Jacob Blesses His Sons

¹Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:

²Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob;listen to your father Israel.

³Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might,and the beginning of my strength,excelling in honor,excelling in power.

⁴Uncontrolled as the waters,you will no longer excel,because you went up to your father’s bed,onto my couch, and defiled it.

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers;their swordsare weapons of violence.

⁶May I never enter their council;may I never join their assembly.For they kill men in their anger,and hamstring oxen on a whim.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it is strong,and their wrath, for it is cruel!I will disperse them in Jacoband scatter them in Israel.

⁸Judah,your brothers shall praise you.Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies;your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

⁹Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey.Like a lion he crouches and lies down;like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah,nor the staff from between his feet,until Shilohcomesand the allegiance of the nations is his.

¹¹He ties his donkey to the vine,his colt to the choicest branch.He washes his garments in wine,his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes are darker than wine,and his teeth are whiter than milk.

¹³Zebulun shall dwell by the seashoreand become a harbor for ships;his border shall extend to Sidon.

¹⁴Issachar is a strong donkey,lying down between the sheepfolds.

¹⁵He saw that his resting place was goodand that his land was pleasant,so he bent his shoulder to the burdenand submitted to labor as a servant.

¹⁶Dan shall provide justice for his peopleas one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷He will be a snake by the road,a viper in the paththat bites the horse’s heelsso that its rider tumbles backward.

¹⁸I await Your salvation, O LORD.

¹⁹Gadwill be attacked by raiders,but he will attack their heels.

²⁰Asher’s food will be rich;he shall provide royal delicacies.

²¹Naphtali is a doe set freethat bears beautiful fawns.

²²Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring,whose branches scale the wall.

²³The archers attacked him with bitterness;they aimed at him in hostility.

²⁴Yet he steadied his bow,and his strong arms were temperedby the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

²⁵by the God of your father who helps you,and by the Almightywho blesses you,with blessings of the heavens above,with blessings of the depths below,with blessings of the breasts and womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father have surpassedthe blessings of the ancient mountainsand the bounty of the everlasting hills.May they rest on the head of Joseph,on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

²⁷Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;in the morning he devours the prey,in the evening he divides the plunder.”

²⁸These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

The Death of Jacob

²⁹Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

³⁰The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.

³¹There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah.

³²The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”

³³When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.

The Tower of Babel

¹Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.

²And as people journeyed eastward,they found a plain in the land of Shinarand settled there.

³And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

⁴“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

⁵Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.

⁶And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.

⁷Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

⁸So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

⁹That is why it is called Babel,for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

Genealogy from Shem to Abram

¹⁰This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.

¹¹And after he had become the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹²When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

¹³And after he had become the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.

¹⁵And after he had become the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.

¹⁷And after he had become the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.

¹⁹And after he had become the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.

²¹And after he had become the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

²²When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.

²³And after he had become the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.

²⁵And after he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

²⁷This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

²⁸During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

²⁹And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

³⁰But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

³¹And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.

³²Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Detestable Sacrifices

¹You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep with any defect or serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God.

Purge the Idolater

²If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant

³and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—

⁴and if it is reported and you hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly.If the report is true and such an abomination has happened in Israel,

⁵you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.

⁶On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.

⁷The hands of the witnesses shall be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. So you must purge the evil from among you.

Courts of Law

⁸If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.

⁹You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Inquire of them, and they will give you a verdict in the case.

¹⁰You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the LORD will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you,

¹¹according to the terms of law they give and the verdict they proclaim. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left from the decision they declare to you.

¹²But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.

¹³Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will no longer behave arrogantly.

Guidelines for a King

¹⁴When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”

¹⁵you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.

¹⁶But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’

¹⁷He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.

¹⁸When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

¹⁹It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes.

²⁰Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, and he will not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may reign many years over his kingdom in Israel.

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

¹Blessedare those whose way is blameless,who walk in the Law of the LORD.

²Blessed are those who keep His testimoniesand seek Him with all their heart.

³They do no iniquity;they walk in His ways.

⁴You have ordained Your precepts,that we should keep them diligently.

