49:1  Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.

49:2  "Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And listen to Israel your father.

49:3  "Reuben, you I acknowledge as my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

49:4  "Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it--he went up to my couch.

49:5  "Simeon and Levi I acknowledge as brothers; their swords became implements of violence.

49:6  "Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory unite with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men,And in their self-will they lamed oxen.

49:7  "I curse their anger, for it has become fierce; And their wrath, for it produces cruelty. I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.

49:8  "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall rest on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you.

49:9  "Judah resembles a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?

49:10  "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall come the obedience of the peoples.

49:11  "He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine,And his robes in the blood of grapes.

49:12  "His eyes become dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

49:13  "Zebulun will dwell at the seashore; And he shall become a haven for ships, And his flank shall point toward Sidon.

49:14  "Issachar resembles a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds.

49:15  "When he saw that a resting place felt good And that the land seemed pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

49:16  "Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17  "Dan shall resemble a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward.

49:18  "For Your salvation I wait, O LORD.

49:19  "As for Gad, raiders shall raid him, But he will raid at their heels.

49:20  "As for Asher, his food shall become rich, And he will yield royal dainties.

49:21  "Naphtali resembles a doe let loose, He gives beautiful words.

49:22  "Joseph resembles a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; its branches run over a wall.

49:23  "The archers bitterly attacked him, And shot at him and harassed him;

49:24  But his bow remained firm, And his arms became agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there appears the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

49:25  From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

49:26  "The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;May they reside on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

49:27  "Benjamin resembles a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil."

49:28  All these constitute the twelve tribes of Israel, and this their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.

49:29  Then he charged them and said to them, "I will soon become gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

49:30  in the cave that lies in the field of Machpelah, which lies before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site.

49:31  "There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah--

49:32  the field and the cave that lies in it, purchased from the sons of Heth."

49:33  When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and became gathered to his people.