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
GOD’S WORD Translation
Jacob [Israel] Blesses His 12 Sons
49 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Come here, and let me tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.
2 “Gather around and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to your father Israel.
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my strength, the very first son I had,
first in majesty and first in power.
4 You will no longer be first
because you were out of control like a flood
and you climbed into your father’s bed.
Then you dishonored it.
He climbed up on my couch.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers.
Their swords are weapons of violence.
6 Do not let me attend their secret meetings.
Do not let me join their assembly.
In their anger they murdered men.
At their whim they crippled cattle.
7 May their anger be cursed because it’s so fierce.
May their fury be cursed because it’s so cruel.
I will divide them among ⌞the sons of⌟ Jacob
and scatter them among ⌞the tribes of⌟ Israel.
8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.
Your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 Judah, you are a lion cub.
You have come back from the kill, my son.
He lies down and rests like a lion.
He is like a lioness. Who dares to disturb him?
10 A scepter will never depart from Judah
nor a ruler’s staff from between his feet
until Shiloh comes
and the people obey him.
11 He will tie his donkey to a grapevine,
his colt to the best vine.
He will wash his clothes in wine,
his garments in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine.
His teeth are whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun will live by the coast.
He will have ships by the coast.
His border will go as far as Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a strong donkey,
lying down between the saddlebags.
15 When he sees that his resting place is good
and that the land is pleasant,
he will bend his back to the burden
and will become a slave laborer.
16 “Dan will hand down decisions [a] for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake on a road,
a viper on a path,
that bites a horse’s heels
so that its rider falls off backwards.
18 “I wait with hope for you to rescue me, O Lord.
19 “Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders,
but he will strike back at their heels.
20 “Asher’s food will be rich.
He will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21 “Naphtali is a doe set free
that has beautiful fawns.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful tree,
a fruitful tree by a spring,
with branches climbing over a wall.
23 Archers provoked him,
shot at him,
and attacked him.
24 But his bow stayed steady, and his arms remained limber
because of the help of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 because of the God of your father who helps you,
because of the Almighty who gives you
blessings from the heavens above,
blessings from the deep springs below the ground,
blessings from breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of your father are greater than
the blessings of the oldest mountains
and the riches of the ancient hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,
on the crown of the prince among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he devours his prey.
In the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 These are the 12 tribes of Israel and what their father said to them when he gave each of them his special blessing.
29 Then he gave them these instructions, “I am about to join my ancestors in death. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 Abraham bought the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre in Canaan, from Ephron the Hittite to use as a tomb. 31 Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there. Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there. I also buried Leah there. 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet into his bed. He took his last breath and joined his ancestors in death.
Footnotes
- 49:16 There is a play on words here between Hebrew Dan and yadin (he will hand down decisions).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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