Genesis:49

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* And Jacob called his sons and said , "Gather together , that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days : * "Gather together and hear , you sons of Jacob , And listen to Israel your father . * "Reuben , you are my firstborn , My might and the beginning of my strength , The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power . * Unstable as water , you shall not excel , Because you went up to your father 's bed ; Then you defiled it -- He went up to my couch . * "Simeon and Levi are brothers ; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place . * Let not my soul enter their council ; Let not my honor be united to their assembly ; For in their anger they slew a man , And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox . * Cursed be their anger , for it is fierce ; And their wrath , for it is cruel ! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel . * "Judah , you are he whom your brothers shall praise ; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies ; Your father 's children shall bow down before you . * Judah is a lion 's whelp ; From the prey , my son , you have gone up . He bows down , he lies down as a lion ; And as a lion , who shall rouse him ? * The scepter shall not depart from Judah , Nor a lawgiver from between his feet , Until Shiloh comes ; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people . * 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 . * His eyes are darker than wine , And his teeth whiter than milk . * "Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea ; He shall become a haven for ships , And his border shall adjoin Sidon . * "Issachar is a strong donkey , Lying down between two burdens ; * He saw that rest was good , And that the land was pleasant ; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden , And became a band of slaves . * "Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel . * 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 . * I have waited for your salvation , O LORD ! * "Gad , a troop shall tramp upon him , But he shall triumph at last . * "Bread from Asher shall be rich , And he shall yield royal dainties . * "Naphtali is a deer let loose ; He uses beautiful words . * "Joseph is a fruitful bough , A fruitful bough by a well ; His branches run over the wall . * The archers have bitterly grieved him , Shot at him and hated him . * But his bow remained 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 ), * By the God of your father who will help you , And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above , Blessings of the deep that lies beneath , Blessings of the breasts and of the womb . * The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors , Up 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 who was separate from his brothers . * "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf ; In the morning he shall devour the prey , And at night he shall divide the spoil ." * All these are the twelve tribes of Israel , and this is what their father spoke to them . And he blessed them ; he blessed each one according to his own blessing . * Then 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 , * 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 as a possession for a burial place . * There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife , there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife , and there I buried Leah . * The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth ." * And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons , he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last , and was gathered to his people .

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