| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. | 1Then Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. |
| 2Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. | 2Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel: |
| 3Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: | 3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power. |
| 4Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. | 4Turbulent as water, you will no longer excel, because you got into your father's bed and you defiled it--he got into my bed. |
| 5Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. | 5Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are vicious weapons. |
| 6O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. | 6May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen. |
| 7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. | 7Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel. |
| 8Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. | 8Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. |
| 9Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? | 9Judah is a young lion-- my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness--who dares to rouse him? |
| 10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. | 10The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until He whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him. |
| 11Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: | 11He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. |
| 12His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. | 12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. |
| 13Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. | 13Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon. |
| 14Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: | 14Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags. |
| 15And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. | 15He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer. |
| 16Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. | 16Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. |
| 17Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. | 17He will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horses' heels so that its rider falls backward. |
| 18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. | 18I wait for Your salvation, LORD. |
| 19Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. | 19Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. |
| 20Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. | 20Asher's food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies. |
| 21Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. | 21Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. |
| 22Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: | 22Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. |
| 23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: | 23The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. |
| 24But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) | 24Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, |
| 25Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: | 25by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb. |
| 26The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. | 26The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the eternal hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the prince of his brothers. |
| 27Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. | 27Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder." |
| 28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. | 28These are the tribes of Israel, 12 in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. |
| 29And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, | 29Then he commanded them: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. |
| 30In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. | 30The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. |
| 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. | 31Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. |
| 32The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. | 32The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hittites." |
| 33And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. | 33When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and died. He was gathered to his people. |
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