I warn you keep the Lords commandements be mercifull to your neighbours and have inward compassion towards all not only men but also beasts For in that respect the Lord blessed me insomuch that when all my brothers were sick I escaped without sickness For God knoweth every mans intent Therefore my children have compassion in your bowels because that as any man dealeth with his neighbour so wil God deal with him For the children of my brothers fell sick also and died for Josephs sake because their fathers pitied him not but my children were preserved without sickness as you know And while I was upon the Sea-coast of Canaan I fell to fishing for my father Jacob and whereas many others were drowned in the Sea I abode unbuâ—t I was the first that made a Fisher-boat to float on the sea for God gave me understanding and wisdom therein so that I did set up a masâ— in the boat and fastned a sail to the midst of the wood and coasing along the shore in it I fished for my fathers houshold till we came into Egypt and for pity sake I gave of my fishing to every stranger that I met with if there were any foreiner born or any sicke body or any aged person I boiled my fish and dressed it well according to every mans need and carried it to them comforting them and having compassion with them And therefore God made me to catch much fish in the sea For hee that giveth his neighbor receiveth the things multiplied of the Lord Five yeares did I fish giving to every man â—hat I saw and serving all my Fathers house sufficiently in harvest time I fished and in winter time I fed sheep with my brothers Now will I tell you what I did I â—aw a miserable man in the deep of winter and having compassion upon him I stole a garment privily out of my house and gave it the naked man You therefore my Children take pity indifferently of all men and shew mercy with the things which the Lord giveth you and deale them abroad to all men with a good heart And if ye have not wherewith to succour the needy out of hand yet have compassion on him with inward mercy I know that my hand forslowed not to give to him that wanted and to spend the time with him insomuch that I have walked above vii furlongs with such a one weepiâ—g and my heart yerned upon him for compassion You therefore my children have earnest and inward mercy towards all that are in mâ—sery that God having pitty upon you may be mercifull to you likewise For in the last daies God will send his mercy upon the earth and wheresoever he findeth inward and hearty mercy there will he dwel For looke how much mercy man sheweth to his neighbour so much wâ—ll God shew to him againe Now when we came down inâ—o Egypt Joseph minded not our evill dealing with him but when he saw me it made his heart yerne whom look ye upon my children and learne to forget the harm that is done to you Love ye one another and do not one of you thinke upon anothers ill dealing for that breaketh unity and displeaseth all kiâ—dred and troubleth the minde For he that is mindfull of harm past hath not the bowels of mercy Marke the water and see how it washeth away the sand when the stones and timber are removed asunder And if a brook be drawn into many streams the earth sucketh it up and it cometh to nothing and so shall you if you be divided among your selves Therefore divide not your selves into 2. heads for all things that God hath created have but one head apiece He hath given a man two shoulders two hands and two feet but yet do all the members obey one head I know by the writings of my fathers that in the last dayes ye shal depart from the Lord and be divided in Israel following two Kings working all abomination and worshipping all manner of Idols and your enemies shall take you prisoners and you shall sit among the heathen in all misery tribulation and sorrow of mind and afterward you shall remember the Lord and repent and he shall turn you again for he is mercifull and full of compassion and thinketh not upon the lewdnesse of the children of men because they be flesh and the spirits of errour beguile them in all their doings After this shall God himselfe raise up unto you the light of righteousness and wholesomeness mercy are in his punishments He shall redeem all men from the bondage of Belial and all the spirits of errour shall be trodden down and he shall turn all nations to the following of him and ye shal see God in the shape of man for God hath chosen Jerusalem and God is his Name neverthelesse by the wickednesse of your words you shal provoke him to wrath and ye shall be cast off till the time of full finishing And now my children be not sad for my death neither be ye out of heart because I leave you For I shall rise up again among you as a Captain in the middest of my Tribe among as many as have kept the law of the Lord and the commandements of