Genesis 49:4

² Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

³ Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

⁵ Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

⁶ O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.
KJV: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
WEB: Boiling over like water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.
ASV: Boiling over as water, thou shalt not have the pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father`s bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
DARBY: Impetuous as the waters, thou shalt have no pre-eminence; Because thou wentest up to thy father's couch: Then defiledst thou [it]: he went up to my bed.
BLB: Uncontrolled as the waters, you shall not excel, because you went up [to the] bed of your father; then you defiled [it]—he went up [onto] my couch.

ÅB: Du bruser over som vannet, du skal ikke ha noe fortrinn; for du steg opp på din fars leie; da vanhelliget du det - i min seng steg han opp!
OTB: Ustabil som vann, du skal ikke ha fortrinn, for du gikk opp til din fars seng; du vanæret den—han gikk opp til min seng.
B1930: Du bruser over som vannet, du skal intet fortrin ha; for du steg op på din fars leie; da vanhelliget du det - i min seng steg han op!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Genesis 35:22
And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
Read in context
1 Chronicles 5:1
Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 27:20
Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 33:6
Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
Read in context
1 Corinthians 5:1
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
Read in context
James 1:6–8
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Read in context
Genesis 46:8
And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 5:21
Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
Read in context