CHAPTER 49
1 Forsooth Jacob called his sons, and said to them, Be ye gathered together, that I tell what things shall come to you in the last days; (And Jacob called his sons, and said to them, Be ye gathered together, so that I can tell what things shall happen to you in the days to come;)
2 be ye gathered [together], and hear, ye sons of Jacob, hear ye Israel your father (or listen to your father Israel).
3 Reuben, my first begotten son, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow; thou oughtest to be the former in gifts, the more in lordship, (or thou ought to be the first in gifts, and the greatest in power, or in authority);
4 (but) thou art shed out as water; wax thou not, for thou ascendedest on the bed of thy father, and defouledest his bed.
5 Simeon and Levi, brethren, fighting vessels of wickedness; (Simeon and Levi truly be brothers, and they use their bodies for fighting, and for wickedness;)
6 my soul come not into the counsel of them, and my glory be not in the congregation of them; for in their strong vengeance, they killed a man, and in their [own] will, they undermined the wall, (or for in their anger, they have killed some men, and to make sport, they have wounded some oxen);
7 cursed be the strong vengeance of them, for it is obstinate, and the indignation of them, for it is hard; I shall part them in Jacob (or I shall divide them in Jacob), and I shall scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee, thine hands shall be in the nolls of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee. (Judah, thy brothers shall praise thee, thy hands shall be upon the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow before thee.)
9 Judah, the whelp of a lion; my son, thou hast gone up to the prey; thou restedest, and hast lain as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall raise him? (or thou hast rested, and hast lain like a lion, and a lioness, and now who shall dare rouse thee?)
10 The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, and a duke (out) of his hip (nor a ruler from between his hips, or out of his loins), till he come that shall be sent, and he shall be the abiding of heathen men;
11 and he shall tie his colt at the vinery, and his she-ass at the vine; O! my son, he shall wash his stole in wine, and his mantle in the blood of the grape;
12 (yea), his eyes be fairer than wine, and his teeth be whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun shall dwell in the brink of the sea, and in the standing of ships; and he shall stretch till to Sidon. (Zebulun shall live at the edge of the sea, and his shore shall be a haven for ships; and he shall reach as far as Sidon.)
14 Issachar, a strong ass, lying betwixt [the] terms, (Issachar, like a strong donkey, lying between two burdens,)
15 saw rest, that it was good, and saw the land, that it was best, and he underset his shoulder to bear, and he was made serving to tributes*. (saw that the resting place was good, and that the land was the best, and so he underset his shoulder to carry the burden, and was made to serve as a slave.)
16 Dan shall deem his people, as also another lineage in Israel. (Dan shall judge, or shall rule, his people, like another tribe in Israel.)
17 Dan be made a serpent in the way, and (a) cerastes, that is, an horned adder, in the path, and bite he the feet of an horse, that the rider of him fall backward; (Let Dan be made a serpent on the way, and a cerastes, or a horned adder, on the path, and bite he the horse’s feet, so that his rider fall backwards;)
18 Lord, I shall abide thine health. (Lord, I wait for thy salvation!)
19 Gad shall be girded, and he shall fight (them) before him, and he shall be girded behind. (Gad shall be girded, and shall be attacked from the front, but he shall fight back from behind.)
20 Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall give delights to kings.
21 Naphtali shall be an hart sent out, and giving speeches of fairness.
22 Joseph, a son increasing, (yea), a son increasing, and fair in beholding; [the] daughters run about on the wall (or his branches climb up over the wall),
23 but his brethren wrathed (at) him, and chided him, and they had darts, and had envy to him, (or and they had arrows, and they envied him).
24 His bow sat in the strong (One), the Lord, and the bonds of his arms and his hands were unbound by the hand of the mighty (God) of Jacob; of him a shepherd went out, the stone of Israel. (But his bow stood strong, and the bonds on his arms, and on his hands, were unbound by the power of the mighty God of Jacob; yea, by his Shepherd, by the Rock of Israel.)
25 (The) God of thy father shall be thine helper, and Almighty God shall bless thee, with blessings of heaven from above (or with blessings from heaven above), and with blessings of the sea lying beneath, with blessings of teats, and of the womb;
26 the blessings of thy father be strengthened, that is, be (made) better than the blessings of his fathers, till the desire of (the) everlasting hills came; blessings be made on the head of Joseph, and in the noll of (the) Nazarite, that is, holy, among his brethren, (or blessings shall rest on Joseph’s head, yea, on the noll of the Nazarite, that is, the one set apart, or the holy one, among his brothers).
27 Benjamin, a ravishing wolf (or a ravenous wolf), shall eat the prey early, and in the eventide he shall part (the) spoils.
28 All these were in [the] twelve kindreds of Israel; their father spake these things to them, and he blessed them all by proper blessings, (All these were the twelve tribes, or the twelve families, of Israel; their father spoke these things to them, and he blessed each of them with their own blessings,)
29 and he commanded to them, and said, I am (soon to be) gathered to my people; bury ye me with my fathers in the double den, that is in the land of Ephron (the) Hittite, (and he commanded to them, and said, soon I shall join my people, yea, my ancestors; bury ye me with my fathers in the cave, that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,)
30 (that is, in the den in the field at Machpelah), against Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which den Abraham bought with the field of Ephron (the) Hittite, into (a) possession of a sepulchre. (that is, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which cave Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite, for a burial place.)
31 There they buried him, and Sarah his wife; also Isaac was buried there, with Rebecca his wife; there also Leah lieth buried. (They buried him there, with his wife Sarah; Isaac was also buried there, with his wife Rebecca; and Leah also lieth buried there.)
32 (This verse is omitted in the original text.)
33 And when the behests were ended, by which he taught his sons, he gathered together his feet on the bed, and died, and he was put to his people. (And when Jacob had finished giving these prophesies to his sons, he drew his feet up onto the bed, and died, and he joined his ancestors.)
* CHAPTER 49:15 Either to rent, (Or to pay rent or taxes), as it is in Hebrew.