Genesis 49

¹Forsothe Jacob clepide hise sones, and seide to hem, Be ye gaderid that Y telle what thingis schulen come to you in the laste daies;

²be ye gaderid, `and here, ye sones of Jacob, here ye Israel youre fadir.

³Ruben, my firste gendrid sone, thou art my strengthe and the bigynnyng of my sorewe; thou ouytist to be the former in yiftis, the more in lordschip;

⁴thou art sched out as watir; wexe thou not, for thou stiedist on the bed of thi fader, and defoulidist his bed.

⁵Symeon and Leuy, britheren, fiytynge vessils of wickidnesse;

⁶my soule come not in to the councel of hem, and my glorie be not in the congregacioun of hem; for in her woodnesse thei killiden a man, and in her wille thei myneden the wal;

⁷curside be the woodnesse of hem, for it is obstynat, and the indignacioun of hem for it is hard; Y schal departe hem in Jacob, and I schal scatere hem in Israel.

⁸Judas, thi britheren schulen preise thee, thin hondis schulen be in the nollis of thin enemyes; the sones of thi fadir schulen worschipe thee.

⁹`A whelp of lioun `is Judas; my sone thou stiedist to prey; thou restidist, and hast leyn as a lioun, and as a lionesse who schal reise hym?

¹⁰The septre schal not be takun awey fro Juda, and a duyk of his hipe, til he come that schal be sent, and he schal be abiding of hethene men;

¹¹and he schal tye his colt at the vyner, and his femal asse at the vyne; A! my sone, he schal waische his stoole in wyn, and his mentil in the blood of grape;

¹²hise iyen ben fairere than wyn, and hise teeth ben whittere than mylk.

¹³Zabulon schal dwelle in the brenk of the see, and in the stondyng of schipis; and schal stretche til to Sydon.

¹⁴Isachar, a strong asse,

¹⁵liggynge bitwixe termes, seiy reste, that it was good and seiy the lond that it was best, and he vndirsettide his schuldre to bere, and he was maad seruynge to tributis.

¹⁶Dan schal deme his puple, as also another lynage in Israel.

¹⁷Dan be maad a serpent in the weie, and cerastes in the path, and bite the feet of an hors, that the `stiere therof falle bacward; Lord,

¹⁸Y schal abide thin helthe.

¹⁹Gad schal be gird, and schal fiyte bifor hym, and he schal be gird bihynde.

²⁰Aser his breed schal be plenteuouse, and he schal yyue delicis to kyngis.

²¹Neptalym schal be an hert sent out, and yyuynge spechis of fairenesse.

²²Joseph, a sone encreessynge, `a sone encresinge, and fair in biholdyng; douytris runnen aboute on the wal,

²³but hise brithren wraththeden hym, and chidden, and thei hadden dartis, and hadden enuye to hym.

²⁴His bowe sat in the stronge, and the boondis of his armes, and hondis weren vnboundun bi the hond of the myyti of Jacob; of hym a scheepherd yede out, the stoon of Israel.

²⁵God of thi fadir schal be thin helpere, and Almyyti God schal blesse thee with blessyngis of heuene fro aboue, and with blessyngis of the see liggynge binethe, with blessyngis of tetis, and of wombe;

²⁶the blessyngis of thi fadir ben coumfortid, the blessyngis of his fadris, til the desire of euerlastynge hillis cam; blessyngis ben maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the nol of Nazarei among his britheren.

²⁷Beniamyn, a rauyschynge wolf, schal ete prey eerly, and in the euentid he schal departe spuylis.

²⁸Alle these weren in twelue kynredis of Israel; her fadir spak these thingys to hem, and blesside hem alle by propre blessyngis,

²⁹and comaundide hem, and seide, Y am gaderid to my puple, birie ye me with my fadris in the double denne, which is in the lond of Efron Ethei, ayens Manbre,

³⁰in the lond of Canaan, which denne Abraham bouyte with the feeld of Efron Ethei, in to possessioun of sepulcre.

³¹There thei birieden hym, and Sare his wijf, also Ysaac was biried there with Rebecca his wijf; there also Lia liggith biried.

³²And whanne the comaundementis weren endid, bi whiche he tauyte the sones, he gaderide hise feet on the bed, and diede, and he was put to his puple.

Genesis 49

¹And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

²Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

³Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

⁴Unstable 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.

⁵Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

⁶O 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.

⁷Cursed 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.

⁸Judah, 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.

⁹Judah 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?

¹⁰The 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.

¹¹Binding 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:

¹²His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

¹³Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

¹⁴Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

¹⁸I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.

¹⁹Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

²⁰Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

²¹Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

²²Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

²³The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

²⁴But 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:)

²⁵Even 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:

²⁶The 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.

²⁷Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

²⁸All 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.

²⁹And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

³¹There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.

³²The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

³³And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.