Genesis 49:2-27

Genesis 49:2-27

[2] Gather yourselves together,  and hear,  ye sons  of Jacob;  and hearken  unto Israel  your father.  [3] Reuben,  thou art my firstborn,  my might,  and the beginning  of my strength,  the excellency  of dignity,  and the excellency  of power:  [4] Unstable  as water,  thou shalt not excel;  because thou wentest up  to thy father's  bed;  then defiledst thou  it: he went up  to my couch.  [5] Simeon  and Levi  are brethren;  instruments  of cruelty  are in their habitations.  [6] O my soul,  come  not thou into their secret;  unto their assembly,  mine 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 divide  them in Jacob,  and scatter  them in Israel.  [8] Judah,  thou art he whom thy brethren  shall praise:  thy hand  shall be in the neck  of thine enemies;  thy father's  children  shall bow down  before thee. [9] Judah  is a lion's  whelp:  from the prey,  my son,  thou art gone up:  he stooped down,  he couched  as a lion,  and as an old lion;  who shall rouse him up?  [10] The sceptre  shall not depart  from Judah,  nor a lawgiver  from between his feet,  until  Shiloh  come;  and unto him shall the gathering  of the people  be. [11] Binding  his foal  unto 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 eyes  shall be red  with wine,  and his teeth  white  with milk.  [13] Zebulun  shall dwell  at the haven  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 two burdens:  [15] And he saw  that rest  was good,  and the land  that it was pleasant;  and bowed  his shoulder  to bear,  and became a servant  unto tribute.  [16] Dan  shall judge  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 have waited for  thy salvation,  O LORD.  [19] Gad,  a troop  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] The archers  have sorely grieved him,  and shot  at him, and hated him:  [24] But his bow  abode  in strength,  and the arms  of his hands  were made strong  by the hands  of the mighty  God of Jacob;  (from thence is the shepherd,  the stone  of Israel:)  [25] Even by the God  of thy father,  who shall help  the Almighty,  who shall bless  thee with blessings  of heaven  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  of the everlasting  hills:  they shall be on the head  of Joseph,  and on the crown of the head  of him that was separate  from his brethren.  [27] Benjamin  shall ravin  as a wolf:  in the morning  he shall devour  the prey,  and at night  he shall divide  the spoil.