JACOB’S LAST WORDS

49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.F,s

2 Come together and listen, sons of Jacob;

listen to your father Israel:

3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,t

my strength and the firstfruits of my virility,u

excelling in prominence, excelling in power.

4 Turbulent as water, you will not excel,

because you got into your father’s bedv

and you defiled it—heG got into my bed.

5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;

their knives are vicious weapons.a

6 May I never enter their council;

may I never join their assembly.

For in their anger they kill men,

and on a whim they hamstring oxen.

7 Their anger is cursed, for it is strong,

and their fury, for it is cruel!

I will disperse them throughout Jacob

and scatter them throughout Israel.b

8 Judah, your brothers will praise you.c

Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies;

your father’s sons will bow down to you.d

9 Judah is a young lione—

my son, you return from the kill.

He crouches; he lies down like a lion

or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah

or the staff from between his feet

until he whose right it is comesA,f

and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.g

11 He ties his donkey to a vine,

and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine.

He washes his clothes in wine

and his robes in the blood of grapes.

12 His eyes are darker than wine,

and his teeth are whiter than milk.