1 And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may atell you what shall befall you bin the last days:
2 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
3 “Reuben, you are amy firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you awent up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of1 cruelty arein their dwelling place.
6aLet not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united bto their assembly; cFor in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they1 hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for itis fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! aI will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.
8 “Judah,a you arehe whom your brothers shall praise; bYour hand shallbe on the neck of your enemies; cYour father’s children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah isaa lion’s whe1lp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. bHe bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
Reuben, "unstable as water," would "not excel," because of his sexual depravity. Although he was the firstborn, he did not receive the birthright blessing.
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