Genesis Chapter 49 (NIV)
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Jacob Blesses His SonsThen Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.
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“Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;listen to your father Israel.
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“Reuben, you are my firstborn,my might, the first sign of my strength,excelling in honor, excelling in power.
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Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,for you went up onto your father’s bed,onto my couch and defiled it.
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“Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence.
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Let me not enter their council,let me not join their assembly,for they have killed men in their angerand hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
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Cursed be their anger, so fierce,and their fury, so cruel!I will scatter them in Jacoband disperse them in Israel.
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“Judah, your brothers will praise you;your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;your father’s sons will bow down to you.
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You are a lion’s cub, O Judah;you return from the prey, my son.Like a lion he crouches and lies down,like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
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The scepter will not depart from Judah,nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,until he comes to whom it belongsand the obedience of the nations is his.
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He will tether his donkey to a vine,his colt to the choicest branch;he will wash his garments in wine,his robes in the blood of grapes.
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His eyes will be darker than wine,his teeth whiter than milk.
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“Zebulun will live by the seashoreand become a haven for ships;his border will extend toward Sidon.
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“Issachar is a rawboned donkeylying down between two saddlebags.
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When he sees how good is his resting placeand how pleasant is his land,he will bend his shoulder to the burdenand submit to forced labor.
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“Dan will provide justice for his peopleas one of the tribes of Israel.
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Dan will be a serpent by the roadside,a viper along the path,that bites the horse’s heelsso that its rider tumbles backward.
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“I look for your deliverance, O Lord.
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“Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders,but he will attack them at their heels.
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“Asher’s food will be rich;he will provide delicacies fit for a king.
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“Naphtali is a doe set freethat bears beautiful fawns.
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“Joseph is a fruitful vine,a fruitful vine near a spring,whose branches climb over a wall.
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With bitterness archers attacked him;they shot at him with hostility.
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But his bow remained steady,his strong arms stayed limber,because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
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because of your father’s God, who helps you,because of the Almighty, who blesses youwith blessings of the heavens above,blessings of the deep that lies below,blessings of the breast and womb.
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Your father’s blessings are greaterthan the blessings of the ancient mountains,than the bounty of the age-old hills.Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
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“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;in the morning he devours the prey,in the evening he divides the plunder.”
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All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.
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The Death of JacobThen he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
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the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field.
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There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.
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The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”
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When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.
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