49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

49:4 You are destructive ¹  like water and will not excel, ² 

for you got on your father’s bed, ³ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ⁴ 

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ⁵ 

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ⁶ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel! ⁷ 

49:8 Judah, ⁸  your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, ⁹ 

until he comes to whom it belongs; ¹⁰ 

the nations will obey him. ¹¹ 

49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash ¹²  his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk. ¹³ 

49:13 Zebulun will live ¹⁴  by the haven of the sea

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon. ¹⁵ 

49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

49:15 When he sees ¹⁶  a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer. ¹⁷ 

49:16 Dan ¹⁸  will judge ¹⁹  his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward. ²⁰ 

49:18 I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. ²¹ 

49:19 Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels. ²² 

49:20 Asher’s ²³  food will be rich, ²⁴ 

and he will provide delicacies ²⁵  to royalty.

49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe, ²⁶ 

he speaks delightful words. ²⁷ 

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, ²⁸ 

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches ²⁹  climb over the wall.

49:23 The archers will attack him, ³⁰ 

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

49:24 But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands ³¹  will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of ³²  the Shepherd, the Rock ³³  of Israel,

49:25 because of the God of your father,

who will help you, ³⁴ 

because of the sovereign God, ³⁵ 

who will bless you ³⁶ 

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb. ³⁷ 

49:26 The blessings of your father are greater

than ³⁸  the blessings of the eternal mountains ³⁹ 

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. ⁴⁰ 

49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning devouring the prey,

and in the evening dividing the plunder.”