1 Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you ain the days to come. 2 "Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And alisten to Israel your father. 3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and athe beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. 4 "Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, aBecause you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it--he went up to my couch. 5 "aSimeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. 6 "aLet my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. 7 "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. aI will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel. 8 "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; aYour father's sons shall bow down to you. 9 "Judah is a alion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. bHe couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? 10 "aThe scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And bto him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 "aHe ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine; bHe washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 "His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk. 13 "aZebulun will dwell at the seashore; And he shall be a haven for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon. 14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, aLying down between the sheepfolds. 15 "When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor. 16 "aDan shall bjudge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. 17 "Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward. 18 "aFor Your salvation I wait, O Lord. 19 "aAs for Gad, raiders shall raid him, But he will raid at their heels. 20 "aAs for bAsher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal dainties. 21 "aNaphtali is a doe let loose, He gives beautiful words. 22 "aJoseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall. 23 "The archers bitterly attacked him, And shot at him and harassed him; 24 But his abow remained firm, And bhis arms were agile, From the hands of the cMighty One of Jacob (From there is dthe Shepherd, ethe Stone of Israel), 25 From athe God of your father who helps you, And bby the Almighty who blesses you With cblessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 "The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of athe everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers. 27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil." 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him. 29 Then he charged them and said to them, "I am about to be agathered to my people; bbury me with my fathers in the cave that is in cthe field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the acave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site. 31 "There they buried aAbraham and his wife bSarah, there they buried cIsaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah-- 32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth." 33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and abreathed his last, and was bgathered to his people.