Thematic Bible
Genesis 49:1 (show verse)
Then Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together so that I can tell you what will happen with you in {days to come}.
Genesis 49:2 (show verse)
Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob! Listen to Israel your father!
Genesis 49:3 (show verse)
Reuben, you [are] my firstborn, my strength, and the firstfruit of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power.
Genesis 49:4 (show verse)
Unstable as water, you shall not excel [any longer], for you went up upon the bed of your father, then defiled [it]. You went up upon my couch!
Genesis 49:5 (show verse)
Simeon and Levi [are] brothers; weapons of violence [are] their swords. Let me not come into their council.
Genesis 49:6 (show verse)
Let not my person be joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and at their pleasure they hamstrung cattle.
Genesis 49:7 (show verse)
Cursed be their anger, for [it is] fierce, and their wrath, for [it is] cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel.
Genesis 49:8 (show verse)
Judah, [as for] you, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand [shall be] on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father shall bow down to you.
Genesis 49:9 (show verse)
Judah [is] a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bowed down; he crouched like a lion and as a lioness. Who shall rouse him?
Genesis 49:10 (show verse)
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of nations.
Genesis 49:11 (show verse)
Binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washes his clothing in the wine and his garment in the blood of grapes.
Genesis 49:12 (show verse)
The eyes [are] darker than wine, and the teeth whiter than milk.
Genesis 49:13 (show verse)
Zebulun shall settle by the shore of the sea. He [shall become] a haven for ships, and his border [shall be] at Sidon.
Genesis 49:14 (show verse)
Issachar [is] a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds.
Genesis 49:15 (show verse)
He saw a resting place that [was] good, and land that [was] pleasant. So he bowed his shoulder to the burden and became a servant of forced labor.
Genesis 49:16 (show verse)
Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
Genesis 49:17 (show verse)
Dan shall be a serpent on the way, a viper on the road that bites the heels of a horse, so that its rider falls backward.
Genesis 49:18 (show verse)
I wait for your salvation, O Yahweh.
Genesis 49:19 (show verse)
Bandits shall attack Gad, but he shall attack [their] heels.
Genesis 49:20 (show verse)
Asher's food [is] delicious, and he shall provide from the king's delicacies.
Genesis 49:21 (show verse)
Naphtali [is] a doe running free that puts forth beautiful words.
Genesis 49:22 (show verse)
Joseph [is] the bough of a fruitful vine, a fruitful bough by a spring. His branches climb over the wall.
Genesis 49:23 (show verse)
{The archers} fiercely attacked him. They shot arrows [at him] and were hostile to him.
Genesis 49:24 (show verse)
But his bow remained in a steady position; {his arms} were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob. From there [is] the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.
Genesis 49:25 (show verse)
Because of the God of your father he will help you and [by] Shaddai he will bless you with the blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and the womb.
Genesis 49:26 (show verse)
The blessings of your father are superior to the blessings of my ancestors, to the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the forehead of the prince of his brothers.
Genesis 49:27 (show verse)
Benjamin [is] a devouring wolf, devouring the prey in the morning, and dividing the plunder in the evening.
Genesis 49:28 (show verse)
All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel, and this [is] what their father said to them when he blessed them, each according to their blessing.
Genesis 49:29 (show verse)
Then he instructed them and said to them, "I am [about to be] gathered to my people. Bury me among my ancestors in the cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Genesis 49:30 (show verse)
in the cave that [is] in the field of Machpelah that [is] before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
Genesis 49:31 (show verse)
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there I buried Leah--
Genesis 49:32 (show verse)
the purchase of the field and the cave which [was] in it from the Hittites."
Genesis 49:33 (show verse)
When Jacob finished instructing his sons he drew his feet up to the bed. Then he took his last breath and was gathered to his people.