Hæc est benedictio, qua benedixit Moyses, homo Dei, filiis Israël ante mortem suam.

This is the blessing, wherewith the man of God Moses blessed the children of Israel, before his death.

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

Et ait: Dominus de Sinai venit, et de Seir ortus est nobis: apparuit de monte Pharan, et cum eo sanctorum millia. In dextera ejus ignea lex.

And he said: The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir he rose up to us: he hath appeared from mount Pharan, and with him thousands of saints. In his right hand a fiery law.

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.

Dilexit populos, omnes sancti in manu illius sunt: et qui appropinquant pedibus ejus, accipient de doctrina illius.

He hath loved the people, all the saints are in his hand: and they that approach to his feet, shall receive of his doctrine.

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.

Legem præcepit nobis Moyses, hæreditatem multitudinis Jacob.

Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the multitude of Jacob.

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

Erit apud rectissimum rex, congregatis principibus populi cum tribubus Israël.

He shall be king with the most right, the princes of the people being assembled with the tribes of Israel.

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

Vivat Ruben, et non moriatur, et sit parvus in numero.

Let Ruben live, and not die, and be he small in number.

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

Hæc est Judæ benedictio: Audi, Domine, vocem Judæ, et ad populum suum introduc eum: manus ejus pugnabunt pro eo, et adjutor illius contra adversarios ejus erit.

This is the blessing of Juda. Hear, O Lord, the voice of Juda, and bring him in unto his people: his hands shall fight for him, and he shall be his helper against his enemies.

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.

Levi quoque ait: Perfectio tua, et doctrina tua viro sancto tuo, quem probasti in tentatione, et judicasti ad aquas contradictionis.

To Levi also he said: Thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy holy man, whom thou hast proved in the temptation, and judged at the waters of contradiction:

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.

Qui dixit patri suo et matri suæ: Nescio vos: et fratribus suis: Ignoro vos: et nescierunt filios suos. Hi custodierunt eloquium tuum, et pactum tuum servaverunt.

Who hath said to his father, and to his mother: I do not know you; and to his brethren: I know you not: and their own children they have not known. These have kept thy word, and observed thy covenant,

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;

Judicia tua, o Jacob, et legem tuam, o Israël: ponent thymiama in furore tuo, et holocaustum super altare tuum.

Thy judgments, O Jacob, and thy law, O Israel: they shall put incense in thy wrath and holocaust upon thy altar.

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.

Benedic, Domine, fortitudini ejus: et opera manuum illius suscipe. Percute dorsa inimicorum ejus: et qui oderunt eum, non consurgant.

Bless, O Lord, his strength, and receive the works of his hands. Strike the backs of his enemies, and let not them that hate him rise.

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.

Et Benjamin ait: Amantissimus Domini habitabit confidenter in eo: quasi in thalamo tota die morabitur, et inter humeros illius requiescet.

And to Benjamin he said: The best beloved of the Lord shall dwell confidently in him: as in a bride chamber shall he abide all the day long, and between his shoulders shall be rest.

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.

Joseph quoque ait: De benedictione Domini terra ejus, de pomis cæli, et rore, atque abysso subjacente.

To Joseph also he said: Of the blessing of the Lord be his land, of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath.

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,

De pomis fructuum solis ac lunæ,

Of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon.

enriched by ripening suns and engendering moons,

de vertice antiquorum montium, de pomis collium æternorum:

Of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills:

enriched by every influence of ancient mountains and immemorial hills,

et de frugibus terræ, et de plenitudine ejus. Benedictio illius qui apparuit in rubo, veniat super caput Joseph, et super verticem nazaræi inter fratres suos.

And of the fruits of the earth, and of the fulness thereof. The blessing of him that appeared in the bush, come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

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.

Quasi primogeniti tauri pulchritudo ejus, cornua rhinocerotis cornua illius: in ipsis ventilabit gentes usque ad terminos terræ. Hæ sunt multitudines Ephraim: et hæc millia Manasse.

His beauty as of the firstling of a bullock, his horns as the horns of a rhinoceros: with them shall he push the nations even to the ends of the earth. These are the multitudes of Ephraim and these the thousands of Manasses.

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!

Et Zabulon ait: Lætare, Zabulon, in exitu tuo, et Issachar in tabernaculis tuis.

And to Zabulon he said: Rejoice, O Zabulon, in thy going out; and Issachar in thy tabernacles.

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

Populos vocabunt ad montem: ibi immolabunt victimas justitiæ. Qui inundationem maris quasi lac sugent, et thesauros absconditos arenarum.

They shall call the people to the mountain: there shall they sacrifice the victims of justice. Who shall suck as milk the abundance of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sands.

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.

Et Gad ait: Benedictus in latitudine Gad: quasi leo requievit, cepitque brachium et verticem.

And to Gad he said: Blessed be Gad in his breadth: he hath rested as a lion, and hath seized upon the arm and the top of the head.

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.

Et vidit principatum suum, quod in parte sua doctor esset repositus: qui fuit cum principibus populi, et fecit justitias Domini, et judicium suum cum Israël.

And he saw his pre-eminence, that in his portion the teacher was laid up: who was with the princes of the people, and did the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel.

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?

Dan quoque ait: Dan catulus leonis, fluet largiter de Basan.

To Dan also he said: Dan is a young lion, he shall flow plentifully from Basan.

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

Et Nephthali dixit: Nephthali abundantia perfruetur, et plenus erit benedictionibus Domini: mare et meridiem possidebit.

And To Nephtali he said: Nephtali shall enjoy abundance, and shall be full of the blessings of the Lord: he shall possess the sea and the south.

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

Aser quoque ait: Benedictus in filiis Aser, sit placens fratribus suis, et tingat in oleo pedem suum:

To Aser also he said: Let Aser be blessed with children, let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

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,

ferrum et æs calceamentum ejus. Sicut dies juventutis tuæ, ita et senectus tua.

His shoe shall be iron and brass. As the days of thy youth, so also shall thy old age be.

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

Non est deus alius ut Deus rectissimi, ascensor cæli, auxiliator tuus. Magnificentia ejus discurrunt nubes,

There is no other God like the God of the rightest: he that is mounted upon the heaven is thy helper. By his magnificence the clouds run hither and thither.

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;

habitaculum ejus sursum, et subter brachia sempiterna ejiciet a facie tua inimicum, dicetque: Conterere.

His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms: he shall cast out the enemy from before thee, and shall say: Be thou brought to nought.

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;

Habitabit Israël confidenter, et solus. Oculus Jacob in terra frumenti et vini, cælique caligabunt rore.

Israel shall dwell in safety, and alone. The eye of Jacob in a land of corn and wine, and the heavens shall be misty with dew.

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.

Beatus es tu, Israël: quis similis tui, popule, qui salvaris in Domino? Scutum auxilii tui, et gladius gloriæ tuæ: negabunt te inimici tui, et tu eorum colla calcabis.

Blessed art thou, Israel: who is like to thee, O people, that art saved by the Lord? the shield of thy help, and the sword of thy glory: thy enemies shall deny thee, and thou shalt tread upon their necks.

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.