1Darauf rief Jakob seine Söhne und sprach: Versammelt euch, dann sage ich euch an, was euch begegnet in künftigen Tagen.[1]2Kommt zusammen und hört, / ihr Söhne Jakobs, hört auf Israel, euren Vater!3Ruben, mein Erstgeborener bist du, meine Stärke, / der Erste meiner Manneskraft, / übermütig an Stolz, übermütig an Kraft, (5Mo 33,6)4überschäumend wie Wasser. Der Erste sollst du nicht bleiben. / Denn du hast das Bett deines Vaters bestiegen; du hast damals mein Lager entweiht.[2] (1Mo 35,22)5Simeon und Levi, die Brüder, / Werkzeuge der Gewalt sind ihre Messer.6Zu ihrem Kreis mag ich nicht gehören, / mit ihrer Rotte vereinige sich nicht meine Ehre. / Denn in ihrem Zorn brachten sie Männer um, / mutwillig lähmten sie Stiere.7Verflucht ihr Zorn, da er so heftig, / verflucht ihr Grimm, da er so roh. / Ich teile sie unter Jakob auf, / ich zerstreue sie unter Israel.[3]8Juda, dir jubeln die Brüder zu, / deine Hand hast du am Genick deiner Feinde. / Deines Vaters Söhne werfen sich vor dir nieder.9Ein junger Löwe ist Juda. / Vom Raub, mein Sohn, stiegst du auf. / Er kauert, liegt da wie ein Löwe, / wie eine Löwin. Wer bringt sie zum Aufstehen?10Nie weicht von Juda das Zepter, / der Herrscherstab von seinen Füßen, / bis Schilo kommt, / dem der Gehorsam der Völker gebührt.[4] (Hes 21,32)11Er bindet an den Weinstock seinen Eselhengst, / an die Edelrebe das Füllen seiner Eselin. / Er wäscht in Wein sein Kleid, / in Traubenblut sein Gewand.12Dunkler als Wein sind die Augen, / seine Zähne weißer als Milch.13Sebulon wohnt am Gestade der Meere, / am Gestade der Schiffe, / mit seinem Rücken nach Sidon hin.14Issachar ist ein knochiger Esel, / lagernd zwischen den Hürden.15Er sieht, wie die Ruhe so schön ist / und wie lieblich das Land; / da neigt er die Schulter als Träger / und wird zum fronenden Knecht.16Dan schafft Recht seinem Volk wie / nur einer von Israels Stämmen.[5]17Zur Schlange am Weg wird Dan, / zur zischelnden Natter am Pfad. / Sie beißt das Pferd in die Fesseln, / sein Reiter stürzt rücklings herab.18Auf deine Hilfe hoffe ich, HERR.19Gad, ins Gedränge drängen sie ihn, / doch er bedrängt ihre Ferse.[6]20Ascher, fett ist sein Brot. / Königskost liefert er.21Naftali, eine flüchtige Hirschkuh, / versteht sich auf gefällige Rede.22Ein junger Fruchtbaum ist Josef, / ein junger Fruchtbaum am Quell, / dessen Zweige an der Mauer emporsteigen.23Man erbittert und beschießt ihn, / Schützen stellen ihm nach.24Sein Bogen sitzt sicher; / gelenkig sind Arme und Hände. / Von den Händen des Starken Jakobs, / von dort kommt ein Hirt, Israels Stein,[7]25vom Gott deines Vaters, er wird dir helfen. / El-Schaddai, er wird dich segnen / mit Segen des Himmels von droben, / mit Segen tief lagernder Urflut, / mit Segen von Brust und Schoß.26Deines Vaters Segen übertrifft / den Segen der uralten Berge, / das Verlangen der ewigen Hügel. / Er komme auf Josefs Haupt, / auf das Haupt des Geweihten der Brüder.27Benjamin ist ein reißender Wolf: / Am Morgen frisst er den Raub, / am Abend teilt er die Beute.
Jakobs Tod und Begräbnis
28Sie alle sind die zwölf Stämme Israels und das war es, was ihr Vater zu ihnen sagte. So segnete er sie. Einen jeden bedachte er mit dem Segen, der ihm zukam.29Er trug ihnen ferner auf und sagte zu ihnen: Ich werde mit meinen Vorfahren vereint. Begrabt mich bei meinen Vätern in der Höhle auf dem Feld des Hetiters Efron,30in der Höhle auf dem Feld von Machpela gegenüber von Mamre im Land Kanaan! Das Feld hatte Abraham vom Hetiter Efron als eigene Grabstätte erworben.31Dort hat man Abraham und seine Frau Sara begraben; dort hat man Isaak und seine Frau Rebekka begraben; dort habe ich Lea begraben,32auf dem Feld, das samt der Höhle darauf von den Hetitern erworben worden ist. (1Mo 23,16)33Jakob beendete den Auftrag an seine Söhne und zog seine Füße auf das Bett zurück. Dann verschied er und wurde mit seinen Vorfahren vereint.
1Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. (4Mo 24,14; 5Mo 4,30; 5Mo 31,29; 5Mo 33,6; Jes 2,2; Jer 23,20; Dan 2,28; Dan 10,14; Hos 3,5)2“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. (1Mo 29,32; 5Mo 21,17)4Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch! (1Mo 35,22; 1Chr 5,1)5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. (1Mo 29,33; 1Mo 29,34; 1Mo 34,25; 1Mo 34,26)6Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. (Jos 11,6; Jos 11,9; 2Sam 8,4; Ps 16,9; Ps 26,9; Ps 57,8)7Cursed 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. (4Mo 3,5; Jos 19,1; 1Chr 4,24)8“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. (1Mo 27,29; 1Mo 29,35; 1Chr 5,2; Hi 16,12)9Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? (4Mo 23,24; 4Mo 24,9; 5Mo 33,22; Hos 5,14; Offb 5,5)10The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him;[1] and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (4Mo 24,17; 5Mo 28,57; Sach 10,11)11Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. (Spr 23,29)13“Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon. (5Mo 1,7; 5Mo 33,18; 5Mo 33,19; Jos 9,1; Ri 5,17)14“Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds.[2] (Ri 5,16; 1Chr 12,32)15He saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant at forced labor. (Jos 16,10)16“Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. (1Mo 30,6; 5Mo 33,22)17Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls backward. (Ri 18,27)18I wait for your salvation, O LORD. (Ps 25,5; Ps 119,166; Ps 119,174; Jes 25,9; Mi 7,7; Lk 2,25)19“Raiders shall raid Gad,[3] but he shall raid at their heels. (5Mo 33,20; 1Chr 5,18)20“Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies. (5Mo 33,24)21“Naphtali is a doe let loose that bears beautiful fawns.[4] (5Mo 33,23)22“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.[5] (1Mo 41,52; Jos 17,14; Jos 17,18)23The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, (1Mo 37,24; 1Mo 37,28; 1Mo 39,20)24yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms[6] were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd,[7] the Stone of Israel), (5Mo 32,4; Hi 29,20; Ps 23,1; Ps 80,1; Ps 132,2; Ps 132,5; Jes 1,24; Jes 28,16; Eph 2,20; 1Petr 2,4)25by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty[8] who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. (1Mo 17,1; 1Mo 35,3; 1Mo 35,11; 1Mo 50,17; 5Mo 33,13)26The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.[9] May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. (5Mo 33,15; 5Mo 33,16; Hab 3,6)27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.” (Ri 20,21; Ri 20,25; Hes 22,27; Hes 39,10; Sach 14,1)
Jacob’s Death and Burial
28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, (1Mo 23,9; 1Mo 25,8; 1Mo 47,30; 1Mo 49,33; 1Mo 50,13)30in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. (1Mo 23,16)31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— (1Mo 23,19; 1Mo 25,9; 1Mo 35,29)32the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites.”33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people. (1Mo 49,29)
1.Mose 49
King James Version
1And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.2Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.3Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:4Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father' bed; then defiledst thou it : he went up to my couch.5Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.6O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.8Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father' children shall bow down before thee.9Judah is a lion' whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be .11Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass' colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:12His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.13Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.14Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:15And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.16Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.17Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.19Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.20Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.21Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.22Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him , and hated him:24But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)25Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:26The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.27Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.29And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,30In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.32The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.33And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
1Then Jacob called for his sons and said: ‘Gather round so that 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 honour, excelling in power.4Turbulent 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[1] are weapons of violence.6Let 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.7Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.8‘Judah,[2] your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.9You 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?10The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[3] until he to whom it belongs[4] shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.11He 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.12His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.[5]13‘Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend towards Sidon.14‘Issachar is a scrawny[6] donkey lying down among the sheepfolds.[7]15When 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 labour.16‘Dan[8] will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel.17Dan will be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backwards.18‘I look for your deliverance, Lord.19‘Gad[9] 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.[10]22‘Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall.[11]23With bitterness archers attacked him; they shot at him with hostility.24But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed[12] supple, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,25because of your father’s God, who helps you, because of the Almighty,[13] who blesses you with blessings of the skies above, blessings of the deep springs below, blessings of the breast and womb.26Your father’s blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains, than[14] the bounty of the age-old hills. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among[15] his brothers.27‘Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.’28All 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.
The death of Jacob
29Then 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,30the 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.31There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.32The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.[16]’33When 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.