Genesis 49
49
1Then Iaakob called his sonnes, and sayde, Gather your selues together, that I may tell you what shall come to you in the last dayes. 2Gather your selues together, and heare, ye sonnes of Iaakob, and hearken vnto Israel your father. 3Reuben mine eldest sonne, thou art my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellencie of dignitie, and the excellencie of power: 4Thou wast light as water: thou shalt not be excellent, because thou wentest vp to thy fathers bed: then diddest thou defile my bed, thy dignitie is gone. 5Simeon and Leui, brethren in euill, the instruments of crueltie are in their habitations. 6Into their secret let not my soule come: my glory, be not thou ioyned with their assembly: for in their wrath they slew a man, and in their selfe will they digged downe a wall. 7Cursed be their wrath, for it was fierce, and their rage, for it was cruell: I will deuide them in Iaakob, and scatter them in Israel. 8Thou Iudah, thy brethre shall praise thee: thine hande shalbe in the necke of thine enemies: thy fathers sonnes shall bowe downe vnto thee. 9Iudah, as a Lions whelpe shalt thou come vp from the spoyle, my sonne. He shall lye downe and couche as a Lion, and as a Lionesse: Who shall stirre him vp? 10The scepter shall not depart from Iudah, nor a Lawegiuer from betweene his feete, vntill Shiloh come, and the people shall be gathered vnto him. 11He shall binde his Asse foale vnto ye vine, and his Asses colte vnto the best vine. hee shall wash his garment in wine, and his cloke in the blood of grapes. 12His eyes shalbe red with wine, and his teeth white with milke. 13Zebulun shall dwell by the sea side, and he shalbe an hauen for shippes: and his border shalbe vnto Zidon. 14Issachar shalbe a strong asse, couching downe betweene two burdens: 15And he shall see that rest is good, and that the land is pleasant, and he shall bow his shoulder to beare, and shalbe subiect vnto tribute. 16Dan shall iudge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, byting the horse heeles, so that his rider shall fall backward. 18O Lord, I haue waited for thy saluation. 19Gad, an hoste of men shall ouercome him, but he shall ouercome at the last. 20Concerning Asher, his bread shalbe fat, and he shall giue pleasures for a king. 21Naphtali shalbe a hinde let goe, giuing goodly wordes. 22Ioseph shalbe a fruitefull bough, euen a fruitful bough by the well side: the small boughs shall runne vpon the wall. 23And the archers grieued him, and shotte against him and hated him. 24But his bowe abode strong, and the hands of his armes were strengthened, by the handes of the mighty God of Iaakob, of whom was the feeder appointed, by the stone of Israel, 25Euen by the God of thy father, who shall helpe thee, and by the almightie, who shall blesse thee with heauenly blessinges from aboue, with blessings of the deepe, that lyeth beneath, with blessings of the brestes, and of the wombe. 26The blessings of thy father shalbe stronger then the blessings of mine elders: vnto the ende of the hilles of the worlde they shall be on the head of Ioseph, and on the top of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 27Beniamin shall rauine as a wolfe: in the morning he shall deuoure the pray, and at night he shall deuide the spoyle. 28All these are the twelue tribes of Israel, and thus their father spake vnto them, and blessed them: euery one of them blessed hee with a seuerall blessing. 29And he charged them and sayd vnto them, I am ready to be gathered vnto my people: burie mee with my fathers in the caue, that is in the fielde of Ephron the Hittite, 30In the caue that is in the field of Machpelah besides Mamre in the land of Canaan: which caue Abraham bought with the fielde of Ephron the Hittite for a possession to burie in. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife: there they buryed Izhak and Rebekah his wife: and there I buried Leah. 32The purchase of the fielde and the caue that is therein, was bought of the children of Heth. 33Thus Iaakob made an end of giuing charge to his sonnes, and plucked vp his feete into the bed and gaue vp the ghost, and was gathered to his people.
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Genesis 49: GNV
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PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 49
49
Jacob Blesses His Sons
1 # For ver. 1-27, see Deut. 33:6-25 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you #Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5in days to come.
2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3“Reuben, you are #ch. 29:32 my firstborn,
my might, and the #Deut. 21:17firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because you #ch. 35:22; 1 Chr. 5:1went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 # ch. 29:33, 34 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons #ch. 34:25, 26of violence are their swords.
6Let my soul come not into their council;
# [Ps. 16:9; 57:8] O my glory, #[Ps. 26:9] be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they #Josh. 11:6, 9; 2 Sam. 8:4hamstrung oxen.
7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will #See Num. 3:5-13; Josh. 19:1-9; 1 Chr. 4:24-39divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8“Judah, #ch. 29:35; [ch. 27:29] your brothers shall praise you;
# [Job 16:12] your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
#
1 Chr. 5:2
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9Judah is #Rev. 5:5; [Deut. 33:22; Hos. 5:14] a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
# [Num. 23:24; 24:9] He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10The #Num. 24:17; Zech. 10:11 scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff #Deut. 28:57from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;#49:10 By a slight revocalization; a slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Targum) until he comes to whom it belongs; Hebrew until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
12His #Prov. 23:29eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 # [Deut. 33:18, 19]; Josh. 19:10, 11 “Zebulun shall dwell at the #[Deut. 1:7; Josh. 9:1; Judg. 5:17]shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
14 #
Judg. 5:16; [1 Chr. 12:32] “Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.#49:14 Or between its saddlebags
15He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and #Josh. 16:10became a servant at forced labor.
16 # [Deut. 33:22] “Dan shall #ch. 30:6judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17Dan #Judg. 18:27shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18I #Ps. 25:5; 119:166, 174; Isa. 25:9; Mic. 7:7; [Luke 2:25]wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 # [Deut. 33:20] “Raiders shall raid #See 1 Chr. 5:18-22Gad,#49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for raiders and raid
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 # [Deut. 33:24] “Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 # [Deut. 33:23] “Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.#49:21 Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
22“Joseph is #ch. 41:52; Josh. 17:14, 18a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.#49:22 Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
23The archers #[ch. 37:24, 28; 39:20]bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24yet #Job 29:20 his bow remained unmoved;
his arms#49:24 Hebrew the arms of his hands were made agile
by the hands of the #Ps. 132:2, 5; Isa. 1:24 Mighty One of Jacob
(from there is #Ps. 23:1; 80:1 the Shepherd,#49:24 Or by the name of the Shepherd #Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4; [Deut. 32:4]the Stone of Israel),
25 # ch. 35:3; 50:17 by the God of your father who will help you,
by #ch. 17:1; 35:11 the Almighty#49:25 Hebrew Shaddai #Deut. 33:13who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bounties #Deut. 33:15; Hab. 3:6 of the everlasting hills.#49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills
May they be #Deut. 33:16on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 # [Judg. 20:21, 25; Ezek. 22:27] “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at evening #Zech. 14:1; [Ezek. 39:10]dividing the spoil.”
Jacob’s Death and Burial
28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be #ver. 33; ch. 25:8 gathered to my people; #ch. 47:30 bury me with my fathers #ch. 50:13; [ch. 23:9]in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, #See ch. 23:16-18which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31#ch. 23:19; 25:9 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There #ch. 35:29they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” 33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and #ver. 29was gathered to his people.
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