English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.

1Then 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.

2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.

2“Come and listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father.

3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power.

4Unstable 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!

4But 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.

5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords.

5“Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence.

6Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.

6May 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.

7Cursed 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.

7A 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.

8“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.

8“Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you.

9Judah 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?

9Judah, 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?

10The 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.

10The 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.

11Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

11He 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.

12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.

13“Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.

13“Zebulun will settle by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships; his borders will extend to Sidon.

14“Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds.

14“Issachar is a sturdy donkey, resting between two saddlepacks.

15He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor.

15When 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.

16“Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.

16“Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel.

17Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward.

17Dan 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.

18I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

18I trust in you for salvation, O LORD!

19“Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.

19“Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat.

20“Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.

20“Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings.

21“Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.

21“Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.

22“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.

22“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.

23The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely,

23Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him.

24yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

24But 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.

25by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

25May 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.

26The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

26May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers.

27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”

27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing his plunder in the evening.”

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

28These 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. Jacob’s Death and Burial

29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

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.

30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

30This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site.

31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—

31There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah.

32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”

32It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.”

33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

33When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.