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.
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.
- BSB 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:
- 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.
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 23:20Yahweh’s anger shall not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intents of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
- Num 24:14Now, behold, I go to my people. Come, I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days.”
- Deut 4:30When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice.
- Dan 10:14Now I have come to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for many days:
- Heb 1:2has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
- Isa 2:2It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
- Ps 25:14The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
- Deut 31:12Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;
- Rev 4:1After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.”
- Ps 105:15“Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”
- Heb 10:24–25Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,
- Deut 33:1–29This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
- Isa 39:6‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up until today, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh.
- Amos 3:7Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
- Deut 31:28–29Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
- Isa 53:1Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
- Rom 1:17–18For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
- 1 Tim 4:1But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
- 2 Tim 3:1But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come.
- Dan 2:28–29but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
- Dan 2:47The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you have been able to reveal this secret.
- Mic 4:1But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills; and peoples will stream to it.
- Dan 10:1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
- Acts 2:17‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
- Isa 22:14Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, “Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Luke 2:26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
- Heb 13:1Let brotherly love continue.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.