Reuben and Bilhah

1 And Jacob went and lived to the south of Magdaladra'ef. And he went to his father Isaac, he and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. 2 And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel's female servant, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her.⁠a 3 And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in her house. 4 And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered that it was Reuben. 5 And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled. 6 And she lamented because of this thing bitterly, and did not tell it to anyone. 7 And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said to him: 'I am not clean for you, for I have been defiled as regards you; for Reuben has defiled me, and has slept with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not realize until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.' 8 And Jacob was extremely angry with Reuben because he had slept with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father's skirt. 9 And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who uncovers his father's skirt his deed is extremely wicked, for he is abominable before the Lord.

The Commandment and Reuben’s Pardon

10 For this reason it is written and ordained on the heavenly tablets that a man should not lie with his father's wife, and should not uncover his father's skirt, for this is unclean: they shall surely die together, the man who lies with his father's wife and the woman also, for they have committed impurity on the earth. 11 And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in the nation which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. 12 And again, it is written a second time: 'Cursed be he who lies with the wife of his father, for he has uncovered his father's shame'; and all the holy ones of the Lord said 'So be it; so be it.' 13 And you, Moses, command the children of Israel that they observe this word; for it (entails) a punishment of death; and it is unclean, and there is no atonement forever to atone for the man who has committed this, but he is to be put to death and killed, and stoned with stones, and rooted out from the midst of the people of our God. 14 For it is permitted to no man who does so in Israel to remain alive a single day on the earth, for he is abominable and unclean. 15 And do not let them say: Reuben was granted life and forgiveness after he had slept with his father's concubine, and she also, though she had a husband, and her husband Jacob, his father, was still alive. 16 For until that time there had not been revealed the ordinance and judgment and commandment in its completeness for all, but in your days (it has been revealed) as a commandment of seasons and of days, and an everlasting commandment for the everlasting generations. 17 And for this commandment there is no end to its duration, and no atonement for it, but they must both be rooted out in the midst of the nation: on the day on which they committed it they shall kill them. 18 And you, Moses, write (it) down for Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these words, and not commit a sin leading to death; for the Lord our God is judge, who shows no favoritism and does not accept bribes. 19 And tell them these words of the covenant, that they may hear and observe, and be on their guard with respect to them, and not be destroyed and rooted out of the land; for all they who commit it on the earth before our God are an impurity, and an abomination, and a contamination, and a pollution. 20 And there is no greater sin than the sexual immorality which they commit on earth; for Israel is a holy nation to the Lord its God, and a nation of inheritance, and a priestly and royal nation and for (His own) possession; and no such impurity shall appear in the midst of the holy nation. 21 And in the third year of this sixth week [2145] Jacob and all his sons went and lived in the house of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebekah his mother. 22 And these were the names of the sons of Jacob: the firstborn Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, the sons of Leah; and the sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, the only daughter of Jacob. 23 And they came and bowed themselves to Isaac and Rebekah, and when they saw them they blessed Jacob and all his sons, and Isaac rejoiced greatly, for he saw the sons of Jacob, his younger son and he blessed them.