Shared Word Translation
Genesis 49
Jacob Calls His Sons
Then Jacob called his sons and said,
“Gather yourselves together,
that I may tell you
what shall happen to you in days to come.
Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.”
Reuben
“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity
and preeminent in power.
Unstable 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!”
Simeon and Levi
“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul not enter their council;
let my glory not be joined to their assembly.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.”
Judah
“Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down;
he crouched as a lion,
and as a lioness—
who dares rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his robe in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.”
Zebulun
“Zebulun shall dwell by the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be toward Sidon.”
Issachar
“Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between the sheepfolds.
He saw that a resting place was good
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bent his shoulder to bear
and became a servant at forced labor.”
Dan
“Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the road,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider falls backward.
I wait for your salvation, O LORD.”
Gad
“Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.”
Asher
“Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall provide royal delicacies.”
Naphtali
“Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.”
Joseph
“Joseph is a fruitful branch,
a fruitful branch by a spring;
its branches climb over the wall.
The archers bitterly attacked him,
shot at him,
and harassed him severely,
yet his bow remained firm,
and his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is the Shepherd,
the Stone of Israel),
by the God of your father, who will help you,
and by the Almighty, who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of the ancient mountains,
beyond the bounty of the everlasting hills.
May they be upon the head of Joseph,
upon the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.”
Benjamin
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
and in the evening he divides the spoil.”
Jacob’s Final Charge
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing appropriate to him.
Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
The Death of Jacob
When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.