雅各的遗言
雅各叫了他的儿子来,说:“你们都来聚集,让我把你们日后要遇到的事告诉你们。
And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2雅各的儿子们,你们要聚集,要聆听, 听你们父亲以色列的话。Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3吕便啊,你是我的长子,我的力量, 我壮年头生之子, 极有尊荣,权力超群。Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4你却放纵如水,必不得居首位; 因为你上了你父亲的床, 你☛“你”是根据七十士译本和其他古译本;原文是“他”。上了我的榻,污辱了它!Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
5西缅和利未是兄弟; 他们的刀剑是残暴的兵器。Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6愿我的心不与他们同谋, 愿我的灵☛“灵”:原文是“荣耀”。不与他们合伙; 因为他们在烈怒中杀人, 任意割断牛腿的筋。O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7他们火爆的烈怒可诅, 他们凶残的愤恨可咒! 我要把他们分散在雅各中, 使他们散居在以色列。Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
8犹大啊,你的兄弟必赞美你, 你的手必掐住仇敌的颈项, 你父亲的儿子要向你下拜。Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
9犹大是只小狮子; 我儿啊,你捕获了猎物就上去。 他蹲伏,他躺卧,如公狮, 又如母狮,谁敢惹他呢?Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10权杖必不离犹大, 统治者的杖必不离他两脚之间, 直等细罗☛“细罗”意思不清楚,可指“贡物”或“那应得权杖者”。来到, 万民都要归顺他。The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11犹大把小驴拴在葡萄树上, 把驴驹拴在佳美的葡萄树上。 他在葡萄酒中洗衣服, 在葡萄汁☛“汁”:原文是“血”。中洗长袍。Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12他的眼睛比☛“比”或译“因”;下同。酒红润, 他的牙齿比奶洁白。His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13西布伦必住在海边, 必成为停船的港口; 他的疆界必延到西顿。Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
14以萨迦是匹强壮的驴, 卧在羊圈之中。Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15他看见居所安舒, 土地肥美, 就屈肩负重, 成为服劳役的仆人。And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16但必为他的百姓伸冤☛“伸冤”与“但”的希伯来话发音相近。, 作为以色列支派之一。Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17但必作道旁的蛇, 路边的毒蛇, 咬伤马蹄, 使骑马的人向后坠落。Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
18耶和华啊,我等候你的救恩。I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
19迦得必被袭击者袭击☛“袭击”与“迦得”的希伯来话发音相近。, 他却要袭击他们的脚跟。Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20亚设必出丰盛的粮食, 要供应君王的佳肴。Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
21拿弗他利是被释放的母鹿, 他要生出可爱的小鹿☛“可爱的小鹿”或译“佳美的言语”。。Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
22约瑟是多结果子的树枝, 是泉旁多结果的枝子; 他的枝条伸出墙外。Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
23弓箭手恶意攻击他, 敌对他,向他射箭。The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24但他的弓仍旧坚硬, 他的手臂灵活敏捷, 这是因雅各的大能者的手, 从那里,他是以色列的牧者, 以色列的磐石☛“从那里...磐石”:原文另译“因为以色列的牧者,以色列的磐石的名”;七十士译本是“从那里他降服了以色列”。。But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25你父亲的神必帮助你; 全能者必赐福给你: 天上的福, 深渊下面蕴藏的福, 以及生育哺养的福。Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26你父亲的福 胜过我祖先的福, 直到永世山岭的极限。 这些福必降在约瑟的头上, 临到那与兄弟有分别之人的头顶上。The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
27便雅悯是只抓撕掠物的狼, 早晨要吃他的猎物, 晚上要分他的掳物。”Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28这一切是以色列的十二个支派。这是他们的父亲对他们所说的话,他按照各人的福分为他们祝福。雅各的死和安葬
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
29他又吩咐他们说:“我快要归到我祖先☛“我祖先”:原文是“我百姓”。那里。你们要将我葬在赫人以弗仑田间的洞里,与我的祖先在一处,And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30就是在迦南地幔利对面的麦比拉田间的洞里,那田是亚伯拉罕向赫人以弗仑买来作坟地的产业。In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
31亚伯拉罕和他的妻子撒拉葬在那里;以撒和他的妻子利百加也葬在那里。我也在那里葬了利亚。There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
32那块田和田间的洞是向赫人买的。”The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
33雅各嘱咐众子完毕后,就把脚收在床上断了气,归到他祖先☛“他祖先”:原文是“他百姓”。那里去了。And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.