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

2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.

3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.

5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.

6 ¶ Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few. [ Reuben s blessed with life and strength in numbers. ]

7 ¶ And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies. [ Moses blesses Judah fought on Israel’s behalf, and God should hear and help him. ]

8 ¶ And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, [ Because Levi was loyal to the Lord he will teach the people God’s ways. ] whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

12 ¶ And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; < [ The tribe of Benjamin is blessed with security and protection. ] and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

13 ¶ And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, [ Like a majestic ox: he gets the best of the land and dominates other nations. ] for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,

14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,

15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,

16  And for the precious things of the earth [ Moses is blessing the the tribes of Israel. ] and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. [ Moses is giving about the same blessing to Israel that Jacob did in Gen 49 when he said that Joseph would be a fruitful bough and cross the ocean, here Moses is suggesting that Joseph will be separated from his brethren. ]

17 His glory is like the firstling [ Firstborn. ] of his bullock, [ A domestic ox. ] and his horns [ Power. ] are like the horns of unicorns: [ Wild Oxen. said to be so large and powerful that it couldn't be killed unless driven into a pit or off a cliff. “The word unicorn is mentioned in the King James Bible, but that is a mistranslation; the animal referred to is actually some kind of wild ox or other form of Bovidae.” Most experts say no, and they also say that the original manuscripts shouldn’t lead us to believe they did. The source text for each of these references gives us the Hebrew “re’em,” which the Jewish Encyclopedia describes as “a wild, untamable animal of great strength and agility, with mighty horns.” If this sounds less like a unicorn and more like a rhinoceros, that’s because many scholars believe these verses likely refer to the African mammal. ] with them he [ Joseph. ( and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh) JST, Gen. 48:11 ] shall push the people [ Gathering of Israel. So the oxen will use their horns to push the people back toward God. A reference to the tribe of Joseph being the shepherd of Israel in the last days Gen 49:24. ] together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 ¶ And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents.

19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand. [ Zebulun & Issachar are blessed by Moses with joy, righteousness, and treasures of the sea. ]

20 ¶ And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. [ Gad who is like unto a lion will take the ruler’s portion and execute justice. ]

21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.

22 ¶ And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan. [ Dan is also like Gad; a lion, and will take the ruler’s portion and execute justice. ]

23 ¶ And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south. [ Naphtali receives the favor and blessing from God, taking the sea and the west and the south. ]

24 ¶ And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; l [ Asher is blessed with abundant posterity riches and security. ] let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

25 Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

26 ¶ There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.

27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

29  Happy art thou, O Israel: [ And we get to the end of the blessing from Moses and everyone is blessed EXCEPT Simeon. Simeon gets the shaft - Seriously, he gets nothing. ] who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.