1 This is the blessing wherewith Moses, God's man, blessed the children of Israel before his death,
2 saying, "The LORD came from Sinai, and showed his beams from Seir unto them; and appeared gloriously from mount Paran, and he came with thousands of saints, and in his righthand a law of fire for them.
3 How loved he the people? All his saints are in his hand. They shall set themselves down at thy feet, and receive of thy words.
4 Moses gave us a law which is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
5 And he was in the fullness of the king, and held the rulers of the people together, with the tribes of Israel.
6 Reuben shall live and shall not die: but his people shall be few in number. This is the blessing of Judah."
7 And he said, "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah and bring him unto his people: let his hands fight for him: but be thou his help against his enemies."
8 And unto Levi he said, "Thy perfectness and thy light be according unto the man of thy mercy, who thou hast tempted at Massah, when ye strove by the waters of strife.
9 He that sayeth unto his father and mother, 'I saw him not,' and unto his brethren, 'I knew not,' and to his son, 'I know not': for they have observed thy words and kept thy covenant.
10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy laws. They shall put cense before thy nose and whole sacrifices upon thine altar.
11 Bless, LORD, their power, and accept the works of their hands: smite the backs of them that rise against them and of them that hate them, that they rise not again."
12 Unto Benjamin he said, "The LORD's darling shall dwell in safety by him and keep himself in the haven by him continually, and shall dwell between his shoulders."
13 And unto Joseph he said, "Blessed of the LORD is his land with the goodly fruits of heaven, with dew and with springs that lie beneath:
14 and with fruits of the increase of the sun and with ripe fruit of the months,
15 and with the tops of mountains that were from the beginning and with the dainties of hills that last ever,
16 and with goodly fruit of the earth and of the fullness thereof. And the goodwill of him that dwelleth in the bush shall come upon the head of Joseph and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from among his brethren.
17 His beauty is as a firstborn ox and his horns as the horns of an unicorn. And with them he shall push the nations together, even unto the ends of the world. These are the many thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh."
18 And unto Zebulun he said, "Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out, and thou, Issachar, in thy tents.
19 They shall call the people unto the hill, and there they shall offer offerings of righteousness. For they shall suck of the abundance of the sea and of treasure hid in the sand."
20 And unto Gad he said, "Blessed is the room-maker Gad. He dwelleth as a lion that catcheth the arm with the of the head.
21 He saw, therefore, his beginning, and that there was a portion there to hide the lawgiver; and he came with the heads of the people, and executed the righteousness of the LORD and his judgments with Israel."
22 And unto Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow from Bashan."
23 And unto Naphtali he said, "Naphtali, he shall have abundance of pleasure and shall be filled with the blessing of the LORD and shall have his possessions in the southwest."
24 And of Asher he said, "Asher shall be blessed with children: he shall be acceptable unto his brethren and shall dip his foot in oil.
25 Iron and brass shall hang on thy shoes and thine age shall be as thy youth.
26 There is none like unto the God of Israel: he that sitteth upon heaven shall be thine help, whose glory is in the clouds:
27 that is the dwelling place of God from the beginning, and from under the arms of the world. He hath cast out thine enemies before thee and said, 'Destroy.'
28 And Israel shall dwell in safety alone. And the eyes of Jacob shall look upon a land of corn and wine. Moreover, his heaven shall drop with dew.
29 Happy art thou Israel: who is like unto thee? A people that art saved by the LORD; thy shield, and helper, and sword of thy glory. And thine enemies shall hide themselves from thee, and thou shalt walk upon their high hills."