Genesis 49

New King James Version

² “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.

³ “Reuben, you are^(C)my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you^(D)went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiledit—
He went up to my couch.

⁵ “Simeon and Leviarebrothers;
Instruments of^[a]crueltyare intheir dwelling place.
^6 (E)Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united^(F)to their assembly;
^(G)For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they^[b]hamstrung an ox.
⁷ Cursedbetheir anger, forit isfierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
^(H)I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.

⁸ “Judah,^(I)youare hewhom your brothers shall praise;
^(J)Your handshall beon the neck of your enemies;
^(K)Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
⁹ Judahis^(L)a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^(M)He^[c]bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
^10 (N)The^[d]scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor^(O)a lawgiver from between his feet,
^(P)Until Shiloh comes;
^(Q)And to Himshall bethe obedience of the people.
¹¹ Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
¹² His eyesaredarker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³ “Zebulun^(R)shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
Heshall becomea haven for ships,
And his border shall^(S)adjoin Sidon.

¹⁴ “Issachar^(T)is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
¹⁵ He saw that restwasgood,
And that the landwaspleasant;
He bowed^(U)his shoulder to beara burden,
And became a band of slaves.

¹⁶ “Dan^(V)shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
^17 (W)Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
^18 (X)I have waited for your salvation, OLord!

¹⁹ “Gad,^(Y)[e]a troop shall^[f]tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.

²⁰ “Bread from^(Z)Ashershall berich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.

²¹ “Naphtali^(AA)isa deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.

²² “Josephisa fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
²³ The archers have^(AB)bitterly grieved him,
Shotat himand hated him.
²⁴ But his^(AC)bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were^[g]made strong
By the hands of^(AD)the MightyGodof Jacob
^(AE)(From there^(AF)isthe Shepherd,^(AG)the Stone of Israel),
^25 (AH)By the God of your father who will help you,
^(AI)And by the Almighty^(AJ)who will bless you
Withblessings 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 excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
^(AK)Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
^(AL)They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

²⁷ “Benjamin is a^(AM)ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
^(AN)And at night he shall divide the spoil.”