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Genesis 49 :: Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

Jacob Assembles His Sons

Gen 49:1

Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Gather together that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.

Gen 49:2

“Assemble together and hear, O sons of Jacob;

And listen to Israel your father.

Gen 49:3

“Reuben, you are my firstborn;

My might and the beginning of my vigor,

[fn]Preeminent in dignity and [fn]preeminent in strength.

Gen 49:4

[fn]Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence,

Because you went up to your father’s bed;

Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

Gen 49:5

“Simeon and Levi are brothers;

Their swords are implements of violence.

Gen 49:6

“Let my soul not enter into their council;

Let not my glory be united with their assembly;

Because in their anger they killed [fn]men,

And in their self-will they hamstrung [fn]oxen.

Gen 49:7

“Cursed be their anger, for it is strong;

And their wrath, for it is cruel.

I will divide them amongst Jacob,

And scatter them in Israel.

Gen 49:8

“Judah, as for you, your brothers shall praise you;

Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

Gen 49:9

“Judah is a lion’s whelp;

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He [fn]crouches, he lies down as a lion,

And as a lioness, who [fn]dares rouse him up?

Gen 49:10

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

[fn]Until Shiloh comes,

And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Gen 49:11

[fn]He ties his foal to the vine,

And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;

He washes his garments in wine,

And his robes in the blood of grapes.

Gen 49:12

“His eyes are [fn]dark from wine,

And his teeth [fn]white from milk.

Gen 49:13

“Zebulun will dwell at the seashore;

And he shall be a shore for ships,

And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

Gen 49:14

“Issachar is [fn]a strong donkey,

Lying down between the [fn]sheepfolds.

Gen 49:15

“And he saw that a resting place was good

And that the land was pleasant,

So he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,

And became a slave at forced labor.

Gen 49:16

“Dan shall render justice to his people,

As one of the tribes of Israel.

Gen 49:17

“Dan shall be a serpent in the way,

A horned snake in the path,

That bites the horse’s heels,

So that his rider falls backward.

Gen 49:18

“For Your salvation I hope, O Yahweh.

Gen 49:19

“As for Gad, [fn]raiders shall raid him,

But he will raid at their [fn]heels.

Gen 49:20

[fn]As for Asher, his [fn]food shall be [fn]rich,

And he will yield royal dainties.

Gen 49:21

“Naphtali is a doe let loose,

He gives beautiful words.

Gen 49:22

“Joseph is a fruitful [fn]bough,

A fruitful [fn]bough by a spring;

Its [fn]branches run over a wall.

Gen 49:23

“And the archers bitterly attacked him and shot at him,

And they bore a grudge against him;

Gen 49:24

But his bow remained [fn]firm,

And [fn]his arms were agile,

From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,

Gen 49:25

From the God of your father who helps you,

And [fn]by the [fn]Almighty who blesses you

With blessings of heaven above,

Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,

Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

Gen 49:26

“The blessings of your father

Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors

Up to the [fn]utmost bound of the everlasting hills;

May they be on the head of Joseph,

And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

Gen 49:27

“Benjamin is a [fn]ravenous wolf;

In the morning he devours the prey,

And in the evening he divides the spoil.”

Jacob Breathes His Last

Gen 49:28

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. So he blessed them. He blessed them, every one [fn]with the blessing appropriate to him.

Gen 49:29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial site.
Gen 49:31“There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah
Gen 49:32the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”
Gen 49:33So Jacob finished commanding his sons. And he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
LSB Footnotes
Lit preeminence
Lit preeminence
Or Boiling over; lit Recklessness
Lit a man
Lit an ox
Lit bows down
Lit shall
Or Until he comes to Shiloh, Until he comes to whom it belongs
Lit Binding of
Or darker than
Or whiter than
Lit a donkey of bone
Or saddlebags
Lit a raiding band
Lit heel
Lit From
Or bread
Lit fat
Lit son
Lit son
Lit daughters
In an unyielding position
Lit the arms of his hands
Or with
Heb Shaddai
Or desire; lit limit
Lit a wolf that tears
Lit according to his blessing
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Genesis Chapter 49 — Additional Translations: