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

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.

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

Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; And hearken unto Israel your father.

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

Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength; The pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power.

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.

Boiling over as water, thou shalt not have the pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

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

Simeon and Levi are brethren; Weapons of violence are their swords.

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.

O my soul, come not thou into their council; Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hocked an ox.

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.

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; And their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, And scatter them in 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 to you.

Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise: Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.

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?

Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up: He stooped down, he couched as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?

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.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come: And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

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.

Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass's colt unto the choice vine; He hath washed his garments in wine, And his vesture in the blood of grapes:

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

His eyes shall be red with wine, And his teeth white with milk.

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

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; And he shall be for a haven of ships; And his border shall be upon Sidon.

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

Issachar is a strong ass, Couching 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 bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

And he saw a resting-place that it was good, And the land that it was pleasant; And he bowed his shoulder to bear, And became a servant under taskwork.

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

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

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.

Dan shall be a serpent in the way, An adder in the path, That biteth the horse's heels, So that his rider falleth backward.

18 “ For Your salvation I wait, O Lord.

I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah.

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

Gad, a troop shall press upon him; But he shall press upon their heel.

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

Out of the Asher his bread shall be fat, And he shall yield royal dainties.

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

Naphtali is a hind let loose: He giveth goodly words.

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

Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a fountain; His branches run over the wall.

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

The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him, and persecute him:

24 B ut 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),

But his bow abode in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong, By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

25 F rom 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.

Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee, With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that coucheth 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 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.

The blessings of thy father Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

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

Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth: In the morning she shall devour the prey, And at even he shall divide the spoil.

28 A ll 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.

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

29 T hen 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,

And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

30 i n 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.

in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.

31 T here they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—

there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah:

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

the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.

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

And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.