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Genesis 49

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Part of Joseph📖 Genesis introduction

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1Then 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: ✦ 2Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel. ✦ 3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. ✦ 4Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it. ✦ 5Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. ✦ 6May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim. ✦ 7Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. ✦ 8Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. ✦ 9Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? ✦ 10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his. ✦ 11He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. ✦ 12His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. ✦ 13Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon. ✦ 14Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. ✦ 15He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant. ✦ 16Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel. ✦ 17He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward. ✦ 18I await Your salvation, O LORD. ✦ 19Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. ✦ 20Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies. ✦ 21Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. ✦ 22Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall. ✦ 23The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility. ✦ 24Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, ✦ 25by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb. ✦ 26The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. ✦ 27Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.” ✦ 28These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing. ✦ 29Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. ✦ 30The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. ✦ 31There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah. ✦ 32The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” ✦ 33When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Deut 33 ·14Gen 35 ·9Gen 46 ·9Gen 30 ·71 Chr 5 ·6Gen 37 ·6Gen 23 ·6Josh 19 ·5

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

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