The Majesty of God

1And this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

2And he said, The Lord is come from Sina, and has appeared from Seir to us, and has hasted out of the mount of Pharan, with the ten thousands of Cades; on his right hand were his angels with him.

3And he spared his people, and all his sanctified ones are under thy hands; and they are under thee; and he received of his words

4the law which Moses charged us, an inheritance to the assemblies of Jacob.

5And he shall be prince with the beloved one, when the princes of the people are gathered together with the tribes of Israel.

The Blessings of the Twelve Tribes

6Let Ruben live, and not die; and let him be many in number.

7And this is the blessing of Juda; Hear, Lord, the voice of Juda, and do thou visit his people: his hands shall contend for him, and thou shalt be a help from his enemies.

8And to Levi he said, Give to Levi his manifestations, and his truth to the holy man, whom they tempted in the temptation; they reviled him at the water of strife.

9Who says to his father and mother, I have not seen thee; and he knew not his brethren, and he refused to know his sons: he kept thine oracles, and observed thy covenant.

10They shall declare thine ordinances to Jacob, and thy law to Israel: they shall place incense in the time of thy wrath continually upon thine altar.

11Bless, Lord, his strength, and accept the works of his hands; break the loins of his enemies that have risen up against him, and let not them that hate him rise up.

12And to Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in confidence, and God overshadows him always, and he rested between his shoulders.

13And to Joseph he said, His land is of the blessing of the Lord, of the seasons of sky and dew, and of the deeps of wells below,

14and of the fruits of the changes of the sun in season, and of the produce of the months,

15from the top of the ancient mountains, and from the top of the everlasting hills,

16and of the fullness of the land in season: and let the things pleasing to him that dwelt in the bush come on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of him who was glorified above his brethren.

17His beauty is as the firstling of his bull, his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with them he shall thrust the nations at once, even from the end of the earth: these are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasse.

18And to Zabulon he said, Rejoice, Zabulon, in thy going out, and Issachar in his tents.

19They shall utterly destroy the nations, and ye shall call men there, and there offer the sacrifice of righteousness; for the wealth of the sea shall suckle thee, and so shall the marts of them that dwell by the sea-coast.

20And to Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlarges Gad: as a lion he rested, having broken the arm and the ruler.

21And he saw his first-fruits, that there the land of the princes gathered with the chiefs of the people was divided; the Lord wrought righteousness, and his judgment with Israel.

22And to Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp, and shall leap out of Basan.

23And to Nephthali he said, Nephthali has the fulness of good things; and let him be filled with blessing from the Lord: he shall inherit the west and the south.

24And to Aser he said, Aser is blessed with children; and he shall be acceptable to his brethren: he shall dip his foot in oil.

25His sandal shall be iron and brass; as thy days, so shall be thy strength.

The Excellence of Israel

26There is not any such as the God of the beloved; he who rides upon the heaven is thy helper, and the magnificent One of the firmament.

27And the rule of God shall protect thee, and that under the strength of the everlasting arms; and he shall cast forth the enemy from before thy face, saying, Perish.

28And Israel shall dwell in confidence alone on the land of Jacob, with corn and wine; and the sky shall be misty with dew upon thee.

29Blessed art thou, O Israel; who is like to thee, O people saved by the Lord? thy helper shall hold his shield over thee, and his sword is thy boast; and thine enemies shall speak falsely to thee, and thou shalt tread upon their neck.