Genesis 49

“Sons of Jacob, come together and listen.
    Listen to your father Israel.

Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

“Reuben, you are my oldest son.
    You were my first child. You were the first sign of my strength.
    You were first in honor. You were first in power.

Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

But you are as unsteady as water. So you won’t be first anymore.
    You had sex with my concubine on my bed.
    You lay on my couch and made it ‘unclean.’

Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

“Simeon and Levi are brothers.
    Their swords have killed a lot of people.

Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

I won’t share in their plans.
    I won’t have anything to do with them.
They became angry and killed people.
    They cut the legs of oxen just for the fun of it.

O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

May the Lord put a curse on them
    because of their terrible anger.
I will scatter them in Jacob’s land.
    I will spread them around in Israel.

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

“Judah, your brothers will praise you.
    Your enemies will be brought under your control.
    Your father’s sons will bow down to you.

Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

Judah, you are like a lion’s cub.
    You return from hunting, my son.
Like a lion, you lie down and sleep.
    You are like a mother lion. Who dares to wake you up?

Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

The right to rule will not leave Judah.
    The ruler’s scepter will not be taken from between his feet.
It will be his until the king it belongs to will come.
    The nations will obey that king.

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

He will tie his donkey to a vine.
    He will tie his colt to the very best branch.
He will wash his clothes in wine.
    He will wash his robes in the red juice of grapes.

Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

His eyes will be darker than wine.
    His teeth will be whiter than milk.

His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

“Zebulun will live by the seashore.
    He will become a safe harbor for ships.
    His border will go out toward Sidon.

Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

“Issachar is like a wild donkey
    lying down among the sheep pens.

Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

He sees how good his resting place is.
    He sees that his land is pleasant.
So he will carry a heavy load on his back.
    He will obey when he’s forced to work.

And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

“Dan will do what is fair for his people.
    He will do it as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan will be a snake by the side of the road.
    He will be a poisonous snake along the path.
It bites the horse’s heels
    so that the rider falls off backward.

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

“Lord, I look to you to save me.

I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.

“Gad will be attacked by a group of robbers.
    But he will attack them as they run away.

Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

“Asher’s food will be rich and sweet.
    He will provide food that even a king would enjoy.

Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

“Naphtali is a female deer set free
    and gives birth to beautiful fawns.

Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

“Joseph is a vine that grows a lot of fruit.
    It grows close by a spring.
    Its branches climb over a wall.

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

Mean people shot arrows at him.
    They shot at him because they were angry.

The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

But his bow remained steady.
    His strong arms moved freely.
The hand of the Mighty God of Jacob was with him.
    The Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, stood by him.

But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

Joseph, your father’s God helps you.
    The Mighty God blesses you.
He gives you blessings from the sky above.
    He gives you blessings from the deep springs below.
    He blesses you with children and with a mother’s milk.

Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

Your father’s blessings are great.
    They are greater than the blessings from the age-old mountains.
    They are greater than the gifts from the ancient hills.
Let all those blessings rest on the head of Joseph.
    Let them rest on the head of the one who is prince among his brothers.

The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

“Benjamin is a hungry wolf.
    In the morning he eats what he has killed.
    In the evening he shares what he has stolen.”