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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]And Jacob calleth unto his sons and saith, `Be gathered together, and I declare to you that which doth happen with you in the latter end of the days. |
| [2]be ye gaderid, `and here, ye sones of Jacob, here ye Israel youre fadir. |
[2]`Be assembled, and hear, 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! my first-born thou, My power, and beginning of my strength, The abundance of exaltation, And the abundance of strength; |
| [4]thou art sched out as watir; wexe thou not, for thou stiedist on the bed of thi fader, and defoulidist his bed. |
[4]Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father's bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up! |
| [5]Symeon and Leuy, britheren, fiytynge vessils of wickidnesse; |
[5]Simeon and Levi [are] brethren! Instruments of violence -- their espousals! |
| [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, come not, O my soul! Unto their assembly be not united, O mine honour; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will eradicated a prince. |
| [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 [is] their anger, for [it is] fierce, And their wrath, for [it is] sharp; I divide them in Jacob, And I 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! thou -- thy brethren praise thee! Thy hand [is] on the neck of thine enemies, Sons of thy father bow themselves to 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]A lion's whelp [is] Judah, For prey, my son, thou hast gone up; He hath bent, he hath crouched as a lion, And as a lioness; who causeth him to arise? |
| [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 turneth not aside from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet, Till his Seed come; And his [is] the obedience of peoples. |
| [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]Binding to the vine his ass, And to the choice vine the colt of his ass, He hath washed in wine his clothing, And in the blood of grapes his covering; |
| [12]hise iyen ben fairere than wyn, and hise teeth ben whittere than mylk. |
[12]Red [are] eyes with wine, And white [are] teeth 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 at a haven of the seas doth dwell, And he [is] for a haven of ships; And his side [is] unto Zidon. |
| [14]Isachar, a strong asse, |
[14]Issacher [is] a strong ass, Crouching between the two folds; |
| [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 seeth rest that [it is] good, And the land that [it is] pleasant, And he inclineth his shoulder to bear, And is to tribute a servant. |
| [16]Dan schal deme his puple, as also another lynage in Israel. |
[16]Dan doth 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 is a serpent by the way, An adder by the path, Which is biting the horse's heels, And its rider falleth backward. |
| [18]Y schal abide thin helthe. |
[18]For Thy salvation I have waited, Jehovah! |
| [19]Gad schal be gird, and schal fiyte bifor hym, and he schal be gird bihynde. |
[19]Gad! a troop assaulteth him, But he assaulteth last. |
| [20]Aser his breed schal be plenteuouse, and he schal yyue delicis to kyngis. |
[20]Out of Asher his bread [is] fat; And he giveth dainties of a king. |
| [21]Neptalym schal be an hert sent out, and yyuynge spechis of fairenesse. |
[21]Naphtali [is] a hind sent away, Who is giving beauteous young ones. |
| [22]Joseph, a sone encreessynge, `a sone encresinge, and fair in biholdyng; douytris runnen aboute on the wal, |
[22]Joseph [is] a fruitful son; A fruitful son by a fountain, Daughters step over the wall; |
| [23]but hise brithren wraththeden hym, and chidden, and thei hadden dartis, and hadden enuye to hym. |
[23]And embitter him -- yea, they have striven, Yea, hate him do archers; |
| [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]And his bow abideth in strength, And strengthened are the arms of his hands By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, Whence is a shepherd, a son 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]By the God of thy father who helpeth thee, And the Mighty One who blesseth thee, Blessings of the heavens from above, Blessings of the deep lying under, Blessings of breasts and 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]Thy father's blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the limit of the heights age-during They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate [from] his brethren. |
| [27]Beniamyn, a rauyschynge wolf, schal ete prey eerly, and in the euentid he schal departe spuylis. |
[27]Benjamin! a wolf teareth; In the morning he eateth prey, And at evening he apportioneth 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] that which their father hath spoken unto them, and he blesseth them; each according to his blessing he hath blessed 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]And he commandeth them, and saith unto them, `I am being gathered unto my people; bury me by my fathers, at the cave which [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 Machpelah, which [is] on the front of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place; |
| [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 of the cave which [is] in it, [is] from Sons of Heth.' |
| [33]And Jacob finisheth commanding his sons, and gathereth up his feet unto the bed, and expireth, and is gathered unto his people. |