THE TESTAMENT OF
ASHER
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the testament of
Asher, what things he spake to his sons in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of
his life.
2 For while he was still in health,
he said to them: Hearken, ye children of Asher, to your father, and I will declare
to you all that is upright in the sight of God.
3 Two ways hath God given to the
sons of men, and two inclinations, and two kinds of action, and two modes (of
action), and two issues.
4 Therefore all things are by twos,
one over against the other.
5 For there are two ways of good and
evil, and with these are the two inclinations in our breasts discriminating
them.
6 Therefore if the soul take pleasure
in the good (inclination), all its actions are in righteousness; and if it sin
it straightway repenteth.
7 For, having its thoughts set upon
righteousness, and casting away wickedness, it straightway overthroweth the
evil, and uprooteth the sin.
8 But if it incline to the evil inclination,
all its actions are in wickedness, and it driveth away the good, and cleaveth
to the evil, and is ruled by Beliar; even though it work what is good, he
perverteth it to evil.
9 For whenever it beginneth to do
good, he forceth the issue of the action into evil for him, seeing that the
treasure of the inclination is filled with an evil spirit.
CHAPTER 2
1 A person, then, may with words
help the good for the sake of the evil, yet the issue of the action leadeth to
mischief.
2 There is a man who showeth no
compassion upon him who serveth his turn in evil; and this thing hath two
aspects, but the whole is evil.
3 And there is a man that loveth him
that worketh evil, because he would prefer even to die in evil for his sake;
and concerning this it is clear that it hath two aspects, but the whole is an
evil work.
4 Though, indeed, he have love, yet
is he wicked who concealeth what is evil for the sake of the good name, but the
end of the action tendeth unto evil.
5 Another stealeth, doeth unjustly,
plundereth, defraudeth, and withal pitieth the poor: this too hath a twofold
aspect, but the whole is evil.
6 He who defraudeth his neighbour
provoketh God, and sweareth falsely against the Most High, and yet pitieth the
poor: the Lord Who commandeth the law he setteth at nought and provoketh, and
yet he refresheth the poor.
7 He defileth the soul, and maketh
gay the body; he killeth many, and pitieth a few: this, too, hath a twofold
aspect, but the whole is evil.
8 Another committeth adultery and
fornication, and abstaineth from meats, and when he fasteth he doeth evil, and
by the power of his wealth overwhelmeth many; and notwithstanding his excessive
wickedness he doeth then commandments: this, too, hath a twofold aspect, but
the whole is evil.
9 Such men are hares; for they are
half clean, but in very deed are unclean.
10 For God in the tables of the
commandments hath thus declared.
CHAPTER 3
1 But do not ye, my children, wear
two faces like unto them, of goodness and of wickedness; but cleave unto
goodness only, for God hath His habitation therein, and men desire it.
2 But from wickedness flee away, destroying
the (evil) inclination by your good works; for they that are double-faced serve
not God, but their own lusts, so that they may please Beliar and men like unto
themselves.
CHAPTER 4
1 For good men, even they that are
of single face, though they be thought by them that are double-faced to sin,
are just before God.
2 For many in killing the wicked do
two works, of good and evil; but the whole is good, because he hath uprooted
and destroyed that which is evil.
3 One man hateth the merciful and
unjust man, and the man who committeth adultery and fasteth: this, too, has a
twofold aspect, but the whole work is good, because he followeth the Lord's
example, in that he accepteth not the seeming good as the genuine good.
4 Another desireth not to see a good
day with them that riot, lest he defile his body and pollute his soul: this,
too, is double-faced, but the whole is good.
5 For such men are like to stags and
to hinds, because in the manner of wild animals they seem to be unclean, but
they are altogether clean; because they walk in zeal for the Lord and abstain
from what God also hateth and forbiddeth by His commandments, warding off the
evil from the good.
CHAPTER 5
1 Ye see, my children, how that
there are two in all things, one against the other, and the one is hidden by
the other: in wealth (is hidden) covetousness, in conviviality drunkenness, in
laughter grief, in wedlock profligacy.
2 Death succeedeth to life, dishonour
to glory, night to day, and darkness to light; and all things are under the
day, just things under life, unjust things under death; wherefore also eternal
life awaiteth death.
3 Nor may it be said that truth is a
lie, nor right wrong; for all truth is under the light, even as all things are
under God.
4 All these things, therefore, I
proved in my life, and I wandered not from the truth of the Lord, and I
searched out the commandments of the Most High, walking according to all my
strength with singleness of face unto that which is good.
CHAPTER 6
1 Take heed, therefore, ye also, my
children, to the commandments of the Lord, following the truth with singleness
of face.
2 For they that are double-faced are
guilty of a twofold sin; for they both do the evil thing and they have pleasure
in them that do it, following the example of the spirits of deceit, and
striving against mankind.
3 Do ye, therefore, my children,
keep the law of the Lord, and give not heed unto evil as unto good; but look
unto the thing that is really good, and keep it in all commandments of the
Lord, having your conversation therein, and resting therein.
4 For the latter ends of men do show
their righteousness (or unrighteousness), when they meet the angels of the Lord
and of Satan.
5 For when the soul departeth troubled,
it is tormented by the evil spirit which also it served in lusts and evil
works.
6 But if he is peaceful with joy he
meeteth the angel of peace, and he leadeth him into eternal life.
CHAPTER 7
1 Become not, my children, as Sodom
2 For I know that ye shall sin, and
be delivered into the hands of your enemies; and your land shall be made
desolate, and your holy places destroyed, and ye shall be scattered unto the
four corners of the earth. And ye shall be set at nought in the Dispersion as
useless water,
3 Until the Most High shall visit
the earth, coming Himself as man, with men eating and drinking, and breaking
the head of the dragon in the water. He shall save Israel
4 Therefore do ye also, my children,
tell these things to your children, that they disobey Him not.
5 For I have known that ye shall assuredly
be disobedient, and assuredly act ungodly, not giving heed to the law of God,
but to the commandments of men, being corrupted through wickedness.
6 And therefore shall ye be scattered
as Gad and Dan my brethren, and ye shall know not your own lands, tribe, and
tongue.
7 But the Lord will gather you together
in faith through His tender mercy, and for the sake of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.
CHAPTER 8
1 And when he had said these things
unto them, he commanded saying: Bury me in Hebron
2 And his sons did as he had commanded
them, and they carried him up to Hebron
THE TESTAMENT OF
BENJAMIN
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Benjamin,
which he commanded his sons to observe, after he had lived a hundred and
twenty-five years.
2 And he kissed them, and said: As
Isaac was born to Abraham in his old age, so also was I to Jacob.
3 And since Rachel my mother died in
giving me birth, I had no milk; therefore I was suckled by Bilhah her handmaid.
4 For Rachel remained barren for
twelve years after she had borne Joseph; and she prayed the Lord with fasting
twelve days, and she conceived and bare me.
5 For my father loved Rachel dearly,
and prayed that he might see two sons born from her.
6 Therefore was I called Benjamin,
that is, a son of days.
CHAPTER 2
1 And when I went into Egypt
2 And I said unto him, They dabbled
thy coat with blood and sent it, and said: Know whether this be thy son's coat?
3 And he said unto me: Even so,
brother, when they had stripped me of my coat they gave me to the Ishmaelites,
and they gave me a loin cloth, and scourged me, and bade me run.
4 And as for one of them that had
beaten me with a rod, a lion met him and slew him.
5 And so his associates were affrighted.
CHAPTER 3
1 Do ye also, therefore, my children,
love the Lord God of heaven and earth, and keep His commandments, following the
example of the good and holy man Joseph.
2 And let your mind be unto good,
even as ye know me; for he that hath his mind right, seeth all things rightly.
3 Fear ye the Lord, and love your
neighbour; and even though the spirits of Beliar claim you to afflict you with
every evil, yet shall they not have dominion over you, even as they had not
over Joseph my brother.
4 How many men wished to slay him,
and God shielded him! For he that feareth God and loveth his neighbour cannot
be smitten by the spirit of Beliar, being shielded by the fear of God.
5 Nor can he be ruled over by the
device of men or beasts, for he is helped by the Lord through the love which he
hath towards his neighbour.
6 For Joseph also besought our father
that he would pray for his brethren, that the Lord would not impute to them as
sin whatever evil they had done unto him.
7 And thus Jacob cried out: My good
child, thou hast prevailed over the bowels of thy father Jacob. And he embraced
him, and kissed him for two hours, saying:
8 In thee shall be fulfilled the
prophecy of heaven concerning the Lamb of God, and Saviour of the world, that a
blameless one shall be delivered up for lawless men, and a sinless shall die
for ungodly men in the blood of the covenant, for the salvation of the Gentiles
and of Israel, and shall destroy Beliar and. his servants.
CHAPTER 4
1 See ye, therefore, my children,
the end of the good man? Be followers of his compassion, therefore, with a good
mind, that ye also may wear crowns of glory.
2 For the good man hath not a dark
eye; for he showeth mercy to all men, even though they be sinners.
3 And though they devise with evil
intent concerning him, by doing good he overcometh evil, being shielded by God;
and he loveth the righteous as his own soul.
4 If any one is glorified, he
envieth him not; if any one is enriched, he is not jealous; if any one is
valiant, he praiseth him; the virtuous man he laudeth; on the poor man he hath
mercy; on the weak he hath compassion; unto God he singeth praises.
5 And him that hath the grace of a
good spirit he loveth as his own soul.
CHAPTER 5
1 If, therefore, ye also have a good
mind, then will both wicked men be at peace with you, and the profligate will
reverence you and turn unto good; and the covetous will not only cease from
their inordinate desire, but even give the objects of their covetousness to
them that are afflicted.
2 If ye do well, even the unclean
spirits will flee from you; and the beasts will dread you.
3 For where there is reverence for
good works and light in the mind, even darkness fleeth away from him.
4 For if any one doeth violence to a
holy man, he repenteth; for the holy man is merciful to his reviler, and holdeth
his peace.
5 And if any one betrayeth a righteous
man, the righteous man prayeth: though for a little he be humbled, yet not long
after he appeareth far more glorious, as was Joseph my brother.
CHAPTER 6
1 The inclination of the good man is
not in the power of the deceit of the spirit of Beliar, for the angel of peace
guideth his soul.
2 And he gazeth not passionately
upon corruptible things, nor gathereth together riches through a desire of
pleasure.
3 He delighteth not in pleasure, he
grieveth not his neighbour, he sateth not himself with luxuries, he erreth not
in the uplifting of the eyes, for the Lord is his portion.
4 The good inclination receiveth not
glory nor dishonour from men, and it knoweth not any guile, or lie, or
fighting, or reviling; for the Lord dwelleth in him and lighteth up his soul,
and he rejoiceth towards all men alway.
5 The good mind hath not two
tongues, of blessing and of cursing, of contumely and of honour, of sorrow and
of joy, of quietness and of confusion, of hypocrisy and of truth, of poverty
and of wealth; but it hath one disposition, uncorrupt and pure, concerning all
men.
6 It hath no double sight, nor double
hearing; for in everything which he doeth, or speaketh, or seeth, he knoweth
that the Lord looketh on his soul.
7 And he cleanseth his mind that he
be not condemned by men as well as by God. And in like manner the works of
Beliar are twofold, and there is no singleness in them.
CHAPTER 7
1 Therefore, my children, I tell
you, flee the malice of Beliar; for he giveth a sword to them that obey him.
2 And the sword is the mother of
seven evils. First the mind conceiveth through Beliar, and first there is
bloodshed; secondly, ruin; thirdly, tribulation; fourthly, exile; fifthly,
dearth; sixthly, panic; seventhly, destruction.
3 Therefore was Cain also delivered
over to seven vengeances by God, for in every hundred years the Lord brought
one plague upon him.
4 And when he was two hundred years
old he began to suffer, and in the nine-hundredth year he was destroyed. For on
account of Abel, his brother, with all the evils was he judged, but Lamech with
seventy times seven.
5 Because forever those who are like
unto Cain in envy and hatred of brethren, shall be punished with the same
judgement.
CHAPTER 8
1 And do ye, my children, flee
evil-doing, envy, and hatred of brethren, and cleave to goodness and love.
2 He that hath a pure mind in love,
looketh not after a woman with a view to fornication; for he hath no defilement
in his heart, because the Spirit of God resteth upon him.
3 For as the sun is not defiled by
shining on dung and mire, but rather drieth up both and driveth away the evil
smell; so also the pure mind, though encompassed by the defilements of earth,
rather cleanseth (them), and is not itself defiled.
CHAPTER 9
1 And I believe that there will be
also evil-doings among you, from the words of Enoch the righteous: that ye
shall commit fornication with the fornication of Sodom, and shall perish, all
save a few, and shall renew wanton deeds with women; and the kingdom of the
Lord shall not be among you, for straightway He shall take it away.
2 Nevertheless the temple of God
3 And He shall enter into the first
temple, and there shall the Lord be treated with outrage, and He shall be
lifted up upon a tree.
4 And the veil of the temple shall
be rent, and the Spirit of God shall pass on to the Gentiles as fire poured
forth.
5 And He shall ascend from Hades and
shall pass from earth into heaven. And I know how lowly He shall be upon earth,
and how glorious in heaven.
CHAPTER 10
1 Now when Joseph was in Egypt
2 And when he had said these things,
he said unto them: Know ye, therefore, my children, that I am dying.
3 Do ye, therefore, truth each one
to his neighbour, and keep the law of the Lord and His commandments.
4 For these things do I leave you instead
of inheritance. Do ye also, therefore, give them to your children for an
everlasting possession; for so did both Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.
5 For all these things they gave us
for an inheritance, saying: Keep the commandments of God, until the Lord shall
reveal His salvation to all Gentiles.
6 And then shall ye see Enoch, Noah,
and Shem, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, rising on the right hand in
gladness.
7 Then shall we also rise, each one
over our tribe, worshipping the King of heaven, Who appeared upon earth in the
form of a man in humility. And as many as believe on Him on the earth shall
rejoice with Him.
8 Then also all men shall rise, some
unto glory and some unto shame. And the Lord shall judge Israel
9 And then shall He judge all the
Gentiles, as many as believed Him not when He appeared upon earth.
10 And He shall convict Israel
11 If ye therefore, my children, walk
in holiness according to the commandments of the Lord, ye shall again dwell
securety with me, and all Israel
CHAPTER 11
1 And I shall no longer be called a
ravening wolf on account of your ravages, but a worker of the Lord distributing
food to them that work what is good.
2 And there shall arise in the latter
days one beloved of the Lord, of the tribe of Judah and Levi, a doer of His
good pleasure in his mouth, with new knowledge enlightening the Gentiles.
3 Until the consummation of the age
shall he be in the synagogues of the Gentiles, and among their rulers, as a
strain of music in the mouth of all.
4 And he shall be inscribed in the
holy books, both his work and his word, and he shall be a chosen one of God for
ever.
5 And through them he shall go to
and fro as Jacob my father, saying: He shall fill up that which lacketh of thy
tribe.
CHAPTER 12
1 And when he had said these things
he stretched out his feet,
2 And died in a beautiful and good
sleep.
