2
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye Bnei Ya’akov; and pay heed unto Yisroel Avichem.
3
Reuven, thou art my bechor, my koach, and the reshit of my strength, the excellency of honor, and excellency of oz (power):
4
Unstable as mayim, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to mishkevei avicha (thy father’s bed, i.e. incest); then defiledst thou it; he went up to my couch.
5
Shimon and Levi are achim; kelei chamas (instruments of violence) are in their swords.
6
O my nefesh, enter not thou into their sod (secret, council); unto their kehal, mine kavod, be not thou united; for in their anger they slaughtered ish, and in their ratzon (self-will) they lamed shor (ox).
7
Arur (cursed) be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel; I will dispense them in Ya’akov, and scatter them in Yisroel.
8
Yehudah, thou art he whom thy achim yoducha (they will praise you); thy yad shall be in the oref (neck) of thine enemies; Bnei Avicha shall bow down before thee.
9
Yehudah is the cub of an aryeh (lion); from the prey, beni (my son), thou hast gone up; he stooped down, he couched like an aryeh, and like a lioness; who shall rouse him?
10
The shevet (sceptre) shall not depart from Yehudah, nor a Mekhokek (Lawgiver) from between his raglayim, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall be the obedience of the amim (peoples, nations).
11
He ties his foal unto the gefen (vine), and his donkey’s colt unto the choice vine; he will wash his levush (garments) in yayin, and his robe in the dahm anavim (blood of grapes);
12
His eyes shall be darker with yayin, and his shinayim (teeth) whiter than cholov (milk).
13
Zevulun shall dwell at the seashore; and he shall be a haven for oniyyot (ships); and his border shall be unto Tzidon.
14
Yissakhar is a strong chamor (donkey) lying down between two saddlebags;
15
And he saw that a menuchah (resting place) was tov, and haaretz that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became oved (submitting, enslaved) at forced labor.
16
Dan yadin (shall judge) his people, as one of the Shivtei Yisroel.
17
Dan shall be a nachash beside the derech, a viper along the orach (path) that biteth the ikkvei sus (the horse heels), so that its rider shall fall backward.
18
I have waited for Thy Yeshuah (Salvation), Hashem.
19
Gad, gedud (raider) shall raid him; but he shall raid akev ([at] the heel).
20
Out of Asher his lechem shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21
Naphtali is a doe let loose; he giveth goodly sayings.
22
Yosef is a ben of a fruittree, even ben of a fruit-tree near an ayin (spring, well); its daughters (i.e., branches) run over the wall;
23
The ba’alei khitzim (archers) provoke him, and shoot at him, and hate him;
24
But his keshet (bow) remained steady, and the arms of his hands remain strong, from the hands of the Avir Ya’akov, from there, from the Ro’eh, Even Yisroel;
25
And from El Avicha, who shall help thee; and Shaddai, who shall make brocha over thee with Birkat Shomayim above, Birkat Tehom that lieth beneath, Birkat Shadayim and of Rekhem.
26
Birkat Avicha surpass the Birkat of my progenitors unto the utmost border of the giveot olam (everlasting hills); they shall come on the rosh Yosef, and on the brow of the Prince among his achim.
27
Binyamin—a ze’ev (wolf) which tears in pieces; in the boker he shall devour the prey, and at erev he shall divide the plunder.