Genesis 49:9

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

¹⁰ The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

¹¹ He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?
KJV: Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
WEB: Judah is a lion’s cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?
ASV: Judah is a lion`s whelp; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up: He stooped down, he couched as a lion, And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
DARBY: Judah is a young lion; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stoopeth, he layeth himself down as a lion, And as a lioness: who will rouse him up?
BLB: Judah [is] a whelp of a lion; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouched, he lay down as a lion, and like a lioness, who shall rouse him?

ÅB: En ung løve er Juda; fra rov er du steget opp, min sønn! Han legger seg ned, han hviler som en løve, som en løvinne; hvem våger å vekke ham?
OTB: Juda er en løveunge; fra byttet, min sønn, har du gått opp. Han legger seg ned og hviler som en løve, og som en løvinne—hvem våger å vekke ham?
B1930: En ung løve er Juda; fra rov er du steget op, min sønn! Han legger sig ned, han hviler som en løve, som en løvinne; hvem våger å vekke ham?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Numbers 24:9
He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”
Read in context
Revelation 5:5
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Read in context
Numbers 23:24
Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.”
Read in context
Micah 5:8
Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.
Read in context
Hosea 5:14
For I am like a lion to Ephraim and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them to pieces and then go away. I will carry them off where no one can rescue them.
Read in context
Ezekiel 19:5
When she saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
Read in context
1 Corinthians 15:24
Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.
Read in context
Hosea 5:4
Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God, for a spirit of prostitution is within them, and they do not know the LORD.
Read in context