3 And his sons did as he had enjoined
them, and they took up his body and buried it in Hebron
4 And the number (of the days) of
his life were a hundred and twenty-five years.
THE TESTAMENT OF
DAN
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Dan,
which he spake to his sons in his last days, in the hundred and twenty-fifth
year of his life.
2 For he called together his family,
and said: Hearken to my words, ye sons of Dan; and give heed to the words of
your father.
3 I have proved in my heart, and in
my whole life, that truth with just dealing is good and well-pleasing to God,
and that lying and anger are evil, because they teach man all wickedness.
4 I confess, therefore, this day to you,
my children, that in my heart I resolved on the death of Joseph my brother, the
true and good man.
5 And I rejoiced that he was sold,
because his father loved him more than us.
6 For the spirit of jealousy and
vain-glory said to me: Thou thyself also art his son.
7 And one of the spirits of Beliar
stirred me up, saying: Take this sword, and with it slay Joseph; so shall thy
father love thee when he is dead.
8 Now this was the spirit of anger
that persuaded me to crush Joseph as a leopard crusheth a kid.
9 But the God of my fathers did not
suffer him to fall into my hands, so that I should find him alone and slay him,
and cause a second tribe to be destroyed in Israel.
CHAPTER 2
1 And now, my children, behold I am
dying, and I tell you of a truth, that unless ye keep yourselves from the
spirit of lying and of anger, and love truth and long-suffering, ye shall perish.
2 For anger is blindness, and doth
not suffer one to see the face of any man with truth.
3 For though it be a father or a
mother, he behaveth towards them as enemies; though it be a brother, he knoweth
him not; though it be a prophet of the Lord, he disobeyeth him; though a
righteous man, he regardeth him not; though a friend, he doth not acknowledge
him.
4 For the spirit of anger encompasseth
him with the net of deceit, and blindeth his eyes, and through lying darkeneth
his mind, and giveth him its own peculiar vision.
5 And wherewith encompasseth it his
eyes? With hatred of heart, so as to be envious of his brother.
CHAPTER 3
1 For anger is an evil thing, my children,
for it troubleth even the soul itself.
2 And the body of the angry man it
maketh its own, and over his soul it getteth the mastery, and it bestoweth upon
the body power that it may work all iniquity.
3 And when the body doeth all these
things, the soul justifieth what is done, since it seeth not aright.
4 Therefore he who is wrathful, if
he be a mighty man, hath a threefold power in his anger: one by the help of his
servants; and a second by his wealth, whereby he persuadeth and overcometh
wrongfully; and thirdly, having his own natural power he worketh thereby the
evil.
5 And though the wrathful man be
weak, yet hath he a power twofold of that which is by nature; for wrath ever
aideth such in lawlessness.
6 This spirit goeth always with lying
at the right hand of Satan, that with cruelty and lying his works may be
wrought.
CHAPTER 4
1 Understand ye, therefore, the
power of wrath, that it is vain.
2 For it first of all giveth provocation
by word; then by deeds it strengtheneth him who is angry, and with sharp losses
disturbeth his mind, and so stirreth up with great wrath his soul.
3 Therefore, when any one speaketh
against you, be not ye moved to anger, and if any man praiseth you as holy men,
be not uplifted: be not moved either to delight or to disgust.
4 For first it pleaseth the hearing,
and so maketh the mind keen to perceive the grounds for provocation; and then
being enraged, he thinketh that he is justly angry.
5 If ye fall into any loss or ruin,
my children, be not afflicted; for this very spirit maketh (a man) desire that
which is perishable, in order that he may be enraged through the affliction.
6 And if ye suffer loss voluntarily,
or involuntarily, be not vexed; for from vexation ariseth wrath rwith lying.
7 Moreover, a twofold mischief is
wrath with lying; and they assist one another in order to disturb the heart;
and when the soul is continually disturbed, the Lord departeth from it, and
Beliar ruleth over it.
CHAPTER 5
1 Observe, therefore, my children,
the commandments of the Lord, And keep His law; Depart from wrath, And hate
lying, That the Lord may dwell among you, And Beliar may flee from you.
2 Speak truth each one with his
neighbour, So shall ye not fall into wrath and confusion; But ye shall be in
peace, having the God of peace, So shall no war prevail over you.
3 Love the Lord through all your
life, And one another with a true heart.
4 I know that in the last days ye
shall depart from the Lord, And ye shall provoke Levi unto anger, And fight
against Judah ; But ye shall
not prevail against them, For an angel of the Lord shall guide them both; For
by them shall Israel
5 And whensoever ye depart from the
Lord, ye shall walk in all evil and work the abominations of the Gentiles,
going a-whoring after women of the lawless ones, while with all wickedness the
spirits of wickedness work in you.
6 For I have read in the book of
Enoch, the righteous, that your prince is Satan, and that all the spirits of
wickedness and pride will conspire to attend constantly on the sons of Levi, to
cause them to sin before the Lord.
7 And my sons will draw near to
Levi, And sin with them in all things; And the sons of Judah
8 Therefore shall ye be led away
with them into captivity, And there shall ye receive all the plagues of Egypt
9 And so when ye return to the Lord
ye shall obtain mercy, And He shall bring you into His sanctuary, And He shall
give you peace.
10 And there shall arise unto you
from the tribe of Judah
11 And the captivity shall he take
from Beliar the souls of the saints, And turn disobedient hearts unto the Lord,
And give to them that call upon him eternal peace.
12 And the saints shall rest in Eden
13 And no longer shall Jerusalem
CHAPTER 6
1 And now, fear the Lord, my children,
and beware of Satan and his spirits.
2 Draw near unto God and to the
angel that intercedeth for you, for he is a mediator between God and man, and
for the peace of Israel
3 Therefore is the enemy eager to
destroy all that call upon the Lord.
4 For he knoweth that on the day on
which Israel
5 For the very angel of peace shall
strengthen Israel
6 And it shall be in the time of the
lawlessness of Israel
7 And His name shall be in every
place of Israel
8 Keep, therefore, yourselves, my
children, from every evil work, And cast away wrath and all lying, And love
truth and long-suffering.
9 And the things which ye have heard
from your father, do ye also impart to your children that the Saviour of the
Gentiles may receive you; for he is true and long-suffering, meek and lowly,
and teacheth by his works the law of God.
10 Depart, therefore, from all unrighteousness,
and cleave unto the righteousness of God, and your race will be saved for ever.
11 And bury me near my fathers.
CHAPTER 7
1 And when he had said these things
he kissed them, and fell asleep at a good old age.
2 And his sons buried him. And after
that they carried up rhis bones, and placed them near Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob.
3 Nevertheless, Dan prophesied unto
them that they should forget their God, and should be alienated from the land
of their inheritance and from the race of Israel
THE TESTAMENT OF
GAD
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the testament of Gad,
what things he spake unto his sons, in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his
life, saying unto them:
2 Hearken, my children, I was the
ninth son born to Jacob, and I was valiant in keeping the flocks.
3 Accordingly I guarded at night the
flock; and whenever the lion came, or the wolf, or any wild beast against the
fold, I pursued it, and rovertaking (it) I seized its foot with my hand and
hurled it about a stone's throw, and so killed it.
4 Now Joseph my brother was feeding
the flock with us for upwards of thirty days, and being young, he fell sick by
reason of the heat.
5 And he returned to Hebron
6 And Joseph told our father that
the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah were slaying the best of the flock and eating
them against the judgement of Reuben and Judah.
7 For he saw that I had delivered a
lamb out of the mouth of the bear, and put the bear to death; but had slain the
lamb, being grieved concerning it that it could not live, and that we had eaten
it.
8 And regarding this matter I was
wroth with Joseph until the day that he was sold.
9 And the spirit of hatred was in
me, and I wished not either to hear of Joseph with the ears, or to see him with
the eyes, because he rebuked us to our faces saying that we were eating of the
flock without Judah
CHAPTER 2
1 I confess now my sin, my children,
that oftentimes I wished to kill him, because I hated him from my heart.
2 Moreover, I hated him yet more for
his dreams; and I wished to lick him out of the land of the living, even as an
ox licketh up the grass of the field.
3 And Judah
4 And thus through covetousness we
were bent on slaying him.
5 Thus the God of our fathers delivered
him from our hands, that we should not work great lawlessness in Israel
CHAPTER 3
1 And now, my children, hearken to
the words of truth to work righteousness, and all the law of the Most High, and
go not astray through the spirit of hatred, for it is evil in all the doings of
men.
2 Whatsoever a man doeth the hater
abominateth him: and though a man worketh the law of the Lord, he praiseth him
not; though a man feareth the Lord, and taketh pleasure in that which is
righteous, he loveth him not.
3 He dispraiseth the truth, he envieth
him that prospereth, he welcometh evil-speaking, he loveth arrogance, for
hatred blindeth his soul; as I also then looked on Joseph.
CHAPTER 4
1 Beware, therefore, my children, of
hatred; for it worketh lawlessness even against the Lord Himself.
2 For it will not hear rthe words of
His commandments concerning the loving of one's neighbour, and it sinneth
against God.
3 For if a brother stumble, it delighteth
immediately to proclaim it to all men, and is urgent that he should be judged
for it, and be punished and be put to death.
4 And if it be a servant it stirs
him up against his master, and with every affliction it deviseth against him,
if possibly he can be put to death.
5 For hatred worketh with envy also
against them that prosper: so long as it heareth of or seeth their success, it
always languisheth.
6 For as love would quicken even the
dead, and would call back them that are condemned to die, so hatred would slay
the living, and those that had sinned venially it would not suffer to live.
7 For the spirit of hatred worketh
together with Satan, through hastiness of spirit, in all things unto men's
death; but the spirit of love worketh together with the law of God in
long-suffering unto the salvation of men.
CHAPTER 5
1 Hatred, therefore, is evil, for it
constantly mateth with lying, speaking against the truth; and it maketh small
things to be great, and causeth the light to be darkness, and calleth the sweet
bitter, and teacheth slander, and kindleth wrath, and stirreth up war, and
violence, and all covetousness; it filleth the heart with evils and devilish
poison.
2 These things, therefore, I say to
you from experience, my children, that ye may drive forth hatred, which is of
the devil, and cleave to the love of God.
3 Righteousness casteth out hatred,
humility destroyeth envy. For he that is just and humble is ashamed to do what
is unjust, being reproved not of another, but of his own heart, because the
Lord looketh on his inclination.
4 He speaketh not against a holy
man, because the fear of God overcometh hatred.
5 For fearing lest he should offend
the Lord, he will not do wrong to any man, even in thought.
6 These things I learnt at last,
after I had repented concerning Joseph.
7 For true repentance after a godly
sort destroyeth ignorance, and driveth away the darkness, and enlighteneth the
eyes, and giveth knowledge to the soul, and leadeth the mind to salvation.
8 And those things which it hath not
learnt from man, it knoweth through repentance.
9 For God brought upon me a disease
of the liver; and had not the prayers of Jacob my father succoured me, it had
hardly failed but my spirit had departed.
10 For by what things a man transgresseth,
by the same also is he punished,
11 Since, therefore, my liver was set
mercilessly against Joseph, in my liver too I suffered mercilessly, and was
judged for eleven months, for so long a time as I had been angry against
Joseph.
CHAPTER 6
1 And now, my children, I exhort
you, love ye each one his brother, and put away hatred from your hearts, love
one another in deed, and in word, and in the inclination of the soul.
2 For in the presence of my father I
spake peaceably to Joseph; and when I had gone out, the spirit of hatred
darkened my mind, and stirred up my soul to slay him.
3 Love ye one another from the
heart; and if a man sin against thee, speak peaceably to him, and in thy soul
hold not guile; and if he repent and confess, forgive him.
4 But if he deny it, do not get into
a passion with him, lest catching the poison from thee he take to swearing and
so thou sin doubly.
5 Let not another man hear thy secrets
when engaged in legal strife, lest he come to hate thee and become thy enemy,
and commit a great sin against thee; for ofttimes he addresseth thee guilefully
or busieth himself about thee with wicked intent.
6 And though he deny it and yet have
a sense of shame when reproved, give over reproving him. For he who denieth may
repent so as not to wrong thee again; yea, he may also honour thee, and fear
and be at peace with thee.
7 But if he be shameless and persisteth
in his wrongdoing, even so forgive him from the heart, and leave to God the
avenging.
CHAPTER 7
1 If a man prosper more than you, do
not be vexed, but pray also for him, that he may have perfect prosperity. For
so it is expedient for you.
2 And if he be further exalted, be
not envious rof him, remembering that all flesh shall die; and offer praise to
God, who giveth things good and profitable to all men.
3 Seek out the judgements of the
Lord, and thy mind will rest and be at peace.
4 And though a man become rich by
evil means, even as Esau, the brother of my father, be not jealous; but wait
for the end of the Lord.
5 For if He take away (from a man)
wealth gotten by evil means He forgiveth him if he repent, but the unrepentant
is reserved for eternal punishment.
6 For the poor man, if free from
envy he pleaseth the Lord in all things, is blessed beyond all men, because he
hath not the travail of vain men.
7 Put away, therefore, jealousy from
your souls, and love one another with uprightness of heart.
CHAPTER 8
1 Do ye also, therefore, tell these
things to your children, that they honour Judah and Levi, for from them shall
the Lord raise up salvation to Israel
2 For I know that at the last your
children shall depart from Him, and shall walk in all wickedness, and affliction,
and corruption before the Lord.
3 And when he had rested for a little
while, he said again: My children, obey your father, and bury me near to my
fathers.
4 And he drew up his feet, and fell
asleep in peace.
5 And after five years they carried
him up to Hebron
THE TESTAMENT OF
ISSACHAR
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Issachar.
For he called his sons and said to them: Hearken, my children, to Issachar your
father; Give ear to the words of him who is beloved of the Lord.
2 I was born the fifth son to Jacob,
by way of hire for the mandrakes.
3 For Reuben my brother brought in
mandrakes from the field, and Rachel met him and took them.
4 And Reuben wept, and at his voice
Leah my mother came forth.
5 Now these (mandrakes) were
sweet-smelling apples which were produced in the land of Haran
6 And Rachel said: I will not give
them to thee, but they shall be to me instead of children. For the Lord hath
despised me, and I have not borne children to Jacob.
7 Now there were two apples; and
Leah said to Rachel: Let it suffice thee that thou hast taken my husband: wilt
thou take these also?
8 And Rachel said to her: Thou shalt
have Jacob this night for the mandrakes of thy son.
9 And Leah said to her: Jacob is
mine, for I am the wife of his youth.
10 But Rachel said: Boast not, and
vaunt not thyself; for he espoused me before thee, and for my sake he served
our father fourteen years.
11 And had not craft increased on the
earth and the wickedness of men prospered, thou wouldest not now see the face
of Jacob.
12 For thou art not his wife, but in
craft wert taken to him in my stead.
13 And my father deceived me, and
removed me on that night, and did not suffer Jacob to see me; for had I been
there, this had not happened to him.
14 Nevertheless, for the mandrakes I
am hiring Jacob to thee for one night.
