1 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. 2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3 ¶ Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4 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.
5 ¶ Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6 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. 7 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.
8 ¶ 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. 9 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? 10 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 . 11 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: 12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 ¶ 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.
14 ¶ Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 15 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.
16 ¶ Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 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. 18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19 ¶ Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 ¶ Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21 ¶ Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22 ¶ Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him , and hated him: 24 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:) 25 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: 26 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.
27 ¶ Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 ¶ 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. 29 And 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, 30 In 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. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. 33 And 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.
بركة يعقوب
1 ثُمَّ دَعا يعقوبُ بَنيه وقالَ: «إجتَمِعوا لأنبِئَكُم بِما يَحدُثُ لَكُم في الأيّامِ الآتيةِ:
2 اجتَمِعوا واسمَعوا يا بَني يعقوبَ،
واصغوا إلى إِسرائيلَ أبـيكُم.
3 رَأوبـينُ أنتَ بِكْري،
قُوَّتي وباكورةُ رُجُولَتي.
فاضلٌ في الرِّفعَةِ
فاضِلٌ في العِزِّ،
4 هائجٌ كالسَّيلِ لا تُفضَّلُ
لأنَّك عَلَوتَ فِراشَ أبـيكَ.
فَحَرَّمتَ جاريتي عليَّ.
5 شِمعُونُ ولاوي أخوَانِ،
سُيوفُهُما سِلاحُ العُنفِ،
6 مَجلِسُهُما لا أدخُلُه،
وفي صُحبَتِهِما لا أبتَهِـجُ.
ففي غضَبِهما قتَلا بشَرا،
وفي نقمَتِهما عرقَبا ثَورا.
7 مَلعونٌ غضَبُهما فهوَ شديدٌ،
وغَيظُهما لأنَّه قاسٍ.
سأُفَرِّقُهُما بَينَ بَني يعقوبَ،
وأُشَتِّتُهُما في أرضِ إِسرائيلَ.
8 يَهوذا يَحمَدُك إخوَتُكَ،
يَدُكَ على رِقابِ أعدائِكَ.
يسجُدُ لكَ بَنو أبـيكَ.
9 يَهوذا شِبْلُ أسَدٍ.
مِنَ الأطرافِ صَعِدْتَ يا ابني،
كأسدٍ يَركعُ ويَربِضُ
وكَلَبوةٍ، فمَنْ يُقيمُه؟
10 لا يزولُ الصَّولجانُ مِنْ يَهوذا
ولا عصا السُّلطانِ مِنْ صُلْبِهِ،
إلى أنْ يتَبوَّأَ في شيلُوه
مَنْ لَه طاعةُ الشُّعوبِ.
11 يَربُطُ بالكَرمَةِ جَحْشَه،
وبالدَّاليَةِ ابنَ أتانِهِ.
يَغسِلُ بالخمرِ ثِـيابَهُ،
وبِدَمِ العِنَبِ رِدَاءَهُ.
12 تَحمرُّ مِنَ الخمرِ عيناهُ،
ومِنَ اللَّبَنِ تَبـيَضُّ أسنانُهُ.
13 زَبولونُ يسكُنُ ساحِلَ البحرِ
ويكونُ مَرفا للسُّفُنِ،
وتُخُومُه عِندَ صيدونَ.
14 يسَّاكَرُ حِمارٌ ضَخمٌ
رابِضٌ بَينَ الحَظائِرِ.
15 رأى المَرَاحَ أنَّهُ هَنيءٌ
والأرضَ أنها نعيمٌ،
فأحنى كَتِفَه لِلحَمْلِ
وصارَ للسُّخرةِ عبدا.
16 دانُ يَدينُ شعبَهُ
كأحَدِ أسباطِ إِسرائيلَ.
17 يكونُ ثُعبانا على الطَّريقِ،
أُفعوانا على السَّبـيلِ،
يَلسَعُ الفرَسَ في عَقِبِها
فيَقَعُ راكِبُها إلى الوراءِ.
18 أنتَظِرُ خلاصَكَ يا ربُّ!
19 جادُ يَغزوهُ الغُزاةُ،
فيَغزُو لاحِقا بهِم.
20 أشيرُ طَعامُه دَسِمٌ
يُثيرُ شَهيَّةَ المُلوكِ.
21 نفتالي غزالةٌ شَريدةٌ
تَلِدُ ظِباءً جميلةً.
22 يوسُفُ غُصنٌ مُثمِرٌ،
غُصنٌ مَثمِرٌ على عينِ ماءٍ،
فُروعُه صَعِدَت على سُورٍ،
23 هاجَمَه أصحابُ السِّهامِ،
وخاصَموه وضايَقوه كثيرا.
24 ولكنَّ قَوسَه بَقيت ثابِتَةً،
وتَشَدَّدَت سَواعِدُ يَدَيهِ.
بِقُدْرَةِ الجبَّارِ إلهِ يعقوبَ،
بِاسمِ الرَّاعي صَخرةِ إسرائيلَ،
25 بإلهِ أبـيكَ الّذي يَنصُرُكَ،
بالقديرِ الّذي يُبارِكُكَ.
بَرَكاتُ السَّماءِ مِنْ فوقُ
وبَرَكاتُ الغَمْرِ الرَّاكِدِ في الأسفَلِ.
بَرَكاتُ الثَّدْيَينِ والرَّحِمِ،
26 بَرَكاتُ أبـيكَ الّتي تفوقُ
بركاتِ الجِبالِ الأزليةِ
وخَيراتُ الرَّوابـي الأبديَّةِ
لِتَكُنْ على رأسِ يوسُفَ
على هامَةِ خيرَةِ إخوتِهِ.
27 بنيامينُ ذئبٌ مُفتَرِسٌ،
في الصَّباحِ يلتَهِمُ فرِيسَتَهُ،
وعِندَ الغُروبِ يُقَسِّمُ غَنيمَتهُ».
وصية يعقوب وموته
28 هؤلاءِ كُلُّهُم أسباطُ إِسرائيلَ الإثنا عشَرَ، وهذا ما قالَه لهُم أبوهُم حينَ باركَهُم كُلُّ واحدٍ وَفقَ ما يُناسِبُهُ مِنَ البَرَكَةِ. 29 وأوصاهُم قالَ: «أموتُ الآنَ وأنضَمُّ إلى آبائي. ادفِنوني معَ آبائي في المَغارةِ الّتي في حقلِ عِفرُونَ الحثِّيِّ. 30 المَغارةُ الّتي في حقلِ المَكفيلَةِ، تُجاهَ مَمْرا في أرضِ كنعانَ، تِلكَ الّتي اشْتراها إبراهيمُ معَ الحقلِ منْ عَفرونَ الحثِّيِّ لِتكونَ مُلْكا لِقَبرٍ. 31 هُناكَ دُفِنَ إبراهيمُ وسارةُ امرأتُه، وهُناكَ دُفِنَ إسحَقُ ورِفقَةُ امرأتُهُ، وهُناكَ دُفِنَت لَيئةُ. 32 شِراءُ الحقلِ والمَغارةِ الّتي فيهِ كانَ مِنْ بَني حِثٍّ».
33 فلمَّا فرَغَ يعقوبُ مِنْ وَصيَّتِهِ لِبَنيهِ ضَمَّ رجليهِ على السَّريرِ وأسلَمَ الرُّوحَ وانضمَّ إلى آبائهِ.