1
And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
2
"Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
3
"Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4
Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it-- He went up to my couch.
5
"Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6
Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
7
Cursed 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.
8
"Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's children shall bow down before you.
9
Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11
Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.