15 And Jacob knew Leah, and she
conceived and bare me, and on account of the hire I was called Issachar.
CHAPTER 2
1 Then appeared to Jacob an angel of
the Lord, saying: Two children shall Rachel bear, inasmuch as she hath refused
company with her husband, and hath chosen continency.
2 And had not Leah my mother paid
the two apples for the sake of his company, she would have borne eight sons;
for this reason she bare six, and Rachel bare the two: for on account of the
mandrakes the Lord visited her.
3 For He knew that for the sake of
children she wished to company with Jacob, and not for lust of pleasure.
4 For on the morrow also she again
gave up Jacob. Because of the mandrakes, therefore, the Lord hearkened to
Rachel.
5 For though she desired them, she
ate them not, but offered them in the house of the Lord, presenting them to the
priest of the Most High who was at that time.
CHAPTER 3
1 When, therefore, I grew up, my
children, I walked in uprightness of heart, and I became a husbandman for my
father and my brethren, and I brought in fruits from the field according to
their season.
2 And my father blessed me, for he
saw that I walked in rectitude before him.
3 And I was not a busybody in my
doings, nor envious and malicious against my neighbour.
4 I never slandered any one, nor did
I censure the life of any man, walking as I did in singleness of eye.
5 Therefore, when I was thirty-five
years old, I took to myself a wife, for my labour wore away my strength, and I
never thought upon pleasure with women; but owing to my toil, sleep overcame
me.
6 And my father always rejoiced in
my rectitude, because I offered through the priest to the Lord all
first-fruits; then to my father also.
7 And the Lord increased ten thousandfold
His benefits in my hands; and also Jacob, my father, knew that God aided my
singleness.
8 For on all the poor and oppressed
I bestowed the good things of the earth in the singleness of my heart.
CHAPTER 4
1 And now, hearken to me, my children,
2 The single-(minded) man coveteth
not gold, He overreacheth not his neighbour, He longeth not after manifold
dainties, He delighteth not in varied apparel.
3 He doth not desire to live a long
life, But only waiteth for the will of God.
4 And the spirits of deceit have no
power against him, For he looketh not on the beauty of women, Lest he should
pollute his mind with corruption.
5 There is no envy in his thoughts,
Nor malicious person maketh his soul to pine away, Nor worry with insatiable
desire in his mind.
6 For he walketh in singleness rof
soul, And beholdeth all things in uprightness of heart, Shunning eyes (made)
evil through the error of the world, Lest he should see the perversion of any
of the commandments of the Lord.
CHAPTER 5
1 Keep, therefore, my children, the
law of God, And get singleness, And walk in guilelessness, Not playing the
busybody with the business of your neighbour.
2 But love the Lord and your
neighbour, Have compassion on the poor and weak.
3 Bow down your back unto husbandry,
And toil in labours rin all manner of husbandry, offering gifts to the Lord
with thanksgiving.
4 For with the first-fruits of the
earth will the Lord bless you, even as He blessed all the saints from Abel even
until now.
5 For no other portion is given to
you than of the fatness of the earth, whose fruits are raised by toil.
6 For our father Jacob blessed me
with blessings of the earth and of first-fruits.
7 And Levi and Judah were glorified
by the Lord even among the sons of Jacob; for the Lord gave them an inheritance,
and to Levi He gave the priesthood, and to Judah
8 And do ye therefore obey them, and
walk in the singleness of your father; for unto Gad hath it been given to
destroy the troops that are coming upon Israel
CHAPTER 6
1 Know ye, therefore, my children,
that in the last times Your sons will forsake singleness, And will cleave unto
insatiable desire; And leaving guilelessness, will draw near to malice;And
forsaking the commandments of the Lord, They will cleave unto Beliar;
2 And leaving husbandry, They will
follow after their own wicked devices, And they shall be dispersed among the
Gentiles, And shall serve their enemies.
3 And do ye therefore give these
commands to your children, that, if they sin, they may the more quickly return
to the Lord;
4 For He is merciful, and will deliver
them, even to bring them back into their land.
CHAPTER 7
1 Behold, therefore, as ye see, I am
a hundred and twenty-six years old and am not conscious of committing any sin.
2 Except my wife I have not known
any woman. I never committed fornication by the uplifting of my eyes.
3 I drank not wine, to be led astray
thereby; I coveted not any desirable thing that was my neighbour's.
4 Guile arose not in my heart; A lie
passed not through my lips.
5 If any man were in distress I
joined my sighs with his, And I shared my bread with the poor. I wrought godliness,
all my days I kept truth.
6 I loved the Lord; Likewise also
every man with all my heart.
7 So do ye also these things, my children,
And every spirit of Beliar shall flee from you, And no deed of wicked men shall
rule over you; And every wild beast shall ye subdue, Since ye have with you the
God of heaven and earth (And) walk with men in singleness of heart.
8 And having said these things, he
commanded his sons that they should carry him up to Hebron
9 And he stretched out his feet and
died, the fifth son of Jacob, at a good old age; with every limb sound, and
with strength unabated, he slept the eternal sleep.
THE TESTAMENT OF
JOSEPH
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the testament of Joseph.
When he was about to die he called his sons and his brethren together, and said
to them:
2 My brethren and my children,
Hearken to Joseph the beloved of Israel
3 I have seen in my life envy and
death, Yet I went not astray, but persevered in the truth of the Lord.
4 These my brethren hated me, but
the Lord loved me: They wished to slay me, but the God of my fathers guarded
me: They let me down into a pit, and the Most High brought me up again.
5 I was sold into slavery, and the
Lord of all made me free: I was taken into captivity, and His strong hand
succoured me. I was beset with hunger, and the Lord Himself nourished me.
6 I was alone, and God comforted me:
I was sick, and the Lord visited me: I was in prison, and my God showed favour
unto me; In bonds, and He released me;
7 Slandered, and He pleaded my
cause; Bitterly spoken against by the Egyptians, and He delivered me; Envied by
my fellow-slaves, and He exalted me.
CHAPTER 2
1 And this chief captain of Pharaoh
entrusted to me his house.
2 And I struggled against a shameless
woman, urging me to transgress with her; but the God of Israel my father
delivered me from the burning flame.
3 I was cast into prison, I was beaten,
I was mocked; but the Lord granted me to find mercy in the sight of the keeper
of the prison.
4 For the Lord doth not forsake them
that fear Him. Neither in darkness, nor in bonds, nor in tribulations, nor in
necessities.
5 For God is not put to shame as a
man, Nor as the son of man is He afraid, Nor as one that is earth-born is He
weak or affrighted.
6 But in all these things doth He
give protection, And in divers ways doth He comfort, (Though) for a little
space He departeth to try the inclination of the soul.
7 In ten temptations He showed me
approved, And in all of them I endured; For endurance is a mighty charm, And
patience giveth many good things.
CHAPTER 3
1 How often did the Egyptian woman
threaten me with death! How often did she give me over to punishment, and then
call me back and threaten me, and when I was unwilling to company with her, she
said to me:
2 Thou shalt be lord of me, and all
that is in mine house, if thou wilt give thyself unto me, and thou shalt be as
our master.
3 But I remembered the words of my
father, and going into my chamber, I wept and prayed unto the Lord.
4 And I fasted in those seven years,
and I appeared to the Egyptians as one living delicately, for they that fast
for God's sake receive beauty of face.
5 And if my lord were away from
home, I drank no wine; nor for three days did I take my food, but I gave it to
the poor and sick.
6 And I sought the Lord early, and I
wept for the Egyptian woman of Memphis
7 And because she had no male child
she pretended to regard me as a son.
8 And for a time she embraced me as
a son, and I knew it not; but later, she sought to draw me into fornication.
9 And when I perceived it I sorrowed
unto death; and when she had gone out, I came to myself, and I lamented for her
many days, because I recognised her guile and her deceit.
10 And I declared unto her the words
of the Most High, if haply she would turn from her evil lust.
CHAPTER 4
1 Often, therefore, did she flatter
me with words as a holy man, and guilefully in her talk praise my chastity before
her husband, while desiring to ensnare me when we were alone.
2 For she lauded me openly as
chaste, and in secret she said unto me: Fear not my husband; for he is
persuaded concerning thy chastity: for even should one tell him concerning us,
he would not believe.
3 Owing to all these things I lay upon
the ground, and besought God that the Lord would deliver me from her deceit.
4 And when she prevailed nothing
thereby, she came again to me under the plea of instruction, that she might
learn the word of God.
5 And she said unto me: If thou willest
that I should leave my idols, lie with me, and I will persuade my husband to
depart from his idols, and we will walk in the law of thy Lord.
6 And I said unto her: The Lord willeth
not that those that reverence Him should be in uncleanness, nor doth He take
pleasure in them that commit adultery, but in those that approach Him with a
pure heart and undefiled lips.
7 But she held her peace, longing to
accomplish her evil desire.
8 And I gave myself yet more to fasting
and prayer, that the Lord might deliver me from her.
CHAPTER 5
1 And again, at another time she
said unto me: If thou wilt not commit adultery, I will kill my husband by
poison, and take thee to be my husband.
2 I therefore, when I heard this,
rent my garments, and said unto her: Woman, reverence God, and do not this evil
deed, lest thou be destroyed; for know indeed that I will declare this thy
device unto all men.
3 She therefore, being afraid, besought
that I would not declare this device.
4 And she departed, soothing me with
gifts, and sending to me every delight of the sons of men.
CHAPTER 6
1 And afterwards she sent me food
mingled with enchantments.
2 And when the eunuch who brought it
came, I looked up and beheld a terrible man giving me with the dish a sword,
and I perceived that (her) scheme was to beguile me.
3 And when he had gone out I wept,
nor did I taste that nor any other of her food.
4 So then after one day she came to
me and observed the food, and said unto me: Why is it that thou hast not eaten
of the food?
5 And I said unto her: It is because
thou hast filled it with deadly enchantments; and how saidst thou: I come not
near to idols, but to the Lord alone?
6 Now therefore know that the God of
my father hath revealed unto me by His angel thy wickedness, and I have kept it
to convict thee, if haply thou mayest see and repent.
7 But that thou mayest learn that
the wickedness of the ungodly hath no power over them that worship God with
chastity, behold I will take of it and eat before thee. And having so said, I
prayed thus: The God of my fathers and the angel of Abraham, be with me; and
ate.
8 And when she saw this she fell
upon her face at my feet, weeping; and I raised her up and admonished her.
9 And she promised to do this iniquity
no more.
CHAPTER 7
1 But her heart was still set upon
evil, and she looked around how to ensnare me, and sighing deeply she became
downcast, though she was not sick.
2 And when her husband saw her, he
said unto her: Why is thy countenance fallen? And she said runto him: I have a
pain at my heart, and the groanings of my spirit oppress me; and so he
comforted her who was not sick.
3 Then accordingly seizing an opportunity
she rushed unto me while her husband was yet without, and said unto me: I will
hang myself, or cast myself over a cliff, if thou wilt not lie with me.
4 And when I saw the spirit of Beliar
was troubling her, I prayed unto the Lord, and said unto her:
5 Why, wretched woman, art thou
troubled and disturbed, blinded through sins? Remember that if thou kill
thyself, Asteho, the concubine of thy husband, thy rival, will beat thy
children, and thou wilt destroy thy memorial from off the earth.
6 And she said unto me: Lo, then
thou lovest me; let this suffice me: only strive for my life and my children,
and I expect that I shall enjoy my desire also.
7 But she knew not that because of
my lord I spake thus, and not because of her.
8 For if a man hath fallen before
the passion of a wicked desire and become enslaved by it, even as she, whatever
good thing he may hear with regard to that passion, he receiveth it with a view
to his wicked desire.
CHAPTER 8
1 I declare, therefore, unto you, my
children, that it was about the sixth hour when she departed from me; and I
knelt before the Lord all the day, and all the night; and about dawn I rose up,
weeping the while and praying for a release from her.
2 At last, then, she laid hold of my
garments, forcibly dragging me to have connection with her.
3 When, therefore, I saw that in her
madness she was holding fast to my garment, I left it behind, and fled away
naked.
4 And holding fast to the garment
she falsely accused me, and when her husband came he cast me into prison in his
house; and on the morrow he scourged me and sent me into Pharaoh's prison.
5 And when I was in bonds, the
Egyptian woman was oppressed with grief, and she came and heard how I gave
thanks unto the Lord and sang praises in the abode of darkness, and with glad
voice rejoiced, glorifying my God that I was delivered from the lustful desire
of the Egyptian woman.
CHAPTER 9
1 And often hath she sent unto me
saying: Consent to fulfil my desire, and I will release thee from thy bonds,
and I will free thee from the darkness.
2 And not even in thought did I incline
unto her. For God loveth him who in a den of darkness combineth fasting with
chastity, rather than the man who in kings' chambers combineth luxury with
licence.
3 And if a man liveth in chastity,
and desireth also glory, and the Most High knoweth that it is expedient for
him, He bestoweth this also upon him, even as upon me.
4 How often, though she were sick,
did she come down to me at unlooked-for times, and listened to my voice as I
prayed! And when I heard her groanings I held my peace.
5 For when I was in her house she
was wont to bare her arms, and breasts, and legs, that I might lie with her;
for she was very beautiful, splendidly adorned in order to beguile me. And the
Lord guarded me from her devices.
CHAPTER 10
1 Ye see, therefore, my children,
how great things patience worketh, and prayer with fasting.
2 So ye too, if ye follow after chastity
and purity with patience and prayer with fasting in humility of heart, the Lord
will dwell among you, because He loveth chastity.
3 And wheresoever the Most High
dwelleth, even though envy, or slavery, or slander befalleth (a man), the Lord
who dwelleth in him, for the sake of his chastity not only delivereth him from
evil, but also exalteth him even as me.
4 For in every way the man is lifted
up, whether in deed, or in word, or in thought.
5 My brethren knew how my father
loved me, and yet I did not exalt myself in my mind although I was a child, I
had the fear of God in my heart; for I knew that all things would pass away.
6 And I did not raise myself
(against them) with evil intent, but I honoured my brethren; and out of respect
for them, even when I was being sold, I refrained from telling the Ishmaelites
that I was the son of Jacob, a great man and a mighty.
CHAPTER 11
1 Do ye also, therefore, my children,
have the fear of God in all your works before your eyes, and honour your
brethren. For every one who doeth the law of the Lord shall be loved by Him.
2 And when I came to the Indocolpita
with the Ishmaelites, they asked me, saying: Art thou a slave? And I said that
I was a home-born slave, that I might not put my brethren to shame.
3 And the eldest of them said unto
me: Thou art not a slave, for even thy appearance doth make it manifest. But I
said that I was their slave. 4. Now
when we came into Egypt
4 Therefore it seemed good to all
that I should remain in Egypt
5 And the Lord gave me favour in the
eyes of the merchant, and he entrusted unto me his house.
6 And God blessed him by my means,
and increased him in gold and silver and in household servants.
7 And I was with him three months
and five days.
CHAPTER 12
1 And about that time the Memphian
woman, the wife of Pentephris, came down in a chariot, rwith great pomp,
because she had heard from her eunuchs concerning me.
