Genesis 49

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, "Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.H3290H7121H1121H559H622H5046H7122H319H31172"Come and listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father.H6908H8085H1121H3290H8085H3478H13"Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power.H7205H1060H3581H7225H202H3499H7613H3499H57944But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch.H6349H4325H3498H5927H1H4904H2490H5927H33265"Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence.H8095H3878H251H3627H2555H43806May I never join in their meetings; may I never be a party to their plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport.H5315H935H5475H6951H3519H3161H639H2026H376H7522H6131H77947A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; a curse on their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them among the descendants of Jacob; I will disperse them throughout Israel.H779H639H5794H5678H7185H2505H3290H6327H34788"Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you.H3063H251H3034H3027H6203H341H1H1121H78129Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?H3063H738H1482H2964H1121H5927H3766H7257H738H3833H696510The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants

, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.H7626H5493H3063H2710H7272H3588H7886H935H3349H597111He ties his foal to a grapevine, the colt of his donkey to a choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.H631H5895H1612H860H1121H8321H3526H3830H3196H5497H1818H602512His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.H5869H2447H3196H8127H3836H246113"Zebulun will settle by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships; his borders will extend to Sidon.H2074H7931H2348H3220H2348H591H3411H672114"Issachar is a sturdy donkey, resting between two saddlepacks

.H3485H1634H2543H7257H494215When he sees how good the countryside is and how pleasant the land, he will bend his shoulder to the load and submit himself to hard labor.H7200H4496H2896H776H5276H5186H7926H5445H5647H452216"Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel.H1835H1777H5971H259H7626H347817Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse's hooves so its rider is thrown off.H1835H5175H1870H8207H734H5391H5483H6119H7392H5307H26818I trust in you for salvation, O LORD!H6960H3444H306819"Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat.H1410H1416H1464H1464H611920"Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings.H836H3899H8082H5414H4428H457421"Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.H5321H355H7971H5414H8233H56122"Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring—one of the wild donkeys on the ridge

.H3130H6509H1121H6509H1121H5869H1323H6805H779123Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him.H1167H2671H4843H7232H785224But his bow remained taut, and his arms were strengthened by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.H7198H3427H386H2220H3027H6339H3027H46H3290H7462H68H347825May the God of your father help you; May the Almighty bless you with the blessings of the heavens above, and blessings of the watery depths below, and blessings of the breasts and womb.H410H1H5826H854H7706H1288H1293H8064H5920H1293H8415H7257H1293H7699H735626May the blessings of your father surpass the blessings of the ancient mountains

, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers.H1293H1H1396H1293H2029H8379H5769H1389H7218H3130H6936H5139H25127"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing his plunder in the evening."H1144H2963H2061H1242H398H5706H6153H2505H799828These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.H6240H8147H7626H3478H1H1696H1288H834H376H1293H1288

Jacob’s Death and Burial

29Then Jacob instructed them, "Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.H6680H559H622H5971H6912H1H4631H7704H6085H285030This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site.H4631H7704H4375H6440H4471H776H3667H85H7069H7704H6085H2850H272H691331There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah.H6912H85H8283H802H6912H3327H7259H802H6912H381232It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites."H4735H7704H4631H1121H284533When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.H3290H3615H6680H1121H622H7272H4296H1478H622H5971