Thus set he Ephraim before Manasse. And Israel said unto Ioseph: behold, I die. And God shall be with you and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. Moreover I give unto thee, a portion of land above thy brethren which I gat out of the hands of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow. Chapter .xlix. And Iacob called for his sons and said: come together, that I may tell you what shall happen you in the last days. Gather you together and hear ye sons of Iacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. Ruben, thou art mine eldest son, my might and the beginning of my strength, chief in receiving and chief in power. As unstable as water wast thou: thou shalt therefore not be the chiefest, for thou wentest up upon thy father's bed, and then defiledest thou my couch with going up. The brethren Simeon and Levi, wicked instruments are their weapons. Into their secrets come not my soul, and unto their congregation be my honour not coupled: for in their wrath they slew a man, and in their self will they houghed an ox. Cursed be their wrath for it was strong, and their fierceness for it was cruel. I will therefore divide them in Iacob, and scatter them in Israel. Iuda, thy brethren shall praise thee, and thine hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies, and thy father's children shall stoop unto thee. Iuda is a lion's whelp. From spoil my son thou art come on high: {an hye} he laid him down and couched himself as a lion, and as a lioness. Who dare stir him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Iuda, nor a ruler from between his legs, until Silo come, unto whom the people shall hearken. He shall bind his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the vine branch, and shall wash his garment in wine and his mantle in the blood of grapes: his eyes are roudier than wine, and his teeth whiter then milk. Zabulon shall dwell in the haven of the sea and in the port of ships, and shall reach unto Sidon. Isachar is a strong ass, he couched him down between two borders, and saw that rest was good and the land that it was pleasant, and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, and an adder in the path, and bite the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. After thy saving look I, LORD. Gad, men of war shall invade him. And he shall turn them to flight. Of Asser cometh fat bread, and he shall give pleasures for a king. Nephtali is a swift hind, and giveth goodly words. That flourishing child Ioseph, that flourishing child and goodly unto the eye: the daughters come forth to bear rule. {ran upon the wall.} The shooters have envied him and chide with him and hated him, and yet his bow bode fast, and his arms and his hands were strong, by the hands of the mighty God of Iacob: out of him shall come an herdman, a stone in Israel. Thy father's God shall help thee, and the almighty