2 And she told her husband that the
merchant had become rich by means of a young Hebrew, and they say that he had
assuredly been stolen out of the land
of Canaan
3 Now, therefore, render justice unto
him, and take away the youth to thy house; so shall the God of the Hebrews bless
thee, for grace from heaven is upon him.
CHAPTER 13
1 And Pentephris was persuaded by
her words, and commanded the merchant to be brought, and said unto him: What is
this that I hear concerning thee, that thou stealest persons out of the land of Canaan
2 But the merchant fell at his feet,
and besought him, saying: I beseech thee, my lord, I know not what thou sayest.
3 And Pentephris said unto him:
Whence, then, is the Hebrew slave? And he said: The Ishmaelites entrusted him
to me until they should return.
4 But he believed him not, but commanded
him to be stripped and beaten. And when he persisted in this statement,
Pentephris said: Let the youth be brought.
5 And when I was brought in, I did
obeisance to Pentephris (for he was third in rank of the officers of Pharaoh).
6 And he took me apart from him, and
said unto me: Art thou a slave or free? And I said: A slave.
7 And he said: Whose? And I said:
The Ishmaelites'.
8 And he said: How didst thou become
their slave? And I said: They bought me out of the land of Canaan
9 And he said unto me: Truly thou
liest; and straightway he commanded me to be stripped and beaten.
CHAPTER 14
1 Now the Memphian woman was looking
through a window at me while I was being beaten, for her house was near, and
she sent unto him, saying: Thy judgement is unjust; for thou dost punish a free
man who hath been stolen, as though he were a transgressor.
2 And when I made no change in my
statement, though I was beaten, he ordered me to be imprisoned, until, he said,
the owners of the boy should come.
3 And the woman said unto her husband:
Wherefore dost thou detain the captive and well-born lad in bonds, who ought
rather to be set at liberty, and be waited upon?
4 For she wished to see me out of a
desire of sin, but I was ignorant concerning all these things.
5 And he said to her: It is not the
custom of the Egyptians to take away that which belongeth to others before
proof is given.
6 This, therefore, he said concerning
the merchant; but as for the lad, he must be imprisoned.
CHAPTER 15
1 Now after four and twenty days
came the Ishmaelites; for they had heard that Jacob my father was mourning much
concerning me. And they came and said unto me:
2 How is it that thou saidst that
thou wast a slave? and lo, we have learnt that thou art the son of a mighty man
in the land of Canaan
3 When I heard this my bowels were
dissolved and my heart melted, and I desired greatly to weep, but I restrained
myself, that I should not put my brethren to shame. And I said unto them, I
know not, I am a slave.
4 Then, therefore, they took counsel
to sell me, that I should not be found in their hands.
5 For they feared my father, lest he
should come and execute upon them a grievous vengeance. For they had heard that
he was mighty with God and with men.
6 Then said the merchant unto them:
Release me from the judgement of Pentephris.
7 And they came and requested me,
saying: Say that thou wast bought by us with money, and he will set us free.
CHAPTER 16
1 Now the Memphian woman said to her
husband: Buy the youth; for I hear, said she, that they are selling him.
2 And straightway she sent a eunuch
to the Ishmaelites, and asked them to sell me.
3 But since the eunuch would not
agree to buy me (at their price) he returned, having made trial of them, and he
made known to his mistress that they asked a large price for their slave.
4 And she sent another eunuch, saying:
Even though they demand two minae, give them, do not spare the gold; only buy
the boy, and bring him to me.
5 The eunuch therefore went and gave
them eighty pieces of gold, and he received me; but to the Egyptian woman he
said: I have given a hundred.
6 And though I knew (this) I held my
peace, lest the eunuch should be put to shame.
CHAPTER 17
1 Ye see, therefore, my children,
what great things I endured that I should not put my brethren to shame.
2 Do ye also, therefore, love one another,
and with long-suffering hide ye one another's faults.
3 For God delighteth in the unity of
brethren, and in the purpose of a heart that taketh pleasure in love.
4 And when my brethren came into Egypt
5 And after the death of Jacob my father
I loved them more abundantly, and all things whatsoever he commanded I did very
abundantly for them.
6 And I suffered them not to be afflicted
even in the smallest matter; and all that was in my hand I gave unto them.
7 And their children were my children,
and my children as their servants; and their life was my life, and all their
suffering was my suffering, and all their sickness was my infirmity. My land
was their land, and their counsel my counsel.
8 And I exalted not myself among
them in arrogance because of my worldly glory, but I was among them as one of
the least.
CHAPTER 18
1 If ye also, therefore, walk in the
commandments of the Lord, my children, He will exalt you there, and will bless
you with good things for ever and ever.
2 And if any one seeketh to do evil
unto you, do well unto him, and pray for him, and ye shall be redeemed of the
Lord from all evil.
3 For, behold, ye see that out of my
humility and long-suffering I took unto wife the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis
4 And He gave me also beauty as a
flower beyond the beautiful ones of Israel
CHAPTER 19
1 Hear ye, therefore, the vision
which I saw.
2 I saw twelve harts feeding. And
nine of them were dispersed. Now the three were preserved, but on the following
day they also were dispersed,
3 And I saw that the three harts became
three lambs, and they cried tp the Lord, and He brought them forth into a
flourishing and well-watered place, yea He brought them out of darkness into
light.
4 And there they cried unto the Lord
until there gathered together to them the nine harts, and they became as twelve
sheep, and after a little time they increased and became many flocks.
5 And after these things I saw and
behold, twelve bulls were sucking one cow, which produced a sea of milk, and
there drank thereof the twelve flocks and innumerable herds.
6 And the horns of the fourth bull
went up unto heaven and became as a wall for the flocks, and in the midst of
the two horns there grew another horn.
7 And I saw a bull calf which surrounded
them twelve times, and it became a help to the bulls wholly.
8 And I saw in the midst of the
horns a virgin wearing a many-coloured garment, and from her went forth a lamb;
and on his right (was as it were a lion; and) all the beasts and all the
reptiles rushed (against him), and the lamb overcame them and destroyed them.
9 And the bulls rejoiced because of
him, and the cow and the harts exulted together with them.
10 And these things must come to pass
in their season.
11 And do ye, my children, honour
Levi and Judah, for from them shall arise the salvation of Israel
12 For my kingdom which is among you
shall come to an end as a watcher's hammock, which will not appear after the
summer.
CHAPTER 20
1 For I know that after my death the
Egyptians will afflict you, but God will avenge you, and will bring you into
that which He promised to your fathers.
2 But ye shall carry up my bones
with you; for when my bones are being taken up thither, the Lord shall be with
you in light, and Beliar shall be in darkness with the Egyptians.
3 And carry ye up Asenath your
mother to the Hippodrome, and near Rachel your mother bury her.
4 And when he had said these things
he stretched out his feet, and died at a good old age.
5 And all Israel
mourned for him, and all Egypt
6 And when the children of Israel went out of Egypt ,
they took with them the bones of Joseph, and they buried him in Hebron
JUDAH
THE TESTAMENT OF
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Judah
2 They gathered themselves together,
therefore, and came to him, and he said to them:
3 Hearken, my children, to Judah
your father. I was the fourth son born to my father Jacob; and Leah my mother
named me Judah, saying, I give thanks to the Lord, because He hath given me a
fourth son ralso.
4 I was swift in my youth, and obedient
to my father in everything.
5 And I honoured my mother and my
mother's sister.
6 And it came to pass, when I became
a man, that my father blessed me, saying, Thou shalt be a king, prospering in
all things.
CHAPTER 2
1 And the Lord showed me favour in
all my works both in, the field and in the house.
2 I know that I raced a hind, and
caught it, and prepared the meat for my father, and he did eat.
3 And the roes I used to master in
the chase, and overtake all that was in the plains. A wild mare I overtook, and
caught it and tamed it.
4 I slew a lion and plucked a kid
out of its mouth. I took a bear by its paw and hurled it down the cliff, and it
was crushed.
5 I outran the wild boar, and seizing
it as I ran, I tare it in sunder.
6 A leopard in Hebron
7 I found a wild ox feeding in the
fields, and seizing it by the horns, and whirling it round and stunning it, I
cast it from me and slew it.
CHAPTER 3
1 And when the two kings of the
Canaanites came, sheathed in armour, against our flocks, and much people with
them, single-handed I rushed upon the king of Hazor, and smote him on the
greaves and dragged him down, and so I slew him.
2 And the other, the king of Tappuah,
as he sat upon his horse, I slew, and so I scattered all his people.
3 Achor, the king a man of giant
stature I found, hurling javelins before and behind as he sat on horseback, and
I took up a stone of sixty pounds weight, and hurled it and smote his horse,
and killed it.
4 And I fought with (this) other for
two hours; and I clave his shield in twain, and I chopped off his feet, and
killed him.
5 And as I was stripping off his
breastplate, behold nine men, his companions, began to fight with me.
6 And I wound my garment on my hand;
and I slung stones at them, and killed four of them, and the rest fled.
7 And Jacob my father slew Beelesath,
king of all the kings, a giant in strength, twelve cubits high.
8 And fear fell upon them, and they
ceased warring against us.
9 Therefore my father was free from
anxiety in the wars when I was with my brethren.
10 For he saw in a vision concerning
me that an angel of might followed me everywhere, that I should not be
overcome.
CHAPTER 4
1 And in the south there came upon
us a greater war than that in Shechem; and I joined in battle array with my
brethren, and pursued a thousand men, and slew of them two hundred men and four
kings.
2 And I went up upon the wall, and I
slew four mighty men.
3 And so we captured Hazor, and took
all the spoil.
CHAPTER 5
1 On the next day we departed to
Aretan, a city strong and walled and inaccessible, threatening us with death.
2 But I and Gad approached on the
east side of the city, and Reuben and Levi on the west.
3 And they that were upon the wall,
thinking that we were alone, were drawn down against us.
4 And so my brothers secretly
climbed up the wall on both sides by stakes, and entered the city, while the
men knew it not.
5 And we took it with the edge of
the sword. And as for those who had taken refuge in the tower, we set fire to
the tower and took both it and them.
6 And as we were departing the men
of Tappuah seized our spoil, and seeing (this) we fought with them.
7 And we slew them all and recovered
our spoil.
CHAPTER 6
1 And when I was at the waters of
Kozeba, the men of Jobel came against us to battle.
2 And we fought with them and routed
them; and their allies from Shiloh we slew,
and we did not leave them power to come in against us.
3 And the men of Makir came upon us
the fifth day, to seize our spoil; and we attacked them and overcame them in
fierce battle: for there was a host of mighty men amongst them, and we slew
them before they had gone up the ascent.
4 And when we came to their city
their women rolled upon us stones from the brow of the hill on which the city
stood.
5 And I and Simeon hid ourselves
behind the town, and seized upon the heights and destroyed this city also.
CHAPTER 7
1 And the next day it was told us
that the king of the city of Gaash
2 I, therefore, and Dan feigned ourselves
to be Amorites, and as allies went into their city.
3 And in the depth of night our
brethren came and we opened to them the gates; and we destroyed all the men and
their substance, and we took for a prey all that, was theirs and their three
walls we cast down.
4 And we drew near to Thamna, where
was all the substance of the hostile kings.
5 Then being insulted by them, I was
therefore wroth, and rushed against them to the summit; and they kept slinging
against me stones and darts.
6 And had not Dan my brother aided
me, they would have slain me.
7 We came upon them, therefore, with
wrath, and they all fled; and passing by another way, they besought my father,
and he made peace with them.
8 And we did to them no hurt, and
they became tributary to us, and we restored to them their spoil.
9 And I built Thamna, and my father
built Rabael.
10 I was twenty years old when this
war befell.
11 And the Canaanites feared me and
my brethren.
CHAPTER 8
1 And I had much cattle, and I had
for chief herdsman Iram the Adullamite.
2 And when I went to him I saw
Barsaba, king of Adullam; and he spake unto us, and he made us a feast; and
when I was heated he gave me his daughter Bathshua to wife.
3 She bare me Er, and Onan, and
Shelah; and two of them the Lord smote: for Shelah lived, and his children are
ye.
CHAPTER 9
1 And eighteen years my father abode
at peace with his brother Esau, and his sons with us, after that we came from Mesopotamia , from Laban.
2 And when eighteen years were fulfilled,
in the fortieth year of my life, Esau, the brother of my father, came upon us
with a mighty and strong people.
3 And Jacob smote Esau with an arrow,
and he was taken up wounded on Mount
Seir
4 And we pursued after the sons of
Esau. Now they had a city with walls of iron and gates of brass; and we could
not enter into it, and we encamped around, and besieged it.
5 And when they opened not to us in
twenty days, I set up a ladder in the sight of all, and with my shield upon my
head I went up, sustaining the assaults of stones, upwards of three talents
weight; and I slew four of their mighty men.
6 And Reuben and Gad slew six others.
7 Then they asked from us terms of
peace; and having taken counsel with our father, we received them as tributaries.
8 And they gave us five hundred cors
of wheat, five hundred baths of oil, five hundred measures of wine, until the
famine, when we went down into Egypt
CHAPTER 10
1 And after these things my son Er
took to wife Tamar, from Mesopotamia, a daughter of Aram
2 Now Er was wicked, and he was in
need concerning Tamar, because she was not of the land of Canaan
3 And he had not known her according
to the evil craftiness of his mother, for he did not wish to have children by
her.
4 In the days of the wedding-feast I
gave Onan to her in marriage; and he also in wickedness knew her not, though he
spent with her a year.
5 And when I threatened him he went
in unto her, but he spilled the seed on the ground, according to the command of
his mother, and he also died through wickedness.
6 And I wished to give Shelah also
to her, but his mother did not permit it; for she wrought evil against Tamar, because
she was not of the daughters of Canaan , as she
also herself was.
CHAPTER 11
1 And I knew that the race of the
Canaanites was wicked, but the impulse of youth blinded my mind.
2 And when I saw her pouring out
wine, owing to the intoxication of wine was I deceived, and took her although
my father had not counselled (it).
3 And while I was away she went and
took for Shelah a wife from Canaan .
4 And when I knew what she had done,
I cursed her in the anguish of my soul.
5 And she also died through her
wickedness together with her sons.
CHAPTER 12
1 And after these things, while
Tamar was a widow, she heard after two years that I was going up to shear my
sheep, and adorned herself in bridal array, and sat in the city Enaim by the
gate.
2 For it was a law of the Amorites,
that she who was about to marry should sit in fornication seven days by the
gate.
3 Therefore being drunk with wine, I
did not recognise her; and her beauty deceived me, through the fashion of her
adorning.
4 And I turned aside to her, and
said: Let me go in unto thee. And she said: What wilt thou give me? And I gave
her my staff, and my girdle, and the diadem of my kingdom in pledge. And I went
in unto her, and she conceived.
5 And not knowing what I had done,
wished to slay her; but she privily sent my pledges, and put me to shame.
6 And when I called her, I heard also
the secret words which I spoke when lying with her in my drunkenness; and I
could not slay her, because it was from the Lord.
7 For I said, Lest haply she did it
in subtlety, having received the pledge from another woman.
