1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may atell you what shall befall you bin the last days:
2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are amy firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you awent up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of1 cruelty arein their dwelling place.
6aLet not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united bto their assembly; cFor in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they1 hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for itis fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! aI will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah,a you arehe whom your brothers shall praise; bYour hand shallbe on the neck of your enemies; cYour father’s children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah isaa lion’s whe1lp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. bHe bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10aThe1 scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor ba lawgiver from between his feet, cUntil Shiloh comes; dAnd to Him shallbe the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebuluna shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shallbecome a haven for ships, And his border shall badjoin Sidon.
14 “Issachara is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens;
15 He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed ahis shoulder to bear aburden, And became a band of slaves.
16 “Dana shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.
17aDan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse’s heels So that its rider shall fall backward.
19 “Gad,1a a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.
20 “Bread from aAsher shallbe rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 “Naphtaliais a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have abitterly grieved him, Shot athim and hated him.
24 But his abow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were1 made strong By the hands of bthe Mighty God of Jacob c(From there dis the Shepherd, ethe Stone of Israel),
25aBy the God of your father who will help you, bAnd by the Almighty cwho will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, aUp to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. bThey shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a aravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, bAnd at night he shall divide the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I aam to be gathered to my people; bbury me with my fathers cin the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Reuben, "unstable as water," would "not excel," because of his sexual depravity. Although he was the firstborn, he did not receive the birthright blessing.
Jacob prophesied Reuben to be "unstable as water," mainly in moral matters, but the wider principle applies to other things. Deborah chastised the tribe for having "great searchings of heart," but never making a decision (Judges 5:15-16). And though a leading and honorable people (Numbers 2:16; 32:17-18), Reuben will not excel because of its character traits (I Chronicles 5:1-2).
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