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Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Chapter 49: 

Having adopted and blessed Joseph’s first two sons, Jacob now blesses his other sons.  Each receives a prophetic blessing that reveals the future which will be played out among his descendants for centuries. Rueben, the firstborn, defiled his father’s bed (35:22), which was a sign of taking control over a family.  Because of this transgression, he will not have the typical authority of the firstborn.  The second- and third-born are Simeon on Levi.  Their violence of revenge over Dinah’s rape (34:25-29) prevents them from becoming leaders.  Judah, the fourth-born, is the one who will have pride of position.  His brothers will bow before him, and his scepter, staff, and dark-colored clothing all point to the kings that will later descend from him, starting with David and culminating in Jesus.  Future treachery from the tribe of Dan (Judges 18) is pointed out, while Joseph’s blessing looks to his success through God.  The other brothers are given blessings that symbolically reveal where or how their descendants will live.  After the blessings, Jacob asks to be buried with his family in Canaan.

The Book of Genesis, Chapter 49: 

Jacob’s Last Words to His Sons

1 Then Jacob called his sons, and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in days to come.
2 Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob,
and hearken to Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, and the first fruits
of my strength,
pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you
went up to my couch!
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are
their swords.
6 O my soul, come not into their council;
O my spirit,be not joined to their company;
for in their anger they slay men, and in their wantonness
they hamstring 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 whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down, he lurked as
a lion,
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs;
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 washes his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes;
12 his eyes shall be red with wine,
and his teeth white with 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 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 viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider falls
backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their
heels.
20 Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal
dainties.
21 Naphtali is a deer let loose, that bears comely fawns.
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the
wall.
23 The archers fiercely attacked
him,
shot at him, and harassed him sorely;
24 yet his bow remained unmoved,
his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty
One of Jacob
(by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel),
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
by God Almighty who will bless 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 are mighty beyond the
blessings of the eternal mountains,
the bounties of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring
the prey,
and at evening dividing the spoil.”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him. 29 Then he charged them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah—32 the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.” 33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

Jacob gathers his sons and shares last words with them. Are there words that I should speak to people in my own life...friends or family? Lord, what is it that you would like me to speak to someone, as if these days would be my last ones?

Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc or online.

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.