The Blessing of Jacob

1Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future.

2“Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;

listen to Israel, your father.

3Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

4You are destructive like water and will not excel,

for you got on your father’s bed,

then you defiled it – he got on my couch!

5Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives!

6O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart,

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel!

8Judah, your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

9You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

10The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he comes to whom it belongs;

the nations will obey him.

11Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

12His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk.

13Zebulun will live by the haven of the sea

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon.

14Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

15When he sees a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer.

16Dan will judge his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

17May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward.

18I wait for your deliverance, O Lord.

19Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels.

20Asher’s food will be rich,

and he will provide delicacies to royalty.

21Naphtali is a free running doe,

he speaks delightful words.

22Joseph is a fruitful bough,

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches climb over the wall.

23The archers will attack him,

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

24But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

25because of the God of your father,

who will help you,

because of the sovereign God,

who will bless you

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb.

26The blessings of your father are greater

than the blessings of the eternal mountains

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning devouring the prey,

and in the evening dividing the plunder.”

28These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing.

29Then he instructed them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 31There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 32The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.”

33When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went to his people.