Genesis 49 : 1 (NLV)
Then Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather yourselves together so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.
Genesis 49 : 2 (NLV)
Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel.
Genesis 49 : 3 (NLV)
"Reuben, you are my first-born, my power and the beginning of my strength, first in pride and first in power.
Genesis 49 : 4 (NLV)
But because you are as wild as water, the first place will not be yours. It is because you went to your father's bed and made it unclean.
Genesis 49 : 5 (NLV)
"Simeon and Levi are brothers. They hurt others with their swords.
Genesis 49 : 6 (NLV)
May my soul not have a part in their secrets, nor my shining-greatness be joined to them. Because in their anger they killed men and for no reason they hurt cattle.
Genesis 49 : 7 (NLV)
Their anger will be punished, for it is bad. Their bad temper will be punished, for it is bad. I will divide them in Jacob and spread them apart in Israel.
Genesis 49 : 8 (NLV)
"Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of those who hate you. Your father's sons will bow down to you.
Genesis 49 : 9 (NLV)
Judah is a young lion. Like a lion full of meat, you have become great, my son. He lies down and sleeps like a lion. And as a lion, who is willing to wake him?
Genesis 49 : 10 (NLV)
The right of a ruler will not leave Judah. The ruler's special stick will not go from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. Then the people will obey Him.
Genesis 49 : 11 (NLV)
He ties his young donkey to the vine, his donkey's young one to the best vine. He washes his clothes in wine, his coats in the blood of grapes.
Genesis 49 : 12 (NLV)
His eyes are darker than wine. And his teeth are whiter than milk.
Genesis 49 : 13 (NLV)
"Zebulun will live beside the sea and be a safe place for ships. His land will lie beside Sidon.
Genesis 49 : 14 (NLV)
"Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the loads.
Genesis 49 : 15 (NLV)
He saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasing. So he made his shoulder ready to carry loads. He let himself be a servant.
Genesis 49 : 16 (NLV)
"Dan will judge his people, as one of the families of Israel.
Genesis 49 : 17 (NLV)
Dan will be a snake in the way, a snake in the road, that bites the horse's heels so that the man falls off.
Genesis 49 : 18 (NLV)
I wait for Your saving power, O Lord.
Genesis 49 : 19 (NLV)
"A group of soldiers will go against Gad. But he will go against them at their heels.
Genesis 49 : 20 (NLV)
"Asher's food will be rich. He will give pleasing food to kings.
Genesis 49 : 21 (NLV)
"Naphtali is a female deer let loose who gives beautiful young ones.
Genesis 49 : 22 (NLV)
"Joseph is a branch with much fruit, a branch with much fruit by a well. It grows over the wall.
Genesis 49 : 23 (NLV)
The men fought against him with their bows. They sent arrows toward him and made it hard for him.
Genesis 49 : 24 (NLV)
But his bow did not shake. His arms were made strong by the hands of the Powerful One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
Genesis 49 : 25 (NLV)
by the God of your father Who helps you, and by the All-powerful Who brings good to you. He brings good from heaven above, and from the deep that lies below, and from the body of a mother.
Genesis 49 : 26 (NLV)
More good has come to your father than to my fathers before me, as lasting as the hills that last forever. May this good be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was divided from his brothers.
Genesis 49 : 27 (NLV)
"Benjamin is a hungry wolf. In the morning he eats the animals he has caught. And in the evening he divides what he has taken."
Genesis 49 : 28 (NLV)
All these are the twelve family groups of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he prayed that good would come to them. He prayed for each of them to receive the good they should have.
Genesis 49 : 29 (NLV)
Then he told them, "I will soon be with my people who have died be-fore me. Bury me with my fathers in the grave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Genesis 49 : 30 (NLV)
in the grave that is in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought this grave and the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place.
Genesis 49 : 31 (NLV)
There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah. There they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah. And there I buried Leah.
Genesis 49 : 32 (NLV)
The field and the grave that is in it were bought from the sons of Heth."
Genesis 49 : 33 (NLV)
When Jacob finished telling his sons what to do, he lay back down on his bed and died.
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