Thematic Bible: Paternal blessings of


Thematic Bible



Then Israel blessed Joseph by saying: "May the God in whose presence my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has continued shepherding me my whole life even until today, the angel who has been rescuing me from all sorts of evil, bless these young men. May my name continue to live on within them, including the names of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a vast multitude throughout the earth." But Joseph observed that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head. That displeased him, so he grabbed his father's hand and started to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. read more.
"No, father, this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head." But his father refused. "I know," he said. "I know. He's going to produce a large nation, and he's going to be very great. However, his younger brother will become even greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations." That very day, Jacob blessed them with this blessing: "By you Israel will extend this blessing: "May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!'"

After this, Jacob called his sons together and told them, "Assemble yourselves around me so I can tell you all what is going to happen to you in the last days. "Gather together and listen, you children of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel." "Reuben, you're my firstborn, my strength, and the first fruit of my vitality. You excel in rank and excel in power. read more.
But you're as undisciplined as a roaring river, so eventually you won't succeed, because you got in your father's bed, defiled it, and then approached my couch." "Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are violent weapons. I'll never join their council; I'll never enter their assembly. In their anger they committed murder and lamed cattle just for fun. Their anger is cursed, because it is so fierce, as is their vehemence, because it is so cruel. I will separate them throughout Jacob's territory and disperse them throughout Israel." "Your brothers will praise you, Judah. Your hand will be at the throat of your enemies, and your father's children will bow down to you. Judah is a lion cub. My son, you have gone up from the prey. Crouching like a lion, he lies down, Like a lioness, who would dare rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a ruler's staff from between his feet, until the one comes, who owns them both, and to him will belong the allegiance of nations. Binding his donkey to the vine and his mare's foal to its thick tendrils, he will wash his garments in wine and his robe in the juice of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk." "Zebulun will settle down near the sea shore and become a safe haven for shipping, bordering Sidon." "Issachar is a strong donkey, resting between sheepfolds. He observed that his resting place was excellent, and that the land was pleasant; he bent down, picked up his burdens, and became a slave at forced labor." "Dan will judge his people as one of Israel's tribes. Dan will be a snake on the path, a viper on the road that snaps at the heels of horses, causing their riders to fall off. "LORD, I'm waiting for your salvation." "Bandits will raid Gad, but Gad will raid them back." "Asher's food will be delicious; he will be a provider of delicacies fit for royalty." "Naphtali is a free running deer who produces eloquent literature." "Joseph is descended from a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine planted near springs of water. His branches climb over walls. Even though enemies attacked him, shooting at him and pursuing him viciously, nevertheless his bow remained steady and his arms kept in shape by the strength of Jacob's Mighty One, in the name of the Shepherd, Israel's Rock, by your father's God who helps you, by the Almighty who will keep on blessing you with blessings from heaven above, with blessings from the deepest ocean, with blessing from the breasts and the womb. Your father's blessings will prove to be stronger than blessings from the eternal mountains or bounties from the everlasting hills. May they come to rest on Joseph's head, May they be set upon the brow of the one who was separated from his own brothers." "Benjamin is vicious like a wolf; what he kills in the morning he devours in the evening." That's how Israel blessed these twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father told them when he pronounced his blessing for them, blessing each one with a blessing suitable for them.


Then you are to take it to your father so that he can eat and bless you before he dies." "But look!" Jacob pointed out to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I'm smooth skinned. My father might touch me and he'll realize that I'm deceiving him. Then, I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing." read more.
"My son," she replied, "let any curse against you fall on me. Just listen to me, then go and get them for me." So out he went, got them, and brought them to his mother, who then prepared some delicious food, just the way his father liked it. Then Rebekah took some garments that belonged to her elder son Esau the best ones available and put them on her younger son Jacob. She put some goat skins over his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the delicious food and bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob, who went to his father and said, "My father"" "It's me!" he replied. "Which one are you, my son?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn!" Jacob told his father. "I've done what you asked, so please sit up and eat what I caught, so you can bless me." "How did you get it so quickly, my son?" Isaac asked. Jacob responded, ""because the LORD your God made me successful." So Isaac told Jacob, "Come here, my son, so I can feel you and know for sure whether or not you're my son Esau." So Jacob approached his father, who felt him and said, "It's Jacob's voice, but Esau's hands." He didn't recognize Jacob, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau, so Isaac blessed him. He asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. "Come closer to me," Isaac replied, "so I can eat some of the game, my son, and then bless you." So Jacob came closer, and Isaac ate. Jacob also brought wine so his father could drink. After this, Jacob's father Isaac told him, "Come closer and kiss me, my son." So Jacob drew closer to kiss him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his son's clothes, he blessed him and said, "How my son's scent is the fragrance of the field that the LORD has blessed. May the LORD grant you dew from the skies, and from the fertile land; may he grant you abundant grain and fresh wine. May people serve and bow before you; may you be master over your brothers; may your mother's sons bow before you; may anyone who curses you be cursed; and may anyone who blesses you be blessed." Just after Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left his father Isaac, Jacob's brother Esau returned from hunting, prepared some delicious food, brought it to his father, and told him, "Can you get up now, father, so you may eat some of your son's game and then bless me?" But his father Isaac asked him, "Who are you?" "I'm Esau, your firstborn son," he answered. At this, Isaac began to tremble violently. "Who then," he asked, "hunted some game and brought it to me to eat before you arrived, so that I've blessed him? Indeed, he is blessed." When Esau realized what his father Isaac was saying, he began to wail out loud bitterly. "Bless me," he cried, "even me, too, my father!" Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing." Then he said, "Isn't his name rightly called Jacob?" Esau asked. "He has circumvented me this second time. First, he took away my birthright, and now, look how he also stole my blessing." Then he added, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?" In response, Isaac told Esau, "Look! I've predicted that he's going to become your master, and I've assigned all his brothers to be his servants. What then can I do for you, my son?" Then Esau implored his father, "Don't you have even one blessing for me, my father? Bless me, even me too, my father!" Then Esau lifted his voice and wept bitterly. At this, his father Isaac replied to him, "Look! Away from the fertile land will be your dwellings; away from the dew of the skies above. By your sword you'll live; but you'll serve your brother. But when you've become restless, you'll break off his yoke from your neck."

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful so that your descendants become a whole group of people. May he give you and your descendants the blessings that he gave Abraham. May you possess the land where you have lived that God gave to Abraham."


When Noah sobered up and learned what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Canaan is cursed! He will be the lowest of slaves to his relatives." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave. read more.
May God make room for Japheth; may God live in Shem's tents, and may Canaan serve him."


So Abraham responded to God, "If only Ishmael would live in constant awareness that you're always with him!"


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