JubileesSecond Temple / PseudepigraphaAccepted by Some TraditionsHebrew, preserved substantially in Ge'ez with Greek and Latin witnessesShareJubilees 33R. H. Charles - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableR. H. CharlesLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Jubilees 1Jubilees 2Jubilees 3Jubilees 4Jubilees 5Jubilees 6Jubilees 7Jubilees 8Jubilees 9Jubilees 10Jubilees 11Jubilees 12Jubilees 13Jubilees 14Jubilees 15Jubilees 16Jubilees 17Jubilees 18Jubilees 19Jubilees 20Jubilees 21Jubilees 22Jubilees 23Jubilees 24Jubilees 25Jubilees 26Jubilees 27Jubilees 28Jubilees 29Jubilees 30Jubilees 31Jubilees 32Jubilees 33Jubilees 34Jubilees 35Jubilees 36Jubilees 37Jubilees 38Jubilees 39Jubilees 40Jubilees 41Jubilees 42Jubilees 43Jubilees 44Jubilees 45Jubilees 46Jubilees 47Jubilees 48Jubilees 49Jubilees 50›Jubilees 33Jubilees 33ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1And Jacob went and dwelt 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. 2And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel's maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her. 3And 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. 4And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold 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. 5And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled. 6And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one. 7And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: 'I am not clean for thee, for I have been defiled as regards thee; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.' 8And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father's skirt. 9And 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 wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before the Lord. 10For 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 wrought uncleanness on the earth. 11And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in the nation which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. 12And again, it is written a second time: 'Cursed be he who lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his father's shame'; and all the holy ones of the Lord said 'So be it; so be it.' 13And do thou, 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 for ever to atone for the man who has committed this, but he is to be put to death and slain, and stoned with stones, and rooted out from the midst of the people of our God. 14For to no man who does so in Israel is it permitted to remain alive a single day on the earth, for he is abominable and unclean. 15And let them not say: to Reuben was granted life and forgiveness after he had lain with his father's concubine, and to her also though she had a husband, and her husband Jacob, his father, was still alive. 16For until that time there had not been revealed the ordinance and judgment and law in its completeness for all, but in thy days (it has been revealed) as a law of seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the everlasting generations. 17And for this law there is no consummation of days, and no atonement for it, but they must both be rooted out in the midst of the nation: on the day whereon they committed it they shall slay them. 18And do thou, Moses, write (it) down for Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these words, and not commit a sin unto death; for the Lord our God is judge, who respects not persons and accepts not gifts. 19And 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 an uncleanness, and an abomination, and a contamination, and a pollution are all they who commit it on the earth before our God. 20And there is no greater sin than the fornication which they commit on earth; for Israel is a holy nation unto the Lord its God, and a nation of inheritance, and a priestly and royal nation and for (His own) possession; and there shall no such uncleanness appear in the midst of the holy nation. 21And in the third year of this sixth week [2145 A.M.] Jacob and all his sons went and dwelt in the house of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebecca his mother. 22And these were the names of the sons of Jacob: the first-born Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, 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. 23And they came and bowed themselves to Isaac and Rebecca, and when they saw them they blessed Jacob and all his sons, and Isaac rejoiced exceedingly, for he saw the sons of Jacob, his younger son and he blessed them. ‹Previous chapterJubilees 32Next chapterJubilees 34›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public-domain R. H. Charles English translation via CCEL