49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you
49:2 “Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel, your father.
49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might and the beginning of my strength,
outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.
49:4 You are destructive
for you got on your father’s bed,
then you defiled it – he got on my couch!
49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,
weapons of violence are their knives!
49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,
do not be united to their assembly, my heart,
for in their anger they have killed men,
and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.
49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,
and their fury, for it was cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob,
and scatter them in Israel!
49:8 Judah,
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,
your father’s sons will bow down before you.
49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion;
like a lioness – who will rouse him?
49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs;
the nations will obey him.
49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,
and his colt to the choicest vine,
he will wash
his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,
and his teeth white from milk.
49:13 Zebulun will live
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend to Sidon.
49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey
lying down between two saddlebags.
49:15 When he sees
and the pleasant land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
and become a slave laborer.