Font Size
Genesis 49:1-8
New King James Version
Genesis 49:1-8
New King James Version
Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons
49 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may (A)tell you what shall befall you (B)in the last days:
2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are (C)my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you (D)went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of [a]cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 (E)Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united (F)to their assembly;
(G)For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they [b]hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
(H)I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah,(I) you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
(J)Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
(K)Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:5 violence
- Genesis 49:6 lamed
Genesis 49:1-8
New International Version
Genesis 49:1-8
New International Version
Jacob Blesses His Sons(A)
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.(B)
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,(E)
my might, the first sign of my strength,(F)
excelling in honor,(G) excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters,(H) you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.(I)
5 “Simeon(J) and Levi(K) are brothers—
their swords[a] are weapons of violence.(L)
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,(M)
for they have killed men in their anger(N)
and hamstrung(O) oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury,(P) so cruel!(Q)
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.(R)
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Genesis 49:8 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.