Hope Church continues our new series of Podcasts "Hope in the Word". Today we look at Genesis 49:1-15 People share what they learn from this passage and their experiences. Joy prays and Faith reads the passage for us.
Genesis 49:1–15
Jacob Blesses His Sons
[1] Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come.
[2] “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel your father.
[3] “Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the firstfruits of my strength,
preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
[4] Unstable 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;
weapons of violence are their swords.
[6] Let my soul come not into their council;
O my glory, be not joined to their company.
For in their anger they killed men,
and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.
[7] Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.
[8] “Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
[9] Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
[10] The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
[11] Binding his foal to the vine
and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
he has washed his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
[12] His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
[13] “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.
[14] “Issachar is a strong donkey,
crouching between the sheepfolds.
[15] He saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant,
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a servant at forced labor. (ESV)