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²“Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.

Listen to your father Israel.

³“Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength

And the first child of my manhood,

The proudest and strongest of all my sons.

⁴You are like a raging flood,

But you will not be the most important,

For you slept with my concubine

And dishonoured your father's bed.

⁵“Simeon and Levi are brothers.

They use their weapons to commit violence.

⁶I will not join in their secret talks,

Nor will I take part in their meetings,

For they killed men in anger

And they crippled bulls for sport.

⁷A curse be on their anger, because it is so fierce,

And on their fury, because it is so cruel.

I will scatter them throughout the land of Israel.

I will disperse them among its people.

⁸“Judah, your brothers will praise you.

You hold your enemies by the neck.

Your brothers will bow down before you.

⁹Judah is like a lion,

Killing his victim and returning to his den,

Stretching out and lying down.

No one dares disturb him.

¹⁰Judah will hold the royal sceptre,

And his descendants will always rule.

Nations will bring him tribute

And bow in obedience before him.

¹¹He ties his young donkey to a grapevine,

To the very best of the vines.

He washes his clothes in blood-red wine.

¹²His eyes are bloodshot from drinking wine,

His teeth white from drinking milk.

¹³“Zebulun will live beside the sea.

His shore will be a haven for ships.

His territory will reach as far as Sidon.

¹⁴“Issachar is no better than a donkey

That lies stretched out between its saddlebags.

¹⁵But he sees that the resting place is good

And that the land is delightful.

So he bends his back to carry the load

And is forced to work as a slave.

¹⁶“Dan will be a ruler for his people.

They will be like the other tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan will be a snake at the side of the road,

A poisonous snake beside the path,

That strikes at the horse's heel,

So that the rider is thrown off backwards.

¹⁸“I wait for your deliverance, LORD.

¹⁹“Gad will be attacked by a band of robbers,

But he will turn and pursue them.

²⁰“Asher's land will produce rich food.

He will provide food fit for a king.

²¹“Naphtali is a deer that runs free,

Who bears lovely fawns.

²²“Joseph is like a wild donkey by a spring,

A wild colt on a hillside.

²³His enemies attack him fiercely

And pursue him with their bows and arrows.

²⁴But his bow remains steady,

And his arms are made strong

By the power of the Mighty God of Jacob,

By the Shepherd, the Protector of Israel.

²⁵It is your father's God who helps you,

The Almighty God who blesses you

With blessings of rain from above

And of deep waters from beneath the ground,

Blessings of many cattle and children,

²⁶Blessings of corn and flowers,

Blessings of ancient mountains,

Delightful things from everlasting hills.

May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,

On the brow of the one set apart from his brothers.

²⁷“Benjamin is like a vicious wolf.

Morning and evening he kills and devours.”