1. Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around. I want to tell you what you can expect in the days to come.”
2. Come together, listen sons of Jacob,listen to Israel your father.
3-4. Reuben, you’re my firstborn,my strength, first proof of my manhood,at the top in honor and at the top in power,But like a bucket of water spilled,you’ll be at the top no more,Because you climbed into your father’s marriage bed,mounting that couch, and you defiled it.
5-6. Simeon and Levi are two of a kind,ready to fight at the drop of a hat.I don’t want anything to do with their vendettas,want no part in their bitter feuds;They kill men in fits of temper,slash oxen on a whim.
7. A curse on their uncontrolled anger,on their indiscriminate wrath.I’ll throw them out with the trash;I’ll shred and scatter them like confetti throughout Israel.