The Sin of Reuben
33 And Jacob went and dwelt toward the north at Magdelraep. 2And he went to his father Isaac, he and Leah, his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. 3And Reuben saw Balla, the maid of Rachel, the concubine of his father, while she was bathing in water at a hidden place, and he loved her. 4And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Balla at night, and found her lying alone on her bed, and sleeping, and he lay down with her. 5And she awoke, and saw, and behold, Reuben was lying with her on the bed; and she uncovered the edge and seized him and cried out, and discovered that it was Reuben, and she was ashamed on his account, and let go her hand from him, and he fled. 6And she lamented on account of this thing exceedingly, and did not mention it to anybody.
7And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said to him: "I am not clean for thee, for I have been defiled for thee, for Reuben has defiled me and lay with me in the night, and I was asleep and did not discover it until he uncovered the edge, and he lay with me." 8And Jacob was very angry at Reuben that he had lain with Balla, for he had uncovered the covering of his father; and Jacob did not approach her any more, because Reuben had defiled her, for his deed was very wicked, for it is accursed before the Lord.
Discourse on Fornication
9On this account it is written and ordained on the tablets of heaven, that a man shall not sleep with the wife of his father, and that he shall not uncover the covering of his father, for this is unclean; they must surely die together, the man that lies with the wife of his father, and the woman, for they do an unclean thing in the land. 10And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in the nation he has chosen for himself as a kingdom. 11And again it is written: "Cursed be the one that lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered the shame of his father, and all the holy ones of the Lord shall say: "Thus be it! Thus be it!"
12And thou, Moses, command the children of Israel that they observe this word, for the punishment is death, and it is unclean, and there is no forgiveness to atone for a man that does this wicked deed, except slaying and stoning him to death, or rooting him out from amongst the people of our God. 13For there shall not remain alive on earth a single day any man that does this in Israel, for it is accursed and unclean. 14And let them not say that Reuben lived and was forgiven that he had slept with the concubine of his father, and she too, although her husband, Jacob, his father, was yet alive. 15For he had not yet revealed the ordinance and the punishment and the law in its entire completeness; for in thy days it is as a law since his days and as a law to eternity, to the generation of eternity; and there is not any passing of days to this law, nor any forgiveness to him, except that they both be rooted out together from the midst of the people: on the day on which they do it they shall slay them. 16And thou, Moses, write it down for Israel that they observe it according to these words, and let them not commit a mortal sin, for the Lord our God is a judge who has no regard for persons and receives no presents. 17And tell them these words of the ordinance, that they obey and preserve them, and watch themselves, and be not destroyed and rooted out of the land; for unclean and an abomination and contamination and profanation are all they that do this on the earth before our God. 18And there is no sin on earth greater than fornication, which they commit on the earth, for Israel is a nation holy Unto God, and a nation of inheritance for its God, and a nation of priesthood and royalty and a possession, and no one shall appear thus unclean in the midst of the holy people.
Jacob's Family Dwells with Abraham
19And in the third year of this sixth week Jacob and all his sons went and dwelt in the house of Abraham, near Isaac, his father, and Rebecca, his mother. 20And these are the names of the sons of Jacob: the first bore Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, the sons of Leah; and the sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Balla, Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zalapha, Gad and Asur; and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, the only daughter of Jacob. 21And going, they bowed down before Isaac and Rebecca; and when they saw them, they blessed Jacob and all his sons. 22And Isaac rejoiced exceedingly that he saw the sons of Jacob, his youngest son, and he blessed them.