their father Zâ—bulon But as for the wicked God shall bring everlasting fire upon them and destroy them for ever I return to my rest as my fathers have done now fear you the Lord your God with all your strength all the dayes of your life As he had spoken these words he fell asleep to his singular benefit and his sonnes laid him in a Coffin and carrying him back again unto Hebron buried him there with his fathers The Testament of Dan made to His children at his death concerning anger and lying The Serpent with weapon and Dan declare The intent of those men that wrathfull are The Testament of Dan. THe copy of Dan his words which he spake unto them in his last daies in the hundred five and twentieth yeare of his life he called his tribe unto him and said Yee Children of Dan heare my sayings and give heed to the wordes of your Fathers mouth I lâ—ked in mine heart and shewed in my whole life the thing that is good for truth joyned with right dealing pleaseth God well I have hated hurtfull things as lying and anger because they teâ—câ— a man all manner of naughtinesse I confesse unto you my Children this day that I was glad in my heart at the death of Joseph that true and good man and rejoyced of the selling of him because our Father loved him more then us For the spirit of spitefullnes and pride said unto me Thou art his son â—eo as wel as he And one of the spirits of Belial wrought with me saying Take this sword and slay Joseph with it and when he is dead thy father shall love thee This was that spirit of
spitefulnesse which counselled me to devoure Joseph as the Leopard devoured a Kid But the God of our Father Jacob did not put him into my hands nor suffer me to finde him alone that I might dispatch two Scepters in Israel by committing that wickednesse And now my children I tall you of a truth that unlesse you keep your selves from this spirit of lying and wrath and love truth and long sufferance ye shall perish Wrath is blind my children and no wrathfull man looketh truth in the face because that although they were a his Father and mother yet doth he hold them all his enemies Though he be his brother yet he b knoweth him not though he be the Lords c prophet yet obeyeth he him not though he be a d righteous man yet he regardeth him not and though he be his e friend yet he considereth it not For the Spirit of wrath besetteth him with the snares of error blinding his naturall eyes and dimming the eyes of his minde by falsehood and giving to him a sight of his own making And wherein bleareth he his eyes In hatred of heart for he giveth him a self-willed heart against his brother to spite him and envy him My Sonnes wrath is mischievous for it becommeth a soul to the soul and subdueth the body to it self by overmastering the soul and giveth power to the body to work all wickednesse And when the soule hath wrought it justifieth the thing done because it seeth not Therefore he that is wrathfull if he be a man of might hath trebble power in his anger One through the help and furtherance of his Servants Another of his riches wherethrough he perswadeth and overcometh his unrighteousnesse and a third of the nature of his own body which of it self worketh evill And though he that is angry be a poor man yet hath he his naturall power doubled For the said Spirit doâ—h alwayes further his wickednesse by causing his deeds to be matched with lying Wherefore consider the power of wrath how vain it is For he is bitter in speech and walketh at Satans right hand that his deeds may be wrought in untrustiness and lying For Satan doth first of all sting him by speech and when he hath once pricked him forward be strengthneth him by deeds and troubleth his understanding with bitter nips and losses and so provoketh his minde to excessive wrath Therefore when any man speaketh against you be not moved to anger and if he praise you as good men be not puffed up nor changed into voluptuousnesse and sternesse of countenance For when a man heareth a thing that misliketh him first it tickleth him and stingeth his mind so that he thinks he hath just cause to be angry Now therefore my children if ye fall into any losse and hinderance be not out of patience for the spirit of impatience maketh men to lust for the things that is forgone and to be angry for the want of it Beare your losses willingly and be not out of quiet for it for unquietnes engendereth anger and untruth and it is evill to have a double face Anger and untruth talke one to another to trouble the understanding And when the mind is cumbred with disdain the Lord departeth from it and Belial getteth the dominâ—on of it Therefore my children keepe the Lords commandements and lawes eschew untruth and hate it that the Lord may dwell in you and Belial flâ—e from you Speak every of you the truth to his neighbour that ye fall