Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may atell you what shall befall you bin the last days:

2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,

And listen to Israel your father.

3 “Reuben, you are cmy firstborn,

My might and the beginning of my strength,

The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel,

Because you dwent up to your father’s bed;

Then you defiled it—

He went up to my couch.

5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;

Instruments of 1cruelty are in their dwelling place.

6 eLet not my soul enter their council;

Let not my honor be united fto their assembly;

gFor in their anger they slew a man,

And in their self-will they 2hamstrung an ox.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;

And their wrath, for it is cruel!

hI will divide them in Jacob

And scatter them in Israel.

8 “Judah, iyou are he whom your brothers shall praise;

jYour hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

kYour father’s children shall bow down before you.

9 Judah is la lion’s whelp;

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

mHe 3bows down, he lies down as a lion;

And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

10 nThe 4scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor oa lawgiver from between his feet,

pUntil Shiloh comes;

qAnd to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

11 Binding his donkey to the vine,

And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

He washed his garments in wine,

And his clothes in the blood of grapes.

12 His eyes are darker than wine,

And his teeth whiter than milk.

13 “Zebulun rshall dwell by the haven of the sea;

He shall become a haven for ships,

And his border shall sadjoin Sidon.

14 “Issachar tis a strong donkey,

Lying down between two burdens;

15 He saw that rest was good,

And that the land was pleasant;

He bowed uhis shoulder to bear a burden,

And became a band of slaves.

16 “Dan vshall judge his people

As one of the tribes of Israel.

17 wDan shall be a serpent by the way,

A viper by the path,

That bites the horse’s heels

So that its rider shall fall backward.

18 xI have waited for your salvation, O Lord!

19 “Gad, y5a troop shall 6tramp upon him,

But he shall 6triumph at last.

20 “Bread from zAsher shall be rich,

And he shall yield royal dainties.

21 “Naphtali ais a deer let loose;

He uses beautiful words.

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough,

A fruitful bough by a well;

His branches run over the wall.

23 The archers have bbitterly grieved him,

Shot at him and hated him.

24 But his cbow remained in strength,

And the arms of his hands were 7made strong

By the hands of dthe Mighty God of Jacob

e(From there fis the Shepherd, gthe Stone of Israel),

25 hBy the God of your father who will help you,

iAnd by the Almighty jwho will bless you

With blessings of heaven above,

Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,

Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26 The blessings of your father

Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,

kUp to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.

lThey shall be on the head of Joseph,

And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

27 “Benjamin is a mravenous wolf;

In the morning he shall devour the prey,

nAnd at night he shall divide the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

Jacob’s Death and Burial

29 Then he charged them and said to them: “I oam to be gathered to my people; pbury me with my fathers qin 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, rwhich Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. 31 sThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, tthere they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

50 Then Joseph afell on his father’s face and bwept over him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to cembalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians dmourned 1for him seventy days.

4 Now when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to ethe household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 f‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying; in my grave gwhich I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.’ ”

6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.

10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they hmourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. iHe observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” Therefore its name was called 2Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them. 13 For jhis sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham kbought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place. 14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, lthey said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may 3actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.” 16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, 17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph: “I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; mfor they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of nthe God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

18 Then his brothers also went and ofell down before his face, and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

19 Joseph said to them, p“Do not be afraid, qfor am I in the place of God? 20 rBut as for you, you meant evil against me; but sGod meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. 21 Now therefore, do not be afraid; tI will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke 4kindly to them.

Death of Joseph

22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s children uto the third generation. vThe children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, wwere also brought up on Joseph’s knees.

24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but xGod will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land yof which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then zJoseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely 5visit you, and ayou shall carry up my bbones from here.” 26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.