⁵Oh, that my ways were committedto keeping Your statutes!

⁶Then I would not be ashamedwhen I consider all Your commandments.

⁷I will praise You with an upright heartwhen I learn Your righteous judgments.

⁸I will keep Your statutes;do not utterly forsake me.

⁹How can a young man keep his way pure?By guarding it according to Your word.

¹⁰With all my heart I have sought You;do not let me stray from Your commandments.

¹¹I have hidden Your word in my heartthat I might not sin against You.

¹²Blessed are You, O LORD;teach me Your statutes.

¹³With my lips I proclaimall the judgments of Your mouth.

¹⁴I rejoice in the way of Your testimoniesas much as in all riches.

¹⁵I will meditate on Your preceptsand regard Your ways.

¹⁶I will delight in Your statutes;I will not forget Your word.

¹⁷Deal bountifully with Your servant,that I may live and keep Your word.

¹⁸Open my eyes that I may seewondrous things from Your law.

¹⁹I am a stranger on the earth;do not hide Your commandments from me.

²⁰My soul is consumed with longingfor Your judgments at all times.

²¹You rebuke the arrogant—the cursed who stray from Your commandments.

²²Remove my scorn and contempt,for I have kept Your testimonies.

²³Though rulers sit and slander me,Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

²⁴Your testimonies are indeed my delight;they are my counselors.

²⁵My soul cleaves to the dust;revive me according to Your word.

²⁶I recounted my ways, and You answered me;teach me Your statutes.

²⁷Make clear to me the way of Your precepts;then I will meditate on Your wonders.

²⁸My soul melts with sorrow;strengthen me according to Your word.

²⁹Remove me from the path of deceitand graciously grant me Your law.

³⁰I have chosen the way of truth;I have set Your ordinances before me.

³¹I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD;let me not be put to shame.

³²I run in the path of Your commandments,for You will enlarge my heart.

³³Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes,and I will keep them to the end.

³⁴Give me understanding that I may obey Your law,and follow it with all my heart.

³⁵Direct me in the path of Your commandments,for there I find delight.

³⁶Turn my heart to Your testimoniesand not to covetous gain.

³⁷Turn my eyes away from worthless things;revive me with Your word.

³⁸Establish Your word to Your servant,to produce reverence for You.

³⁹Turn away the disgrace I dread,for Your judgments are good.

⁴⁰How I long for Your precepts!Revive me in Your righteousness.

⁴¹May Your loving devotion come to me, O LORD,Your salvation, according to Your promise.

⁴²Then I can answer him who taunts,for I trust in Your word.

⁴³Never take Your word of truth from my mouth,for I hope in Your judgments.

⁴⁴I will always obey Your law,forever and ever.

⁴⁵And I will walk in freedom,for I have sought Your precepts.

⁴⁶I will speak of Your testimonies before kings,and I will not be ashamed.

⁴⁷I delight in Your commandmentsbecause I love them.

⁴⁸I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love,and I meditate on Your statutes.

⁴⁹Remember Your word to Your servant,upon which You have given me hope.

⁵⁰This is my comfort in affliction,that Your promise has given me life.

⁵¹The arrogant utterly deride me,but I do not turn from Your law.

⁵²I remember Your judgments of old, O LORD,and in them I find comfort.

⁵³Rage has taken hold of mebecause of the wicked who reject Your law.

⁵⁴Your statutes are songs to mein the house of my pilgrimage.

⁵⁵In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name,that I may keep Your law.

⁵⁶This is my practice,for I obey Your precepts.

⁵⁷The LORD is my portion;I have promised to keep Your words.

⁵⁸I have sought Your face with all my heart;be gracious to me according to Your promise.

⁵⁹I considered my waysand turned my steps to Your testimonies.

⁶⁰I hurried without hesitatingto keep Your commandments.

⁶¹Though the ropes of the wicked bind me,I do not forget Your law.

⁶²At midnight I rise to give You thanksfor Your righteous judgments.

⁶³I am a friend to all who fear You,and to those who keep Your precepts.

⁶⁴The earth is filled with Your loving devotion, O LORD;teach me Your statutes.

