1. And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.
2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel your father:
3. Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.
4. Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not: because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.
5. Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity, waging war.
6. Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.
7. Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath because it was cruel: I Will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.
8. Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies: the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.