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Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
Genesis 49:1 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.
  • KJV And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
  • NKJV And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
  • NASB Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.
  • NLT Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what will happen to each of you in the days to come.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jacob gathers his twelve sons to prophesy what will befall them in days to come.

Overview

This opens the great deathbed blessing, a prophetic poem addressing each tribe's future character and destiny. 'The days to come' signals that these words reach beyond the sons themselves to the nation Israel and ultimately to the messianic age. As inspired prophecy, it reveals God's sovereign hand shaping the history of His covenant people toward the coming of Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Jer 23:20The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has fully accomplished the purposes of His heart. In the days to come you will understand this clearly.
  • Num 24:14Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you what this people will do to your people in the days to come.”
  • Deut 4:30When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice.
  • Dan 10:14Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”
  • Heb 1:2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
  • Isa 2:2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
  • Ps 25:14The LORD confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.
  • Deut 31:12Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law.
  • Rev 4:1After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”
  • Ps 105:15“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
  • Heb 10:24–25And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.
  • Deut 33:1–29This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
  • Isa 39:6The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.
  • Amos 3:7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
  • Deut 31:28–29Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
  • Isa 53:1Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
  • Rom 1:17–18For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
  • 1 Tim 4:1Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
  • 2 Tim 3:1But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
  • Dan 2:28–29But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
  • Dan 2:47The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
  • Mic 4:1In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
  • Dan 10:1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.
  • Acts 2:17‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
  • Isa 22:14The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.
  • Luke 2:26The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
  • Heb 13:1Continue in brotherly love.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 49:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 49:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.