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Genesis 49

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Part of Joseph📖 Genesis introduction

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1Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. ✦ 2“Gather together and listen, sons of Jacob; Yes, listen to Israel your father. ✦ 3¶“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. ✦ 4“Uncontrollable as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch. ✦ 5¶“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. ✦ 6“May my soul not enter into their council; May my glory not be united with their assembly; For in their anger they killed men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. ✦ 7“Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob, And disperse them among Israel. ✦ 8¶“As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. ✦ 9“Judah is a lion’s cub; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares to stir him up? ✦ 10“The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. ✦ 11“He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. ✦ 12“His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk. ✦ 13¶“Zebulun will reside at the seashore; And he shall be a harbor for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon. ✦ 14¶“Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds. ✦ 15“When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to carry burdens, And became a slave at forced labor. ✦ 16¶“Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. ✦ 17“Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned viper in the path, That bites the horse’s heels, So that its rider falls backward. ✦ 18“For Your salvation I wait, Lord. ✦ 19¶“As for Gad, a band of raiders shall attack him, But he will attack at their heels. ✦ 20¶“As for Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal delicacies. ✦ 21¶“Naphtali is a doe let loose; He utters beautiful words. ✦ 22¶“Joseph is a fruitful branch, A fruitful branch by a spring; Its branches hang over a wall. ✦ 23“The archers provoked him, And shot at him and were hostile toward him; ✦ 24But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), ✦ 25From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. ✦ 26“The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the furthest boundary of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers. ✦ 27¶“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoils.” ✦ 28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him. ✦ 29Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ✦ 30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. ✦ 31There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah— ✦ 32the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.” ✦ 33When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and 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.

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

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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