雅各的預言

49 雅各把他的兒子們都叫來,對他們說:「你們到我身邊來,我要把你們將來的遭遇告訴你們。

「雅各的兒子們啊,
你們都來聽,
聽你們父親以色列的話。
呂便啊,你是我的長子,
是我年輕力壯時生的,
比眾弟兄更有尊榮和力量。
可是,你必不再居首位,
因為你放縱情慾,
如沸騰不止的水,
你上了你父親的床,
玷污了我的榻。

「西緬和利未串通一氣,
依仗刀劍,殘暴不仁。
我的靈啊,不要與他們同謀。
我的心啊,不要與他們聯合。
他們洩憤殺人,
隨意砍斷牛腿的筋。
他們狂暴兇殘,該受咒詛!
我要使他們分散在雅各的子孫中,
散居在以色列各地。

「猶大啊,你的兄弟們必讚美你,
你必制伏你的仇敵,
你父親的兒子必向你下拜。
我兒猶大是頭小獅子,
他獵食回來,躺臥如雄獅,
蹲伏如母獅,誰敢驚擾他?
10 王權必不離猶大,
御杖必伴他左右,
直到那位執掌王權的來到,
萬民都必歸順他。

11 「他把小驢拴在葡萄樹旁,
把驢駒拴在上好的葡萄樹旁;
他在葡萄酒中洗衣服,
在葡萄汁中洗外袍。
12 他的眼睛比酒烏潤,
牙齒比奶潔白。

13 「西布倫必安居在海濱,
成為泊船的港口,
他的疆界必伸展到西頓。

14 「以薩迦是頭壯驢,
臥在羊圈中。
15 他見那地方好作安身之處,
地土肥美,就垂下肩頭,
做了奴隸。

16 「但必治理他的人民,
作以色列的一個支派。
17 他必成為路邊的蛇,
道旁的毒蛇,
咬傷馬蹄,使騎馬的人墜落。

18 「耶和華啊,
我切切等候你的拯救。

19 「迦得必被強盜劫掠,
他卻要反敗為勝追趕他們。

20 「亞設必有豐美的出產和供君王享用的美味。

21 「拿弗他利是頭自由的母鹿,
養育美麗的小鹿[a]

22 「約瑟是多結果子的枝條,
長在水泉旁,
他的枝條探出牆外。
23 弓箭手兇猛地攻擊他,
惡狠狠地射他。
24 但他手持強弓,
雙臂穩健有力,
因為雅各的大能者——以色列的牧者和磐石幫助他。
25 你父親的上帝必幫助你,
全能者必賜你天上的恩澤、
地上的百福,
使你子孫興旺、牛羊滿圈。
26 你父親的祝福高過亙古永存的峰巒,
多如綿延無盡的群山,
願這一切的祝福都臨到約瑟頭上,
臨到這超越眾弟兄的人身上。

27 「便雅憫是匹貪婪的狼,
早晨吞吃獵物,
晚上瓜分戰利品。」

28 以上是以色列的十二支派,他們的父親按著他們不同的福分給他們祝福。 29 雅各又囑咐他們說:「我要離世了,你們要把我葬在赫人以弗崙田間的洞裡,讓我與祖先在一起。 30 那洞穴在迦南幔利附近的麥比拉田間,是亞伯拉罕向赫人以弗崙買來作墳地的。 31 亞伯拉罕和他的妻子撒拉,以撒和他的妻子利百加都葬在那裡,我把利亞也葬在了那裡。 32 那塊田和田間的洞穴是向赫人買的。」 33 雅各囑咐完眾子,在床上躺下,嚥了氣,去他祖先那裡了。

Footnotes

  1. 49·21 養育美麗的小鹿」或譯「口出佳美之言」。

Jacob Blesses His Sons(A)

49 Jacob called to his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, so that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.

Gather yourselves together and hear, sons of Jacob,
    and listen to your father Israel.

Reuben, you are my firstborn,
    my might and the beginning of my strength,
    the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
    because you went up to your father’s bed;
    then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons of violence are their swords.
Let my soul not enter into their council;
    let my glory not be united with their assembly;
for in their anger they killed men
    and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
    and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
    and scatter them in Israel.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
    your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons will bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
    and as a lion, who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes;
    and to him will be the obedience of the people.
11 He tethers his foal to the vine,
    and his colt to the choicest vine;
he washes his garments in wine,
    his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
    and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea;
    and he shall be a haven of ships.
    His border shall be at Sidon.

14 Issachar is a strong donkey,
    lying down between two burdens;
15 he saw that a resting place was good,
    and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to bear the burden
    and became a slave to forced labor.

16 Dan shall judge his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the road,
    a viper on the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
    so that its rider will fall backward.

18 I wait for Your salvation, O Lord!

19 Gad shall be attacked by raiding bands,
    but he shall raid at their heels.

20 Asher’s food shall be rich,
    and he shall yield royal delicacies.

21 Naphtali is a doe set loose;
    he gives beautiful words.

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,
    a fruitful bough by a spring,
    whose branches run over the wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
    they shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained firm.
    His arms were agile
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of the God of your father who will help you,
    and by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings from heaven above,
    blessings from the deep that lies beneath,
    the blessings of the breasts and the womb.
26 The blessings of your father have surpassed
    the blessings of my fathers,
    up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph,
    and on the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
    in the morning he devours the prey,
    and at night he divides the spoil.”

28 These are all the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, each with the blessing appropriate to him.

The Death of Jacob

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 as a burial place. 31 They buried Abraham and Sarah his wife there. They buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife there, and I buried Leah there. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the children of Heth.”

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