Genesis 49 — BSB
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Jacob Blesses His Sons
49Verse 1Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:Verse 2Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob;listen to your father Israel.Verse 3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might,and the beginning of my strength,excelling in honor,excelling in power.Verse 4Uncontrolled as the waters,you will no longer excel,because you went up to your father’s bed,onto my couch, and defiled it.Verse 5Simeon and Levi are brothers;their swords+are weapons of violence.Verse 6May I never enter their council;may I never join their assembly.For they kill men in their anger,and hamstring oxen on a whim.Verse 7Cursed be their anger, for it is strong,and their wrath, for it is cruel!I will disperse them in Jacoband scatter them in Israel.Verse 8Judah,+your brothers shall praise you.Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies;your father’s sons shall bow down to you.Verse 9Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey.Like a lion he crouches and lies down;like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?Verse 10The scepter will not depart from Judah,nor the staff from between his feet,+until Shiloh+comesand the allegiance of the nations is his.Verse 11He ties his donkey to the vine,his colt to the choicest branch.He washes his garments in wine,his robes in the blood of grapes.Verse 12His eyes are darker than wine,and his teeth are whiter than milk.Verse 13Zebulun shall dwell by the seashoreand become a harbor for ships;
his border shall extend to Sidon.Verse 14Issachar is a strong donkey,lying down between the sheepfolds.+Verse 15He saw that his resting place was goodand that his land was pleasant,so he bent his shoulder to the burdenand submitted to labor as a servant.Verse 16Dan shall provide justice for his people+as one of the tribes of Israel.Verse 17He will be a snake by the road,a viper in the paththat bites the horse’s heelsso that its rider tumbles backward.Verse 18I await Your salvation, O LORD.Verse 19Gad+will be attacked by raiders,but he will attack their heels.Verse 20Asher’s food will be rich;he shall provide royal delicacies.Verse 21Naphtali is a doe set freethat bears beautiful fawns.+Verse 22Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring,
whose branches scale the wall.+Verse 23The archers attacked him with bitterness;they aimed at him in hostility.Verse 24Yet he steadied his bow,and his strong arms were temperedby the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,Verse 25by the God of your father who helps you,and by the Almighty+who blesses you,with blessings of the heavens above,with blessings of the depths below,
with blessings of the breasts and womb.Verse 26The blessings of your father have surpassedthe blessings of the ancient mountains+
and the bounty of the everlasting hills.May they rest on the head of Joseph,on the brow of the prince of his brothers.Verse 27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder.”Verse 28These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.