not willingly into incomberance and so shall ye be in quiet and ye shall have the God of peace war shall not prevaile against you Love the Lord all your life long and love ye one another with a soothfast heart For I am sure that in the latter daies ye shall deparâ— from the Lord and walk in naughtines workâ—ng the abhominations of the Gentiles and haunting wicked women in all lewdnes by the working of deceitfull spirits in you For I have read in Enoch that Sathan is your prince and thaâ— all the spirits of fornication and pride shall ply themselves in laying snares for the children of Dan to make them sinne before the Lord But my children stick ye unto Levi and looke upon him in all things The children of Juda shall snatch away other mens goode like Lyons through covetousnesse For this cause shall ye be led away with them into captivity and there receive all the plagues of Egypt and all the malice of the heathen whereupon â—e shall returne to â—hâ— Lord and obtaine mercy and he shall bring you into â—is holy place and proclaim peace to you The Lorâ—s saving health shall spring up unto you out of the Tribes of Juda and Levi He shall make warre against Belial and give our young men the victory in revengement He shall deliver the imprisoned souls of the Saints from Belial and turn your unbelieving hearts to the Lord and give everlasting peace to such as call upon him The Saints shall rest in him and the righteous shall rejoyce in the new Jerusalem which shall glorifie GOD for ever Jerusalem shall no more be wasted nor Israel led into captivity because the Lord shall be conversant among men in the midst of it and the holy one of Israel shall raign over you in lowlinesse and poverty and he that believeth in him shall certainly reign in Heaven Now my Children feare the Lord and beware of Satan and his spirits And draw neer to God and to the angell that excuseth you for he is the Mediator between God and man to set peace in Israel He shall stand against the Kingdom of the enemy and therefore will the enemy labour to overthrow all that call upon the Lord for he knoweth that whensoever Israel decayeth then shall his enemies Kingdome come to an end But the said Angel shal strengthen Israel that he come not to an evill end At that time shall Israel depart from iniquity and the Lord shall visit such as doe his will in all places of Israel and among the heathen his name shall be The Saviour Therefore my children keep your selves from all noysome dealings and put from you wrath and all untruth Love truth and mildnesse and look what you have heard of your father deliver it over to your children that the Father of Nations may receive you For he was soothfast long suffering meek lowly and a teacher of Gods law by his own works Therefore depart from all unrighteousnesse that ye may stick to the righteousnesâ— of the Lords Law and bury ye me by my Fathers In saying these things he kissed them and slept the sleep of the world And his sonnes buried him laying his bones by Abraham Isaac and Jacob And like as Dan had prophesâ—ed to them that they should one day neglect Gods law and estrange themselves from the off-spring and native Countrey of Israel so came
the daies of his life he did never cast us in the teeth with it but loved us as his owne soule and more than his owne Children honouring us and giving us riches cattell and corne abundantly You therefore my children love yee one another with a good heart and put from you the spirit of Envie for it maketh a Mans sou'e to grow savage marreth his body breedeth wrath and war in his thoughts setteth his bloud on fire driveth him out of his wits and suffereth no reason to beare any sway or rule Moreover it taketh away his sleep disquieteth his minde and maketh his body to tremble For even in sleep some spice of imagined malice gnaweth him cumbring his soule with Spirits of mischiefe making his body ghastly and his mind affrighted with trouble and appearing unto men as it were with a pernicious Spirit and powring out of poyson Therefore was Joseph faire of face beautifull and comely to behold because no wicked thing dwelt in him for he had a countenance cleare from cumverance of mind And now my children let your hearts be meek before the Lord and walke right before man so shall ye finde favour both with God man and beware that ye fall not to whoredome For whoredome is the mother of all naughtines separating a man from God sending him to Belial For I have seene in Enochs writings that you and your children shall be corrupted with whoredome and do Levi wrong by the sword But they shall not prevaile against Levi because he shall fight the Lords battels and take all your tents and very few shall be divided in Levi and Juda for hee shall be your Captaine as my Father Jacob prophesied in his blessings Behold I tell you