Jacob Blesses His Sons 1 UDB Jacob summoned all his sons and said to them, 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 UDB "Gather around close to me in order that I can tell you what will happen in the future. My sons, come and listen to me. I am your father, Jacob. BSB BSB: Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel.
3 UDB Reuben, you are my oldest son. You were born when I was young and energetic. When I became a grown man, you were my first child. You are prouder and stronger than all the rest of my sons. BSB BSB: Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 UDB But you were as unstable as ocean waves. So now you will not be my most important son, because you climbed up onto my bed and slept with my concubine. That caused me, your father, to have great shame. 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 UDB Simeon and Levi, you two brothers have both acted like criminals. You use your swords to act violently. BSB BSB: Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence.
6 UDB I do not want to be with you when you make evil plans. I am too honorable to join you in your meetings because you killed people when you became very angry, and you hamstrung oxen just to have fun. 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 UDB God says, 'I will curse them for being very angry, for acting very cruelly when they were very furious. I will scatter their descendants throughout the land of 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 UDB Judah, your older and younger brothers will praise you. They will bow down before you because you will thoroughly defeat your enemies. 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 UDB Judah is like a young lion that has returned to its den satisfied after eating the animals that it has killed. He is like a lion that lies down and stretches out after eating; no one would dare to disturb it. 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 UDB There will always be a ruler from the descendants of Judah. Each one will hold a scepter to show that he has authority as a king. He will do that until nations bring tribute to him and show that they will obey him. 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 UDB The grapevines of his descendants will produce grapes very abundantly. As a result, they will not object to tying their young donkeys to the grapevines in order that they can eat the leaves of the grapevines. Wine will be very plentiful, with the result that they will wash their clothes in wine; they will wash their cloaks in wine that is as red as blood. 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 UDB Their eyes will be red because of drinking too much wine, but their teeth will be very white because of drinking much milk from the cows. BSB BSB: His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 UDB Zebulun, your descendants will live by the seashore where there will be a safe harbor for ships. Their land will extend north as far as the city of Sidon. BSB BSB: Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon.
14 UDB Issachar, your descendants will be like strong donkeys that are lying down between two groups of sheep, so tired that they cannot get up! BSB BSB: Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
15 UDB They will see that their resting place is good and that the land pleases them very much. But they will bend their backs to carry heavy loads and be forced to work for others. 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 UDB Dan, although your tribe will be small, your leaders will rule their people just as the leaders of other tribes of Israel will rule their people. BSB BSB: Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 UDB Your descendants will be like snakes at the side of a road, like poisonous snakes lying beside a path. They will strike the heels of horses that pass by, causing the riders to fall backwards as the horses rear up on their hind legs." 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 UDB Then Jacob prayed, "Yahweh, I am waiting for you to rescue me from my enemies." BSB BSB: I await Your salvation, O LORD.
19 UDB Then Jacob continued telling his sons what would happen in the future. He said, "Gad, your tribe will be attacked by a group of bandits, but your tribe will pursue and attack them. BSB BSB: Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels.
20 UDB Asher, your descendants will eat good tasting food; they will produce food that is delicious enough for kings to eat. BSB BSB: Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
21 UDB Naphtali, your descendants will be like deer that run free, deer that have beautiful fawns. BSB BSB: Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.
22 UDB Joseph, you will have many descendants. Their children will be as many as the fruit on a vine near a spring of water, whose branches extend over a wall. BSB BSB: Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
23 UDB Their enemies will attack them fiercely, and shoot at them with bows and arrows and pursue them. BSB BSB: The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
24 UDB But they will hold their bows steady and their arms will remain strong because of the power of my mighty God, because of Yahweh who guides and provides for me as a shepherd guides and provides for his sheep. The people of Israel will ask Yahweh to protect them, as people take refuge on top of a high rock. 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 UDB God, the one whom I worship, will help your descendants. God Almighty will bless them by sending them rain from the sky and by giving them water from deep below the ground. He will give them many children and will nourish them. 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 UDB The blessings that I want God to give you are great ones. They are greater than the blessings that come from the eternal mountains, than the ones that come from the everlasting hills. Joseph, I pray that these blessings will be given to you because you are the leader of your 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 UDB Benjamin, your descendants will be like vicious wolves. In the morning they will kill their enemies like a wolf devours its prey, and in the evening they will divide among their warriors the spoils that they seized from their enemies." BSB BSB: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 UDB Those twelve sons are the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. That is what their father said to them as he blessed them, telling to each one words that were right for him. 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 UDB Then Jacob said to his sons, "I will soon die and join my ancestors who have already died. Bury my body where some of my ancestors are buried, in the cave that is in the field that was bought from Ephron, who belonged to the Heth people. 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 UDB The cave in the field of Machpelah was located east of Mamre in the land of Canaan. This cave was in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron to use as a burial place. 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 UDB That is where they buried him and his wife Sarah. That is where they buried my father Isaac and his wife Rebekah. And that is where I buried my wife 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 UDB That field and the cave in it were bought from the Heth people; so that is where I want you to bury me." BSB BSB: The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”
33 UDB When Jacob finished giving those instructions to his sons, he lay down on his bed again. Then he stopped breathing and died. 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.