Genesis 49:1-10

1 Then Ya'akov called for his sons and said, "Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the acharit-hayamim.
2 Assemble yourselves and listen, sons of Ya'akov; pay attention to Isra'el your father.
3 "Re'uven, you are my firstborn, my strength, the firstfruits of my manhood.
4 Though superior in vigor and power you are unstable as water, so your superiority will end, because you climbed into your father's bed and defiled it -he climbed onto my concubine's couch!
5 "Shim'on and Levi are brothers, related by weapons of violence.
6 Let me not enter their council, let my honor not be connected with their people; for in their anger they killed men, and at their whim they maimed cattle.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it has been fierce; their fury, for it has been cruel. I will divide them in Ya'akov and scatter them in Isra'el.
8 "Y'hudah, your brothers will acknowledge you, your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down before you.
9 Y'hudah is a lion's cub; my son, you stand over the prey. He crouches down and stretches like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to provoke him?
10 The scepter will not pass from Y'hudah, nor the ruler's staff from between his legs, until he comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.