6
1"Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few."
7
And this he said of Judah: "Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries."
8
And
2of Levi he said, "Give to Levi
3 your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one,
4whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9
who said of his father and mother, 'I regard them not';
5he disowned his brothers and ignored his children. For
6they observed your word and kept your covenant.
10
7They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law;
8they shall put incense before you and
9whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11
Bless, O LORD, his substance, and
10accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again."
12
11Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders."
13
And
12of Joseph he said,
13"Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven
14above, and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14
with the choicest fruits of the sun and the rich yield of the months,
15
with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of
15the everlasting hills,
16
with the best gifts of the earth and
16its fullness and the favor of
17him who dwells in the bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.
17
18A firstborn bull--he has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a
19wild ox; with them
20he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth;
21they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh."
18
And of Zebulun he said,
22"Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar, in your tents.
19
They shall call peoples
23to their mountain; there they offer
24right sacrifices; for they draw from the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand."
20
And
25of Gad he said, "Blessed be he who enlarges Gad! Gad crouches
26like a lion; he tears off arm and scalp.
21
27He chose the best of the land for himself, for there a commander's portion was reserved; and
28he came with the heads of the people, with Israel he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments for Israel."
22
And
29of Dan he said,
30"Dan is a lion's cub
31that leaps from Bashan."
23
And
32of Naphtali he said, "O Naphtali, sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD,
33possess the lake and the south."
24
And
34of Asher he said, "Most blessed of sons be Asher; let him be the favorite of his brothers, and let him
35dip his foot in oil.
25
Your bars shall be iron and bronze, and as your days, so shall your strength be.