Jacob Blesses His Sons 1 AKJV And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. BSB BSB: Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
2 AKJV Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father. BSB BSB: Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
3 AKJV Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: BSB BSB: Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 AKJV Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed; then defiled you it: he went up to my couch. BSB BSB: Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.
5 AKJV Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. BSB BSB: Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
6 AKJV O my soul, come not you into their secret; to their assembly, my honor, be not you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall. BSB BSB: May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim.
7 AKJV Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. BSB BSB: Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
8 AKJV Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. BSB BSB: Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9 AKJV Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? BSB BSB: Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
10 AKJV The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be. BSB BSB: The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
11 AKJV Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass’s colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: BSB BSB: He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 AKJV His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. BSB BSB: His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 AKJV Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be to Zidon. BSB BSB: Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
14 AKJV Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: BSB BSB: Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
15 AKJV And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute. BSB BSB: He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.
16 AKJV Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. BSB BSB: Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 AKJV Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. BSB BSB: He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.
18 AKJV I have waited for your salvation, O LORD. BSB BSB: I await Your salvation, O LORD.
19 AKJV Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. BSB BSB: Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
20 AKJV Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. BSB BSB: Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
21 AKJV Naphtali is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words. BSB BSB: Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
22 AKJV Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: BSB BSB: Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
23 AKJV The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: BSB BSB: The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
24 AKJV But his bow stayed in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) BSB BSB: Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 AKJV Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: BSB BSB: by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb.
26 AKJV The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brothers. BSB BSB: The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
27 AKJV Benjamin shall shred as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. BSB BSB: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 AKJV All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spoke to them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. BSB BSB: These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
The Death of Jacob 29 AKJV And he charged them, and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, BSB BSB: Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
30 AKJV In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burial plot. BSB BSB: The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
31 AKJV There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. BSB BSB: There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.
32 AKJV The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. BSB BSB: The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
33 AKJV And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered to his people. BSB BSB: When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.