Jacob’s Prophecy concerning His Sons

1Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the [a]days to come.

2“Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob;

Yes, listen to Israel your father.

3“Reuben, you are my firstborn,

My might and the beginning of my strength,

Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

4“[b]Uncontrollable 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.

5“Simeon and Levi are brothers;

Their [c]swords are implements of violence.

6“May my soul not enter into their council;

May my glory not be united with their assembly;

For in their anger they killed [d]men,

And in their self-will they lamed [e]oxen.

7“Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;

And their wrath, for it is cruel.

I will scatter them in Jacob,

And disperse them among Israel.

8“As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you;

Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

9“Judah is a lion’s cub;

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He [f]crouches, he lies down as a lion,

And as a [g]lion, who [h]dares to stir him up?

10“The scepter will not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

[i]Until Shiloh comes,

And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

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.

12“His eyes are [j]dull from wine,

And his teeth [k]white from milk.

13“Zebulun will reside at the seashore;

And he shall be [l]a harbor for ships,

And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

14“Issachar is a [m]strong donkey,

Lying down between the sheepfolds.

15“When he saw that a resting place was good

And that the land was pleasant,

He bowed his shoulder to carry burdens,

And became a slave at forced labor.

16“Dan shall judge his people,

As one of the tribes of Israel.

17“Dan shall be a serpent in the way,

A horned viper in the path,

That bites the horse’s heels,

So that its rider falls backward.

18“For Your salvation I wait, LORD.

19“As for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him,

But he will attack at their [n]heels.

20“[o]As for Asher, his [p]food shall be [q]rich,

And he will yield royal delicacies.

21“Naphtali is a doe let loose;

He utters beautiful words.

22“Joseph is a fruitful [r]branch,

A fruitful [s]branch by a spring;

Its [t]branches hang over a wall.

23“The archers provoked him,

And shot at him and were hostile toward him;

24But his bow remained [u]firm,

And [v]his arms were agile,

From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob

(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

25From the God of your father who helps you,

And [w]by the [x]Almighty who blesses 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 surpassed the blessings of my ancestors

Up to the [y]furthest boundary of the everlasting hills;

May they be on the head of Joseph,

And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

27“Benjamin is a [z]ravenous wolf;

In the morning he devours the prey,

And in the evening he divides the spoils.”

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them [aa]when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one [ab]with the blessing appropriate to him.

Jacob Dies