Genesis 49:3-5

The Voice

³     Reuben, you are my firstborn son,
        my power and the vigor of my youth,
        first in rank and first in power.
⁴     But you are out of control, like floodwaters; you have forfeited your place
        because you have lain with your father’s wife
        and defiled his bed—you climbed onto my couch!

⁵     Simeon and Levi are indeed brothers, kindred spirits
        who use their swords^[a] for cruelty and violence.