Online Bible

Jacob’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

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

2 “Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob;Yes, ^alisten to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,My might and ^athe beginning of my strength,Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.4 “¹Uncontrollable 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 ¹swords are implements of violence.6 “^aMay my soul not enter into their council;May my glory not be united with their assembly;For in their anger they killed 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 scatter them in Jacob,And disperse them among Israel.

8 “As for you, 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 cub;From the prey, my son, you have gone up.^bHe ¹crouches, he lies down as a lion,And as a ²lion, who ³dares to stir him up?10 “^aThe scepter will 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 “^aHe 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 reside at the seashore;And he shall be ¹a harbor for ships,And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

14 “Issachar is a ¹strong donkey,^aLying down between the sheepfolds.15 “When he saw that a resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,He bowed his shoulder to carry 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 viper in the path,That bites the horse’s heels,So that its rider falls backward.18 “^aFor Your salvation I wait, LORD.

19 “^aAs for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him,But he will attack at their ¹heels.

20 “¹^aAs for ^bAsher, his ²food shall be ³rich,And he will yield royal delicacies.

21 “^aNaphtali is a doe let loose;He utters beautiful words.

22 “^aJoseph is a fruitful ¹branch,A fruitful ²branch by a spring;Its ³branches hang over a wall.23 “The archers provoked him,And shot at him and were hostile toward him;24 But his ^abow remained ¹firm,And ²^bhis 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 ¹^bby 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 ¹furthest boundary of ^athe everlasting hills;May they be on the head of Joseph,And on the top 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 spoils.”

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.

Jacob Dies

29 Then he commanded 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 opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as 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 commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and ^abreathed his last, and was ^bgathered to his people.

Jacob Assembles His Sons

Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Gather together that I may tell you what will befall you ^ain the last days.

2 “Assemble 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 vigor,¹Preeminent in dignity and ²preeminent in strength.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 killed ¹men,And in their self-will they hamstrung ²oxen.7 “Cursed be their anger, for it is strong;And their wrath, for it is cruel.^aI will divide them amongst Jacob,And scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, as for you, 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 ¹crouches, he lies down as a lion,And as a lioness, who ²dares 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 “¹^aHe 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 ¹dark from wine,And his teeth ²white from milk.

13 “^aZebulun will dwell at the seashore;And he shall be a shore for ships,And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

14 “Issachar is ¹a strong donkey,^aLying down between the ²sheepfolds.15 “And he saw that a resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,So he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,And became a slave at forced labor.

16 “^aDan shall ^brender justice to 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 hope, O Yahweh.

19 “^aAs for Gad, ¹raiders shall raid him,But he will raid at their ²heels.

20 “¹^aAs 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 “And the archers bitterly attacked him and shot at him,And they bore a grudge against him;24 But his ^abow remained ¹firm,And ²^bhis 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 ¹^bby 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 top 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.”

Jacob Breathes His Last

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. So he blessed them. He blessed them, every one ¹with the blessing appropriate to him. 29 Then he commanded 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 as a possession for a burial 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 So Jacob finished commanding his sons. And he drew his feet into the bed and ^abreathed his last and was ^bgathered to his people.