Genesis 47:29–49:33

29 And the time zdrew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, aput, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and bdeal kindly and truly with me; cbury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: 30 But dI will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and ebury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. 31 And he said, fSwear unto me. And he sware unto him. And gIsrael bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

48 *And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, aGod Almighty appeared unto me at bLuz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee cfor an everlasting possession. 5 And now thy dtwo sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, eare mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. 7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, fRachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was gbut a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem. 8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said unto his father, hThey are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and iI will bless them. 10 Now kthe eyes of Israel were †dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and lhe kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. 12 And Joseph brought them out mfrom between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, nguiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, obefore whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16 pThe Angel which qredeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let rmy name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them †grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it ||displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father refused, and said, sI know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly this younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a †multitude of nations. 20 And he blessed them that day, saying, uIn thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but xGod shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to ythee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

49 aAnd Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you bin the last days.

2  Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob;

And hearken unto Israel your father.

3  Reuben, thou art cmy firstborn,

My might, dand the beginning of my strength,

The excellency of edignity, and the excellency of power:

4  Unstable as water, †thou shalt not excel;

Because thou fwentest up to thy father’s bed;

Then defiledst thou it: ||he went up to my couch.

5  gSimeon and Levi are brethren;

||Instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

6  O my soul, come not thou into htheir secret;

Unto their assembly, imine 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 kdivide them in Jacob,

And scatter them in Israel.

8  Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall lpraise:

Thy hand shall be in mthe neck of thine enemies;

nThy father’s children shall bow down before thee.

9  Judah is oa lion’s whelp:

From the prey, my son, thou art gone up:

pHe stooped down, he couched as a lion,

And as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

10  qThe sceptre shall not depart from Judah,

Nor ra lawgiver from between his feet,

Until sShiloh come;

And unto him shall tthe gathering of the people be.

11  Binding his foal uunto 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 xeyes shall be red with wine,

And his teeth white with milk.

13  yZebulun shall dwell at the zhaven 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 atwo burdens:

15  And he saw that rest was good,

And the land that it was pleasant;

And bowed bhis shoulder to bear,

And became a servant cunto tribute.

16  Dan shall djudge 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 ehave waited for thy salvation, O Lord.

19  Gad, fa 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  gThe archers have hsorely grieved him,

And ishot at him, and khated him:

24  But his lbow abode in strength,

And the arms of his hands were made strong

By the hands of mthe mighty God of Jacob;

(From thence is nthe shepherd, nthe stone of Israel:)

25  oEven 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 pof the everlasting hills:

They shall be qon the head of Joseph,

And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

27  Benjamin shall rravin as a wolf:

In the morning he shall devour the prey,

And at night she 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 tam to be gathered unto my people: ubury me with my fathers xin 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, ywhich Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. 31 zThere they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; athere 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 bwas gathered unto his people.