Moses Blesses the Twelve Tribes

1And this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before the face of his death, 2and he said:

“YHWH came from Sinai

and dawned upon us† from Seir.

He shone forth from Mount Paran,

and He came with myriads of holy ones,

with flaming fire from His right hand for them.†

3Yes, He loves the people;

all the holy ones are in Your hand,

and they sit down at Your feet;†

each receives Your words.

4Moses commanded a law for us,

a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

5And He was King in Jeshurun,†

when were gathered the leaders of the people

together with the tribes of Israel.

6Let Reuben live and not die,

and let his men be numerable.”

7And this is for Judah; and he said,

“Hear, O YHWH, the voice of Judah,

and to his people bring him;

let his hands be sufficient for him,

and may You be a help against his enemies.”

8And of Levi he said,

“Your Thummim are unto Levi†

and Your Urim unto Your godly man,

whom You tested at Massah,†

and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,†

9who says of his father and mother,

‘I have not seen them,’

and his brothers he did not acknowledge,

and his own sons he did not know;

for they have kept† Your word,

and Your covenant they keep.

10They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob

and Your law to Israel;

they shall put incense before You

and a whole burnt offering on Your altar.

11Bless, O YHWH, his substance,

and the work of his hands accept.

Smash the loins of those who rise against him,

and of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

12Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of YHWH

shall dwell in safety in Him,

covering him all the day,

and between His shoulders He rests.”

13And of Joseph he said,

“Blessed of YHWH is his land

with the precious things of the heavens,

by dew, and the deep crouching beneath,

14and with the precious fruits of the sun,

and with the precious produce of the months,

15and with the best things of the ancient mountains,

and with the precious things of the everlasting hills,

16and from the precious things of the earth and its fullness,

and the favor of Him who is dwelling in the bush.

Let it rest on the head of Joseph,

and on the top of the head of the prince of his brothers.

17Honor unto him is a firstling of his ox

and the horns of the wild ox are his horns;

with them he shall push the peoples together

to the ends of the earth.

And they are the myriads of Ephraim,

and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

18And of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and Issachar, in your tents.

19They shall call the peoples to the mountain;

there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness.

For they suckle the abundance of the seas,

and of treasures hidden in the sand.”

20And of Gad he said,

“Blessed is he who enlarges Gad;

as a lion He dwells;

and he tears the arm

and the crown of the head.

21And he provided the first for himself

because there was reserved a portion of the lawgiver,

and He came with the heads of the people.

The justice of YHWH He administered,

and His ordinances with Israel.”

22And of Dan he said,

“Dan is a whelp of a lion;

He shall leap from Bashan.”

23And of Naphtali he said,

“Naphtali is satisfied with favor,

and full of the blessing of YHWH,

of the sea and the south†

he shall take possession.”

24And of Asher he said,

“Most blessed of sons is Asher;

let him be favored by his brothers,

and let him dip his foot in the oil.

25Iron and bronze are your gates,

and as your days is your strength.”

26“None is like the God of Jeshurun,

riding the heavens to help you,

and in His majesty on the clouds.

27A habitation is the eternal God

and underneath are the arms everlasting.

And He will thrust out from before you the enemy

and will say, ‘Destroy.’

28And Israel shall dwell in safety,

alone as the fountain of Jacob

in a land of grain and new wine;

also His heavens drip down dew.

29Blessed are you, O Israel;

who is like you, a people saved by YHWH,

the shield of your help,

and who is the sword of your majesty!

And Your enemies shall submit to you,

and you shall tread upon their high places.”

Footnotes:

2 LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate; Hebrew upon them
2 Or with myriads of holy ones from the south, from His mountain slopes
3 Or they follow in Your steps
5 Jeshurun means the upright one, a term of endearment for Israel; also in verse 26.
8 DSS and LXX; MT does not include are unto Levi; literally Let Your Perfections and Your Lights be to Your godly one.
8 Massah means testing; see Exodus 17:7.
8 Meribah means quarreling; see Exodus 17:7.
9 Hebrew they have kept most likely refers to Levi in the plural; similarly twice in verse 10
23 Or the west