1 Then Jacob sent someone to bring all his sons to him. When they came he said, “My sons, stand around me so that I can tell you what is going to happen to each one of you later on.”

This is what he said to them. 2 “Listen carefully, sons of Jacob. Listen to your father Israel.

3 Reuben. You were born first when I was young and strong. And you showed everyone that I could be a father.

You are the first born son. You are strong and you should be the leader for the family. 4 But you are like the floodwater. You cannot say, ‘No’ to yourself. You went and slept with one of my wives.[a] You shamed me, and so you cannot be the leader of the family.

5 Simeon and Levi used their long knives the wrong way and were violent. They are both like that.[b] 6 I will not sit down with them when they have their secret meetings. I do not want to know what they are planning to do next.

They were so angry that they killed men,

and they crippled cattle just for fun.

7 You are too violent and cruel and so this is my curse on you. I will split up your families and spread them into all the tribes of Jacob. Yes, I will split you up and spread your families into all the tribes of Israel.

8 Judah. All your brothers will say good things about you. And you will beat all your enemies. All your brothers will bow down to the ground in front of you to show respect. 9 You Judah, my son, are strong like a young lion that has killed an animal. You are like a lion that is lying down to rest, and everyone is too frightened to wake you up.[c] 10 Kings will come from Judah's family. Someone from Judah's line will always sit on the king's special chair called a throne until the real king comes, and then all the nations will do what he says. [d]

11 That king will have a lot of grapevines and will tie his donkey to the best branch and if the donkey eats the leaves, the grapevine will still grow grapes.

The king will have a lot of wine, and he will wash his clothes in the best wine that he has. 12 His eyes will be dark, like the colour of his wine, and his teeth will be white, just like milk.

13 Zeb-you-lun will live near the sea, and his country will go nearly to a town called Sidon. Ships will be safe when they are tied up next to his land.

14 Iss-a-car is like a big strong donkey that lies down when it has a heavy load. 15 When Iss-a-car sees that his country is good and that it is a good place to rest, he will want to live there. But he will be forced to work very hard for other people so that he can stay there.

16 Dan will be the leader of his tribe, just like the other brothers will lead their tribes.

17 But Dan's tribe will be small and dangerous, just like a small cheeky snake. Those snakes lie next to the road and bite horse's legs so that when the horse jumps up, the rider falls off its back.”

18 Then Jacob called out, “O God, I am waiting for you to save me.”

And Jacob kept telling his sons what was going to happen, 19 “Bad men will come to Gad and try to steal all his things, but Gad will fight them and beat them. He will force them to go away.

20 Asher's country will grow a lot of food. That food will be so good, kings will want to eat it.

21 Naftali is like a wild animal that runs fast and is hard to catch. The family that comes from Naftali will be good looking.

22 Joseph is like a grapevine that grows a lot of fruit.

That strong vine gets its water from a spring, and its branches grow over the wall.

23 His enemies were angry with him and wanted to fight him. They shot a lot of arrows at him. 24 But his arms were strong. And he aimed his bow to shoot arrows back at them.

God is the most powerful one, he is the one who leads Israel. He is the one who keeps Israel safe, he is the one who makes Joseph strong.

25 My God is the one that helps you. My God is the most powerful one, and he is the one who blesses you and makes you strong.

He will send good rain to you from the sky, and he will make water come up from under the ground for you.

He will give you a lot of children and your animals will grow in number.

26 I am asking God to do good things for you. The country or hills can't give you any help like that.

Joseph is the powerful leader over his brothers and so I am asking God to give Joseph all the good things I want him to have.

27 Benjamin is dangerous. He is like a wild dog. He and his men are always fighting other people and taking their things. Then at night he splits up what they have taken and gives his fighters their share.”

28 Jacob told his 12 sons what would happen to each one of them later on. All the 12 sons had families that were big and they were called the 12 tribes of Israel.

29-31 Jacob said to his sons, “I am about to die. I want you to take my body back to where my father and grandfather are buried in Canaan. My grandfather Abraham paid money for some country that belonged to a man named Efron from the Hittite tribe. Abraham wanted to use the cave in that country as a cemetery, and it is in the paddock called Mack-pelah on the east side of Mamre. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah are all buried in that cave. And I buried my wife Leah there too.[e] 32 Remember that money was paid to the Hittite people for that paddock and the cave and so that cemetery belongs to us.”[f] 33 When Jacob finished talking he lay back down on his bed and died.

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