the Fourth Week of Advent
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Genesis 49
Israel's Prophecy concerning His Sons
1 Then Jacob called for his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves around me that I may tell you what will happen to you and your descendants (F1)(C1)in the days to come.
2 "Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And (C1)listen to Israel (Jacob) your father.
3 "Reuben, you are my (F1)firstborn;
My might, (C1)the beginning of my strength and vigor,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power that should have been your birthright.
4 "But unstable and reckless and boiling over like water in sinful lust, you shall (F1)not excel or have the preeminence of the firstborn,
(C1)Because you went up to your father's bed with Bilhah;
You defiled it—he went up to my couch. (VR1)
5 "(C1)Simeon and Levi are brothers equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel;
Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge. (VR1)
6 "O (C1)my soul, do not come into their secret council;
Let not my glory (honor) be united with their assembly for I knew nothing of their plot;
Because in their anger they killed men an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites,
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.
7 "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
And their wrath, for it was cruel.
(C1)I will divide and disperse them in Jacob,
And (F1)scatter them in the midst of the land of Israel.
8 "Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
(C1)Your father's sons shall bow down to you.
9 "Judah, a (C1)lion's cub;
With the prey, my son, you have gone high up the mountain.
(C2)He stooped down, he crouched like a lion,
And like a lion—who dares rouse him? (VR1)
10 "(C1)The scepter of royalty shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh the Messiah, the Peaceful One comes,
And (C2)to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (VR1)
11 "(C1)Tying (F1)his foal to the strong vine
And his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
(C2)He washes his clothing in wine because the grapevine produces abundantly,
And his robes in the blood of grapes. (VR1)
12 "His eyes are darker and sparkle more than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 "(C1)Zebulun shall dwell at the seashore;
And he shall be a haven (landing place) for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
14 "Issachar is like a strong-boned donkey,
(C1)Crouching down between the sheepfolds.
15 "When he saw that the resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,
And became a servant at forced labor.
16 "(C1)Dan shall (C2)judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 "Dan shall be a venomous serpent in the way,
A fanged snake in the path,
That bites the horse's heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
18 "(C1)I wait for Your salvation, O LORD.
19 "As for (F1)(C1)Gad—a raiding troop shall raid him,
But he shall raid at their heels and assault them victoriously.
20 "(C1)Asher's food supply shall be rich and bountiful,
And he shall yield and deliver royal delights.
21 "(C1)Naphtali is a doe let loose, a swift warrior,
Which yields branched antlers (eloquent words).
22 "(C1)Joseph is a fruitful bough (a main branch of the vine),
A fruitful bough by a spring (a well, a fountain);
Its branches run over the wall influencing others.
23 "The skilled archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him;
They have shot at him and harassed him.
24 "But his (C1)bow remained firm and steady in the Strength that does not fail,
For (C2)his arms were made strong and agile
By the hands of the (C3)Mighty One of Jacob,
(By the name of (C4)the Shepherd, (C5)the Stone of Israel), (VR1)
25 By (C1)the God of your father who will help you,
And (C2)by the (F1)Almighty who blesses you
With (C3)blessings of the heavens above,
Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath,
Blessings of the nursing breasts and of the fertile womb.
26 "The blessings of your father
Are greater than the blessings of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac
Up to the utmost bound of (C1)the everlasting hills;
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.
27 "Benjamin is a (F1)ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And at night he divides the spoil."
28 All these are the beginnings of the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing appropriate to him.29 He charged them and said to them, "I am to be (C1)gathered to my people; (C2)bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in (C3)the field of Ephron the Hittite,30 in the (C1)cave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burial site. (VR1)31 "There they buried (C1)Abraham and (C2)Sarah his wife, there they buried (C3)Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—32 the field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Heth."33 When Jacob (Israel) had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and (C1)breathed his last, and was (F1)(C2)gathered to his people who had preceded him in death.
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