Israel's Prophecy concerning His Sons
1
Then
Jacob summoned his
sons and
said,
"Assemble yourselves that I may
tell you
what will
befall you in the
days to
come.
2
"Gather together and
hear, O
sons of
Jacob ; And
listen to
Israel your
father.
6
" Let my
soul not
enter into their
council ; Let not my
glory be
united with their
assembly ;
Because in their
anger they
slew men, And in their
self-will they
lamed oxen.
7
"Cursed be their
anger, for it is
fierce ; And their
wrath, for it is
cruel. I will
disperse them in
Jacob, And
scatter them in
Israel.
8
"Judah, your
brothers shall
praise you; Your
hand shall be on the
neck of your
enemies ; Your
father's sons shall
bow down to you.
9
"Judah is a
lion's whelp ; From the
prey, my
son, you have
gone up. He
couches, he
lies down as a
lion, And as a
lion,
who dares
rouse him up?
10
" The
scepter shall not
depart from
Judah,
Nor the
ruler's staff from
between his
feet,
Until * Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the
obedience of the
peoples.
11
" He
ties his
foal to the
vine, And his
donkey's colt to the
choice vine ; He
washes his
garments in
wine, And his
robes in the
blood of
grapes.
12
"His
eyes are
dull from
wine, And his
teeth white from
milk.
13
"
Zebulun will
dwell at the
seashore * ; And he shall be a
haven for
ships, And his
flank shall be
toward Sidon.
15
"When he
saw that a
resting place was
good And that the
land was
pleasant, He
bowed his
shoulder to
bear burdens, And
became a
slave at
forced labor.
16
"
Dan shall
judge his
people, As
one of the
tribes of
Israel.
17
"Dan shall be a
serpent in the
way, A
horned snake in the
path, That
bites the
horse's heels, So that his
rider falls backward.
18
" For Your
salvation I
wait, O
LORD.
19
" As for
Gad,
raiders shall
raid him, But he will
raid at their
heels.
20
" As for
Asher, his
food shall be
rich, And he will
yield royal dainties.
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23
"The
archers * bitterly attacked him, And
shot at him and
harassed him;
24
But his
bow remained firm, And his
arms were
agile, From the
hands of the
Mighty One of
Jacob (From
there is the
Shepherd, the
Stone of
Israel ),
25
From the
God of your
father who
helps you, And by the
Almighty who
blesses 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
surpassed the
blessings of my
ancestors Up to the
utmost bound of the
everlasting hills ; May they be on the
head of
Joseph, And on the
crown of the
head of the
one distinguished among his
brothers.
28
All these are the
twelve * tribes of
Israel, and
this is
what their
father said to them when he
blessed them. He
blessed them,
every one with the
blessing appropriate to him.
29
Then he
charged them and
said to them, "I am about to be
gathered to 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 along with the
field from
Ephron the
Hittite for a
burial site.
32
the
field and the
cave that is in it,
purchased from the
sons of
Heth."
33
When
Jacob finished charging his
sons, he
drew his
feet into the
bed and
breathed his
last, and was
gathered to his
people.