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These are the names of the men who shall assist you:

From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur.

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30 On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur, the leader of the Reubenites:(A)

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And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:(A)

From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.

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Moses’s Final Blessing on Israel

33 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death.(A) He said,

“The Lord came from Sinai
    and dawned from Seir upon us;[a]
    he shone forth from Mount Paran.
With him were myriads of holy ones,[b]
    at his right, a host of his own.[c](B)
Indeed, O favorite among[d] peoples,
    all his holy ones were in your charge;
they marched at your heels,
    accepted direction from you.(C)
Moses charged us with the law
    as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.(D)
There arose a king in Jeshurun
    when the leaders of the people assembled,
    the united tribes of Israel.

May Reuben live and not die out,
    even though his numbers are few.”

And this he said of Judah,

“O Lord, give heed to Judah,
    and bring him to his people;
strengthen his hands for him,[e]
    and be a help against his adversaries.”(E)

And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi[f] your Thummim
    and your Urim to your loyal one,
whom you tested at Massah,
    with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah,(F)
who said of his father and mother,
    ‘I regard them not’;
he ignored his kin
    and did not acknowledge his children.
For they observed your word
    and kept your covenant.(G)
10 They teach Jacob your ordinances
    and Israel your law;
they place incense before you
    and whole burnt offerings on your altar.(H)
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
    and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
    of those who hate him, so that they do not rise again.”(I)

12 Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the Lord rests in safety—
the Most High[g] surrounds him all day long—
    and he rests between his shoulders.”

13 And of Joseph he said,

“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
    with the choice gifts of heaven above
    and of the deep that lies beneath,(J)
14 with the choice fruits of the sun
    and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
    and the abundance of the everlasting hills,(K)
16 with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness
    and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.[h]
Let these come on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of the prince among his brothers.(L)
17 A firstborn[i] bull—majesty is his!
    His horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he gores the peoples
    all together to the ends of the earth;
such are the myriads of Ephraim,
    such the thousands of Manasseh.”(M)

18 And of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
    and Issachar, in your tents.(N)
19 They call peoples to the mountain;
    there they offer the right sacrifices,
for they suck the affluence of the seas
    and the hidden treasures of the sand.”(O)

20 And of Gad he said,

“Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!
    Like a lion he lives;
    he tears at arm and scalp.(P)
21 He chose the best for himself,
    for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;
he came at the head of the people;
    he executed the justice of the Lord
    and his ordinances with Israel.”(Q)

22 And of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s whelp
    that leaps forth from Bashan.”(R)

23 And of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
    full of the blessing of the Lord,
    possess the west and the south.”(S)

24 And of Asher he said,

“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
    may he be the favorite of his brothers,
    and may he dip his foot in oil.(T)
25 Your bars are iron and bronze,
    and as your days, so is your strength.[j](U)

26 There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
    who rides through the heavens to your help,
    majestic through the clouds.(V)
27 He subdues the ancient gods,[k]
    shatters[l] the forces of old;[m]
he drove out the enemy before you
    and said, ‘Destroy!’(W)
28 So Israel lives in safety,
    untroubled is Jacob’s abode[n]
in a land of grain and wine,
    where the heavens drop down dew.(X)
29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
    a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help
    and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
    but you shall tread on their backs.”(Y)

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Footnotes

  1. 33.2 Gk Syr Vg Compare Tg: Heb upon them
  2. 33.2 Cn Compare Gk Sam Syr Vg: MT He came from Ribeboth-kodesh,
  3. 33.2 Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  4. 33.3 Or O lover of the
  5. 33.7 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  6. 33.8 Q ms Gk: MT lacks Give to Levi
  7. 33.12 Cn: Heb above him
  8. 33.16 Cn: Heb in the bush
  9. 33.17 Q ms Gk Syr Vg: MT His firstborn
  10. 33.25 Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  11. 33.27 Cn: Heb The eternal God is a dwelling place
  12. 33.27 Cn: Heb from underneath
  13. 33.27 Or the everlasting arms
  14. 33.28 Or fountain

18 Next the standard of the camp of Reuben set out, company by company, and over the whole company was Elizur son of Shedeur.(A)

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10 “On the south side shall be the regimental encampment of Reuben by companies. The leader of the Reubenites shall be Elizur son of Shedeur,(A)

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Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. (Joseph was already in Egypt.)(A)

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Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

49 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.(A)

Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob;
    listen to Israel your father.

