Genesis 49
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.
9 Judah is (L)a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
(M)He [c]bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10 (N)The [d]scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor (O)a lawgiver from between his feet,
(P)Until Shiloh comes;
(Q)And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun(R) shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall (S)adjoin Sidon.
14 “Issachar(T) is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
15 He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed (U)his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.
16 “Dan(V) shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 (W)Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
18 (X)I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!
20 “Bread from (Z)Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 “Naphtali(AA) is a deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have (AB)bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his (AC)bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were [g]made strong
By the hands of (AD)the Mighty God of Jacob
(AE)(From there (AF)is the Shepherd, (AG)the Stone of Israel),
25 (AH)By the God of your father who will help you,
(AI)And by the Almighty (AJ)who will bless 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 excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
(AK)Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
(AL)They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a (AM)ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
(AN)And at night he shall divide the spoil.”
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
Jacob’s Death and Burial
29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I (AO)am to be gathered to my people; (AP)bury me with my fathers (AQ)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, (AR)which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. 31 (AS)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, (AT)there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:5 violence
- Genesis 49:6 lamed
- Genesis 49:9 couches
- Genesis 49:10 A symbol of kingship
- Genesis 49:19 Lit. Troop
- Genesis 49:19 Lit. raid
- Genesis 49:24 Or supple
Genesis 49
English Standard Version
Jacob Blesses His Sons
49 (A)Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you (B)in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are (C)my firstborn,
my might, and the (D)firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you (E)went up to your father's bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 (F)“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons (G)of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
(H)O my glory, (I)be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they (J)hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will (K)divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah, (L)your brothers shall praise you;
(M)your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
(N)your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is (O)a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
(P)He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The (Q)scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff (R)from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;[a]
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12 His (S)eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 (T)“Zebulun shall dwell at the (U)shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 (V)“Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.[b]
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and (W)became a servant at forced labor.
16 (X)“Dan shall (Y)judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan (Z)shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 I (AA)wait for your salvation, O Lord.
20 (AD)“Asher's food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
22 “Joseph is (AF)a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.[e]
23 The archers (AG)bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yet (AH)his bow remained unmoved;
his arms[f] were made agile
by the hands of the (AI)Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is (AJ)the Shepherd,[g] (AK)the Stone of Israel),
25 (AL)by the God of your father who will help you,
by (AM)the Almighty[h] (AN)who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties (AO)of the everlasting hills.[i]
May they be (AP)on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 (AQ)“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening (AR)dividing the spoil.”
Jacob's Death and Burial
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be (AS)gathered to my people; (AT)bury me with my fathers (AU)in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, (AV)which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 (AW)There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There (AX)they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and (AY)was gathered to his people.
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:10 By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh
- Genesis 49:14 Or between its saddlebags
- Genesis 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid
- Genesis 49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
- Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
- Genesis 49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands
- Genesis 49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd
- Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
- Genesis 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills
Copyright © 2011 by Global Bible Initiative
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
