Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come. 2 “Come and listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father. 3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, You are first in rank and first in power. 4 But you are as unruly as a flood, you defiled my marriage couch. 5 “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind; their weapons are instruments of violence. 6 May I never join in their meetings; and they crippled oxen just for sport. 7 A curse on their anger, for it is fierce; I will disperse them throughout Israel. 8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. All your relatives will bow before you. 9 Judah, my son, is a young lion like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, the one whom all nations will honor. 11 He ties his foal to a grapevine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. 13 “Zebulun will settle by the seashore his borders will extend to Sidon. 14 “Issachar is a sturdy donkey, resting between two saddlepacks. 15 When he sees how good the countryside is and submit himself to hard labor. 16 “Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel. 17 Dan will be a snake beside the road, so its rider is thrown off. 18 I trust in you for salvation, O LORD! 19 “Gad will be attacked by marauding bands, but he will attack them when they retreat. 20 “Asher will dine on rich foods and produce food fit for kings. 21 “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. 22 “Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, one of the wild donkeys on the ridge. 23 Archers attacked him savagely; they shot at him and harassed him. 24 But his bow remained taut, by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. 25 May the God of your father help you; and blessings of the breasts and womb. 26 May my fatherly blessings on you who is a prince among his brothers. 27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, and dividing his plunder in the evening.” 28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said as he told his sons good-bye. He blessed each one with an appropriate message.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

29 Then Jacob instructed them, “Soon I will die and join my ancestors. Bury me with my father and grandfather in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 This is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a permanent burial site. 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried. There Isaac and his wife, Rebekah, are buried. And there I buried Leah. 32 It is the plot of land and the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob had finished this charge to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and joined his ancestors in death.