8 But I came not again near her
while I lived, because I had done this abomination in all Israel
9 Moreover, they who were in the
city said that there was no harlot in the gate, because she came from another
place, and sat for a while in the gate.
10 And I thought that no one knew
that I had gone in to her.
11 And after this we came into Egypt
12 And I was forty and six years old,
and seventy and three years lived I in Egypt
CHAPTER 13
1 And now I command you, my children,
hearken to Judah your father, and keep my sayings to perform all the ordinances
of the Lord, and to obey the commands of God.
2 And walk not after your lusts, nor
in the imaginations of your thoughts in haughtiness of heart; and glory not in
the deeds and strength of your youth, for this also is evil in the eyes of the
Lord.
3 Since I also gloried that in wars
no comely woman's face ever enticed me, and reproved Reuben my brother concerning
Bilhah, the wife of my father, the spirits of jealousy and of fornication
arrayed themselves against me, until I lay with Bathshua the Canaanite, and
Tamar, who was espoused to my sons.
4 For I said to my father-in-law: I
will take counsel with my father, and so will I take thy daughter. And he was
unwilling, but he showed me a boundless store of gold in his daughter's behalf;
for he was a king.
5 And he adorned her with gold and
pearls, and caused her to pour out wine for us at the feast with the beauty of
women.
6 And the wine turned aside my eyes,
and pleasure blinded my heart.
7 And I became enamoured of and I
lay with her, and transgressed the commandment of the Lord and the commandment
of my fathers, and I took her to wife.
8 And the Lord rewarded me according
to the imagination of my heart, inasmuch as I had no joy in her children.
CHAPTER 14
1 And now, my children, I say unto
you, be not drunk with wine; for wine turneth the mind away from the truth, and
inspires the passion of lust, and leadeth the eyes into error.
2 For the spirit of fornication hath
wine as a minister to give pleasure to the mind; for these two also take away
the mind of man.
3 For if a man drink wine to drunkenness,
it disturbeth the mind with filthy thoughts leading to fornication, and heateth
the body to carnal union; and if the occasion of the lust be present, he
worketh the sin, and is not ashamed.
4 Such is the inebriated man, my
children; for he who is drunken reverenceth no man.
5 For, lo, it made me also to err,
so that I was not ashamed of the multitude in the city, in that before the eyes
of all I turned aside unto Tamar, and I wrought a great sin, and I uncovered
the covering of my sons' shame.
6 After I had drunk wine I reverenced
not the commandment of God, and I took a woman of Canaan
to wife.
7 For much discretion needeth the
man who drinketh wine, my children; and herein is discretion in drinking wine,
a man may drink so long as he preserveth modesty.
8 But if he go beyond this limit the
spirit of deceit attacketh his mind, and it maketh the drunkard to talk
filthily, and to transgress and not to be ashamed, but even to glory in his
shame, and account himself honourable.
CHAPTER 15
1 He that committeth fornication is
not aware when he suffers loss, and is not ashamed when put to dishonour.
2 For even though a man be a king
and commit fornication, he is stripped of his kingship by becoming the slave of
fornication, as I myself also suffered.
3 For I gave my staff, that is, the
stay of my tribe; and my girdle, that is, my power; and my diadem, that is, the
glory of my kingdom.
4 And indeed I repented of these
things; wine and flesh I eat not until my old age, nor did I behold any joy.
5 And the angel of God showed me
that for ever do women bear rule over king and beggar alike.
6 And from the king they take away
his glory, and from the valiant man his might, and from the beggar even that
little which is the stay of his poverty.
CHAPTER 16
1 Observe, therefore, my children,
the (right) limit in wine; for there are in it four evil spiritsù of lust, of
hot desire, of profligacy, of filthy lucre.
2 If ye drink wine in gladness, be
ye modest with the fear of God. For if in (your) gladness the fear of God
departeth, then drunkenness ariseth and shamelessness stealeth in.
3 But if you would live soberly do
not touch wine at all, lest ye sin in words of outrage, and in fightings and
slanders, and transgressions of the commandments of God, and ye perish before
your time.
4 Moreover, wine revealeth the mysteries
of God and men, even as I also revealed the commandments of God and the
mysteries of Jacob my father to the Canaanitish woman Bathshua, which God bade
me not to reveal.
5 And wine is a cause both of war
and confusion.
CHAPTER 17
1 And now I command you, my children,
not to love money, nor to gaze upon the beauty of women; because for the sake
of money and beauty I was led astray to Bathshua the Canaanite.
2 For I know that because of these
two things shall my race fall into wickedness.
3 For even wise men among my sons
shall they mar, and shall cause the kingdom
of Judah
4 For I never caused grief to Jacob,
my father; for all things whatsoever he commanded I did.
5 And Isaac, the father of my father,
blessed me to be king in Israel
6 And I know that from me shall the
kingdom be established.
CHAPTER 18
1 And I know what evils ye will do
in the last days.
2 Beware, therefore, my children, of
fornication and the love of money, and hearken to Judah your father.
3 For these things withdraw you from
the law of God, And blind the inclination of the soul, And teach arrogance, And
suffer not a man to have compassion upon his neighbour.
4 They rob his soul of all goodness,
And oppress him with toils and troubles, And drive away sleep from him, And
devour his flesh.
5 And he hindereth the sacrifices of
God; And he remembereth not the blessing of God, He hearkeneth not to a prophet
when he speaketh, And resenteth the words of godliness.
6 For he is a slave to two contrary
passions, And cannot obey God, Because they have blinded his soul, And he
walketh in the day as in the night.
CHAPTER 19
1 My children, the love of money
leadeth to idolatry; because, when led astray through money, men name as gods
those who are not gods, and it causeth him who hath it to fall into madness.
2 For the sake of money I lost my
children, and had not my repentance, and my humiliation, and the prayers of my
father been accepted, I should have died childless.
3 But the God of my fathers had
mercy on me, because I did it in ignorance.
4 And the prince of deceit blinded
me, and I was ignorant as a man and as flesh, being corrupted through sins; and
I learnt my own weakness while thinking myself invincible.
CHAPTER 20
1 Know, therefore, my children, that
two spirits wait upon manù the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.
2 And in the midst is the spirit of
the understanding of the mind, to which it belongeth to turn whithersoever it
will.
3 And the works of truth and the
works of deceit are written upon the hearts of men, and each one of them the
Lord knoweth.
4 And there is no time at which the
works of men can be hid; for on the heart itself have they been written down
before the Lord.
5 And the spirit of truth testifieth
all things, and accuseth all; and the sinner is burnt up by his own heart, and
cannot raise his face to the judge.
CHAPTER 21
1 And now, my children, I command
you, love Levi, that ye may abide, and exalt not yourselves against him, lest
ye be utterly destroyed.
2 For to me the Lord gave the kingdom,
and to him the priesthood, and He set the kingdom beneath the priesthood.
3 To me He gave the things upon the
earth; to him the things in the heavens.
4 As the heaven is higher than the
earth, so is the priesthood of God higher than the earthly kingdom, unless it
falleth away through sin from the Lord and is dominated by the earthly kingdom.
5 For the angel of the Lord said unto
me: The Lord chose him rather than thee, to draw near to Him, and to eat of His
table and to offer Him the first-fruits of the choice things of the sons of Israel
6 And thou shalt be amongst them as
the sea. For as, on the sea, just and unjust are tossed about, some taken into
captivity while some are enriched, so also shall every race of men be in thee:
some shall be impoverished, being taken captive, and others grow rich by
plundering the possessions of others.
7 For the kings shall be as
sea-monsters. They shall swallow men like fishes: The sons and daughters of
freemen shall they enslave; Houses, lands, flocks, money shall they plunder:
8 And with the flesh of many shall
they wrongfully feed the ravens and the cranes; And they shall advance in evil,
in covetousness uplifted,
9 And there shall be false prophets
like tempests, And they shall persecute all righteous men.
CHAPTER 22
1 And the Lord shall bring upon them
divisions one against another. And there shall be continually wars in Israel
2 And among men of another race
shall my kingdom be brought to an end, Until the salvation of Israel
3 And He shall guard the might of my
kingdom for ever; For the Lord sware to me with an oath that He would not
destroy the kingdom from my seed for ever.
CHAPTER 23
1 Now I have much grief, my children,
because of your lewdness and witchcrafts, and idolatries which ye shall
practise ragainst the kingdom, following them that have familiar spirits,
diviners, and demons of error.
2 Ye shall make your daughters singing
girls and harlots, and ye shall mingle in the abominations of the Gentiles.
3 For which things' sake the Lord
shall bring upon you famine and pestilence, death and the sword, beleaguering
by enemies, and revilings of friends, the slaughter of children, the rape of
wives, the plundering of possessions, the burning of the temple of God, the
laying waste of the land, the enslavement of yourselves among the Gentiles.
4 And they shall make some of you
eunuchs for their wives.
5 Until the Lord visit you, when
with perfect heart ye repent and walk in all His commandments, and He bring you
up from captivity among the Gentiles.
CHAPTER 24
1 And after these things shall a
star arise to you from Jacob in peace, And a man shall arise from my seed, like
the sun of righteousness, Walking with the sons of men in meekness and
righteousness; And no sin shall be found in him.
2 And the heavens shall be opened
unto him, To pour out the spirit, (even) the blessing of the Holy Father;
3 And He shall pour out the spirit
of grace upon you; And ye shall be unto Him sons in truth, And ye shall walk in
His commandments first and last.
4 This Branch of God Most High, And
this Fountain giving life unto all.
5 Then shall the sceptre of my kingdom
shine forth; And from your root shall arise a stem;
6 And from it shall grow a rod of
righteousness to the Gentiles, To judge and to save all that call upon the
Lord.
CHAPTER 25
1 And after these things shall Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob arise unto life, and I and my brethren shall be chiefs of
the tribes rof Israel
2 And the Lord blessed Levi, and the
Angel of the Presence, me; the powers of glory, Simeon; the heaven, Reuben; the
earth, Issachar; the sea, Zebulun; the mountains, Joseph; the tabernacle,
Benjamin; the luminaries, Dan; Eden, Naphtali; the sun, Gad; the moon, Asher.
3 And ye shall be the people of the
Lord, and have one tongue; And there shall be there no spirit of deceit of
Beliar, For he shall be cast into the fire for ever.
4 And they who have died in grief shall
arise in joy, And they who were poor for the Lord's sake shall be made rich,
And they who are put to death for the Lord's sake shall awake to life.
5 And the harts of Jacob shall run
in joyfulness, And the eagles of Israel
CHAPTER 26
1 Observe, therefore, my children,
all the law of the Lord, for there is hope for all them who hold fast unto His
ways.
2 And he said to them: Behold, I die
before your eyes this day, a hundred and nineteen years old.
3 Let no one bury me in costly apparel,
nor tear open my bowels, for this shall they who are kings do; and carry me up
to Hebron with you.
4 And Judah ,
when he had said these things, fell asleep; and his sons did according to all whatsoever
he commanded them, and they buried him in Hebron
THE TESTAMENT OF
LEVI
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Levi, the
things which he ordained unto his sons, according to all that they should do,
and what things should befall them until the day of judgement.
2 He was sound in health when he
called them to him; for it had been revealed to him that he should die. And
when they were gathered together he said to them:
CHAPTER 2
1 I, Levi, was born in Haran
2 And I was young, about twenty
years of age, when, with Simeon, I wrought vengeance on Hamor for our sister
Dinah.
3 And when I was feeding the flocks
in Abel-Maul, the spirit of understanding of the Lord came upon me, and I saw
all men corrupting their way, and that unrighteousness had built for itself
walls, and lawlessness sat upon towers.
4 And I was grieving for the race of
the sons of men, and I prayed to the Lord that I might be saved.
5 Then there fell upon me a sleep,
and I beheld a high mountain, and I was upon it.
6 And behold the heavens were opened,
and an angel of God said to me, Levi, enter.
7 And I entered from the first heaven,
and I saw there a great sea hanging.
8 And further, I saw a second heaven
far brighter and more brilliant, for there was a boundless height also therein.
9 And I said to the angel, Why is
this so ? And the angel said to me, Marvel not at this, for thou shalt see
another heaven more brilliant and incomparable.
10 And when thou hast ascended
thither, Thou shalt stand near the Lord, And shalt be His minister, And shalt declare
His mysteries to men, And shaft proclaim concerning Him that shall redeem Israel
11 And by thee and Judah shall the
Lord appear among men, Saving every race of men.
12 And from the Lord's portion shall
be thy life, And He shall be thy field and vineyard, And fruits, gold, and
silver.
CHAPTER 3
1 Hear, therefore, regarding the heavens
widen have been shown to thee. The lowest is for this cause gloomy unto thee,
in that it beholds all the unrighteous deeds of men.
2 And it has fire, snow, and ice
made ready for the day of judgement, in the righteous judgement of God; for in
it are all the spirits of the retributions for vengeance on men.
3 And in the second are the hosts of
the armies which are ordained for the day of judgement, to work vengeance on
the spirits of deceit and of Beliar. And above them are the holy ones.
4 And in the highest of all dwelleth
the Great Glory, far above all holiness.
5 In the heaven next to it are the
archangels, who minister and make propitiation to the Lord for all the sins of
ignorance of the righteous;
6 Offering to the Lord a
sweet-smelling savour, a reasonable and a bloodless offering.
7 And in the heaven below this are
the angels who bear answers to the angels of the presence of the Lord.
8 And in the heaven next to this are
thrones and dominions, in which always they offer praise to God.
9 When, therefore, the Lord looketh
upon us, all of us are shaken; yea, the heavens, and the earth, and the abysses
are shaken at the presence of His majesty.
10 But the sons of men, having no
perception of these things, sin and provoke the Most High.
CHAPTER 4
1 Now, therefore, know that the Lord
shall execute judgement upon the sons of men. Because when the rocks are being
rent, and the sun quenched, and the waters dried up, and the fire cowering, and
all creation troubled, and the invisible spirits melting away, and Hades taketh
spoils through the visitations of the Most High, men will be unbelieving and
persist in their iniquity. On this account with punishment shall they be
judged.
2 Therefore, the Most High hath
heard thy prayer, to separate thee from iniquity, and that thou shouldest
become to Him a son, and a servant, and a minister of His presence.
3 The light of knowledge shalt thou
light up in Jacob, and as the sun shalt thou be to all the seed of Israel
4 And there shall be given to thee a
blessing, and to all thy seed, until the Lord shall visit all the Gentiles in
His tender mercies for ever.
5 And therefore there have been
given to thee counsel and understanding, that thou mightest instruct thy sons
concerning this;
6 Because they that bless Him shall
be blessed, And they that curse Him shall perish.
CHAPTER 5
1 And thereupon the angel opened to
me the gates of heaven, and I saw the holy temple, and upon a throne of glory
the Most High.
2 And He said to me: Levi, I have
given thee the blessings of the priesthood until I come and sojourn in the
midst of Israel
3 Then the angel brought me down to
the earth, and gave me a shield and a sword, and said to me: Execute vengeance
on Shechem because of Dinah, thy sister, and I will be with thee because the
Lord hath sent me.
