And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days.
Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob;
And hearken unto Israel your father.
Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the {Or, first-fruits}beginning of my strength;
The pre-eminence of dignity, and the pre-eminence of power.
Boiling over as water, {Or, have not thou}thou shalt not have the pre-eminence;
Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed;
Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
Simeon and Levi are brethren;
Weapons of violence are their {Or, compacts}swords.
O my soul, come not thou into their {Or, secret}council;
Unto their assembly, my glory, be not thou united;
For in their anger they slew {Or, men}a man,
And in their self-will they hocked {Or, oxen}an ox.
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.
Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise:
Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies;
Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.
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 a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor {Or, a lawgiver}the ruler's staff from between his feet,
{Or, Til he come to Shiloh, having the obedience of the peoples Or, according to Syriac, Til he come whose it is &c.}Until Shiloh come:
And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
Binding his foal unto the vine,
And his ass's colt unto the choice vine;
He hath washed his garments in wine,
And his vesture in the blood of grapes:
His eyes shall be red with wine,
And his teeth white with milk.
Zebulun shall dwell at the {Hebrew: beach.}haven of the sea;
And he shall be for a {Hebrew: beach.}haven of ships;
And his border shall be {Or, by}upon Sidon.
Issachar is a strong ass,
Couching down between the sheepfolds:
And he saw {Or, rest}a resting-place that it was good,
And the land that it was pleasant;
And he bowed his shoulder to bear,
And became a servant under taskwork.
Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
An {Or, horned snake}adder in the path,
That biteth the horse's heels,
So that his rider falleth backward.
I have waited for thy salvation, O Jehovah.
Gad, {Hebrew: gedud, a marauding band.}a troop {Hebrew: gad, to press.}shall press upon him;
But he shall press upon their heel.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat,
And he shall yield royal dainties.
Naphtali is a hind let loose:
He giveth goodly words.
Joseph is {Hebrew: the son of a fruitful tree.}a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a fountain;
His {Hebrew: daughters.}branches run over the wall.
The archers have sorely grieved him,
And shot at him, and persecuted him:
But his bow abode in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made {Or, active}strong,
By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
( {Or, From hence from the shepherd Or, as otherwise read, By the name of the shepherd}From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee,
And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee,
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath,
Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.
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 {Or, that is prince among}that was separate from his brethren.
Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth:
In the morning she shall devour the prey,
And at even he shall divide the spoil.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah—
the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.
And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
Querverweise zu 1. Mose 49,22 1Mo 49,22
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
And she conceived, and bare a son: and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
and she called his name Joseph, saying, Jehovah {Hebrew: joseph.}add to me another son.
And the name of the second called he {From a Hebrew word signifying to be fruitful.}Ephraim: For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.
and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
And now thy two sons, who were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine.
the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become {Hebrew: fullness.}a multitude of nations.
And he blessed them that day, saying, {Or, By}In thee will Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,
Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and {In verse 36, Beth-nimrah.}Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and {In verse 38, Sibmah.}Sebam, and Nebo, and {In verse 28, Baal-meon.}Beon,
the land which Jehovah smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and thy servants have cattle.
And they said, If we have found favor in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession; bring us not over the Jordan.
And Moses said unto the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to the war, and shall ye sit here?
And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Jehovah hath given them?
Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.
For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them.
And Jehovah's anger was kindled in that day, and he sware, saying,
Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Jehovah.
And Jehovah's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of Jehovah, was consumed.
And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of Jehovah toward Israel.
For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye will destroy all this people.
And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:
but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.
And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will arm yourselves to go before Jehovah to the war,
and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before Jehovah, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,
and the land is subdued before Jehovah; then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless towards Jehovah, and towards Israel; and this land shall be unto you for a possession before Jehovah.
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth.
And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.
Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead;
but thy servants will pass over, every man that is armed for war, before Jehovah to battle, as my lord saith.
So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.
And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man that is armed to battle, before Jehovah, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:
but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Jehovah hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.
We will pass over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.
And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities thereof with their borders, even the cities of the land round about.
And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,
and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
and Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names unto the cities which they builded.
And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites that were therein.
And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.
And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns thereof, and called them {That is, The towns of Jair.}Havvoth-jair.
And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the {Hebrew: daughters.}villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
{Or, His firstling bullock}The firstling of his herd, majesty is his;And his horns are the horns of the wild-ox:With them he shall {Or, gore}push the peoples all of them, even the ends of the earth:And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,And they are the thousands of Manasseh.
And the lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Beth-el;
and it went out from Beth-el to Luz, and passed along unto the border of the Archites to Ataroth;
and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, unto the border of Beth-horon the nether, even unto Gezer; and the goings out thereof were at the sea.
And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper;
and the border went out westward at Michmethath on the the north; and the border turned about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah;
and it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached unto Jericho, and went out at the Jordan.
From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families;
together with the cities which were set apart for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.
And they drove not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell in the midst of Ephraim unto this day, and are become servants to do taskwork.
And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one {Hebrew: lines.}part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as hitherto Jehovah hath blessed me?
And Joshua said unto them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since the hill-country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee.
And the children of Joseph said, The hill-country {Hebrew: is not found for us.}is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Beth-shean and its towns, and they who are in the valley of Jezreel.
And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power; thou shalt not have one lot only:
{Or, Happy}Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked,Nor standeth in the way of sinners,Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers:
But his delight is in the law of Jehovah;And on his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,Whose leaf also doth not wither; {Or, in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper}And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
A Song of Ascents.Blessed is every one that feareth Jehovah,That walketh in his ways.
Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine,In the innermost parts of thy house;Thy children like olive plants,Round about thy table.
And it had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and {Hebrew: his.}their stature was exalted among the {Or, clouds}thick boughs, and {Hebrew: he was.}they were seen in {Hebrew: his.}their height with the multitude of {Hebrew: his.}their branches.