c)
Blessing his own sons
49:1-28
Gen. 49
:1
49:1
And Jacob called to his sons and said, Gather yourselves together that I may
1tell you what will happen to you in the
alast days.
Gen. 49
:2
49:2
aAssemble yourselves, and listen, O sons of Jacob;
Yes, listen to Israel your father.
Gen. 49
:3
49:3
aReuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the
bfirstfruits of my vigor,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
Gen. 49
:4
49:4
Ebullient as water, you will
1not have the preeminence,
Because you went up to your father’s
abed;
Then you defiled
it — he went up to my couch.
Gen. 49
:5
49:5
1aSimeon and Levi are brothers;
Weapons of violence are their swords.
Gen. 49
:6
49:6
Come not into their council, O my soul;
Be not united with their assembly, O my
aglory;
For in their anger they slew men,
And in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
Gen. 49
:7
49:7
1Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel:
I will
adivide them in Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.
Gen. 49
:8
49:8
1aJudah, your brothers will praise you;
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s
bsons will bow down before you.
Gen. 49
:9
49:9
Judah is a
ayoung 1blion;
From the prey, my son, you have gone
2up.
He
2couches, he stretches out like a lion,
And like a
3lioness;
4who will rouse him up?
Gen. 49
:10
49:10
The 1ascepter will not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from
2between his feet,
Until
3Shiloh bcomes,
And to Him shall be the obedience of the
4peoples.
Gen. 49
:11
49:11
Binding his
1foal to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washes his
2garment in wine,
And his robe in the blood of grapes.
Gen. 49
:12
49:12
1Dark are his eyes with wine,
And white are his teeth with milk.
Gen. 49
:13
49:13
aZebulun will dwell at the shore of the sea,
And he will be a shore for
1ships,
And his flank will be toward
2bSidon.
Gen. 49
:14
49:14
aIssachar is a strong donkey,
1Couching between the
bsheepfolds.
Gen. 49
:15
49:15
And he saw a resting place that was good
And the
1land that was pleasant,
And he bowed his shoulder to bear,
And became a
2task-worker to
bring 3tribute.
Gen. 49
:16
49:16
aDan will judge his people,
As one of the
1tribes of Israel.
Gen. 49
:17
49:17
Dan will be a
1serpent in the way,
A viper on the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
Gen. 49
:18
49:18
I have awaited for Your
1bsalvation, O Jehovah.
Gen. 49
:19
49:19
aGad, raiders will raid him,
But he will raid at
1their heel.
Gen. 49
:20
49:20
1aAsher’s food will be
2rich,
And he will yield royal dainties.
Gen. 49
:21
49:21
aNaphtali is a
1hind let loose;
He gives beautiful words.
Gen. 49
:22
49:22
aJoseph is a fruitful
1bough,
A fruitful bough by a fountain;
His branches run over the wall.
Gen. 49
:23
49:23
The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot
at him and harassed him;
Gen. 49
:24
49:24
But his bow remained firm,
And the arms of his hands were
1agile,
By the hands of the
aMighty One of Jacob —
From there is the
bShepherd, the
cstone of Israel —
Gen. 49
:25
49:25
From the
aGod of your father, who will help you,
And from the
1bAll-sufficient One, who will
2bless you
With
cblessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
Gen. 49
:26
49:26
The blessings of your father surpass
The blessings of my ancestors
To the utmost bound of the
aeverlasting hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the
bhead of the one who was
1separate from his brothers.
Gen. 49
:27
49:27
aBenjamin is a
1ravenous wolf,
In the morning devouring the prey
And in the evening dividing the
2spoil.
Gen. 49
:28
49:28
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them; he blessed them, each one according to his blessing.
5)
Departing in an excellent way
49:29—50:13
Gen. 49
:29
49:29
And he charged them and said to them, I am being gathered to my people.
1Bury me with
amy fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen. 49
:30
49:30
In the cave that is in the field of
aMachpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for the possession of a burial place —
Gen. 49
:31
49:31
There they
aburied Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they
bburied Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah —
Gen. 49
:32
49:32
The field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the children of Heth.
Gen. 49
:33
49:33
And when Jacob had finished charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and
aexpired, and he was gathered to his people.
