Knox Bible

1

And this is the blessing which God’s servant Moses gave to the sons of Israel before he died.✻

2

See where the Lord comes forth, he said, from Sinai, where he rises high above the hills of Edom before us, dawns on us from mount Pharan; thousands of his holy ones were about him, and on his right hand his law shone to them like fire.

3

How he loves those tribes of his! All his holy ones dwell in his protecting care, can gather at his feet, and partake of his instruction.

4

We had a law given to us by Moses, the heirloom of Jacob’s posterity,

5

and our king dwelt among us, his favoured people, with the chieftains and all the tribes of Israel assembled about him.

6

Let Ruben live on, never wasting away yet never growing populous.

7

And this was Juda’s blessing. Listen, Lord, to Juda’s plea, and restore him to his place among the people, so that he may fight for it and defend it against its enemies.

8

And of Levi he said, The touchstones of Wisdom and Truth are for the man thou hast set apart, testing him at the place of Challenge, proving his worth at the Water of Rebellion.✻

9

This is one who said to his father and mother, You are no acquaintance of mine, and to his brethren, I do not recognize you. Here are men that treated their own children as strangers, paying heed rather to thy warnings, keeping true to thy covenant;

10

Here, they said to Jacob, are the decrees thou must obey, here, Israel, is the law that governs thee. When thou art angry, Lord, it is theirs to offer incense, and burn sacrifice upon thy altar.

11

Bless all he has, Lord, and prosper all he does; smite his enemies and put them to rout, never let them rise up again to plot against him.

12

Of Benjamin he said, First in the Lord’s love, he shall dwell secure in that companionship. God will spread his pavilion over him at all times, rest on those hills.✻

13

Of Joseph he said, His is a land rich in blessing from the Lord, enriched with dew by the heavens above us, with springs by the depth beneath,

14

enriched by ripening suns and engendering moons,

15

enriched by every influence of ancient mountains and immemorial hills,

16

enriched by earth and all the foison earth yields. Let the blessing of that God who once appeared in the bush light upon the head of Joseph, light on his brow who is separated like a Nazirite from his brethren.

17

What is the pride of the first-born bull-calf, or of the wild ox, but his two horns? Such horns has Joseph, that can toss nations to the ends of the earth; the hordes of Ephraim, the legions of Manasses!

18

Of Zabulon he said, Happy art thou, Zabulon, and thou too, Issachar, at home and abroad.

19

Peoples shall be their guests on the mountain height, where their solemn sacrifice is offered. The wealth of the sea shall foster them, the treasures that lie hidden in the sands.

20

Of Gad he said, Blessed is Gad in the breadth of his lands; he lies there like a lion, ready to take head and arm for his prey.

21

He too has achieved eminence; did not those lands of his enshrine such a ruler as took his part among the chiefs of the people, executing the Lord’s justice, his decrees concerning Israel?✻

22

Of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp; a torrent that comes down in full flood from Basan.

23

Of Nephthali he said, Nephthali shall enjoy great plenty, be rich in the Lord’s blessings; seaward and southward he shall extend his frontiers.

24

Of Aser he said, Aser is a son highly favoured; let him stand well with his brethren; let him have oil to wash his feet in,

25

iron and bronze to make shoes for him. Let thy age be peaceful as thy youth.

26

The beloved people has a God great as no other; he rides in heaven to deliver thee, the clouds making way for his majestic coming;

27

there, on high, is his dwelling, and yet the eternal arms reach down to uphold thee. He will dispossess the enemy at thy onslaught, and doom him to destruction;

28

Israel shall live unmolested, Jacob shall see no rival near him, in a land full of corn and wine, under skies curtained with dewy mist.

29

Blessed, Israel, thou art, a people like no other, finding in the Lord thy deliverance, the shield that protects thee, the sword that wins thee renown! Thy enemies shall forswear their enmity, and thou shalt tread their pride in the dust.✻