Codex: Testament of the 12 Patriarchs
Book: Testament of Joesph
1:1 THE copy of the Testament of Joseph.
1:2 When he was about to die he called his sons and his brethren together, and said to them:--
1:3 My brethren and my children, hearken to Joseph the beloved of Israel; give ear, my sons, unto your father.
1:4 I have seen in my life envy and death, yet I went not astray, but persevered in the truth--of the Lord.
1:5 These my brethren hated me, but the Lord loved me:
1:6 They wished to slay me, but the God of my fathers guarded me:
1:7 They let me down into a pit, and the Most High brought me up again.
1:8 I was sold into slavery, and the Lord of all made me free:
1:9 I was taken into captivity, and His strong hand succoured me.
1:10 I was beset with hunger, and the Lord Himself nourished me.
1:11 I was alone, and God comforted me:
1:12 I was sick, and the Lord visited me.
1:13 I was in prison, and my God showed favour unto me;
1:14 In bonds, and He released me;
1:15 Slandered, and He pleaded my cause;
1:16 Bitterly spoken against by the Egyptians, and He delivered me;
1:17 Envied by my fellow-slaves, and He exalted me.
1:18 And this chief captain of Pharaoh entrusted to me his house.
1:19 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.
1:20 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.
1:21 For the Lord doth not forsake them that fear Him, neither in darkness, nor in bonds, nor in tribulations, nor in necessities.
1:22 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.
1:23 But in all those 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.
1:24 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.
1:25 How often did the Egyptian woman threaten me with death!
1:26 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:
1:27 Thou shalt be lord of me, and all that is in my house, if thou wilt give thyself unto me, and thou shalt be as our master.
1:28 But I remembered the words of my father, and going into my chamber, I wept and prayed unto the Lord.
1:29 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.
1:30 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.
1:31 And I sought the Lord early, and I wept for the Egyptian woman of Memphis, for very unceasingly did she trouble me, for also at night she came to me under pretence of visiting me.
1:32 And because she had no male child she pretended to regard me as a son.
1:33 And for a time she embraced me as a son, and I knew it not; but later, she sought to draw me into fornication.
1:34 And when I perceived it I sorrowed unto death; and when she had gone out, I came to myself, and lamented for her many days, because I recognized her guile and her deceit.
1:35 And I declared unto her the words of the Most High, if haply she would turn from her evil lust.
1:36 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.
1:37 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.
1:38 Owing to all these things I lay upon the ground, and besought God that the Lord would deliver me from her deceit.
1:39 And when she had prevailed nothing thereby, she came again to me under the plea of instruction, that she might learn the word of God.
1:40 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 by thy Lord.
1:41 And I said unto her: The Lord willeth not. that those who 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.
1:42 But she heed her peace, longing to accomplish her evil desire.
1:43 And I gave myself yet more to fasting and prayer, that the Lord might deliver me from her.
1:44 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.
1:45 I therefore, when I heard this, rent my garments, and said unto her:
1:46 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.
1:47 She therefore, being afraid, besought that I would not declare this device.
1:48 And she departed soothing me with gifts, and sending to me every delight of the sons of men.
1:49 And afterwards she sent me food mingled with enchantments.
1:50 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.
1:51 And when he had gone out I wept, nor did I taste that or any other of her food.
1:52 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?
1:53 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.
1:54 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 mayst see and repent.
1:55 But that thou mayst 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.
1:56 And having so said, I prayed thus: The God of my fathers and the angel of Abraham, be with me; and ate.
1:57 And when she saw this she fell upon her face at my feet, weeping; and I raised her up and admonished her.
1:58 And she promised to do this iniquity no more.
1:59 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.
1:60 And when her husband saw her, he said unto her: Why is thy countenance fallen?
1:61 And she said unto 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.
1:62 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.
1:63 And when I saw the spirit of Beliar was troubling her, I prayed unto the Lord, and said unto her:
1:64 Why, wretched woman, art thou troubled and disturbed, blinded through sins?
1:65 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.
1:66 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.
1:67 But she knew not that because of my lord I spake thus, and not because of her.
1:68 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.
1:69 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 day, and all the night; and about dawn I rose up, weeping the while and praying for a release from her.
1:70 At last, then, she laid hold of my garments, forcibly dragging me to have connexion with her.
1:71 When, therefore, I saw that in her madness she was holding fast to my garment, I left it behind, and fled away naked.
1:72 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.
1:73 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.
1:74 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.
1:75 And not even in thought did I incline unto her.
1:76 For God loveth him who in a den of wickedness combines fasting with chastity, rather than the man who in kings' chambers combines luxury with license.
1:77 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 me.
1:78 How often, though she were sick, did she come down to me at unlooked for times, and listened to my voice as I prayed!
1:79 And when I heard her groanings I held my peace.
1:80 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.
1:81 And the Lord guarded me from her devices.
Next Chapter