raid him,But he will raid at their 2heels.
20 “1aAs for bAsher, his 2food shall be 3rich,And he will yield royal dainties.
21 “aNaphtali is a doe let loose,He gives beautiful words.
22 “aJoseph is a fruitful 1bough,A fruitful 2bough by a spring;Its 3branches run over a wall.23 “The archers bitterly attacked him,And shot at him and harassed him;24 But his abow remained 1firm,And 2bhis arms were agile,From the hands of the cMighty One of Jacob(From there is dthe Shepherd, ethe Stone of Israel),25 From athe God of your father who helps you,And 1bby the 2Almighty who blesses youWith cblessings of heaven above,Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.26 “The blessings of your fatherHave surpassed the blessings of my ancestorsUp to the 1utmost bound of athe everlasting hills;May they be on the head of Joseph,And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a 1ravenous wolf;In the morning he devours the prey,And in the evening he divides the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them 1when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one 2with the blessing appropriate to him. 29 Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be agathered to my people; bbury me with my fathers in the cave that is in cthe field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the acave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a 1burial site. 31 There they buried aAbraham and his wife bSarah, there they buried cIsaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and abreathed his last, and was bgathered to his people.

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Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves around me that I may tell you what will happen to you and your descendants 1ain the days to come.

2 “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;And alisten to Israel (Jacob) your father.
3 “Reuben, you are my 1firstborn;My might, athe beginning of my strength and vigor,Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power that should have been your birthright.4 “But unstable and reckless and boiling over like water in sinful lust, you shall 1not excel or have the preeminence of the firstborn,aBecause you went up to your father’s bed with Bilhah;You defiled it—he went up to my couch. Gen 35:22
5 “aSimeon and Levi are brothers equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel;Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge. Gen 34:25-306 “O amy soul, do not come into their secret council;Let not my glory (honor) be united with their assembly for I knew nothing of their plot;Because in their anger they killed men an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites,And in their self-will they lamed oxen.7 “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;And their wrath, for it was cruel.aI will divide and disperse them in Jacob,And 1scatter them in the midst of the land of Israel.
8 “Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;aYour father’s sons shall bow down to you.9 “Judah, a alion’s cub;With the prey, my son, you have gone high up the mountain.bHe stooped down, he crouched like a lion,And like a lion—who dares rouse him? Rev 5:510 “aThe scepter of royalty shall not depart from Judah,Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,Until Shiloh the Messiah, the Peaceful One comes,And bto Him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Num 24:17; Ps 60:7; Ezek 21:2711 “aTying 1his foal to the strong vineAnd his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,bHe washes his clothing in wine because the grapevine produces abundantly,And his robes in the blood of grapes. Is 63:1-3; Zech 9:9; Rev 19:11-1612 “His eyes are darker and sparkle more than wine,And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “aZebulun shall dwell at the seashore;And he shall be a haven (landing place) for ships,And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
14 “Issachar is like a strong-boned donkey,aCrouching down between the sheepfolds.15 “When he saw that the resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,And became a servant at forced labor.
16 “aDan shall bjudge his people,As one of the tribes of Israel.17 “Dan shall be a venomous serpent in the way,A fanged snake in the path,That bites the horse’s heels,So that his rider falls backward.18 “aI wait for Your salvation, O LORD.
19 “As for 1aGad—a raiding troop shall raid him,But he shall raid at their heels and assault them victoriously.
20 “aAsher’s food supply shall be rich and bountiful,And he shall yield and deliver royal delights.
21 “aNaphtali is a doe let loose, a swift warrior,Which yields branched antlers (eloquent words) .
22 “aJoseph is a fruitful bough (a main branch of the vine) ,A fruitful bough by a spring (a well, a fountain) ;Its branches run over the wall influencing others.23 “The skilled archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him;They have shot at him and harassed him.24 “But his abow remained firm and steady in the Strength that does not fail,For bhis arms were made strong and agileBy the hands of the cMighty One of Jacob,(By the name of dthe Shepherd, ethe Stone of Israel), Gen 48:15; Deut 32:4; Is 9:6; 49:2625 By athe God of your father who will help you,And bby the 1Almighty who blesses youWith cblessings of the heavens above,Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath,Blessings of the nursing breasts and of the fertile womb.26 “The blessings of your fatherAre greater than the blessings of my ancestors Abraham and IsaacUp to the utmost bound of athe everlasting hills;They shall be on the head of Joseph,Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a 1ravenous wolf;In the morning he devours the prey,And at night he divides the spoil.”

28 All these are the beginnings of the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing appropriate to him. 29 He charged them and said to them, “I am to be agathered to my people; bbury me with my fathers in the cave that is in cthe field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the acave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burial site. Gen 23:17-20 31 There they buried aAbraham and bSarah his wife, there they buried cIsaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob (Israel) had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and abreathed his last, and was 1bgathered to his people who had preceded him in death.