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¹ Jacob summoned all his sons and said to them , ² “ Gather around close to me in order that I can tell you what will happen in the future . My sons , come and listen to me . I am your father , Jacob .

³ Reuben , you are my oldest son . You were born when I was young and energetic . When I became a grown man , you were my first child . You are prouder and stronger than all the rest of my sons . ⁴ But you were as unstable as ocean waves . So now you will not be my most important son , because you climbed up onto my bed and slept with my concubine . That caused me , your father , to have great shame .

⁵ Simeon and Levi , you two brothers have both acted like criminals . You use your swords to act violently . ⁶ I do not want to be with you when you make evil plans . I am too honorable to join you in your meetings , because you killed people when you became very angry , and you hamstrung oxen just to have fun .

⁷ God says , ‘ I will curse them for being very angry , for acting very cruelly when they were very furious . I will scatter their descendants throughout Israel land .’

⁸ Judah , your older and younger brothers will praise you . They will bow down before you , because you will thoroughly defeat your enemies .

⁹ Judah is like a young lion that has returned to its den satisfied after eating the animals that it has killed . He is like a lion that lies down and stretches out after eating ; no one would dare to disturb it .

¹⁰ There will always be a ruler from the descendants of Judah . Each one will hold a scepter to show that he has authority as a king . He will do that until nations bring tribute to him and show that they will obey him .

¹¹ The grapevines of his descendants will produce grapes very abundantly . As a result , they will not object to tying their young donkeys to the grapevines in order that they can eat the leaves of the grapevines . Wine will be very plentiful , with the result that they will wash their clothes in wine ; they will wash their cloaks in wine that is as red as blood . ¹² Their eyes will be red because of drinking too much wine , but their teeth will be very white because of drinking much milk from the cows .

¹³ Zebulun , your descendants will live by the seashore where there will be a safe harbor for ships . Their land will extend north as far as the city of Sidon .

¹⁴ Issachar , your descendants will be like strong donkeys that are lying down between two groups of sheep . so tired that they cannot get up ! ¹⁵ They will see that their resting place is good and that the land pleases them very much . But they will bend their backs to carry heavy loads and be forced to work for others .

¹⁶ Dan , although your tribe will be small , your leaders will rule their people just as the leaders of other tribes of Israel will rule their people . ¹⁷ Your descendants will be like snakes at the side of a road , like poisonous snakes lying beside a path . They will strike the heels of horses that pass by , causing the riders to fall backwards as the horses rear up on their hind legs .”

¹⁸ Then Jacob prayed , “ Yahweh , I am waiting for you to rescue me from my enemies .”

¹⁹ Then Jacob continued telling his sons what would happen in the future . He said , “ Gad , your tribe will be attacked by a group of bandits , but your tribe will pursue and attack them .

²⁰ Asher , your descendants will eat good tasting food ; they will produce food that is delicious enough for kings to eat .

²¹ Naphtali , your descendants will be like deer that run free , deer that have beautiful fawns .

²² Joseph , you will have many descendants . Their children will be as many as the fruit on a vine near a spring of water , whose branches extend over a wall . ²³ Their enemies will attack them fiercely , and shoot at them with bows and arrows and pursue them . ²⁴ But they will hold their bows steady and their arms will remain strong , because of the power of my mighty God , because of Yahweh , who guides and provides for me , as a shepherd guides and provides for his sheep . The people of Israel will ask Yahweh to protect them , as people take refuge on top of a high rock .

²⁵ God , the one whom I worship , will help your descendants . God Almighty will bless them by sending them rain from the sky and by giving them water from deep below the ground . He will give them many children and will nourish them .

²⁶ The blessings that I want God to give you are great ones . They are greater than the blessings that come from the eternal mountains , than the ones that come from the everlasting hills . Joseph , I pray that these blessings will be given to you , because you are the leader of your brothers .

²⁷ Benjamin , your descendants will be like vicious wolves . In the morning they will kill their enemies like a wolf devours its prey , and in the evening they will divide among their warriors the spoils that they seized from their enemies .”

²⁸ Those twelve sons are the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel . That is what their father said to them as he blessed them , telling to each one words that were right for him .

²⁹ Then Jacob said to his sons , “ I will soon die and join my ancestors who have already died . Bury my body where some of my ancestors are buried , in the cave that is in the field that was bought from Ephron , who belonged to the Heth people group . ³⁰ The field of Machpelah , was east of Mamre , in the land of Canaan . Abraham bought it from Ephron to use as a burial place . ³¹ That is where they buried him and his wife Sarah . That is where they buried my father Isaac and his wife Rebekah . And that is where I buried my wife Leah . ³² That field and the cave in it were bought from the Heth people group ; so that is where I want you to bury me .”

³³ When Jacob finished giving those instructions to his sons , he lay down on his bed again . Then he stopped breathing and died .