创世记 49
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
雅各祝福眾子
49 雅各把他的眾子叫來，說：“你們要聚集在一起，我要把你們日後必遇到的事告訴你們。
2 雅各的兒子們哪，你們要一起來聽；
要聽你們父親以色列的話。
3 流本哪，你是我的長子，
是我的力量，是我的初生子；
你大有尊榮，權力超眾；
4 但是你放縱情慾，好像水沸騰一樣，你必不能居首位；
因為你上了你父親的床；
上了我的榻，然後把它玷污了。
5 西緬和利未是兄弟；
他們的刀劍是強暴的武器。
6 我的靈啊，不可加入他們的陰謀；
我的心啊，不可參與他們的集會，
因為他們在怒中殺人，
任意砍斷牛的腿筋。
7 他們的怒氣可咒，因為非常暴烈；
他們的烈怒可詛，因為十分兇猛；
我要把他們分散在雅各家；
把他們散居在以色列。
8 猶大啊，你的兄弟們要稱讚你；
你的手必壓住仇敵的頸項；
你父親的眾子必向你下拜。
9 猶大是隻小獅子；
我兒啊，你獵取了食物就上到洞穴去。
他屈身伏臥，好像公獅，
又像母獅，誰敢驚動他呢？
10 權杖必不離開猶大，
王圭必不離他兩腳之間，
直到細羅（“細羅”有古譯本作“屬他的那位”）來到，
萬族都要臣服他。
11 猶大把自己的驢駒拴在葡萄樹旁，
把自己的小驢繫在上等的葡萄樹旁；
他在葡萄酒中洗淨自己的衣服，
在血紅的葡萄汁中洗衣袍。
12 他因飲酒而雙眼發紅，
他因喝奶而牙齒雪白。
13 西布倫必在沿海地帶居住，
他必成為船隻停泊的港口，
他的邊界必伸到西頓。
14 以薩迦是一頭粗壯的驢，
伏臥在羊圈（“羊圈”原文意思不詳，或譯：“重馱”）之間；
15 他看安居為美，
他看肥地為佳，
他屈肩負重，
成了服苦的奴僕。
16 但要審判自己的人民，
作以色列的一個支派。
17 但要作路上的蛇，
道中的毒蛇，
他要咬傷馬蹄，
使騎馬的人向後墜落。
18 耶和華啊，我向來等候你的拯救。
19 迦得必被侵略者追逼，
他卻要追逼他們的腳跟。
20 至於亞設，他的食物必定肥美，
他有美食可以供奉君王。
21 拿弗他利是隻得釋放的母鹿，
發出優美的言語。
22 約瑟是一根結果子的樹枝，
是一根泉旁結果子的樹枝，
他的枝條蔓延出牆外。
23 弓箭手把他苦害，
向他射箭敵對他。
24 但他的弓依然堅硬，
他的手臂仍舊敏捷，
這是出於雅各的大能者之手；
出於以色列的牧者，以色列的磐石。
25 是你父親的 神幫助你，
是那全能者賜給你；
他把從天上來的福，
地下深淵蘊藏著的福，
哺乳和生育的福，都賜給你。
26 你父親的祝福，
勝過我祖先的祝福（“勝過我祖先的祝福”有古譯本作“勝過亙古的山岡”），勝過永遠山嶺上的美物。
願這些福都降在約瑟的頭上，
降在兄弟中作王子的那一位頭上。
27 便雅憫是隻撕掠的豺狼，
早晨吞吃他的獵物，
晚上瓜分他的擄物。”
28 這些就是以色列的十二支派；以上是他們父親對他們所說的話，是按著各人的福分給他們所祝的福。
雅各的遺囑及其逝世
29 雅各又囑咐他們，對他們說：“我快要歸到我的親族那裡去，你們要把我埋葬在赫人以弗崙田間的洞裡，與我的祖先在一起。 30 這個洞在迦南地，在幔利前面的麥比拉的田間。那地方原是亞伯拉罕向赫人以弗崙買下來作墳地的。 31 他們在那裡埋葬了亞伯拉罕和他的妻子撒拉；又在那裡埋葬了以撒和他的妻子利百加；我也在那裡埋葬了利亞。 32 那塊田和田間的洞，是向赫人買來的。” 33 雅各對他的眾子囑咐完了，就把雙腳收回床上，氣絕而死，歸到他的親族那裡去了。
Genesis 49
King James Version
49 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
18 I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto 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 with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
Genesis 49
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 49
Jacob’s Predictions for His Sons.[a] 1 Jacob then summoned his sons and said, “Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen to you in future days.
