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New Testament
Genesis 49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
491Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, so that I can declare to you what will happen to you in the days to come.”[]
2Assemble together, and listen to this, you sons of Jacob.
Listen to Israel, your father.
3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might,
and the beginning of my vigor,
excelling in dignity and excelling in power.
4Boiling over like water, you shall not excel,
because you went up to your father's bed,
and you defiled it.
He went up to my couch!
5Simeon and Levi are brothers.
6My soul, do not enter their council.
My glory, do not join in their assembly.
Yes, in their anger they killed men.
In their spitefulness they hamstrung oxen.
7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.
Cursed be their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob.
I will scatter them in Israel.
8Judah, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the throat of your enemies.
Your father's sons will bow down to you.
9Judah is a lion's cub.
You have gone up from the prey, my son.
He stooped down. He crouched like a lion.
He is like a lioness. Who will provoke him?
10The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
He will receive the obedience of the peoples.
11He will tie his foal to the vine,
his donkey's colt to the choice vine.
He has washed his clothing in wine,
his garments in the blood of grapes.
12His eyes will be darker than wine,
13Zebulun will dwell at the seashore.
He will provide a landing place for ships.
His border will extend toward Sidon.
14Issachar is a strong-boned donkey,
15He saw a resting place that was good.
He saw land that was pleasant.
He bows his shoulder under the burden
and becomes a slave doing forced labor.
16Dan will judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17Dan will be a snake in the way,
a viper in the path.
It bites the horse's heels,
so that its rider falls backward.
18I have waited for your salvation, O Lord.
19Raiders will attack Gad,
but he will attack their heels.
20Asher's food will be rich.
He will produce delicacies fit for a king.
21Naphtali is a doe set free,
22Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine by a spring.
23The archers have fiercely attacked him.
They shot at him and harassed him,
24but his bow remained steady.
His arms and hands were made strong
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
25by the God of your father, who will help you,
by the Almighty, who will bless you
with blessings from heaven above,
blessings from the deep that lies below,
blessings from the breasts and from the womb.
greater than the treasures of the ancient hills.
They will rest on the head of Joseph,
on the forehead of him who is elevated above his brothers.
27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he will devour the prey.
At evening he will divide the spoils.
28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them when he blessed them. He blessed each one with the appropriate blessing. 29He instructed them and said to them, “I am going to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, which is near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham purchased along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32The field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the descendants of Heth.”[]
The Death and Burial of Jacob
33When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, breathed his last breath, and was gathered to his people.
Footnotes
- 49:1 This phrase often refers to the distant future.
- 49:5 The meaning of the word is uncertain. The suggestions are many.
- 49:10 Or until Shiloh comes. Shiloh is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew. Shiloh is not used elsewhere as a name of the Messiah. Ezekiel 21:27 and the ancient versions support the translation of shelo as to whom it belongs or which belongs to him. In either case the reference is to the coming Messiah.
- 49:12 Or dark from wine, white from milk
- 49:14 The meaning of the word is uncertain, perhaps sheepfolds or campfires.
- 49:21 The poetic language is difficult. The line may mean he speaks beautiful words.
- 49:22 The poetic language is difficult. Literally it means a son of fruitfulness, a son of fruitfulness beside a spring; his daughters run over a wall.
- 49:24 By the name of is an alternate reading of the Hebrew text. The main Hebrew text reads from there.
- 49:26 The Hebrew of the verse is difficult, and some translations emend the text to read greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains.
- 49:32 There is no known connection between these descendants of Heth, who were apparently a Canaanite group (see Genesis 10:15), and the later Indo-European Hittites of Anatolia (Turkey). The Hittites of Anatolia did not call themselves Hittites but were given that name in the mistaken belief that they were related to the Hittites of the Bible.