all these things aforehand that I may be cleare from the sin of your soules Now if you put from you all enviousnes and all stiffneckednes all my bones shall flourish as a rose in Israel and my flesh as a Lilâ—ie in Jacob and my savor shall be as the sent of Libanus my holy ones shall be multiplied as the Cedars for ever their boughs shall spreade out in length for evermore Then shall the seed of Canaan perish together with all the remnant of Amalek All the Cappadocians shall perish and all tâ—e Sethians shall likewise be destroyed Then shall the land of Cham faile and all the people goe to wreck Then shall the Earth rest from trouble and all men under Heaven from war Then shall Sem be glorified when the great Lord God of Israel appeareth upon earth as a man to save Adam in him Then shall the spirits of errour he troden under foote and men shall reign over hurtfull fiends then shall I arise again in joy and blesse the highest in his wonderful works for God taking a body upon him and eating with men shal save men And now my children obey Levi and you shall be delivered by Juda and advance not your selves above these two tribes for of them two shall the saving health of God spring unto us For the Lord shall set up of Levi the prince of priests and of Juda the King of Kâ—ngs God man So shall he save all the Gentiles the off-spring of Israel For these things sake I charge you to command your children to keepe these things thoroughout all their generations And Simeon making an end of these his sayings and commandements to his children slept with his fathers when as he was of the age of an hundred twenty yeares And then they laid him in a coffin of wood that rotteth not that they might cary his bones againe into Hebron they conveyed him privily in the warte of the Egyptians For the Egyptians kept the bones of Joseph in the Kings treasure For their inchanters told them that whensoever Josephs bones were carried away there should be such a plague of miste and darknesse among the Egyptians as one brother should not know another no not even by torchlight and Symeons children bewailed there Father according to the Law of mourning continued in Egypt till the day of their departing thence under the hand of Moyses The Testament of LEVI made to his Childrena this death concerning Priesthood Flie sinne be just rage not give light Ye Preachers of Gods Word For what else sheweth Sun and Moone Dame Venus Wolfe and Sword 〈…〉 THe Copy of Levies words namely which hee spake to his children concerning all the things which they should doe and which should happen unto them untill the day of judgement Hee was in health when he called them unto him for he knew before when he should die So when they were come together he said unto them I Levi was bred and borne in Charran and afterward came with my father into Sichem I was at that time but young about 20 yeers old when I helped my brother Simeon to revenge our sister Dina against Hemor Now as we were â—eeding of our flocks in Abelmuel the spirit of the understanding of the Lord came upon me I saw all men undermining their own waies and how unrighteousnes had builded her selfe a fortresse wickedness sat upon the throne thereof And I was sory for mankind besought the Lord to save them Then there fell a sleep upon me and I saw a very high mountain It was the mountaine of Aspis in Abelmuel And behold the heavens opened and the Angell of God said unto me Levi come hither and went from the first heaven to the second and there saw the water hanging betweene the one and the other And I saw the third heaven much brighter than them both for the height thereof was infinit And I said to the angell what meaneth this And the Angell answered me Marvel not at these things for thou shalt see foure heavens yet brighter without comparison when thou commest up to them For thou shalt stand by the Lord be his Minister and utter his secrets unto men and preach of the deliverer of Israel which is to come by thee and by Juda the Lord will appear to men to save all mankind in them Thy life shall depend upon the Lord by him shalt thou have thy fields vineyards fruits gold and silver Therefore harken as touching the seven heavens The lowest is most lowring because it is neerest to all the unrighteousnes of men The second hath fire snow yce prepared by the Lords appointment against the day of Gods rightfull judgement In it are all the spirits of vengeance for the punishing of the wicked In the third are the powers of hosts ordaâ—ned against the day of iudgement to take vengeance upon the spirits of error and Belial In the fourth above these are the saints for in the higher places dwelleth great glory in the holy of all holies above all holinesse In the next unto this are the angels that do serve in Gods presence and seek his