4 And I destroyed at that time the
sons of Hamor, as it is written in the heavenly tablets.
5 And I said to him: I pray Thee, O
lord, tell me Thy name, that I may call upon Thee in a day of tribulation.
6 And he said: I am the angel who
intercedeth for the nation of Israel
7 And after these things I awaked,
and blessed the Most High, and the angel who intercedeth for the nation of Israel
CHAPTER 6
1 And when I was going to my father,
I found a brazen shield; wherefore also the name of the mountain is Aspis,
which is near Gebal, to the south of Abila.
2 And I kept these words in my
heart. And after this I counselled my father, and Reuben my brother, to bid the
sons of Hamor not to be circumcised; for I was jealous because of the
abomination which they had wrought on my sister.
4 And I slew Shechem first, and
Simeon slew Hamor.
5 And after this my brothers came
and smote that city with the edge of the sword.
6 And my father heard these things
and was wroth; and he was grieved in that they had received the circumcision,
and after that had been put to death, and in his blessings he looked amiss upon
us.
7 For we sinned because we had done
this thing against his will, and he was sick on that day.
8 But I saw that the sentence of God
was for evil upon Shechem; for they sought to do to Sarah and Rebecca as they
had done to Dinah our sister, but the Lord prevented them.
9 And they persecuted Abraham our
father when he was a stranger, and they vexed his flocks when they were big
with young; and Eblaen, who was born in his house, they most shamefully
handled.
10 And thus they did to all strangers,
taking away their wives by force, and they banished them.
11 But the wrath of the Lord came
upon them to the uttermost.
CHAPTER 7
1 And I said to my father Jacob: By
thee will the Lord destroy the Canaanites, and will give their land to thee and
to thy seed after thee.
2 For from this day forward shall
Shechem be called a city of imbeciles; for as a man mocketh a fool, so did we
mock them,
3 Because also they had wrought
folly in Israel Bethel
CHAPTER 8
1 And there again I saw a vision
even as the former, after we had spent there seventy days.
2 And I saw seven men in white raiment
saying unto me: Arise, put on the robe of the priesthood, and the crown of
righteousness, and the breastplate of understanding, and the garment of truth,
and the plate of faith, and the turban of the head, and the ephod of prophecy.
3 And they severally carried (these
things) and put (them) on me, and said unto me: From henceforth become a priest
of the Lord, thou and thy seed for ever.
4 And the first anointed me with
holy oil, and gave to me the staff of judgement.
5 The second washed me with pure
water, and fed me with bread and wine (even) the most holy things, and clad me
with a holy and glorious robe.
6 The third clothed me with a linen
vestment like an ephod.
7 The fourth put round me a girdle
like unto purple.
8 The fifth gave me a branch of rich
olive.
9 The sixth placed a crown on my
head.
10 The seventh placed on my head a
diadem of priesthood, and filled my hands with incense, that I might serve as
priest to the Lord God.
11 And they said to me: Levi, thy
seed shall be divided into three offices, for a sign of the glory of the Lord
who is to come.
12 And the first portion shall be
great; yea, greater than it shall none be.
13 The second shall be in the priesthood.
14 And the third shall be called by a
new name, because a king shall arise in Judah
15 And his presence is beloved, as a
prophet of the Most High, of the seed of Abraham our father.
16 Therefore, every desirable thing
in Israel
17 And some of them shall be high
priests, and judges, and scribes; for by their mouth shall the holy place be
guarded.
18 And when I awoke, I understood
that this (dream) was like the first dream.
19 And I hid this also in my heart,
and told it not to any man upon the earth.
CHAPTER 9
1 And after two days I and Judah
went up with our father Jacob to Isaac our father's father.
2 And my father's father blessed me
according to all the words of the visions which I had seen. And he would not
come with us to Bethel
3 And when we came to Bethel
4 And he rose up early in the morning,
and paid tithes of all to the Lord through me.
5 And so we came to Hebron
6 And Isaac called me continually to
put me in remembrance of the law of the Lord, even as the angel of the Lord
showed unto me.
7 And he taught me the law of the
priesthood, of sacrifices, whole burnt-offerings, first-fruits,
freewill-offerings, peace-offerings.
8 And each day he was instructing
me, and was busied on my behalf before the Lord, and said to me:
9 Beware of the spirit of fornication;
for this shall continue and shall by thy seed pollute the holy place.
10 Take, therefore, to thyself a wife
without blemish or pollution, while yet thou art young, and not of the race of
strange nations,
11 And before entering into the holy
place, bathe; and when thou offerest the sacrifice, wash; and again, when thou
finishest the sacrifice, wash.
12 Of twelve trees having leaves offer
to the Lord, as Abraham taught me also.
13 And of every clean beast and bird
offer a sacrifice to the Lord.
14 And of all thy first-fruits and of
wine offer the first, as a sacrifice to the Lord God; and every sacrifice thou
shalt salt with salt.
CHAPTER 10
1 Now, therefore, observe whatsoever
I command you, children; for whatsoever things I have heard from my fathers rl
have declared unto you.
2 And behold, I am clear from your
ungodliness and transgression, which ye shall commit in the end of the ages
against the Saviour of the world, Christ, acting godlessly, deceiving Israel,
and stirring up against it great evils from the Lord.
3 And ye shall deal lawlessly together
with Israel , so He shall not
bear with Jerusalem
4 And ye shall be scattered as captives
among the Gentiles, and shall be for a reproach and for a curse there.
5 For the house which the Lord shall
choose shall be called Jerusalem
CHAPTER 11
1 Therefore when I took a wife I was
twenty-eight years old, and her name was Melcha.
2 And she conceived and bare a son,
and I called his name Gersam, for we were sojourners in our land.
3 And I saw concerning him, that he
would not be in the first rank.
4 And Kohath was born in the thirty-fifth
year of my life, towards sunrise.
5 And I saw in a vision that he was
standing on high in the midst of all the congregation.
6 Therefore I called his name Kohath,
which is, beginning of majesty and instruction.
7 And she bare me a third son, Merari,
in the fortieth year of my life ; and since his mother bare him with
difficulty, I called him Merari, that is my bitterness, because he also was
like to die.
8 And Jochebed was born in Egypt
CHAPTER 12
1 And Gersam took a wife, and she
bare to him Lomni and Semei.
2 And the sons of Kohath, Ambram,
Issachar, Hebron
3 And the sons of Merari, Mooli and
Mouses.
4 And in my ninety-fourth year Ambram
took Jochebed my daughter to him to wife, for they were born in one day, he and
my daughter.
5 Eight years old was I when I went
into the land of Canaan, and eighteen years when I slew Shechem, and at
nineteen years I became priest, and at twenty-eight years I took a wife, and at
forty-eight I went into Egypt.
6 And behold, my children, ye are a
third generation.
7 In my hundred-and-eighteenth year
Joseph died.
CHAPTER 13
1 And now, my children, I command
you: Fear the Lord your God with your whole heart1, and walk in simplicity according to all His law.
2 And do ye also teach your children
letters, that they may have understanding all their life, reading unceasingly
the law of God.
3 For every one that knoweth the law
of the Lord shall be honoured, and shall not be a stranger whithersoever he
goeth.
4 Yea, many friends shall he gain
more than his parents, and many men shall desire to serve him, and to hear the
law from his mouth.
5 Work righteousness, therefore, my
children, upon the earth, That ye may have (it) as a treasure in heaven.
6 And sow good things in your souls,
that ye may find them in your life. But if ye sow evil things, ye shall reap
every trouble and affliction.
7 Get wisdom in the fear of God with
diligence; For though there be a leading into captivity, and cities and lands
be destroyed, and gold and silver and every possession perish, the wisdom of
the wise naught can take away, save the blindness of ungodliness, and the
callousness (that comes) of sin.
8 For if one keep oneself from these
evil things, then even among his enemies shall wisdom be a glory to him, and in
a strange country a fatherland, And in the midst of foes shall prove a friend.
9 Whosoever teacheth noble things
and doeth them, shall be enthroned with kings, as was also Joseph my brother.
CHAPTER 14
1 Therefore, my children, I have
learnt that at the end of the ages ye will transgress against the Lord,
stretching out hands to wickedness against Him; and to all the Gentiles shall
ye become a scorn.
2 For our father Israel
3 For as the heaven is purer in the
Lord's sight than the earth, so also be ye, the lights of Israel
4 But if ye be darkened through
transgressions, what, therefore, will all the Gentiles do living in blindness?
Yea, ye shall bring a curse upon our race, because the light of the law which
was given for to lighten every man, this ye desire to destroy by teaching
commandments contrary to the ordinances of God.
5 The offerings of the Lord ye shall
rob, and from His portion shall ye steal choice portions, eating (them)
contemptuously with harlots.
6 And out of covetousness ye shall
teach the commandments of the Lord, wedded women shall ye pollute, and the
virgins of Jerusalem shall ye defile; and with harlots and adulteresses shall
ye be joined, and the daughters of the Gentiles shall ye take to wife,
purifying them with an unlawful purification; and your union shall be like unto
Sodom and Gomorrah.
7 And ye shall be puffed up because
of your priesthood, lifting yourselves up against men, and not only so, but
also against the commands of God.
8 For ye shall contemn the holy
things with jests and laughter.
CHAPTER 15
1 Therefore the temple, which the
Lord shall choose, shall be laid waste through your uncleanness, and ye shall
be captives throughout all nations.
2 And ye shall be an abomination
unto them, and ye shall receive reproach and everlasting shame from the
righteous judgement of God.
3 And all who hate you shall rejoice
at your destruction.
4 And if you were not to receive
mercy through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers, not one of our seed
should be left upon the earth.
CHAPTER 16
1 And now I have learnt that for seventy
weeks ye shall go astray, and profane the priesthood, and pollute the
sacrifices.
2 And ye shall make void the law,
and set at nought the words of the prophets by evil perverseness. And ye shall
persecute righteous men, and hate the godly; the words of the faithful shall ye
abhor.
3 And a man who reneweth the law in
the power of the Most High, ye shall call a deceiver; and at last ye shall rush
(upon him) to slay him, not knowing his dignity, taking innocent blood through
wickedness upon your heads.
4 And your holy places shall be laid
waste even to the ground because of him.
5 And ye shall have no place that is
clean; but ye shall be among the Gentiles a curse and a dispersion until He
shall again visit you, and in pity shall receive you through faith and water.
CHAPTER 17
1 And whereas ye have heard concerning
the seventy weeks, hear also concerning the priesthood.
2 For in each jubilee there shall be
a priesthood. And in the first jubilee, the first who is anointed to the
priesthood shall be great, and shall speak to God as to a father. And his
priesthood shall be perfect with the Lord, and in the day of his gladness shall
he arise for the salvation of the world.
3 In the second jubilee, he that is
anointed shall be conceived in the sorrow of beloved ones; and his priesthood
shall be honoured and shall be glorified by all.
4 And the third priest shall be
taken hold of by sorrow.
5 And the fourth shall be in pain,
because unrighteousness shall gather itself against him exceedingly, and all Israel
6 The fifth shall be taken hold of
by darkness.
7 Likewise also the sixth and the
seventh.
8 And in the seventh shall be such
pollution as I cannot express before men, for they shall know it who do these
things.
9 Therefore shall they be taken captive
and become a prey, and their land and their substance shall be destroyed.
10 And in the fifth week they shall
return to their desolate country, and shall renew the house of the Lord.
11 And in the seventh week shall come
priests, (who are) idolaters, adulterers, lovers of money, proud, lawless,
lascivious, abusers of children and beasts.
CHAPTER 18
1 And after their punishment shall
have come from the Lord, the priesthood shall fail.
2 Then shall the Lord raise up a new
priest. And to him all the words of the Lord shall be revealed; And he shall
execute a righteous judgement upon the earth for a multitude of days.
3 And his star shall arise in heaven
as of a king, Lighting up the light of knowledge as the sun the day, And he
shall be magnified in the world.
4 He shall shine forth as the sun on
the earth, And shall remove all darkness from under heaven, And thefe shall be
peace in all the earth.
5 The heavens shall exult in his
days, And the earth shall be glad, And the clouds shall rejoice ; And the knowledge
of the Lord shall be poured forth upon the earth, as the water of the seas ;
And the angels of the glory of the presence of the Lord shall be glad in him.
6 The heavens shall be opened, And
from the temple of glory shall come upon him sanctification, With the Father's
voice as from Abraham to Isaac.
7 And the glory of the Most High
shall be uttered over him, And the spirit of understanding and sanctification
shall rest upon him in the water.
8 For he shall give the majesty of
the Lord to His sons in truth for evermore ; And there shall none succeed him
for all generations for ever
9 And in his priesthood the Gentiles
shall be multiplied in knowledge upon the earth, And enlightened through the
grace of the Lord : In his priesthood shall sin come to an end, And the lawless
shall cease to do evil. And the just shall rest in him.
10 And he shall open the gates of
paradise, And shall remove the threatening sword against Adam.
11 And he shall give to the saints to
eat from the tree of life, And the spirit of holiness shall be on them.
12 And Beliar shall be bound by him,
And he shall give power to His children to tread upon the evil spirits.
13 And the Lord shall rejoice in His
children, And be well pleased in His beloved ones for ever.
14 Then shall Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob exult, And I will be glad, And all the saints shall clothe themselves
with joy.
CHAPTER 19
1 And now, my children, ye have
heard all; choose, therefore, for yourselves either the light or the darkness,
either the law of the Lord or the works of Beliar.
2 And his sons answered him, saying,
Before the Lord we will walk according to His law.
3 And their father said unto them,
The Lord is witness, and His angels are witnesses, and ye are witnesses, and I
am witness, concerning the word of your mouth. And his sons said unto him : We
are witnesses.
4 And thus Levi ceased commanding
his sons; and he stretched out his feet on the bed, and was gathered to his
fathers, after he had lived a hundred and thirty-seven years.
5 And they laid him in a coffin, and
afterwards they buried him in Hebron
THE TESTAMENT OF
NAPHTALI
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the testament of Naphtali,
which he ordained at the time of his death in the hundred and thirtieth year of
his life.
2 When his sons were gathered together
in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, while still in good
health, he made them a feast of food and wine.
3 And after he was awake in the
morning, he said to them, I am dying; and they believed him not.
4 And as he glorified the Lord, he
grew strong and said that after yesterday's feast he should die.
5 And he began then to say: Hear, my
children, ye sons of Naphtali, hear the words of your father.
6 I was born from Bilhah; and because
Rachel dealt craftily, and gave Bilhah in place of herself to Jacob, and she
conceived and bare me upon Rachel's knees, therefore she called my name
Naphtali.
7 For Rachel loved me very much
because I was born upon her lap; and when I was still young she was wont to
kiss me, and say: May I have a brother of thine from mine own womb, like unto
thee.
8 Whence also Joseph was like unto
me in all things, according to the prayers of Rachel.
9 Now my mother was Bilhah, daughter
of Rotheus the brother of Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, who was born on one and the
self-same day with Rachel.
10 And Rotheus was of the family of
Abraham, a Chaldean, God-fearing, free-born, and noble.
