Various Authors Various Authors - The Tanakh

ויחי

28And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years. 29And the time drew near that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him: 'If now I have found favour in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. 30But when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.' And he said: 'I will do as thou hast said.' 31And he said: 'Swear unto me.' And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed down upon the bed's head.

48And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph: 'Behold, thy father is sick.' And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2And one told Jacob, and said: 'Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee.' And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 3And Jacob said unto Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4and said unto me: Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. 5And now thy two sons, who were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine. 6And thy issue, that thou begettest after them, shall be thine; they shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. 7And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died unto me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath—the same is Beth-lehem.' 8And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?' 9And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons, whom God hath given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.' 10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11And Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.' 12And Joseph brought them out from between his knees; and he fell down on his face to the earth. 13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born. 15And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath been my shepherd all my life long unto this day, 16the angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.' 17And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 18And Joseph said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.' 19And his father refused, and said: 'I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.' 20And he blessed them that day, saying: 'By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' And he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Behold, I die; but God will be with you, and bring you back unto the land of your fathers. 22Moreover I have given to thee one 65portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.'

49And Jacob called unto his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the end of days.

2Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob;And hearken unto Israel your father. 3Reuben, thou art my first-born,My might, and the first-fruits of my strength;The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. 4Unstable as water, have not thou the excellency;Because thou wentest up to thy father's bed;Then defiledst thou it—he went up to my couch. 5Simeon and Levi are brethren;Weapons of violence their kinship. 6Let my soul not come into their council;Unto their assembly let my glory not be not united;For in their anger they slew men,And in their self-will they houghed oxen. 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, thee shall thy brethren praise;Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies;Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee. 9Judah is a lion's whelp;From the prey, my son, thou art gone up.He stooped down, he couched as a lion,And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? 10The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,As long as men come to Shiloh;And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. 11Binding his foal unto the vine,And his ass's colt unto the choice vine;He washeth his garments in wine,And his vesture in the blood of grapes; 12His eyes shall be red with wine,And his teeth white with milk. 13Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea,And he shall be a shore for ships,And his flank shall be upon Zidon. 14Issachar is a large-boned ass,Couching down between the sheepfolds. 15For he saw a resting-place that it was good,And the land that it was pleasant;And he bowed his shoulder to bear,And became a servant under taskwork. 16Dan shall judge his people,As one of the tribes of Israel. 17Dan shall be a serpent in the way,A horned snake in the path,That biteth the horse's heels,So that his rider falleth backward. 18I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord. 19Gad, 66a troop 67shall troop upon him;But he shall troop upon their heel. 20As for 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 vine,A fruitful vine by a fountain;Its branches run over the wall. 23The archers have dealt bitterly with him,And shot at him, and hated him; 24But his bow abode firm,And the arms of his hands were made supple,By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,From thence, from 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 coucheth beneath,Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. 26The blessings of thy fatherAre mighty beyond the blessings of my progenitorsUnto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;They shall be on the head of Joseph,And on the crown of the head of the prince among his brethren. 27Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth;In the morning he devoureth the prey,And at even he divideth the spoil.'

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke unto them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. 29And be 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 from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32The field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.' 33And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered unto his people.