your Children shall forsake plainness and cleave to covetousnesse let goe innocency and follow lewdnesse leave Gods Commandements and stick unto Belial give over husbandry and gad after wicked devices and therefore shal they be scattered amongst the heathen and become bondslaves to their enemies Wherefore warn your Children of it that if they sin they may return quickly to the Lord for he is mercifull and will deliver them and bring them home again into their own Land I am now an hundred and two and twenty years old and I know not any deadly sinne upon me I have not known any woman but my Wife neither have I committed whoredome in the lust of mine eyes I have not drunk wine unto drunkennesse neither have I coveted any pleasant things of my neighbours There hath been no guile in my heart neither hath there any lying gone out of my lips I have been sorry with every man that was in heaviness and given my bread to the poor I have not eaten my meat alone nor removed the bounds and buttels of lands I have been pitiful all the dayes of my life dealt truly in all cases I have loved the Lord with all my strength and all men as mine own children My sons if you also do the like all the spirits of Belial will flie from you and nothing that mischievous men can doe against you shall have power over you You shall bring all wilde Beasts into subjection to you because ye have the Lord of Heaven with you if ye walke with him in singlenesse of heart And he willed them to carry his body into Hebron and to bury him there in the cave with his fathers Thus he stretched out his feet and died in a good age having all his limbs strong and sound and slept the sleep of all the world The Testament of ZABULON made to his Children at his death concerning compassion and mercy The poor man at home Zâ—bulon fed The stranger unknown also clothed When shâ—p did sail but gave him wit to govern it God did not fail but gave him wit to govern it The Testament of Zabulon THE charge that Zabulon gave to his Children in the hundred and fourteenth year of his life two and thirty years after the decease of Joseph And he saith unto them Hear ye me ye sons of Zabulon a good gift to my Father and Mother For when I was begotten my Father was greatly increased in Sheep and Cattel by reason of the good luck that he had through the straked rods I wist not my Children I wist not that I sinned in those dayes For I considered not that I dealt wickedly through ignorance in Josephs case and moreover concealed it with my brothers from our Father howbeit that I wept much for it in secret for I was sore afraid of my Brothers because they had all conspired together to kill him with the sword that should bewray that secret Neverthelesse when they would have killed him I besought them most earnestly with tears that they would not doe such wickednesse For Simeon and Gad came upon Joseph to have killed him and Joseph falling upon his knees said unto them Have pity upon me my Brethren have pity upon the bowels of our Father Jacob Lay not your hands upon me to shed innocent bloud for I have not sinned against you If I have done amisse nurture me with chastisement but lay not your hands upon me for our Father Jacobs sake Vpon his saying of these words I being moved with compassion came and wept and my heart melted within me and all the substance of my bowels were loosned upon my soul Also Joseph wept and I with him and my heart trembled and the joynts of my body quaked and I was not able to stand And when he saw me weeping with him and them coming towards him to kill him he fled behinde me and besought them to take pity of him Then Ruben stepping in said My brethren let us not kill him but let us cast him into the drie pit that our Fathers digged and found no water in it GOD suffered not any water to spring up in it because it should-be a safeguard for Joseph And so God did till they sold him to the Ismaelites Thus gave I no consent to the sinne against Joseph but Simeon Gad and the other of my brothers taking money for Joseph bought thooes with it for themselves their Wives and their Children saying Let us not eat it because it is the price of our Brothers bloud but let us tread trample it under our feet because he said he should raign over us and we shall see what his dreams will come unto Therefore in the Scepter of Enochs Law it is written of him that would not raise up seed to his brother I have loosed Josephs Shooe For when we came out of Egypt the young men unbuckled Josephs shooes at the Gate and so we worshipped Joseph as if it had been Pharaoh and not only worshipped him but also kneeled down before him with blushing and so were we put to shame before the Egyptians for afterward the Egyptians heard of all the ill that we had offered and done to Joseph After the laying of him in the pit my brothers set meat upon the Table