1 wFor 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 youxNum. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5 in days to come.
2 Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you areych. 29:32 my firstborn,
my might, and thezDeut. 21:17 firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence,
because youach. 35:22; 1 Chr. 5:1 went up to your father's bed;
then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
5 bch. 29:33, 34 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weaponscch. 34:25, 26 of violence are their swords.
6 Let my soul come not into their council;
d[Ps. 16:9; 57:8] O my glory,e[Ps. 26:9] be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness theyfJosh. 11:6, 9; 2 Sam. 8:4 hamstrung oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I willgSee Num. 3:5-13; Josh. 19:1-9; 1 Chr. 4:24-39 divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
8 Judah,hch. 29:35; [ch. 27:29] your brothers shall praise you;
i[Job 16:12] your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
j1 Chr. 5:2 your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah iskRev. 5:5; [Deut. 33:22; Hos. 5:14] a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
l[Num. 23:24; 24:9] He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 ThemNum. 24:17; Zech. 10:11 scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staffnDeut. 28:57 from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding 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.
12 HisoProv. 23:29 eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 p[Deut. 33:18, 19]; Josh. 19:10, 11 Zebulun shall dwell at theq[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 rJudg. 5:16; [1 Chr. 12:32] Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.1Or between its saddlebags
15 He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
andsJosh. 16:10 became a servant at forced labor.
16 t[Deut. 33:22] Dan shalluch. 30:6 judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 DanvJudg. 18:27 shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse's heels
so that his rider falls backward.
18 IwPs. 25:5; 119:166, 174; Isa. 25:9; Mic. 7:7; [Luke 2:25] wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 x[Deut. 33:20] Raiders shall raidySee 1 Chr. 5:18-22 Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 z[Deut. 33:24] Asher's food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 a[Deut. 33:23] Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.1Or he gives beautiful words, or that bears fawns of the fold
22 Joseph isbch. 41:52; Josh. 17:14, 18 a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.1Or Joseph is a wild donkey, a wild donkey beside a spring, his wild colts beside the wall
23 The archersc[ch. 37:24, 28; 39:20] bitterly attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him severely,
24 yetdJob 29:20 his bow remained unmoved;
his arms were made agile
by the hands of theePs. 132:2, 5; Isa. 1:24 Mighty One of Jacob
(from there isfPs. 23:1; 80:1 the Shepherd,2Or by the name of the ShepherdgIsa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4; [Deut. 32:4] the Stone of Israel),
25 hch. 35:3; 50:17 by the God of your father who will help you,
byich. 17:1; 35:11 the AlmightyjDeut. 33:13 who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,
up to the bountieskDeut. 33:15; Hab. 3:6 of the everlasting hills.
May they belDeut. 33:16 on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
27 m[Judg. 20:21, 25; Ezek. 22:27] Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey
and at eveningnZech. 14:1; [Ezek. 39:10] dividing the spoil. ”
28 All 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. 29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to beover. 33; ch. 25:8 gathered to my people;pch. 47:30 bury me with my fathersqch. 50:13; [ch. 23:9] in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan,rSee ch. 23:16-18 which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 sch. 23:19; 25:9 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. Theretch. 35:29 they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites. ” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last anduver. 29 was gathered to his people.