2 “Gather and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.
3 “Reuben, you are the firstborn,
my strength and the firstfruit of my might,
excelling in dignity and excelling in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence
because you invaded your father’s bed
and defiled my couch
upon which you climbed.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
their swords are implements of violence.
6 Let my soul not come into their council
nor my heart into their assembly,
for they have killed men with anger
and they maimed oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.
8 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you.
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.
The sons of your father shall bow down before you.
9 A young lion is Judah.
From the prey, my son, you have turned.
He crouches like a lion,
and like a lioness;
who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah
nor the mace from between his feet,
until it comes to whom it belongs,
and the obedience of the peoples is his.
11 He tethers his colt to the vine,
and to a choice vine the colt of his donkey.
He washes his garments in wine,
and in the blood of the grapes his clothes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell along the sea,
and he shall be a haven to ships
and shall border upon Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a strong-boned donkey
crouching between two saddlebags.
15 He saw that his resting place was good
and his land was pleasant
so he bent down his shoulder to bear the burden
and became a toiling servant.
16 “Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be like a serpent by the wayside,
an adder by the path,
that bites the heels of horses
and its horsemen fall backward.
18 “I hope in your salvation, O Lord.
19 “Gad shall be attacked by raiders,
but he shall raid them in return.
20 “Asher’s food is rich,
and he shall provide delicacies for the king.
21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose;
he brings forth beautiful words.
22 “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches run over the wall.
23 They have grieved him and attacked him,
archers have persecuted him,
24 but his bow is strong,
and the hands of his arms were made strong
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25 From the God of your father who helps you
and God Almighty
who blesses you with blessings from the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lie below,
blessings of breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of your father,
are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains,
the boundaries of the everlasting hills;
may they come upon the head of Joseph
upon the crown of the head of the prince among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.
In the morning he devours his prey;
in the evening he divides his spoil.”
28 All these make up the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father told them, blessing them. He blessed each one with his own blessing.
29 The Death of Jacob. Then he gave this command: “I am about to be reunited with my ancestors. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is found in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre in the land of Canaan. This is the cave that Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, as his burial ground. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there they buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave in it used to belong to the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished giving this command to his sons, he drew back his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was reunited with his ancestors.
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:1 A metric composition from the Yahwist source that specifies the characteristics of the various tribes of Israel; in it can be recognized essential parts and subsidiary parts, and there is no reason for denying that the substance of the discourse really goes back to Jacob. The theme of Judah’s preeminence receives an unexpected development. After the beginning of the poem, which confirms the rejection of Reuben and the condemnation of Simeon and Levi for the faults of which we already know, the words concerning Judah, the fourth son, take the form not of a blessing but of a prophetic oracle (vv. 8-12). Judah will enjoy a supremacy over his brothers and also victory over his enemies; he will be strong as a lion that returns from its prey and commands respect from all; he will retain the royal scepter until the moment when he passes it to its true owner, who will be a universal sovereign; this will be followed by a period of great prosperity. This means that Judah’s sovereignty will be vicarious and temporary; but the true owner of the scepter will be from the same tribe because the enthusiastic praise of Judah would be inexplicable if his task were simply to prepare for the reign of a foreigner. The prophecy will be fulfilled in the reign of the House of David, which is to be followed by the Messianic reign that successive Prophets will describe. The prophecies concerning the other sons of Jacob are by their nature subsidiary.
From this point on, two facts are to be noted. The promises that God makes to a single person are no longer of the type “I will make of you a great people,” for in the sons of Jacob this “great people” is already a reality, and the single person is no longer the father of the entire people of God; the blessings promised to the Patriarchs will rather be what the whole community expects. The new promises, on the other hand, look to the interior of the community and announce a particular person who will carry out the functions of a sovereign: he will lead the people to the victory predicted from Genesis 3:15 on, and he will make a reality the universal blessing already announced to the Patriarchs (Gen 12:3; etc.). In the second place, these promises are dissociated from primogeniture: the choice of Judah foreshadows that of David, the last of his brothers (1 Sam 16:1-13).
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