⁶⁵You are good to Your servant, O LORD,according to Your word.

⁶⁶Teach me good judgment and knowledge,for I believe in Your commandments.

⁶⁷Before I was afflicted, I went astray;but now I keep Your word.

⁶⁸You are good, and You do what is good;teach me Your statutes.

⁶⁹Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,I keep Your precepts with all my heart.

⁷⁰Their hearts are callous and insensitive,but I delight in Your law.

⁷¹It was good for me to be afflicted,that I might learn Your statutes.

⁷²The law from Your mouth is more precious to methan thousands of pieces of gold and silver.

⁷³Your hands have made me and fashioned me;give me understanding to learn Your commandments.

⁷⁴May those who fear You see me and rejoice,for I have hoped in Your word.

⁷⁵I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

⁷⁶May Your loving devotion comfort me, I pray,according to Your promise to Your servant.

⁷⁷May Your compassion come to me, that I may live,for Your law is my delight.

⁷⁸May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie;I will meditate on Your precepts.

⁷⁹May those who fear You turn to me,those who know Your testimonies.

⁸⁰May my heart be blameless in Your statutes,that I may not be put to shame.

⁸¹My soul faints for Your salvation;I wait for Your word.

⁸²My eyes fail, looking for Your promise;I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

⁸³Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke,I do not forget Your statutes.

⁸⁴How many days must Your servant wait?When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?

⁸⁵The arrogant have dug pits for mein violation of Your law.

⁸⁶All Your commandments are faithful;I am persecuted without cause—help me!

⁸⁷They almost wiped me from the earth,but I have not forsaken Your precepts.

⁸⁸Revive me according to Your loving devotion,that I may obey the testimony of Your mouth.

⁸⁹Your word, O LORD, is everlasting;it is firmly fixed in the heavens.

⁹⁰Your faithfulness continues through all generations;You established the earth, and it endures.

⁹¹Your ordinances stand to this day,for all things are servants to You.

⁹²If Your law had not been my delight,then I would have perished in my affliction.

⁹³I will never forget Your precepts,for by them You have revived me.

⁹⁴I am Yours; save me,for I have sought Your precepts.

⁹⁵The wicked wait to destroy me,but I will ponder Your testimonies.

⁹⁶I have seen a limit to all perfection,but Your commandment is without limit.

⁹⁷Oh, how I love Your law!All day long it is my meditation.

⁹⁸Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,for they are always with me.

⁹⁹I have more insight than all my teachers,for Your testimonies are my meditation.

¹⁰⁰I discern more than the elders,for I obey Your precepts.

¹⁰¹I have kept my feet from every evil path,that I may keep Your word.

¹⁰²I have not departed from Your ordinances,for You Yourself have taught me.

¹⁰³How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!

¹⁰⁴I gain understanding from Your precepts;therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵Your word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path.

¹⁰⁶I have sworn and confirmedthat I will keep Your righteous judgments.

¹⁰⁷I am severely afflicted, O LORD;revive me through Your word.

¹⁰⁸Accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD,and teach me Your judgments.

¹⁰⁹I constantly take my life in my hands,yet I do not forget Your law.

¹¹⁰The wicked have set a snare for me,but I have not strayed from Your precepts.

¹¹¹Your testimonies are my heritage forever,for they are the joy of my heart.

¹¹²I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes,even to the very end.

¹¹³The double-minded I despise,but Your law I love.

¹¹⁴You are my hiding place and my shield;I put my hope in Your word.

¹¹⁵Depart from me, you evildoers,that I may obey the commandments of my God.

¹¹⁶Sustain me as You promised, that I may live;let me not be ashamed of my hope.

¹¹⁷Uphold me, and I will be saved,that I may always regard Your statutes.

¹¹⁸You reject all who stray from Your statutes,for their deceitfulness is in vain.

¹¹⁹All the wicked on earth You discard like dross;therefore I love Your testimonies.

¹²⁰My flesh trembles in awe of You;I stand in fear of Your judgments.

¹²¹I have done what is just and right;do not leave me to my oppressors.