to eat But I mourning for Joseph did tast no meat by the space of two dayes and two nights together neither would Juda eat with them but had an eye unto the pit because he feared lest Simeon and Gad should step there and kill him When they saw that I ate nothing they set me to keep him till he was sold He was in the Pit three dayes and three nights without repast yet he was sold Reuben hearing that he was sold in his absence rent his garments and wept saying How shall I look my Father Jacob in the face And therewithall taking money he ran after the Merchantmen but he could not finde them for they had left the Kings high-way and were gone away apace by by-lanes and Ruben ate no meat that day Dan therefore comming unto him said Weep not neither be sad for the Boy for I wot what we may say unto our Father Jacob We will kill a Kid and stain Josephs coat with the bloud of it and say unto him See if this be thy Sons coat or no For when they intended to sell Joseph they stripped him out of our Fathers coat and put upon him an old coat of a bond-servant Symeon had gotten his coat and would not deliver it us but was minded to have cut it in pieces with his sword and he was angry that he was yet alive that he had not slain him Then all my brethren rising up together said unto him Why shouldest thou not give it us seeing that thou only art the worker of this mischief in Israel Hereupon he gave it them and they did as Dan had counselled And now my children
he is in heaven When Joseph was in Egypt I longed to see his person and the form of his countenance And through the prayers of my Father Jacob I saw him awake in the day of his full and perfect shape Now therefore my Children know you that I shall die Wherefore deale every of you truly and rightfully with his neighbour worke ye justly and faithfully and keep ye the law and commandement of the Lord for that doe I teach you instead of all Inheritance And give you the same to your Children for an everlasting possession For so did Abraham Isaac and Jacob they gave us all these things for an Inheritance saying Keep the Lords commandements till he reveale his saving health unto all Nations Then shall ye see Enoch Noe Sem Abraham Isaac and Jacob rising at his right hand with joyfulnesse Then shall we rise also every of us to his own Scepter worshipping the King of heaven which appeared on earth in the base shape of man As many as beleeve in him shall rejoyce with him at that time And all these shall rise again to glory and the residue unto shame And the Lord shall first of all judge Israel for the unrighteousnesse committed against him because they beleeved not in God that came in the flesh to deliver Then shal he judge all Nations as many as believed not in him when he appeared upon earth and he shâ—ll reprove Israel among the chosen of the Gentiles as he reproved Esau in the Midianites that seduced his brethren by fornication and Idolatry who were estranged from God and fell away from the Inheritance of the Children because they feared not God But if you walke in holinesse before the Lord ye shall dwell in Hope again in me And all Israel shall be gathered to the Lord and I shall no more be called a ravening Wolfe for your Robberies sakes but I shall be called the Lords Workmâ—n which gâ—veth food unto such as doe good And in my seed shall be raised up the Beloved of the Lord whose voice shall be heard upon the earth and he shall give new knowledge and enlighten all Nations with the light of understanding and shall come up to save Israel He shall take from them as a Wolfe and give to the Synagogue of the Gentiles aâ—d continue in the Sâ—nagogue of the Gentiles to the worlds end Hâ— shall be among their Princes as musical melody in the mouths of all men and his doings and sayings shall be written in â—oly books He shaâ—l be the Lords Dearling for evermore And as concerning him my Father Jacob taught me saying He shall ameâ—d the defaults of thy Tribe And when he had ended tâ—ese sayings he commanded his Children to carry his bones out of Egypt and to bury them in Hebron by his Fathers So Benjamin dyed in hundred and five and twenty years old in a good age and they put him in a Coffin and in the fourscore and eleventh year before the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt they and their brethren conveyed their Fathers bones privily againe into the Land of Chanaan and buried him in Hebron at the feet of his Fathers and returned again out of the Land of Chanaan and dwell in Egypt till the day of their departure thence all together FINIS How these Testaments of the twelve Patriarchs were first found and by whose means they were translated out of Greek into Latine THese Testaments were hidden and concealed a long time so as the Teachers and the ancient Interpreters could not finde them Which thing