|
|
| [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 to them, Gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which shall befall 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 listen, O sons of Jacob; and hearken o 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, you are my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, and 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]You went astray like water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed; truly, you have defiled my bed by going up into it |
| [5]Symeon and Leuy, britheren, fiytynge vessils of wickidnesse; |
[5]Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of anger are in their nature. |
| [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]I never agreed to their counsels; nor did I lower myself to sit in their assembly; for in their anger they slew men and in their rage they destroyed a town 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 anger, for it is raging: and their wrath, for it is fierce; 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]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]`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 is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you are gone up; he stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as a young lion; who shall rouse 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 sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until the coming of the One to whom the sceptre belongs, to whom the Gentiles shall look forward. |
| [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 tie up his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to a branch; he shall bleach his garments with wine, and his robe with the juices of the grape; |
| [12]hise iyen ben fairere than wyn, and hise teeth ben whittere than mylk. |
[12]His eyes shall be radiant 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 at the shore of the seas; and he shall be a haven for ships; and his border shall extend as far as Zidon. |
| [14]Isachar, a strong asse, |
[14]Issachar is a mighty man couching by the highways; |
| [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 saw that his dwelling place was good, and his land fertile; and he bowed his shoulder to servitude, and became a servant to tribute. |
| [16]Dan schal deme his puple, as also another lynage in Israel. |
[16]Dan shall judge his people as if the tribes of Israel were one. |
| [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 in the paths, that bites the horse's heel and causes its rider to fall backward. |
| [18]Y schal abide thin helthe. |
[18]I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. |
| [19]Gad schal be gird, and schal fiyte bifor hym, and he schal be gird bihynde. |
[19]Gad shall go out to raid, and shall pursue at the heels of his enemies. |
| [20]Aser his breed schal be plenteuouse, and he schal yyue delicis to kyngis. |
[20]As for Asher, his land is good, and he shall supply kings with food. |
| [21]Neptalym schal be an hert sent out, and yyuynge spechis of fairenesse. |
[21]Naphtali is a swift messenger; he gives goodly words |
| [22]Joseph, a sone encreessynge, `a sone encresinge, and fair in biholdyng; douytris runnen aboute on the wal, |
[22]Joseph is a disciplined son, an educated son; a fruitful bough by a spring, whose branches run over the wall. |
| [23]but hise brithren wraththeden hym, and chidden, and thei hadden dartis, and hadden enuye to hym. |
[23]A company of men quarreled with him, and being great in numbers, envied 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 in strength he bent his bow, and his arms were made strong by the hands of the mighty One of Jacob; (by the name of the Shepherd, the Strength 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]May the God of your father help you and the Almighty bless you with the blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep beneath, 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 your father have prevailed above the blessings of my forbears to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is the prince of his brothers. |
| [27]Beniamyn, a rauyschynge wolf, schal ete prey eerly, and in the euentid he schal departe spuylis. |
[27]Benjamin is a plundering wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and in the evening 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 this is what their father Jacob said to them; he addressed them, then he blessed them, according to his blessing, he blessed every one of them. |
| [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]Then their father blessed them, and 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 lond of Canaan, which denne Abraham bouyte with the feeld of Efron Ethei, in to possessioun of sepulcre. |
[30]In the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the double cave which is in the field, before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial ground. |
| [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 field and the cave which is in it were purchased from the children of Heth. |
| [33]And when Jacob had finished charging his sons, he stretched his feet on his bed, and grew weak, and died, and was gathered to his people |