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33This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. ²He said: The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran. With him were myriads of holy ones; at his right, a host of his own. ³Indeed, O favorite among peoples, all his holy ones were in your charge; they marched at your heels, accepted direction from you. ⁴Moses charged us with the law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. ⁵There arose a king in Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled— the united tribes of Israel.

⁶May Reuben live, and not die out, even though his numbers are few. ⁷And this he said of Judah: O Lord, give heed to Judah, and bring him to his people; strengthen his hands for him, and be a help against his adversaries.

⁸And of Levi he said: Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your loyal one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah; ⁹who said of his father and mother, “I regard them not”; he ignored his kin, and did not acknowledge his children. For they observed your word, and kept your covenant. ¹⁰They teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law; they place incense before you, and whole burnt offerings on your altar. ¹¹Bless, O Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

¹²Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord rests in safety— the High God surrounds him all day long— the beloved rests between his shoulders. ¹³And of Joseph he said: Blessed by the Lord be his land, with the choice gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that lies beneath; ¹⁴with the choice fruits of the sun, and the rich yield of the months; ¹⁵with the finest produce of the ancient mountains, and the abundance of the everlasting hills; ¹⁶with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai. Let these come on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers. ¹⁷A firstborn bull—majesty is his! His horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he gores the peoples, driving them to the ends of the earth; such are the myriads of Ephraim, such the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸And of Zebulun he said: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents. ¹⁹They call peoples to the mountain; there they offer the right sacrifices; for they suck the affluence of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand. ²⁰And of Gad he said: Blessed be the enlargement of Gad! Gad lives like a lion; he tears at arm and scalp. ²¹He chose the best for himself, for there a commander’s allotment was reserved; he came at the head of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his ordinances for Israel.

²²And of Dan he said: Dan is a lion’s whelp that leaps forth from Bashan. ²³And of Naphtali he said: O Naphtali, sated with favor, full of the blessing of the Lord, possess the west and the south. ²⁴And of Asher he said: Most blessed of sons be Asher; may he be the favorite of his brothers, and may he dip his foot in oil. ²⁵Your bars are iron and bronze; and as your days, so is your strength.

²⁶There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, majestic through the skies. ²⁷He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old; he drove out the enemy before you, and said, “Destroy!” ²⁸So Israel lives in safety, untroubled is Jacob’s abode in a land of grain and wine, where the heavens drop down dew. ²⁹Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread on their backs.