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。

創世記48章

              創世記48:1-22   ,

創世記48:1-22

48:1 這事以後，有人告訴約瑟說：「你的父親病了。」他就帶著兩個兒子瑪拿西和以法蓮同去。

48:2 有人告訴雅各說：「請看，你兒子約瑟到你這裡來了。」以色列就勉強在床上坐起來。

48:3 雅各對約瑟說：「全能的上帝曾在迦南地的路斯向我顯現，賜福與我，

48:4 對我說：『我必使你生養眾多，成為多民，又要把這地賜給你的後裔，永遠為業。』

48:5 我未到埃及見你之先，你在埃及地所生的以法蓮和瑪拿西這兩個兒子是我的，正如流便和西緬是我的一樣。

48:6 你在他們以後所生的就是你的，他們可以歸於他們弟兄的名下得產業。

48:7 至於我，我從巴旦來的時候，拉結死在我眼前，在迦南地的路上，離以法他還有一段路程，我就把她葬在以法他的路上〈以法他就是伯利恆〉。」

48:8 以色列看見約瑟的兩個兒子，就說：「這是誰？」

48:9 約瑟對他父親說：「這是上帝在這裡賜給我的兒子。」以色列說：「請你領他們到我跟前，我要給他們祝福。」

48:10 以色列年紀老邁，眼睛昏花，不能看見。約瑟領他們到他跟前，他就和他們親嘴，抱著他們。

48:11 以色列對約瑟說：「我想不到得見你的面，不料，上帝又使我得見你的兒子。」

48:12 約瑟把兩個兒子從以色列兩膝中領出來，自己就臉伏於地下拜。

48:13 隨後，約瑟又拉著他們兩個，以法蓮在他的右手裡，對著以色列的左手，瑪拿西在他的左手裡，對著以色列的右手，領他們到以色列的跟前。

48:14 以色列伸出右手來，按在以法蓮的頭上〈以法蓮乃是次子〉，又剪搭過左手來，按在瑪拿西的頭上〈瑪拿西原是長子〉。

48:15 他就給約瑟祝福說：「願我祖亞伯拉罕和我父以撒所事奉的上帝，就是一生牧養我直到今日的上帝，

48:16 救贖我脫離一切患難的那使者，賜福與這兩個童子。願他們歸在我的名下和我祖亞伯拉罕、我父以撒的名下。又願他們在世界中生養眾多。」

48:17 約瑟見他父親把右手按在以法蓮的頭上，就不喜悅，便提起他父親的手，要從以法蓮頭上挪到瑪拿西的頭上。

48:18 約瑟對他父親說：「我父，不是這樣。這本是長子，求你把右手按在他的頭上。」

48:19 他父親不從，說：「我知道，我兒，我知道。他也必成為一族，也必昌大。只是他的兄弟將來比他還大；他兄弟的後裔要成為多族。」

48:20 當日就給他們祝福說：「以色列人要指著你們祝福說：『願上帝使你如以法蓮、瑪拿西一樣。』」於是立以法蓮在瑪拿西以上。

48:21 以色列又對約瑟說：「我要死了，但上帝必與你們同在，領你們回到你們列祖之地。

48:22 並且我從前用弓用刀從亞摩利人手下奪的那塊地，我都賜給你，使你比眾弟兄多得一分。」

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[a] appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’

5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,[b] to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”

10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

    Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,

the God who has been my shepherd

    all my life to this day,

16

the Angel who has delivered me from all harm

    —may he bless these boys.

May they be called by my name

    and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they increase greatly

    on the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,

“In your[c] name will Israel pronounce this blessing:

    ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[d] and take you[e] back to the land of your[f] fathers. 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[g] than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

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    雅各為約瑟的兩個兒子祝福。

創世記47章

     創世記47:1-31  ,