49 Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me and I will tell you what is going to happen to you in the days to come. ² Listen to me, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father.

³ “Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are the head of the list in rank and in honor. ⁴ But you are unruly as the wild waves of the sea, and you shall be first no longer. I am demoting you, for you slept with one of my wives and thus dishonored me.

⁵ “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind. They are men of violence and injustice. ⁶ O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered a man, and maimed oxen just for fun. ⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce and cruel. Therefore, I will scatter their descendants throughout Israel.^[a]

⁸ “Judah, your brothers shall praise you. You shall destroy your enemies. Your father’s sons shall bow before you. ⁹ Judah is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. He has settled down as a lion—who will dare to rouse him? ¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes,^[b] whom all people shall obey.

⁵ But one of the twenty-four Elders said to me, “Stop crying, for look! The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, and proved himself worthy to open the scroll and to break its seven seals.”