happened through the spitefulnesse of the Iewes who by reason of the most evident manifest and often Prophecies of Christ that are written in them did hide them a long while At length the Greeks being very narrow searchers out of ancient writings tought these Testaments warily and got them more warily and translated them faithfully out of Hebrew into Greek Nevertheless this writing continued yet still unknown because there was not any man to be found that was skillfull both in the Greek and Latine nor any Interpreter that might procure the translation of this noble work untill the time of Robert the second surnamed Grosthead Bishop of Lincolne who sent diligent searchers as far as Greece to fetch him a Copy of the said writing without respect of their charges which he bare most liberally Therefore to continue the memories of those most lightsome Prophecies to the strengthening of the Christian faith that reverend Bishop did in the year of our Lord 1242. translate them painfully and faithfully word for word out of Greek into Latine in which two tongues he was counted very skilfull by the help of M. Nicholas Greek Parson of the Church of Datchot and Chaplain to the Abbot of St. Albons to the intent that by that means the evident Prophecies which shine more bright than the day light might the more gloriously come abroad to the greater confusion of the Iewes and of all Hereticks and enemies of the Church of Christ to whom be praise and glory for ever Amen 1658. At LONDON Printed for the Company oâ— the STATIONERS Levi Iacob Simeon Iudas Isachar Zabulon Dan. Gad. Aser Neptalim Ioseph Benjamin Eccles 14â— Gen. 23. Simple for innocence Jacob beloved not of merit Rom. 9. but of grace Gen. 25. Gen. 26. Gen. 27. A caveat for mariage Trouble paine are destined to the Elect. An example for children A godly note for servants Mans life is but a pilgrimage God alway provideth for the righteous Parents ought to tell their children Gods blessings That is shall be uÌ„der their tribes Christ Counted as one of his children not that they should pray unto him being dead as Eckius gathered God hath mercy on whom he will By saith Jacob divideth the Land a yet but hoped for Begotten in my youth Levi had no Tribe Simeon was under Juda. Jud. 1. Blessings of Juda a worthy captaine A noble Prince Christ A fertile Land Judge 13.14.15.16 Josh. 1.21 Num. 33. Judg. 4.5 The blessing of Joseph Encrease of family All things come of God Not for the holinesse of the place but for memory of Gods promise A token of a good conscience Death is our long home Fornication plagued Gen. 15. a Prayer and repenâ—â—nce stayeth Goâ—â— wrath b The blessing prayer of a father to god for his children of what benefit In repentance the heart is to be considered not externall action The eight Instruments whereby man worketh the effect of them 1 Life 2 Seeing 3. Hearing 4 Smelling 5. Speech 6 Tasting 7. Seed of what property 8 Sleep of what property Eight spirits of errour of what property 1. Lechery 2. Gluttony 3. Envie 4. Bravery 5. Pride of what propertie 6. Vaine-glory in what it consisteth 7. Unrighteousnesse 8. Wilful ignorance Discommodities of ignorance Ringleaders to fornicatioÌ„ 1. a greedy eye 2. Close company with women 3. Bâ—sie questions 4. Drunkennesse Nothing so secretly
it to passe The Testament of Neptalim made to his Children at his death concerning goodnes Run Neptalims race but run apace Embrace his goodnesse and trustinesse If your state you see servants to be Then God will you blesse give successe The Testament of Neptalim THe copy of Neptalims Testament concerning the things which he discoursed at the end of his time in the hundreth and two and thirtieth year of his life At the comming of his Children together in the seaventh moneth the fourth day of the moneth he being yet in good health commanded a sumptuous feast and great chear to be prepared When he awoke in the morning from sleep because he was even at deaths doore he praised the Lord that had strengthned him and began to speak to his children in this wise My Children give eare to Neptalim hearken to your fathers words I was borne of Bilha and because Rachel dealt craftily in putting Bilha to Jacob in her owne stead and Bilha was delivered of mee in Rachels lap therefore was I called Neptalim And Rachel loved mee because I was borne on her lap and shee kissed me when I was a little one saying God let me see a brother of thine out of mine owne wombe after thee By reason whereof Joseph was like to mee in all things according to Rachels request Now my mother Bilha was the daughter of Rotheus the brother of Debora Rebecca's nurse and was born the self-same day that Rachel was born for Rotheus was a Chaldean of Abrahams kindred a worshipper of GOD freeborn and a noble man Howbeit forsomuch as he was taken prisoner Laban