1Jacob called all his sons together and gathered them around his bedside. He said to them, “Let me prophesy to you about your future destinies:
2“Come together and listen to me, O sons of Jacob,
Listen to your father Israel.
3“Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength
and the firstfruits of my manhood.
You are preeminent in pride
and surpassing others in power.
4You are unstable—as turbulent as floodwaters;
you will no longer excel,
for you have slept with my concubine
and defiled yourself in your father’s bed!
5“Simeon and Levi, you are two of a kind and brothers in crime,
for your swords have committed violent acts.
6O my soul, let me not join in their secret plans.
O my heart, never let me be counted in their assembly,
for they killed men in fits of rage,
and for pleasure, they maimed an ox.
7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath so relentless.
I will divide your descendants throughout Jacob’s territory
and scatter them throughout Israel.
8“O Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will conquer your foes in battle,
And your father’s sons will bow down before you.
9Judah, my son, you are like a young lion
who has devoured its prey and departed.
Like a lion, he crouches and lies down,
and like a lioness—who dares to awaken him?
10The scepter of rulership will not be taken from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,
until the Shiloh comes
and takes what is due him,
for the obedience of nations belongs to him.
11He will tether his donkey to the vine
and his purebred colt to the choicest branch.
He will wash his garments in wine
and his robe in the blood of grapes.
12His eyes are more exhilarating than wine
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13“Zebulun will settle along the seashore
and become a safe harbor for ships,
and his borders will extend to Sidon.
14“Issachar is a strong donkey
lying down between its saddlebags.
15When he sees that his resting place is good,
and his portion is so pleasant,
then he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and labor for his master.
16“Dan will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17Dan will be a snake waiting by the roadside,
like a snake in the grass.
He bites the horse’s heels,
making its rider fall backward.
18“I wait in hope for your salvation, O Yahweh!
19“Gad will be raided by raiders,
but he will raid at their heels and overcome them at last.
20“Asher’s food will be rich,
and he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
21“Naphtali is a doe set free,
who bestows beauty on his offspring.
22“Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine growing by a spring,
whose branches run over a wall.
23Persecutors fiercely attacked him;
they pursued him with their bow and arrows.
24But Joseph’s bow remained steady,
because the power of the Mighty One of Jacob strengthened him,
by the name of the loving Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
25The God of your father will help and protect you;
the God who is more than enough will bless you.
He will bless you with the blessings of heaven,
blessings of the deep that lie beneath,
and blessings of the breast and womb.
26The blessings of your father will be greater
than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
surpassing the blessings of my ancestors!
May Joseph’s blessings crown his head
and rest on the brow of the one set apart,
prince among his brothers.
27“Benjamin is a ferocious wolf.
He devours his prey;
in the evening, he divides the spoil.”
28All these men became the twelve tribes of Israel. These were prophetic words their father spoke to them when he blessed them, blessing each son with a parting word appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob29Afterward, Jacob sat on the side of his bed and instructed his sons with these words: “I am about to join my people in death. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave of the field of Ephron the Hittite—
30the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. My grandfather Abraham purchased that field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.
31My grandfather Abraham and my grandmother Sarah are buried there. My father Isaac and my mother Rebekah were buried there also. And it is the place I buried my wife Leah.
32So, bury me there, in that cave, in the field that was purchased from the Hittites.”
33When Jacob finished his final words of instruction to his sons, he lifted his feet onto the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
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