Jacob blesses his sons
1Jacob called his sons and said:
‘Come to me so that I can tell you
what will happen to you later.
2Come to me and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to your father Israel.
3Reuben, you were my first child.
You were born when I was young and strong.
You are my most important son, and I love you the most.
4But you will not stay the most important,
because you have done something wrong.
You were like wild water.
You had sex with your father's wife,
and you made my bed impure.
5Simeon and Levi are brothers.
They love to fight with their swords.
6I don't want to be with them
when they make plans,
because they killed a lot of people
when they were angry.
They did cruel things to animals.
They hamstrung oxen
because they wanted to do it.
7I curse them because they became so angry.
They will not have their own land in Israel.
They will live among other people in the land.
8Judah, your brothers will praise you.
You will defeat your enemies and
you will rule over your brothers.
9My son, Judah, you are like a lion
that gets up after he has caught a deer.
You lie down like a lion that goes to sleep,
and everyone is afraid to wake you.
10There will always be a king
among your descendants
until the great ruler, the Messiah, comes,
and all the nations will obey him.
11He will have the best vines
and he will tie his donkey to a vine.
He will have so much wine
that he will wash his clothes in the wine.
12His eyes will be brighter than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13Zebulun will live near the sea
at the beach where there are boats.
He will have land up to the town of Sidon.
14Issachar is like a strong donkey
lying among the saddle bags.
15He will have a good place to rest
and a beautiful land.
He will work hard to get it.
Yes, he will work like a slave.
16Dan will make sure
that people do the right things to his people,
because they are also one of the tribes of Israel.
17Dan is like a snake on a path.
He is like a viper that bites the heel of a horse,
and makes a man fall off his horse.
18Lord, I wait for You to help me.
19Many robbers will attack Gad,
but he will chase them away.
He will come from behind and attack them.
20Asher will eat good food.
He will eat the food that kings eat.
21Naphtali is like a deer that runs free in the field.
He will have beautiful children.
22Joseph is like a young fruit tree at a fountain.
Its branches grow over the wall.
23Many people will attack him
and shoot him with bows_and_arrows.
They will make him suffer
24but he will defeat them.
His bow and his arms are strong,
because the strong God of Jacob helps him.
God, who is the Rock_of_Israel, is his Shepherd.
25Joseph, the God of your father will help you.
God Almighty will bless you.
He will bless you with rain from heaven
and with water from deep in the ground.
He will bless the mothers
and they will have many children
and milk for all their babies.
26My son, I bless you more
than my other children.
This blessing will not stop
as long as there are mountains and hills.
The Lord will be with Joseph
because he will be the leader of his brothers.
27Benjamin is like a wolf
that kills other animals.
In the morning and in the evening
he eats the animals that he has caught
and he gives it to his children.’
28These are the 12 tribes of Israel and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them and gave each tribe its own blessing.
Jacob dies and they bury him
29Jacob told his sons: ‘When I die, you must bury me with my fathers in the cave on the land that belonged to Ephron, the Hittite, 30the cave and field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan. That is the land that Abraham bought from Ephron, the Hittite, to have as a grave. 31Abraham's family buried him there with his wife Sarah, and Isaac and his wives Rebekah and Leah. 32Abraham bought the field and the cave on it from the Hittites.’
33When Jacob had finished speaking to his sons, he laid down his head and died.
