Jacob Blesses His Twelve Sons

49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen with you in ⌊days to come⌋.[fn]

• 2 Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob!
  • Listen to Israel your father!
• 3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
  • my strength, and the firstfruit of my vigor,
  • excelling in rank and excelling in power.
• 4 Unstable[fn] as water, you shall not excel any longer,
  • for you went up upon the bed of your father,
  • then defiled it. You went up upon my couch!
• 5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
  • weapons of violence are their swords.
  • Let me[fn] not come into their council.
• 6 Let not my person[fn] be joined to their company.
  • For in their anger they killed men,
  • and at their pleasure they hamstrung cattle.
• 7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
  • and their wrath, for it is cruel.
• I will divide them in Jacob,
  • and I will scatter them in Israel.
• 8 Judah, as for you, your brothers shall praise you.
  • Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.
  • The sons of your father shall bow down to you.
• 9 Judah is a lion’s cub.
  • From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
• He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness.
  • Who shall rouse him?
• 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
  • nor the ruler’s staff between his feet,
• until Shiloh comes.
  • And to him shall be the obedience of nations.
• 11 Binding his donkey to the vine
  • and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
• he washes his clothing in the wine
  • and his garment in the blood of grapes.
• 12 The eyes are darker than wine,
  • and the teeth whiter than milk.
• 13 Zebulun shall settle by the shore of the sea.
  • He shall become a haven for ships,
  • and his border shall be at Sidon.
• 14 Issachar is a strong donkey,
  • crouching between the sheepfolds.
• 15 He saw a resting place that was good,
  • and land that was pleasant.
• So he bowed his shoulder to the burden
  • and became a servant of forced labor.
• 16 Dan shall judge his people
  • as one of the tribes of Israel.
• 17 Dan shall be a serpent on the way,
  • a viper on the road
• that bites the heels of a horse,
  • so that its rider falls backward.
• 18 I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh.
• 19 Bandits shall attack Gad,
  • but he shall attack their heels.
• 20 Asher’s food is delicious,
  • and he shall provide from the king’s delicacies.
• 21 Naphtali is a doe running free
  • that puts forth beautiful words.
• 22 Joseph is the bough[fn] of a fruitful vine,
  • a fruitful bough[fn] by a spring.
  • His branches climb over the wall.
• 23 The archers[fn] fiercely attacked him.
  • They shot arrows at him and were hostile to him.
• 24 But his bow remained in a steady position;
  • his arms[fn] were made agile
• by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob.
  • From there is the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
• 25 Because of the God of your father he will help you
  • and by Shaddai[fn] he will bless you
  • with the blessings of heaven above,
• blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
  • blessings of the breasts and the womb.
• 26 The blessings of your father
  • are superior to the blessings of my ancestors,
  • to the bounty of the everlasting hills.
• May they be on the head of Joseph,
  • and on the forehead of the prince of his brothers.
• 27 Benjamin is a devouring wolf,
  • devouring the prey in the morning,
  • and dividing the plunder in the evening.