11 And he was taken captive and was
bought by Laban; and he gave him Euna his handmaid to wife, and she bore a
daughter, and called her name Zilpah, after the name of the village in which he
had been taken captive.
12 And next she bore Bilhah, saying:
My daughter hasteneth after what is new, for immediately that she was born she
seized the breast and hastened to suck it.
CHAPTER 2
1 And I was swift on my feet like
the deer, and my father Jacob appointed me for all messages, and as a deer did
he give me his blessing.
2 For as the potter knoweth the vessel,
how much it is to contain, and bringeth clay accordingly, so also doth the Lord
make the body after the likeness of the spirit, and according to the capacity
of the body doth He implant the spirit.
3 And the one doth not fall short of
the other by a third part of a hair; for by weight, and measure, and rule was
all the creation made.
4 And as the potter knoweth the use
of each vessel, what it is meet for, so also doth the Lord know the body, how
far it will persist in goodness, and when it beginneth in evil.
5 For there is no inclination or
thought which the Lord knoweth not, for He created every man after His own
image.
6 For as a man's strength, so also
is his work; as his eye, so also is his sleep; as his soul, so also is his word
either in the law of the Lord or in the law of Beliar.
7 And as there is a division between
light and darkness, between seeing and hearing, so also is there a division between
man and man, and between woman and woman; and it is not to be said that the one
is like the other either in face or in mind.
8 For God made all things good in
their order, the five senses in the head, and He joined on the neck to the
head, adding to it the hair also for comeliness and glory, then the heart for
understanding, the belly for excrement, and the stomach for grinding, the
windpipe for taking in (the breath), the liver for wrath, the gall for
bitterness, the spleen for laughter, the reins for prudence, the muscles of the
loins for power, the lungs for drawing in, the loins for strength, and so
forth.
9 So then, my children, let all your
works be done in order with good intent in the fear of God, and do nothing
disorderly in scorn or out of its due season.
10 For if thou bid the eye to hear,
it cannot; so neither while ye are in darkness can ye do the works of light.
CHAPTER 3
1 Be ye, therefore, not eager to corrupt
your doings through covetousness or with vain words to, beguile your souls;
because if ye keep silence in purity of heart, ye shall understand how to hold
fast the will of God, and to cast away the will of Beliar.
2 Sun and moon and stars change not
their order; so do ye also change not the law of God in the disorderliness of
your doings.
3 The Gentiles went astray, and forsook
the Lord, and changed their order, and obeyed stocks and stones, spirits of
deceit.
4 But ye shall not be so, my children,
recognising in the firmament, in the earth, and in the sea, and in all created
things, the Lord Who made all things, that ye become not as Sodom
5 In like manner the Watchers also
change the order of their nature, whom the Lord cursed at the flood, on whose
account He made the earth without inhabitant and fruitless.
CHAPTER 4
1 These things I say unto you, my
children, for I have read in the writing of Enoch that ye yourselves also shall
depart from the Lord, walking according to all the lawlessness of the Gentiles,
and ye shall do according to all the wickedness of Sodom.
2 And the Lord shall bring captivity
upon you, and there shall ye serve your enemies, and ye shall be bowed down
with every affliction and tribulation, until the Lord have consumed you all.
3 And after ye have become minished
and made few, ye shall return and acknowledge the Lord your God; and He shall
bring you back into your own land, according to His abundant mercy.
4 And it shall be, that after that
they come into the land of their fathers, they shall again forget the Lord and
become ungodly.
5 And the Lord shall scatter them
upon the face of all the earth, until the compassion of the Lord shall come, a
man working righteousness and working mercy unto all them that are afar off,
and to them that are near.
CHAPTER 5
1 For in the fortieth year of my
life, I saw a vision on the Mount of Olives, on the east of Jerusalem
2 And behold Isaac, the father of my
father, said to us: Run and lay hold of them, each one according to his
strength; and to him that seizeth them will the sun and moon belong.
3 And we all of us ran together, and
Levi laid hold of the sun, and Judah
4 And when Levi became as a sun, lo,
a certain young man gave to him twelve branches of palm; and Judah
5 And the two, Levi and Judah, ran,
and laid hold of them.
6 And lo, a bull upon the earth,
with two great horns, and an eagle's wings upon his back; and we wished to
seize him, but could not.
7 But Joseph came, and seized him,
and ascended up with him on high.
8 And I saw, for I was there, and behold
a holy writing appeared to us, saying: Assyrians, Medes, Persians, Chaldeans,
Syrians, shall possess in captivity the twelve tribes of Israel
CHAPTER 6
1 And again, after seven days, I saw
our father Jacob standing by the sea
of Jamnia
2 And, behold, there came a ship sailing
by, without sailors or pilot; and there was written upon the ship, The ship of
Jacob.
3 And our father saith to us: Come
let us embark on our ship.
4 And when we had gone on board,
there arose a vehement storm, and a mighty tempest of wind; and our father, who
was holding the helm, departed from us.
5 And we, being tost with the tempest,
were borne along over the sea; and the ship was filled with water, (and was)
pounded by mighty waves, until it was broken up.
6 And Joseph fled away upon a little
boat, and we all were divided upon nine planks, and Levi and Judah were
together.
7 And we were all scattered unto the
ends of the earth.
8 Then Levi, girt about with sackcloth,
prayed for us all unto the Lord.
9 And when the storm ceased, the
ship reached the land, as it were in peace.
10 And, lo, our father came, and we
all rejoiced with one accord.
CHAPTER 7
1 These two dreams I told to my father;
and he said to me: These things must be fulfilled in their season, after that Israel
2 Then my father saith unto me: I
believe God that Joseph liveth, for I see always that the Lord numbereth him
with you.
3 And he said, weeping: Ah me, my
son, Joseph, thou livest, though I behold thee not, and thou seest not Jacob
that begat thee.
4 He caused me also, therefore, to
weep by these words, and I burned in my heart to declare that Joseph had been
sold, but I feared my brethren.
CHAPTER 8
1 And lo! my children, I have shown
unto you the last times, how everything shall come to pass in Israel
2 Do ye also, therefore, charge your
children that they be united to Levi and to Judah ;
For through them shall salvation arise unto Israel
3 For through their tribes shall God
appear dwelling among men on earth, To save the race of Israel
4 If ye work that which is good, my
children, Both men and angels shall bless you; And God shall be glorified among
the Gentiles through you, And the devil shall flee from you, And the wild
beasts shall fear you, And the Lord shall love you, And the angels shall cleave
to you.
5 As a man who has trained a child
well is kept in kindly remembrance; So also for a good work there is a good
remembrance before God.
6 But him who doeth not that which
is good, Both angels and men shall curse, And God shall be dishonoured among
the Gentiles through him, And the devil shall make him as his own peculiar
instrument, And every wild beast shall master him, And the Lord shall hate him.
7 For the commandments of the law
are twofold, And through prudence must they be fulfilled.
8 For there is a season for a man to
embrace his wife, And a season to abstain therefrom for his prayer.
9 So, then, there are two commandments;
and, unless they be done in due order, they bring very great sin upon men. So
also is it with the other commandments.
10 Be ye therefore wise in God, my
children, and prudent, understanding the order of His commandments, and the
laws of every word, that the Lord may love you.
CHAPTER 9
1 And when he had charged them with
many such words, he exhorted them that they should remove his bones to Hebron
2 And when he had eaten and drunken
with a merry heart, he covered his face and died.
3 And his sons did according to all
that Naphtali their father had commanded them.
THE TESTAMENT OF
REUBEN
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the Testament of Reuben,
even the commands which he gave his sons before he died in the hundred and twenty-fifth
year of his life.
2 Two years after the death of Joseph
his brother, when Reuben fell ill, his sons and his sons' sons were gathered together
to visit him.
3 And he said to them: My children,
behold I am dying, and go the way of my fathers.
4 And seeing there Judah, and Gad
and Asher, his brethren, he said to them: Raise me up, that I may tell to my
brethren and to my children what things I have hidden in my heart, for behold
now at length I am passing away.
5 And he arose and kissed them, and
said unto them: Hear, my brethren, and do ye, my children, give ear to Reuben
your father, in the commands which I give you.
6 And behold I call to witness
against you this day the God of heaven, that ye walk not in the ignorance of
youth and fornication, wherein I was poured out, and defiled the bed of my
father Jacob.
7 And I tell you that He smote me
with a sore plague in my loins for seven months; and had not my father Jacob
prayed for me to the Lord, the Lord would have destroyed me.
8 For I was thirty years old when I
wrought the evil thing before the Lord, and for seven months I was sick unto
death.
9 And after this I repented with set
purpose of my soul for seven years before the Lord.
10 And wine and strong drink I drank
not, and flesh entered not into my mouth, and I ate no pleasant food; but I
mourned over my sin, for it was great, such as had not been in Israel
CHAPTER 2
1 And now hear me, my children, what
things I saw concerning the seven spirits of deceit, when I repented.
2 Seven spirits therefore are appointed
against man, and they are the leaders in the works of youth.
3 And seven other spirits are given
to him at his creation, that through them should be done every work of man.
4 The first is the spirit of life,
with which the constitution (of man) is created. The second is the sense of
sight, with which ariseth desire.
5 The third is the sense of hearing,
with which cometh teaching. The fourth is the sense of smell, with which tastes
are given to draw air and breath.
6 The fifth is the power of speech,
with which cometh knowledge.
7 The sixth is the sense' of taste,
with which cometh the eating of meats and drinks; and by it strength is
produced, for in food is the foundation of strength.
8 The seventh is the power of procreation
and sexual intercourse, with which through love of pleasure sins enter in.
9 Wherefore it is the last in order
of creation, and the first in that of youth, because it is filled with ignorance,
and leadeth the youth as a blind man to a pit, and as a beast to a precipice.
CHAPTER 3
1 Besides all these there is an
eighth spirit of sleep, with which is brought about the trance of nature and
the image of death.
2 With these spirits are mingled the
spirits of error.
3 First, the spirit of fornication
is seated in the nature and in the senses; the second, the spirit of insatiableness,
in the belly;
4 The third, the spirit of fighting,
in the liver and gall. The fourth is the spirit of obsequiousness and chicanery,
that through officious attention one may be fair in seeming.
5 The fifth is the spirit of pride,
that one may be boastful and arrogant. The sixth is the spirit of lying, in
perdition and in jealousy to practise deceits, and concealments from kindred
and friends.
6 The seventh is the spirit of injustice,
with which are thefts and acts of rapacity, that a man may fulfil the desire of
his heart; for injustice worketh together with the other spirits by the taking
of gifts.
7 And with all these the spirit of
sleep is joined which is (that) of error and fantasy.
8 And so perisheth every young man,
darkening his mind from the truth, and not understanding the law of God, nor
obeying the admonitions of his fathers, as befell me also in my youth.
9 And now, my children, love the
truth, and it will preserve you: hear ye the words of Reuben your father.
10 Pay no heed to the face of a
woman, Nor associate with another man's wife, Nor meddle with affairs of
womankind.
11 For had I not seen Bilhah bathing
in a covered place, I had not fallen into this great iniquity.
12 For my mind taking in the thought
of the woman's nakedness, suffered me not to sleep until I had wrought the abominable
thing.
13 For while Jacob our father had
gone to Isaac his father, when we were in Eder, near to Ephrath in Bethlehem
14 Having therefore gone in and beheld
her nakedness, I wrought the impiety without her perceiving it, and leaving her
sleeping I departed.
15 And forthwith an angel of God
revealed to my father concerning my impiety, and he came and mourned over me,
and touched her no more.
CHAPTER 4
1 Pay no heed, therefore, my children,
to the beauty of women, nor set your mind on their affairs; but walk in
singleness of heart in the fear of the Lord, and expend labour on good works,
and on study and on your flocks, until the Lord give you a wife, whom He will,
that ye suffer not as I did.
2 For until my father's death I had
not boldness to look in his face, or to speak to any of my brethren, because of
the reproach.
3 Even until now my conscience
causeth me anguish on account of my impiety.
4 And yet my father comforted me
much, and prayed for me unto the Lord, that the anger of the Lord might pass
from me, even as the Lord showed. And thenceforth until now I have been on my
guard and sinned not.
5 Therefore, my children, I say unto
you, observe all things whatsoever I command you, and ye shall not sin.
6 For a pit unto the soul is the sin
of fornication, separating it from God, and bringing it near to idols, because
it deceiveth the mind and understanding, and leadeth down young men into Hades
before their time.
7 For many hath fornication destroyed;
because, though a man be old or noble, or rich or poor, he bringeth reproach
upon himself with the sons of men and derision with Beliar.
8 For hear ye regarding Joseph how
he guarded himself from a woman, and purged his thoughts from all fornication,
and found favour in the sight of God and men.
9 For the Egyptian woman did many
things unto him, and summoned magicians, and offered him love potions, but the
purpose of his soul admitted no evil desire.
10 Therefore the God of your fathers
delivered him from every evil (and) hidden death.
11 For if fornication overcomes not
your mind, neither can Beliar overcome you.
CHAPTER 5
1 For evil are women, my children;
and since they have no power or strength over man, they use wiles by outward attractions
that they may draw him to themselves.
2 And whom they cannot bewitch by
outward attractions, him they overcome by craft.
3 For moreover, concerning them, the
angel of the Lord told me, and taught me, that women are overcome by the spirit
of fornication more than men, and in their heart they plot against men; and by
means of their adornment they deceive first their minds, and by the glance of
the eye instil the poison, and then through the accomplished act they take them
captive.
4 For a woman cannot force a man
openly, but by a harlot's bearing she beguiles him.
5 Flee, therefore, fornication, my
children, and command your wives and your daughters, that they adorn not their
heads and faces to deceive the mind; because every woman who useth these wiles
hath been reserved for eternal punishment.
6 For thus they allured the Watchers
who were before the flood; for as these continually beheld them, they lusted
after them, and they conceived the act in their mind; for they changed themselves
into the shape of men, and appeared to them when they were with their husbands.
7 And the women lusting in their
minds after their forms, gave birth to giants, for the Watchers appeared to
them as reaching even unto heaven.
CHAPTER 6
1 Beware, therefore, of fornication;
and if you wish to be pure in mind, guard your senses from every woman.
2 And command the women likewise not
to associate with men, that they also may be pure in mind.
3 For constant meetings, even though
the ungodly deed be not wrought, are to them an irremediable disease, and to us
a destruction of Beliar and an eternal reproach.
4 For in fornication there is neither
understanding nor godliness, and all jealousy dwelleth in the lust thereof.
5 Therefore, then, I say unto you,
ye will be jealous against the sons of Levi, and will seek to be exalted over
them; but ye shall not be able.
6 For God will avenge them and ye
shall die by an evil death.
7 For to Levi God gave the sovereignty
and to Judah
8 Therefore I command you to hearken
to Levi, because he shall know the law of the Lord, and shall give ordinances
for judgement and shall sacrifice for all Israel
9 I adjure you by the God of heaven
to do truth each one unto his neighbour and to entertain love each for his
brother.
10 And draw ye near to Levi in humbleness
of heart, that ye may receive a blessing from his mouth.
