Bible-Center
Whole Bible
New American Standard Bible (en)
Share

Genesis, Chapter 49

1 Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in thea Lit end of the daysdays to come.
 2 “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel your father.
 3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn;
My might and the beginning of my strength,
b Lit preeminencePreeminent in dignity andc Lit preeminencepreeminent in power.
 4 “d Or Boiling over; lit RecklessnessUncontrolled 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 brothers;
Their swords are implements of violence.
 6 “Let my soul not enter into their council;
Let not my glory be united with their assembly;
Because in their anger they slewe Lit a manmen,
And in their self-will they lamedf Lit an oxoxen.
 7 “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel.
I willg Lit dividedisperse 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.
 9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
Heh Lit bows downcouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as ai Or lionesslion, whoj Lit shalldares rouse him up?
 10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
k Or Until he comes to Shiloh; or Until he comes to whom it belongsUntil Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
 11 “l Lit Binding ofHe 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.
 12 “His eyes arem Or darker thandull from wine,
And his teethn Or whiter thanwhite from milk.
 13 “Zebulun will dwell at the seashore;
And he shall beo Lit for a shore of shipsa haven for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
 14 “Issachar isp Lit a donkey of bonea strong donkey,
Lying down between theq Or saddlebagssheepfolds.
 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 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.
 18 “For Your salvation I wait, O LORD.
 19 “As for Gad,r Lit a raiding bandraiders shall raid him,
But he will raid at theirs Lit heelheels.
 20 “t Lit FromAs for Asher, hisu Or breadfood shall bev Lit fatrich,
And he will yield royal dainties.
 21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose,
He gives beautiful words.
 22 “Joseph is a fruitfulw Lit sonbough,
A fruitfulx Lit sonbough by a spring;
Itsy Lit daughtersbranches run over a wall.
 23 “The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
 24 But his bow remainedz I.e. in an unyielding positionfirm,
Andaa Lit the arms of his handshis arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
 25 From the God of your father who helps you,
Andab Or withby theac Heb ShaddaiAlmighty who blesses you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
 26 “The blessings of your father
Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to thead Lit limit; or desireutmost 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 aae Lit a wolf that tearsravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And in the evening he divides the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to themaf Lit andwhen he blessed them. He blessed them, every oneag Lit according to his blessingwith the blessing appropriate to him. 29 Then 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, 30 in 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 aah Lit possession of a burial placeburial site. 31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Once registered, you can subscribe for any reading plans of the Bible.

Possibilities of personalized settings and other services for the already registered users are in the pipeline, therefore we advise you to register now (for free, of course).