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.Lit end of the daysNum 24:14
2 “Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob;Yes, alisten to Israel your father.Ps 34:11 3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,My might and athe beginning of my strength,Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.Deut 21:17; Ps 78:51; 105:364 “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.Or Gushing overGen 35:22; Deut 27:20; 1 Chr 5:1 5 “aSimeon and Levi are brothers;Their 1swords are implements of violence.Or plans; meaning uncertainGen 34:25-306 “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.Lit a manLit an oxPs 64:27 “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.Josh 19:1, 9; 21:1-42 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.Gen 27:29; 1 Chr 5:29 “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?Lit bows downLit lionessLit shallEzek 19:5-7; Mic 5:8Num 24:910 “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.Or Until he comes to Shiloh; or Until he comes to whom it belongsNum 24:17; Ps 60:7; 108:8Ps 2:6-9; 72:8-11; Is 42:1, 4; 49:611 “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.Deut 8:7, 8; 2 Kin 18:32Is 63:212 “His eyes are 1dull from wine,And his teeth 2white from milk.Or darker thanOr whiter than 13 “aZebulun will reside at the seashore;And he shall be 1a harbor for ships,And his flank shall be toward Sidon.Lit a shore of shipsDeut 33:18, 19 14 “Issachar is a 1strong donkey,aLying down between the sheepfolds.Lit donkey of boneJudg 5:16; Ps 68:1315 “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.Deut 33:22; Judg 18:26, 27Gen 30:617 “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.Ex 15:2; Ps 25:5; 40:1-3; 119:166, 174; Is 25:9; Mic 7:7 19 “aAs for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him,But he will attack at their 1heels.Lit heelDeut 33:20 20 “1aAs for bAsher, his 2food shall be 3rich,And he will yield royal delicacies.Lit FromOr breadLit fatDeut 33:24, 25Gen 30:13 21 “aNaphtali is a doe let loose;He utters beautiful words.Deut 33:23 22 “aJoseph is a fruitful 1branch,A fruitful 2branch by a spring;Its 3branches hang over a wall.Lit sonLit daughtersDeut 33:13-1723 “The archers provoked him,And shot at him and were hostile toward 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),I.e., in an unyielding positionLit the arms of his handsJob 29:20Ps 18:34; 73:23; Is 41:10Ps 132:2, 5; Is 1:24; 49:26Ps 23:1; 80:1Ps 118:22; Is 28:16; 1 Pet 2:6-825 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.Or withHeb ShaddaiGen 28:13; 32:9Gen 28:3; 48:3Gen 27:2826 “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.Lit limit; or desireDeut 33:15, 16 27 “Benjamin is a 1ravenous wolf;In the morning he devours the prey,And in the evening he divides the spoils.”Lit a wolf that tears 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.Lit andLit according to his blessing
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,Gen 25:8Gen 47:30Gen 23:16-20; 50:13 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.Lit possession of a burial placeGen 23:3-20 31 There they buried aAbraham and his wife bSarah, there they buried cIsaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—Gen 25:9Gen 23:19Gen 35:29 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.Gen 25:8; Acts 7:15Gen 49:29