創世記49:1-33

49:1 雅各叫了他的兒子們來，說：「你們都來聚集，我好把你們日後必遇的事告訴你們。

49:2 雅各的兒子們，你們要聚集而聽，要聽你們父親以色列的話。

49:3 流便哪，你是我的長子，是我力量強壯的時候生的，本當大有尊榮，權力超眾。

49:4 但你放縱情慾，滾沸如水，必不得居首位；因為你上了你父親的床，污穢了我的榻。

49:5 西緬和利未是弟兄；他們的刀劍是殘忍的器具。

49:6 我的靈啊，不要與他們同謀；我的心哪，不要與他們聯絡；因為他們趁怒殺害人命，任意砍斷牛腿大筋。

49:7 他們的怒氣暴烈可咒；他們的忿恨殘忍可詛。我要使他們分居在雅各家裡，散住在以色列地中。

49:8 猶大啊，你弟兄們必讚美你；你手必掐住仇敵的頸項；你父親的兒子們必向你下拜。

49:9 猶大是個小獅子；我兒啊，你抓了食便上去。你屈下身去，臥如公獅，蹲如母獅，誰敢惹你？

49:10 圭必不離猶大，杖必不離他兩腳之間，直等細羅【就是賜平安者】來到，萬民都必歸順。

49:11 猶大把小驢拴在葡萄樹上，把驢駒拴在美好的葡萄樹上。他在葡萄酒中洗了衣服，在葡萄汁中洗了袍褂。

49:12 他的眼睛必因酒紅潤；他的牙齒必因奶白亮。

49:13 西布倫必住在海口，必成為停船的海口；他的境界必延到西頓。

49:14 以薩迦是個強壯的驢，臥在羊圈之中。

49:15 他以安靜為佳，以肥地為美，便低肩背重，成為服苦的僕人。

49:16 但必判斷他的民，作以色列支派之一。

49:17 但必作道上的蛇，路中的虺，咬傷馬蹄，使騎馬的墜落於後。

49:18 耶和華啊，我向來等候你的救恩。

49:19 迦得必被敵軍追逼，他卻要追逼他們的腳跟。

49:20 亞設之地必出肥美的糧食，且出君王的美味。

49:21 拿弗他利是被釋放的母鹿；他出嘉美的言語。

49:22 約瑟是多結果子的樹枝，是泉旁多結果的枝子；他的枝條探出牆外。

49:23 弓箭手將他苦害，向他射箭，逼迫他。

49:24 但他的弓仍舊堅硬；他的手健壯敏捷。這是因以色列的牧者，以色列的磐石─就是雅各的大能者。

49:25 你父親的上帝必幫助你；那全能者必將天上所有的福，地裡所藏的福，以及生產乳養的福，都賜給你。

49:26 你父親所祝的福勝過我祖先所祝的福如永世的山嶺，至極的邊界；這些福必降在約瑟的頭上，臨到那與弟兄迥別之人的頂上。

49:27 便雅憫是個撕掠的狼，早晨要吃他所抓的，晚上要分他所奪的。」

49:28 這一切是以色列的十二支派；這也是他們的父親對他們所說的話，為他們所祝的福，都是按著各人的福分為他們祝福。

49:29 他又囑咐他們說：「我將要歸到我列祖【原文是本民】那裡，你們要將我葬在赫人以弗崙田間的洞裡，與我祖我父在一處，

49:30 就是在迦南地幔利前、麥比拉田間的洞；那洞和田是亞伯拉罕向赫人以弗崙買來為業，作墳地的。

49:31 他們在那裡葬了亞伯拉罕和他妻撒拉，又在那裡葬了以撒和他的妻子利百加；我也在那裡葬了利亞。

49:32 那塊田和田間的洞原是向赫人買的。」

49:33 雅各囑咐眾子已畢，就把腳收在床上，氣絕而死，歸他列祖【原文是本民】那裡去了。

Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

² “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
    listen to your father Israel.

³ “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
    my might, the first sign of my strength,
    excelling in honor, excelling in power.
⁴ Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
    for you went up onto your father’s bed,
    onto my couch and defiled it.

⁵ “Simeon and Levi are brothers—
    their swords^[a] are weapons of violence.
⁶ Let me not enter their council,
    let me not join their assembly,
for they have killed men in their anger
    and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
⁷ Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
    and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob
    and disperse them in Israel.

⁸ “Judah,^[b] your brothers will praise you;
    your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
    your father’s sons will bow down to you.
⁹ You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
    you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
    like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,^[c]
until he to whom it belongs^[d] shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
¹¹ He will tether his donkey to a vine,
    his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
    his robes in the blood of grapes.
¹² His eyes will be darker than wine,
    his teeth whiter than milk.^[e]

¹³ “Zebulun will live by the seashore
    and become a haven for ships;
    his border will extend toward Sidon.

¹⁴ “Issachar is a rawboned^[f] donkey
    lying down among the sheep pens.^[g]
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
    and how pleasant is his land,
he will bend his shoulder to the burden
    and submit to forced labor.

¹⁶ “Dan^[h] will provide justice for his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.
¹⁷ Dan will be a snake by the roadside,
    a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
    so that its rider tumbles backward.

¹⁸ “I look for your deliverance, Lord.

¹⁹ “Gad^[i] will be attacked by a band of raiders,
    but he will attack them at their heels.

²⁰ “Asher’s food will be rich;
    he will provide delicacies fit for a king.

²¹ “Naphtali is a doe set free
    that bears beautiful fawns.^[j]

²² “Joseph is a fruitful vine,
    a fruitful vine near a spring,
    whose branches climb over a wall.^[k]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;
    they shot at him with hostility.
²⁴ But his bow remained steady,
    his strong arms stayed^[l] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
²⁵ because of your father’s God, who helps you,
    because of the Almighty,^[m] who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
    blessings of the deep springs below,
    blessings of the breast and womb.
²⁶ Your father’s blessings are greater
    than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
    than^[n] the bounty of the age-old hills.
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among^[o] his brothers.

²⁷ “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
    in the morning he devours the prey,
    in the evening he divides the plunder.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. ³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.^[p]”

³³ When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

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    雅各臨終為兒子們祝福。