English Standard Version

Genesis 49:18-27 English Standard Version (ESV)

18. I wait for your salvation, O Lord.

19. “Raiders shall raid Gad,but he shall raid at their heels.

20. “Asher’s food shall be rich,and he shall yield royal delicacies.

21. “Naphtali is a doe let loosethat bears beautiful fawns.

22. “Joseph is a fruitful bough,a fruitful bough by a spring;his branches run over the wall.

23. The archers bitterly attacked him,shot at him, and harassed him severely,

24. yet his bow remained unmoved;his arms were made agileby the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob(from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

25. by the God of your father who will help you,by the Almighty who will bless youwith blessings of heaven above,blessings of the deep that crouches beneath,blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26. The blessings of your fatherare mighty beyond the blessings of my parents,up to the bounties of the everlasting hills.May they be on the head of Joseph,and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27. “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,in the morning devouring the preyand at evening dividing the spoil.”