¹²²Ensure Your servant’s well-being;do not let the arrogant oppress me.

¹²³My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation,and for Your righteous promise.

¹²⁴Deal with Your servant according to Your loving devotion,and teach me Your statutes.

¹²⁵I am Your servant; give me understanding,that I may know Your testimonies.

¹²⁶It is time for the LORD to act,for they have broken Your law.

¹²⁷Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold,even the purest gold.

¹²⁸Therefore I admire all Your preceptsand hate every false way.

¹²⁹Wonderful are Your testimonies;therefore I obey them.

¹³⁰The unfolding of Your words gives light;it informs the simple.

¹³¹I open my mouth and pant,longing for Your commandments.

¹³²Turn to me and show me mercy,as You do to those who love Your name.

¹³³Order my steps in Your word;let no sin rule over me.

¹³⁴Redeem me from the oppression of man,that I may keep Your precepts.

¹³⁵Make Your face shine upon Your servant,and teach me Your statutes.

¹³⁶My eyes shed streams of tearsbecause Your law is not obeyed.

¹³⁷Righteous are You, O LORD,and upright are Your judgments.

¹³⁸The testimonies You have laid down are righteousand altogether faithful.

¹³⁹My zeal has consumed mebecause my foes forget Your words.

¹⁴⁰Your promise is completely pure;therefore Your servant loves it.

¹⁴¹I am lowly and despised,but I do not forget Your precepts.

¹⁴²Your righteousness is everlastingand Your law is true.

¹⁴³Trouble and distress have found me,but Your commandments are my delight.

¹⁴⁴Your testimonies are righteous forever.Give me understanding, that I may live.

¹⁴⁵I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD!I will obey Your statutes.

¹⁴⁶I call to You; save me,that I may keep Your testimonies.

¹⁴⁷I rise before dawn and cry for help;in Your word I have put my hope.

¹⁴⁸My eyes anticipate the watches of night,that I may meditate on Your word.

¹⁴⁹Hear my voice, O LORD, according to Your loving devotion;give me life according to Your justice.

¹⁵⁰Those who follow after wickedness draw near;they are far from Your law.

¹⁵¹You are near, O LORD,and all Your commandments are true.

¹⁵²Long ago I learned from Your testimoniesthat You have established them forever.

¹⁵³Look upon my affliction and rescue me,for I have not forgotten Your law.

¹⁵⁴Defend my cause and redeem me;revive me according to Your word.

¹⁵⁵Salvation is far from the wickedbecause they do not seek Your statutes.

¹⁵⁶Great are Your mercies, O LORD;revive me according to Your ordinances.

¹⁵⁷Though my persecutors and foes are many,I have not turned from Your testimonies.

¹⁵⁸I look on the faithless with loathingbecause they do not keep Your word.

¹⁵⁹Consider how I love Your precepts, O LORD;give me life according to Your loving devotion.

¹⁶⁰The entirety of Your word is truth,and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.

¹⁶¹Rulers persecute me without cause,but my heart fears only Your word.

¹⁶²I rejoice in Your promiselike one who finds great spoil.

¹⁶³I hate and abhor falsehood,but Your law I love.

¹⁶⁴Seven times a day I praise Youfor Your righteous judgments.

¹⁶⁵Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law;nothing can make them stumble.

¹⁶⁶I wait for Your salvation, O LORD,and I carry out Your commandments.

¹⁶⁷I obey Your testimoniesand love them greatly.

¹⁶⁸I obey Your precepts and Your testimonies,for all my ways are before You.

¹⁶⁹May my cry come before You, O LORD;give me understanding according to Your word.

¹⁷⁰May my plea come before You;rescue me according to Your promise.

¹⁷¹My lips pour forth praise,for You teach me Your statutes.

¹⁷²My tongue sings of Your word,for all Your commandments are righteous.

¹⁷³May Your hand be ready to help me,for I have chosen Your precepts.

¹⁷⁴I long for Your salvation, O LORD,and Your law is my delight.

¹⁷⁵Let me live to praise You;may Your judgments sustain me.

¹⁷⁶I have strayed like a lost sheep;seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.