1 Então Jacob chamou todos os seus filhos e disse-lhes: Juntem-se aqui, perto de mim e dir-vos-ei o que será de vocês no futuro.

2 Ouçam-me, ó filhos de Jacob, escutem Israel, o vosso pai!

3 Rúben, tu és o mais velho, o filho que eu tive na maturidade do meu vigor; és o primeiro em categoria e em honra. Mas inconstante como és, semelhante às vagas do mar, deixarás de ser o mais excelente porque me desonraste, deitando-te com uma das minhas mulheres, profanando o meu leito.

5 Simeão e Levi são dois da mesma espécie. São homens de violência e injustiça. A minha alma manteve-se afastada deles, não quis participar nos seus intentos secretos. Que eu nunca participe nas suas iniciativas perversas; porque no seu ódio mataram homens, na sua excitação mutilaram o gado. Maldita seja a sua fúria, pois foi feroz e cruel. Por isso espalharei os seus descendentes por todo o Israel.

13 Zebulão habitará à beira do mar e terá os portos de que se servirão os navios. Os seus limites estender-se-ão até Sidon.

19 Gad será atacado por um bando de guerrilheiros, mas ele os atacará pelos calcanhares.

20 Aser produzirá alimento abundante e de finíssima qualidade, próprio de reis.

21 Naftali é como uma corsa à solta, produzindo lindas crias.

27 Benjamim é um lobo que despedaça. Devora os seus inimigos logo de manhã e pela tarde reparte os despojos.

28 Estas são as bênçãos que Israel deu aos doze filhos. Depois disse-lhes: Vou morrer em breve. Vocês deverão pôr-me junto dos meus pais na terra de Canaã, na gruta que está no campo de Macpela, diante de Mamre, o campo que Abraão comprou a Efrom, o heteu, como terreno para sepultura. Foi lá que sepultaram Abraão e Sara, a sua mulher; e ainda Isaque mais a sua mulher Rebeca; eu próprio lá pus o corpo de Leia. Essa gruta mais o campo foram comprados pelo meu avô Abraão aos filhos de Hete.

33 Tendo acabado de dar aquelas profecias mais estas indicações aos filhos, deitou-se, acomodou-se na cama, deu um último suspiro e aleceu.

1 Then called Jacob unto his sons,and saidGather yourselves together, and let me tell you, that which shall befall you in the afterpart of the days.

2 Assemble yourselves and hear ye sons of Jacob,And hearken unto Israel your father!

3 Reuben, my first-born, thou, My vigour, and the first-fruit of my strength,Pre-eminence of elevation and pre-eminence of power:

4 Boiling over like water, thou mayest not have pre-eminence, Because thou didst mount the bed of thy father,Then, wast thou profaneMy marriage-bed, he mounted!

5 Simeon and Levi, are brethren,Instruments of violence, are their agreements:

6 Into their circle, do not thou enter my soul! In their convocation, do not thou join mine honour! For in their anger, they slew brave men, And in their wantonness, they hamstrung oxen.

7 Accursed, be their anger, because fierce, And their wrath because cruel,I divide them in Jacob, And I disperse them in Israel.

8 Judah, as for thee, thy brethren shall praise thee when thy hand is on the neck of thy foes,The sons of thy father, shall bow them-selves down to thee:

9 A lions whelp, is Judah, From the prey, my son hast thou come up! He hath stoopedhath crouched As a lionor as a lioness, Who shall rouse him?

10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the commanders staff a from between his feet,Until that he come in as a Shiloh, And, his, be the obedience of the peoples:

11 Binding, to the vine, his ass, And to the choice vine his asss colt, He hath washed in wine his raiment, And in the blood of grapes, his mantle:

12 Darkerhis eyes, than wine,Whiterhis teeth than milk!

13 Zebulon, by a haven of seas, shall he settle down,Even he, by a haven of ships, With his utmost part upon b Zidon.

14 Issachar, an ass of strength,couching between the pens;

15 Then beholdeth he rest, that it is good, And the ground that it is pleasant,So he bendeth his shoulder to bear, And becometh a tributary servant.

16 Dan, shall vindicate his people,as one of the tribes of Israel;

17 It cometh to pass that, Dan, is a serpent upon the way, A horned viper, upon the path,That biteth the heels of the horse, And his rider falleth backwards:

18 For thy salvation, have I waited O Yahweh!

19 Gad! a troop shall troop on him,But, he, shall troop on the rear.

20 Out of Asher, fatness, is his feed,So, he, setteth forth dainties for a king.

21 Naphtali, is a slender hind,That putteth forth antlers of beauty. A fruitful bough, is Joseph,

22 A fruitful bough over a fountain,Branches creeping over a wail.

23 So they attack him and have shot,So they enclose him, do the masters of arrows.

24 But abideth, as an enduring one, his bow, And supple are the arms of his hands,From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, From thence, is the Shepherd the Stone of Israel:

25 From the GOD of thy father who doth help thee And GOD Almighty who doth bless thee, Blessings of the heavens, above, Blessings of the abyss, couching beneath,Blessings of breasts and womb:

26 The blessings of thy father, have prevailed, Over the blessings of the perpetual mountains, The charm of the age-abiding hills,They turn out to be, for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brethren.

27 Benjamin a wolf that teareth in pieces, In the morning, he eateth prey, And at eventide, he divideth spoil.

28 All these, are the twelve tribes of Israel,And this, is that which their father spake to them when he blessed them, Each man severally according to the blessing wherewith he blessed them.

29 Then commanded he them and said unto themI, am about to be gathered unto my people, Bury me among my fathers,within the cave, that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite:

30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah which is over against Mamre, in the land of Canaan,which Abraham bought, along with the field, from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace:

31 There, buried they Abraham, and Sarah his wife, There, buried they Isaac, and Rebekah his wife,And there, buried I Leah:

32 buying the field and the cave that is therein, from the sons of Heth.

33 So Jacob made an end of commanding his sons, and gathered up his feet into the couch,and ceased to breathe and was gathered unto his people.