Genesis 49:1-28
Genesis 49:1-28 KJV
And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; And hearken unto Israel your father. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 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 brethren; Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 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. 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, 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 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 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. 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 shall be red with wine, And his teeth white with milk. 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 a strong ass Couching down between two burdens: 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 shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. 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. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: But he shall overcome at the last. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, And he shall yield royal dainties. Naphtali is a hind let loose: He giveth goodly words. Joseph is a fruitful bough, Even a fruitful bough by a well; Whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him, and hated 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:) 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: 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 shall ravin as a wolf: In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.