| English Standard Version | King James Bible |
| 1Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. | 1And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. |
| 2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father. | 2Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. |
| 3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. | 3Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: |
| 4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch! | 4Unstable 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 brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. | 5Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. |
| 6Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. | 6O 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. |
| 7Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. | 7Cursed 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, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. | 8Judah, 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. |
| 9Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? | 9Judah 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? |
| 10The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. | 10The 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. |
| 11Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. | 11Binding 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: |
| 12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. | 12His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. |
| 13“Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon. | 13Zebulun 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 donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds. | 14Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: |
| 15He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor. | 15And 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. | 16Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. |
| 17Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward. | 17Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. |
| 18I wait for your salvation, O LORD. | 18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. |
| 19“Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels. | 19Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. |
| 20“Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies. | 20Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. |
| 21“Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns. | 21Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. |
| 22“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. | 22Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: |
| 23The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, | 23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: |
| 24yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), | 24But 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:) |
| 25by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. | 25Even 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 lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: |
| 26The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. | 26The 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 is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.” | 27Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. |
| 28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. | 28All 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. |
| 29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, | 29And 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, |
| 30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. | 30In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. |
| 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— | 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. |
| 32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.” | 32The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. |
| 33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. | 33And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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