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| [1]Forsothe Jacob clepide hise sones, and seide to hem, Be ye gaderid that Y telle what thingis schulen come to you in the laste daies; |
[1]Then Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall come to you in the last days. |
| [2]be ye gaderid, `and here, ye sones of Jacob, here ye Israel youre fadir. |
[2]Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. |
| [3]Ruben, my firste gendrid sone, thou art my strengthe and the bigynnyng of my sorewe; thou ouytist to be the former in yiftis, the more in lordschip; |
[3]Reuben mine eldest son, thou art my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: |
| [4]thou art sched out as watir; wexe thou not, for thou stiedist on the bed of thi fader, and defoulidist his bed. |
[4]Thou wast light as water: thou shalt not be excellent, because thou wentest up to thy father's bed: then didst thou defile my bed, thy dignity is gone. |
| [5]Symeon and Leuy, britheren, fiytynge vessils of wickidnesse; |
[5]Simeon and Levi, brethren in evil, the instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. |
| [6]my soule come not in to the councel of hem, and my glorie be not in the congregacioun of hem; for in her woodnesse thei killiden a man, and in her wille thei myneden the wal; |
[6]Into their secret let not my soul come: my glory, be not thou joined with their assembly: for in their wrath they slew a man, and in their self will they digged down a wall. |
| [7]curside be the woodnesse of hem, for it is obstynat, and the indignacioun of hem for it is hard; Y schal departe hem in Jacob, and I schal scatere hem in Israel. |
[7]Cursed be their wrath, for it was fierce, and their rage, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. |
| [8]Judas, thi britheren schulen preise thee, thin hondis schulen be in the nollis of thin enemyes; the sones of thi fadir schulen worschipe thee. |
[8]Thou Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee: thine hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies: thy father's sons shall bow down unto thee. |
| [9]`A whelp of lioun `is Judas; my sone thou stiedist to prey; thou restidist, and hast leyn as a lioun, and as a lionesse who schal reise hym? |
[9]Judah, as a Lion's whelp shalt thou come up from the spoil, my son. He shall lie down and couch as a lion, and as a lioness: Who shall stir him up? |
| [10]The septre schal not be takun awey fro Juda, and a duyk of his hipe, til he come that schal be sent, and he schal be abiding of hethene men; |
[10]The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and the people shall be gathered unto him. |
| [11]and he schal tye his colt at the vyner, and his femal asse at the vyne; A! my sone, he schal waische his stoole in wyn, and his mentil in the blood of grape; |
[11]He shall bind his ass foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the best vine. he shall wash his garment in wine, and his cloak in the blood of grapes. |
| [12]hise iyen ben fairere than wyn, and hise teeth ben whittere than mylk. |
[12]His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. |
| [13]Zabulon schal dwelle in the brenk of the see, and in the stondyng of schipis; and schal stretche til to Sydon. |
[13]Zebulun shall dwell by the seaside, and he shall be an haven for ships: and his border shall be unto Zidon. |
| [14]Isachar, a strong asse, |
[14]Issachar shall be a strong ass, couching down between two burdens: |
| [15]liggynge bitwixe termes, seiy reste, that it was good and seiy the lond that it was best, and he vndirsettide his schuldre to bere, and he was maad seruynge to tributis. |
[15]And he shall see that rest is good, and that the land is pleasant, and he shall bow his shoulder to bear, and shall be subject unto tribute. |
| [16]Dan schal deme his puple, as also another lynage in Israel. |
[16]Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. |
| [17]Dan be maad a serpent in the weie, and cerastes in the path, and bite the feet of an hors, that the `stiere therof falle bacward; Lord, |
[17]Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, biting the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. |
| [18]Y schal abide thin helthe. |
[18]O Lord, I have waited for thy salvation. |
| [19]Gad schal be gird, and schal fiyte bifor hym, and he schal be gird bihynde. |
[19]Gad, an host of men shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last. |
| [20]Aser his breed schal be plenteuouse, and he schal yyue delicis to kyngis. |
[20]Concerning Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall give pleasures for a king. |
| [21]Neptalym schal be an hert sent out, and yyuynge spechis of fairenesse. |
[21]Naphtali shall be a hind let go, giving goodly words. |
| [22]Joseph, a sone encreessynge, `a sone encresinge, and fair in biholdyng; douytris runnen aboute on the wal, |
[22]Joseph shall be a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by the well side: the small boughs shall run upon the wall. |
| [23]but hise brithren wraththeden hym, and chidden, and thei hadden dartis, and hadden enuye to hym. |
[23]And the archers grieved him, and shot against him and hated him. |
| [24]His bowe sat in the stronge, and the boondis of his armes, and hondis weren vnboundun bi the hond of the myyti of Jacob; of hym a scheepherd yede out, the stoon of Israel. |
[24]But his bow abode strong, and the hands of his arms were strengthened, by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, of whom was the feeder appointed by the stone of Israel, |
| [25]God of thi fadir schal be thin helpere, and Almyyti God schal blesse thee with blessyngis of heuene fro aboue, and with blessyngis of the see liggynge binethe, with blessyngis of tetis, and of wombe; |
[25]Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the almighty, who shall bless thee with heavenly blessings from above, with blessings of the deep, that lieth beneath, with blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. |
| [26]the blessyngis of thi fadir ben coumfortid, the blessyngis of his fadris, til the desire of euerlastynge hillis cam; blessyngis ben maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the nol of Nazarei among his britheren. |
[26]The blessings of thy father shall be stronger than the blessings of mine elders: unto the end of the hills of the world they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the top of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. |
| [27]Beniamyn, a rauyschynge wolf, schal ete prey eerly, and in the euentid he schal departe spuylis. |
[27]Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. |
| [28]Alle these weren in twelue kynredis of Israel; her fadir spak these thingys to hem, and blesside hem alle by propre blessyngis, |
[28]All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and thus their father spake unto them, and blessed them: every one of them blessed he with a several blessing. |
| [29]and comaundide hem, and seide, Y am gaderid to my puple, birie ye me with my fadris in the double denne, which is in the lond of Efron Ethei, ayens Manbre, |
[29]And he charged them and said unto them, I am ready to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, |
| [30]in the lond of Canaan, which denne Abraham bouyte with the feeld of Efron Ethei, in to possessioun of sepulcre. |
[30]In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah besides Mamre in the land of Canaan: which cave Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession to bury in. |
| [31]There thei birieden hym, and Sare his wijf, also Ysaac was biried there with Rebecca his wijf; there also Lia liggith biried. |
[31]There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife: there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife: and there I buried Leah. |
| [32]And whanne the comaundementis weren endid, bi whiche he tauyte the sones, he gaderide hise feet on the bed, and diede, and he was put to his puple. |
[32]The purchase of the field and the cave that is therein, was bought of the children of Heth. |
| [33]Thus Jacob made an end of giving charge to his sons, and plucked up his feet into the bed and gave up the ghost, and was gathered to his people. |