11 For he shall bless Israel and Judah
12 And bow down before his seed, for
on our behalf it will die in wars visible and invisible, and will be among you
an eternal king.
CHAPTER 7
1 And Reuben died, having given
these commands to his sons.
2 And they placed him in a coffin
until they carried him up from Egypt ,
and buried him in Hebron
THE TESTAMENT OF
SIMEON
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Simeon,
the things which he spake to his sons before he died, in the hundred and
twentieth year of his life, at which time Joseph, his brother, died.
2 For when Simeon was sick, his sons
came to visit him, and he strengthened himself and sat up and kissed them, and
said:
CHAPTER 2
1 Hearken, my children, to Simeon
your father, And I will declare unto you what things I have in my heart.
2 I was born of Jacob as my father's
second son; And my mother Leah called me Simeon, Because the Lord had heard her
prayer.
3 Moreover, I became strong exceedingly;
I shrank from no achievement, nor was I afraid of ought.
4 For my heart was hard, and my
liver was immovable, and my bowel without compassion.
5 Because valour also hath been
given from the Most High to men in soul and body.
6 For in the time of my youth I was
jealous in many things of Joseph, because my father loved him beyond all.
7 And I set my mind against him to
destroy him, because the prince of deceit sent forth the spirit of jealousy and
blinded my mind, so that I regarded him not as a brother, nor did I spare even
Jacob my father.
8 But his God and the God of his fathers
sent forth His angel, and delivered him out of my hands.
9 For when I went to Shechem to
bring ointment for the flocks, and Reuben to Dothan
10 And when Reuben heard these things
he was grieved, for he wished to restore him to his father,
11 But on hearing this I was exceedingly
wroth against Judah
12 But the Lord restrained me, and
withheld from me the power of my hands; for my right hand was half withered for
seven days.
13 And I knew, my children, that
because of Joseph this had befallen me, and I repented and wept; and I besought
the Lord God that my hand might be restored, and that I might hold aloof from
all pollution and envy, and from all folly.
14 For I knew that I had devised an
evil thing before the Lord and Jacob my father, on account of Joseph my
brother, in that I envied him.
CHAPTER 3
1 And now, my children, hearken unto
me and beware of the spirit of deceit and of envy.
2 For envy ruleth over the whole
mind of a man, and suffereth him neither to eat nor to drink, nor to do any
good thing.
3 But it ever suggesteth (to him) to
destroy him that he envieth; and so long as he that is envied flourisheth, he
that envieth fadeth away.
4 Two years therefore I afflicted my
soul with fasting in the fear of the Lord, and I learnt that deliverance from
envy cometh by the fear of God.
5 For if a man flee to the Lord, the
evil spirit runneth away from him, and his mind is lightened.
6 And henceforward he sympathiseth
with him whom he envied and agreeth with those who love him, and so ceaseth
from his envy.
CHAPTER 4
1 And my father asked concerning me,
because he saw that I was sad; and I said unto him, I am pained in my liver.
2 For I mourned more than they all,
because I was guilty of the selling of Joseph.
3 And when we went down into Egypt
4 Now Joseph was a good man, and had
the Spirit of God within him: being compassionate and pitiful, he bore no
malice against me; but loved me even as the rest of his brethren.
5 Beware, therefore, my children, of
all jealousy and envy, and walk in singleness of heart, that God may give you
also grace and glory, and blessing upon your heads, even as ye saw in Joseph's
case.
6 All his days he reproached us not
concerning this thing, but loved us as his own soul, and beyond his own sons
glorified us, and gave us riches, and cattle and fruits.
7 Do ye also, my children, love each
one his brother with a good heart, and the spirit of envy will withdraw from
you.
8 For this maketh savage the soul
and destroyeth the body; it causes anger and war in the mind, and stirreth up
unto deeds of blood, and leadeth the mind into frenzy, and causeth tumult to
the soul and trembling to the body.
9 For even in sleep some malicious
jealousy, deluding him, gnaweth, and with wicked spirits disturbeth his soul,
and causeth the body to be troubled, and waketh the mind from sleep in
confusion; and as a wicked and poisonous spirit, so appeareth it to men.
CHAPTER 5
1 Therefore was Joseph comely in
appearance, and goodly to look upon, because no wickedness dwelt in him; for
some of the trouble of the spirit the face manifesteth.
2 And now, my children, Make your
hearts good before the Lord, And your ways straight before men, And ye shall
find grace before the Lord and men.
3 Beware, therefore, of fornication,
For fornication is mother of all evils, Separating from God, and bringing near
to Beliar.
4 I have seen it inscribed in the
writing of Enoch that your sons shall be corrupted in fornication, and shall do
harm to the sons of Levi with the sword.
5 But they shall not be able to withstand
Levi; for he shall wage the war of the Lord, and shall conquer all your hosts.
6 And they shall be few in number,
divided in Levi and Judah, and there shall be none of you for sovereignty, even
as also our father prophesied in his blessings.
CHAPTER 6
1 Behold I have told you all things,
that I may be acquitted of your sin.
2 Now, if ye remove from you your
envy and all stiff-neckedness, as a rose shall my bones flourish in Israel
3 Then shall perish the seed of Canaan , and a remnant shall not be unto Amalek, and all
the Cappadocians shall perish, and all the Hittites shall be utterly destroyed.
4 Then shall fail the land of Ham
5 Then shall a sign be glorified
greatly unto Israel
6 Then shall all the spirits of
deceit be given to be trodden under foot, And men shall rule over wicked spirits.
7 Then shall I arise in joy, and
will bless the Most High because of His marvellous works, because God hath
taken a body and eaten with men and saved men.
CHAPTER 7
1 And now, my children, obey Levi
and Judah, and be not lifted up against these two tribes, for from them shall
arise unto you the salvation of God.
2 For the Lord shall raise up from
Levi as it were a High-priest, and from Judah
as it were a King, God and man, He shall save all the Gentiles and the race of Israel
3 Therefore I give, you these commands
that ye also may command your children, that they may observe them throughout
their generations.
CHAPTER 8
1 And when Simeon had made an end of
commanding his sons, he slept with his fathers, being an hundred and twenty
years old.
2 And they laid him in a wooden
coffin, to take up his bones to Hebron
3 For the bones of Joseph the Egyptians
guarded in the tombs of the Kings.
4 For the sorcerers told them, that
on the departure of the bones of Joseph there should be throughout all the land
darkness and gloom, and an exceeding great plague to the Egyptians, so that
even with a lamp a man should not recognise his brother.
CHAPTER 9
1 And the sons of Simeon bewailed
their father.
2 And they were in Egypt
THE TESTAMENT OF
ZEBULUN
CHAPTER 1
1 The copy of the words of Zebulun,
which he enjoined on his sons before he died in the hundred and fourteenth year
of his life, two years after the death of Joseph.
2 And he said to them : Hearken to
me, ye sons of Zebulun, attend to the words of your father.
3 I, Zebulun, was born a good gift
to my parents. For when I was born my father was increased very exceedingly,
both in flocks and herds, when with the straked rods he had his portion.
4 I am not conscious that I have
sinned all my days, save in thought.
5 Nor yet do I remember that I have
done any iniquity, except the sin of ignorance which I committed against Joseph
; for I covenanted with my brethren not to tell my father what had been done.
6 But I wept in secret many days on
account of Joseph, for I feared my brethren, because they had all agreed, that
if any one should declare the secret, he should be slain.
7 But when they wished to kill him,
I adjured them much with tears not to be guilty of this sin.
CHAPTER 2
1 For Simeon and Gad came against
Joseph to kill him, and he said unto them with tears:
2 Pity me, my brethren, have mercy
upon the bowels of Jacob our father: lay not upon me your hands to shed
innocent blood, for I have not sinned against you.
3 And if indeed I have sinned, with
chastening chastise me, my brethren, but lay not upon me your hand, for the
sake of Jacob our father.
4 And as he spoke these words, wailing
as he did so, I was unable to bear his lamentatioms, and began to weep, and my
liver was poured out, and all the substance of my bowels was loosened.
5 And I wept with Joseph, and my
heart sounded, and the joints of my body trembled, and I was not able to stand.
6 And when Joseph saw me weeping
with him, and them coming against him to slay him, he fled behind me,
beseeching them.
7 But meanwhile Reuben rose and
said: Come, my brethren, let us not slay him, but let us cast him into one of
these dry pits, which our fathers digged and found no water.
8 For for this cause the Lord forbade
that water should rise up in them, in order that Joseph should be preserved.
9 And they did so, until they sold
him to the Ishmaelites.
CHAPTER 3
1 For in his price I had no share,
my children.
2 But Simeon and Gad and six other
of our brethren took the price of Joseph, and bought sandals for themselves,
and their wives, and their children, saying:
3 We will not eat of it, for it is
the price of our brother's blood, but we will assuredly tread it under foot, because
he said that he would be king over us, and so let us see what will become of
his dreams.
4 Therefore it is written in the writing
of the law of Moses, that whosoever will not raise up seed to his brother, his
sandal should be unloosed, and they should spit into his face.
5 And the brethren of Joseph wished
not that their brother should live, and the Lord loosed from them the sandal
which they wore against joseph their brother.
6 For when they came into Egypt
7 And not only did they make obeisance
to him, but were spit upon also, falling down before him forthwith, and so they
were put to shame before the Egyptians.
8 For after this the Egyptians heard
all the evils that they had done to Joseph.
CHAPTER 4
1 And after he was sold my brothers
sat down to eat and drink.
2 But I, through pity for Joseph,
did not eat, but watched the pit, since Judah
3 But when they saw that I did not
eat, they set me to watch him, till he was sold to the Ishmaelites.
5 And when Reuben came and heard
that while he was away (Joseph) had been sold, he rent his garments, (and)
mourning, said: How shall I look on the face of my father Jacob?
6 And he took the money and ran
after the merchants, but as he failed to find them he returned grieving. But
the merchants had left the broad road and marched through the Troglodytes by a
short cut.
7 But Reuben was grieved, and ate no
food that day. Dan therefore came to him and said:
8 Weep not, neither grieve; for we
have found what we can say to our father Jacob.
9 Let us slay a kid of the goats,
and dip in it the coat of Joseph; and let us send it to Jacob, saying : Know,
is this the coat of thy son? And they did so.
10 For they stripped off from Joseph
his coat when they were selling him, and put upon him the garment of a slave.
11 Now Simeon took the coat, and
would not give it up, for he wished to rend it with his sword, as he was angry
that Joseph lived and that he had not slain him.
12 Then we all rose up and said unto
him: If thou givest not up the coat, we will say to our father that thou alone
didst this evil thing in Israel
13 And so he gave it unto them, and
they did even as Dan had said.
CHAPTER 5
1 And now, my children, I bid you to
keep the commands of the Lord, and to show mercy to your neighbours, and to
have compassion towards all, not towards men only, but also towards beasts.
2 For, for this thing's sake the
Lord blessed me, and when all my brethren were sick, I escaped without
sickness, for the Lord knoweth the purposes of each.
3 Have, therefore, compassion in
your hearts, my children, because even as a man doeth to his neighbour, even so
also will the Lord do to him.
4 For the sons of my brethren were
sickening and were dying on account of Joseph, because they showed not mercy in
their hearts; but my sons were preserved without sickness, as ye know.
5 And when I was in the land of Canaan
CHAPTER 6
1 I was the first to make a boat to
sail upon the sea, for the Lord gave me understanding and wisdom therein.
2 And I let down a rudder behind it,
and I stretched a sail upon another upright piece of wood in the midst.
3 And I sailed therein along the
shores, catching fish for the house of my father until we came to Egypt
4 And through compassion I shared my
catch with every stranger.
5 And if a man were a stranger, or
sick, or aged, I boiled the fish, and dressed them well, and offered them to
all men, as every man had need, grieving with and having compassion upon them.
6 Wherefore also the Lord satisfied
me with abundance of fish when catching fish; for he that shareth with his
neighbour receiveth manifold more from the Lord.
7 For five years I caught fish, and
gave thereof to every man whom I saw, and sufficed for all the house of my
father.
8 And in the summer I caught fish,
and in the winter I kept sheep with my brethren.
CHAPTER 7
1 Now I will declare unto you what I
did. I saw a man in distress through nakedness in wintertime, and had
compassion upon him, and stole away a garment secretly from my father's house,
and gave it to him who was in distress.
2 Do ye, therefore, my children,
from that which God bestoweth upon you, show compassion and mercy without
hesitation to all men, and give to every man with a good heart.
3 And if ye have not the wherewithal
to give to him that needeth, have compassion for him in bowels of mercy.
4 I know that my hand found not the
wherewithal to give to him that needed, and I walked with him weeping for seven
furlongs, and my bowels yearned towards him in compassion.
CHAPTER 8
1 Have, therefore, yourselves also,
my children, compassion towards every man with mercy, that the Lord also may
have compassion and mercy upon you.
2 Because also in the last days God
will send His compassion on the earth, and wheresoever He findeth bowels of
mercy He dwelleth in him.
3 For in the degree in which a man
hath compassion upon his neighbours, in the same degree hath the Lord also upon
him.
4 And when we went down into Egypt
5 To whom taking heed, do ye also,
my children, approve yourselves without malice, and love one another; and do
not set down in account, each one of you, evil against his brother.
6 For this breaketh unity and divideth
all kindred, and troubleth the soul, and weareth away the countenance.
CHAPTER 9
1 Observe, therefore, the waters,
and know when they flow together, they sweep along stones, trees, earth, and
other things.
2 But if they are divided into many
streams, the earth swalloweth them up, and they become of no account.
3 So shall ye also be if ye be divided.
4 Be not ye, therefore, divided into
two heads, for everything which the Lord made hath but one head, and two
shoulders, two hands, two feet, but all the remaining members.
5 For I have learnt in the writing
of my fathers, that Ye shall be divided in Israel
6 And your enemies shall lead you
captive, And ye shall be evil entreated among the Gentiles, With many infirmities
and tribulations.
7 And after these things ye shall remember
the Lord and repent, And He shall have mercy upon you, for He is merciful and
compassionate. And He setteth not down in account evil against the sons of men,
Because they are flesh, and are deceived through their own wicked deeds.
8 And after these things shall there
arise unto you the Lord Himself, the light of righteousness, And ye shall
return unto your own land. And ye shall see Him in Jerusalem
9 And again through the wickedness
of your works shall ye provoke Him to anger, And ye shall be cast away by Him
unto the time of consummation.
CHAPTER 10
11 And now, my children, grieve not
that I am dying, nor be cast down in that I am coming to my end.
12 For I shall rise again in the
midst of you, as a ruler in the midst of his sons; and I shall rejoice in the
midst of my tribe, as many as shall keep the law of the Lord, and the commandments
of Zebulun their father.
13 But upon the ungodly shall the
Lord bring eternal fire, and destroy them throughout all generations.
14 But I am now hastening away to my
rest, as did also my fathers.
15 But do ye fear the Lord rour God
with all your strength all the days of your life.
16 And when he had said these things
he fell asleep, at a good old age. And his sons laid him in a wooden coffin.
17 And afterwards they carried him up
and buried him in Hebron
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