Reuben, you are my firstborn,
    my might and the first fruits of my vigor,
    excelling in rank and excelling in power.(B)
Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel
    because you went up onto your father’s bed;
    then you defiled it—you[a] went up onto my couch!(C)

Simeon and Levi are brothers;
    weapons of violence are their swords.(D)
May I never come into their council;
    may I not be joined to their company,
for in their anger they killed men,
    and at their whim they hamstrung oxen.(E)
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.(F)

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.(G)
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion,
    like a lioness—who dares rouse him up?(H)
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,[b]
    and the obedience of the peoples is his.(I)
11 Binding his foal to the vine
    and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
    and his robe in the blood of grapes;
12 his eyes are darker than wine
    and his teeth whiter than milk.

13 Zebulun shall settle at the shore of the sea;
    he shall be a haven for ships,
    and his border shall be at Sidon.(J)

14 Issachar is a strong donkey,
    lying down between the sheepfolds;
15 he saw that a resting place was good
    and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to the burden
    and became a slave at forced labor.

16 Dan shall judge his people
    as one of the tribes of Israel.(K)
17 Dan shall be a snake by the roadside,
    a viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
    so that its rider falls backward.(L)

18 I wait for your salvation, O Lord.(M)

19 Gad shall be raided by raiders,
    but he shall raid at their heels.(N)

20 Asher’s[c] food shall be rich,
    and he shall provide royal delicacies.(O)

21 Naphtali is a doe let loose
    that bears lovely fawns.[d](P)

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,[e]
    a fruitful bough by a spring;
    his branches run over the wall.[f](Q)
23 The archers fiercely attacked him;
    they shot at him and pressed him hard.(R)
24 Yet his bow remained taut,
    and his arms[g] were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
    by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,(S)
25 by the God of your father, who will help you,
    by the Almighty[h] who will bless you
    with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
    blessings of the breasts and of the womb.(T)
26 The blessings of your father
    are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
    the bounties[i] of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
    on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.(U)

27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
    in the morning devouring the prey
    and at evening dividing the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing.(V)

Jacob’s Death and Burial

29 Then he charged them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,(W) 30 in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.(X) 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah.(Y) 32 The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.(Z)

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Footnotes

  1. 49.4 Gk Syr Tg: Heb he
  2. 49.10 Or until Shiloh comes or until he comes to Shiloh or (with Syr) until he comes to whom it belongs
  3. 49.20 Gk Vg Syr: Heb From Asher
  4. 49.21 Or that gives beautiful words
  5. 49.22 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  6. 49.22 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  7. 49.24 Heb the arms of his hands
  8. 49.25 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  9. 49.26 Cn Compare Gk: Heb of my progenitors to the boundaries

Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to Egypt. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,(A) and the children of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The children of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.(B) 11 The children of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.(C) 12 The children of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan), and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.(D) 13 The children of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub,[a] and Shimron. 14 The children of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all, his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. 16 The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The children of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.(E) 18 These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah, and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.(F) 19 The children of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.(G) 20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.(H) 21 The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.(I) 22 These are the children of Rachel who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all. 23 The children of Dan: Hashum.[b](J) 24 The children of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. 46.13 Compare Sam Gk: MT Iob
  2. 46.23 Gk: Heb Hushim

17 When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for now you have another son.”(A) 18 As her soul was departing, for she was dying, she named him Ben-oni,[a] but his father called him Benjamin.[b] 19 And Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem,(B) 20 and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.(C) 21 Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.(D) 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

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Footnotes

  1. 35.18 That is, son of my sorrow
  2. 35.18 That is, son of the right hand or son of the south

And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan.[a](A) Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed,” so she named him Naphtali.[b](B)

When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.(C) 10 Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune!” So she named him Gad.[c] 12 Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher.[d](D)

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”(E) 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”(F) 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband,” so she named him Issachar.[e] 19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun.[f](G)

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Footnotes

  1. 30.6 That is, he judged
  2. 30.8 In Heb Naphtali resembles the verb for I have wrestled
  3. 30.11 That is, fortune
  4. 30.13 That is, happy
  5. 30.18 In Heb Issachar resembles the word for my hire
  6. 30.20 In Heb Zebulun resembles the verb for honor

32 Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben,[a] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked on my affliction, surely now my husband will love me.”(A) 33 She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also,” and she named him Simeon.[b] 34 Again she conceived and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore he was named Levi.[c](B) 35 She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord,” therefore she named him Judah;[d] then she ceased bearing.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 29.32 That is, see, a son
  2. 29.33 In Heb Simeon resembles the verb for has heard
  3. 29.34 In Heb Levi resembles the verb for will be joined
  4. 29.35 In Heb Judah resembles the verb for I will praise