Study Desk

But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know; he also will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."

Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.

"The scepter shall 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.

"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.

"His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

"Zebulun will dwell at the seashore; And he shall be a haven for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

"When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

"Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.

"Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward.

"As for Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal dainties.

But 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),

"The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

"There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah—

When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Then Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him and kissed him.

Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father's household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen.

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed seven days mourning for his father.

Thus his sons did for him as he had charged them;