bought him and married him so a bond-woman of his called Eve who brought him forth a son whom he named Zeliphas after the name of the Castle wherein he was taken Afterward she bare Bilha calling her her new hasty daughter because she was fond of the Dug as soon as she was born And because I was as swift of foot as a Stag my father Jacob appointed me to run of all messages and errands and blessed me by the name of Stag For as the Potter knoweth what his vessel shall contain and tempereth his quantity of clay thereafter so the Lord maketh a mans body proportionable to the spirit that he will put unto it and fliteth the spirit to the ability of the body so as there is no inequality or oddes betwixt them for all the Lords creatures are made by weight measure and rule And as the Potter knoweth the use of every of them to what things they be meetest so the Lord knoweth the body how farre forth it is fit for goodnesse and when it beginneth in evill For there is not any Creature reasonable nor unreasonable which the Lord knoweth not for he hath created all men after his own image and as mans strength is so is his worke as is his will so is his worke as is his forecast so is his doing as is his heart so is his mouth as is his eye so is his sleep and as is his minde so is his talke either of the Law of the Lord or of the Law of Belial And looke what diversity is betweene light and darknesse or between sight and hearing the same diversity is there in man and woman Neither is it to be said that there is any bitternesse in any thing either of the face or of other like things For God hath made all things good in their order or degres he hath set the five wits in the head and knit the head to the neck and covered it with hair for his glory Moreover he hath assigned the heart to wisdome the bellâ— to the avoidance of the stomach 〈…〉 health the Liver to anger the gall to bitternesse the spleen to laughter the kidnies to craftinesse the loins to strength the ribbes to comelinesse the seed to lustinesse and so forth So my children doe all things in order and in the feare of God neither doe ye any thing disorderly in scorn or out of due season For thou canst not command the eye to beare neither canst thou doe the works of light in darknesse Therefore haste you not to marâ— your doings through covetousnesse or to beguile your own souls with fond talke For by holding your peace with a cleane heart ye shall be able to keep the will of God and to cast away the will of the divell the Sunne Moon and Stars break not their order neither break you Gods law in the order of your doings The Gentiles by going astray and by forsaking the Lord have changed their order and followed stocks and stones and spirits of errour But do you not so my children know ye that your onely one God is the Lord in the skies on the earth in the Sea and of all creatures for he is the mâ—ker of them And be not like Sodom which altereth the order of her Nature likewise the waters altered the order of their nature and they whom God cursed in the flood making the earth desolate and fruitless for their sakes My children I say these things because I have read in the holy writings of Enoch that you also shall depart from the Lord and walk in all the wickednesse of Sodome and the Lord shall bring thraldome upon you so as you shal serve your enemies and be pinched with all manner of tribulation and pain till God consume you every one and when ye be made few and small ye shal turn again and know the Lord your God and he shal bring you again into your own land according to his manifold mercy And it shall come to passe that when they shall be come into the countrey of their fathers they shall forget the Lord again and deal wickedly so as the Lord shall scatter them all over the face of the whole earth till in the mercy of the Lord come a man that poureth out mercy and righteousness upon all men both far and neer For in the xl year of my life upon mount Olivet toward the east side of Jerusalem I saw the Sun and Moon stand still and behold Isaac my fathers father said to us Come hither apace and every one of you take hold according to his strength for the Sunne and Moone may be caught And we came running all togethâ—r and Levi caught hold of the Sunne and Juda jumping up caught told of the Moon and were both of them lifted up with them And when as Levi became as the Sunne a certain young mâ—n delivered him twelve boughs of Palm tree and Juda shined as the Moon and twelve beams or rayes were under his feet and Levi and Juda running together beheld one another And behold there was a Bull upon earth that had great horns and Eagles wings upon his backe and we would have caught him but we could not for Joseph stepping before us caught him and mounted aloft upon him And behold there appeared unto us an holy writing