New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

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.

1Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.

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

2"Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And listen to Israel your father.

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

3"Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

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.

4"Uncontrolled 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 two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence.

5"Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence.

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.

6"Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen.

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.

7"Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.

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

8"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.

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?

9"Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?

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.

10"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

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.

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.

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

12"His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

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

13"Zebulun will dwell at the seashore; And he shall be a haven for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

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

14"Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds.

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.

15"When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

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

16"Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.

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.

17"Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward.

18I trust in you for salvation, O LORD!

18"For Your salvation I wait, O LORD.

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

19"As for Gad, raiders shall raid him, But he will raid at their heels.

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

20"As for Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal dainties.

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

21"Naphtali is a doe let loose, He gives beautiful words.

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.

22"Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall.

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

23"The archers bitterly attacked him, And shot at him and harassed him;

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.

24But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

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.

25From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

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.

26"The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

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

27"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil."

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

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

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.

29Then he charged 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,

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.

30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site.

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

31"There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah--

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

32the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth."

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.

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

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.

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