Jacob's Prophecy concerning His Sons

491 And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times. 2 Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of Israel your father. 3 Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength, first in pride and first in power: 4 But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed, and made it unclean.

5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their secret designs. 6 Take no part in their secrets, O my soul; keep far away, O my heart, from their meetings; for in their wrath they put men to death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded. 7 A curse on their passion for it was bitter; and on their wrath for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken up, driving them from their places in Israel.

8 To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down to the earth before you. 9 Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken? 10 The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule. 11 Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the blood of grapes: 12 His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

13 The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon. 14 Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks: 15 And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing; so he let them put weights on his back and became a servant. 16 Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road, biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall. 18 I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord. 19 Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on them in their flight. 20 Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings. 21 Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones.

22 Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain; 23 He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows against him, cruelly wounding him: 24 But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the Stone of Israel: 25 Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body: 26 Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers. 27 Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat: in the morning he takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he has taken.

The Death and Burial of Jacob

28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel: and these are the words their father said to them, blessing them; to every one he gave his blessing. 29 And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his resting-place. 31 There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to rest. 32 In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the people of Heth. 33 And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and went the way of his people.

Man's Disobedience

31 Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden? 2 And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you. 4 And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you: 5 For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband. 7 And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together. 8 And there came to them the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening wind: and the man and his wife went to a secret place among the trees of the garden, away from the eyes of the Lord God.

9 And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where are you? 10 And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of fear, because I was without clothing: and I kept myself from your eyes.

11 And he said, Who gave you the knowledge that you were without clothing? Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take? 12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it. 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.

14 And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life: 15 And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.

16 To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master.

17 And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain you will get your food from it all your life. 18 Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the field will be your food; 19 With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you are and to the dust you will go back.

20 And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the mother of all who have life.

21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skins for their clothing.

22 And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever. 23 So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken. 24 So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.