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.