³ “Reuben, you are ^(A)my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you ^(B)went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.

⁸ “Judah,^(A) you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
^(B)Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
^(C)Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
⁹ Judah is ^(D)a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
^(E)He ^[a]bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
^10 (F)The ^[b]scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor ^(G)a lawgiver from between his feet,
^(H)Until Shiloh comes;
^(I)And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.