1. Then Jacob called his sons to him. He said, “Come here to me, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future.
2. “Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.Listen to Israel, your father.”
3. “Reuben, my first son, you are my strength.Your birth showed I could be a father.You have the highest position among my sons,and you are the most powerful.
4. But you are uncontrolled like water,so you will no longer lead your brothers.This is because you got into your father’s bedand shamed me by having sexual relations with my slave girl.
5. “Simeon and Levi are brotherswho used their swords to do violence.
6. I will not join their secret talks,and I will not meet with them to plan evil.They killed men because they were angry,and they crippled oxen just for fun.
7. May their anger be cursed, because it is too violent.May their violence be cursed, because it is too cruel.I will divide them up among the tribes of Jacoband scatter them through all the tribes of Israel.