cause the God of our fathers delivered him from all death both seen and unseen For if fornication over-rule not your minde neither shall Belial prevaile against you Women are hurtfull things my sonnes because that when they want power and strength against a man they worke guilefully to draw him to them by traines whom they cannot overmatch in strength him they overcome by deceit For the Angel of the Lord which taught me told me of them that they be overmastered by the spirit of fornication more than men be and that they be ever practising in their hearts against men first making their mindes to erre by decking of themselves then shedding their poison into them by sight and finally catching them prisoners by their doings for a woman is notable to enforce a man Therefore my sons flie fornication charge your wives and daughters that they trim not their heads and will them to chasten their lookes for every woman that dealeth deceitfully in these things is reserved to the punishment of the world to come For by such means were the watchers deceived before the floud as soone as they saw them they fell in love one with another conceived a working in their minde and turned themselves into the shape of men and appeared to them in their companying with their husband and the woman by conceiving the desire of them in the imagination of their minde brought forth Giants For the Watches appeared to them of height unto heaven Therefore keepe your selves from fornication and if yee intend to have a cleare minde keepe your selves from all Women and forbid them likewise the company of men that they may have also cleane minds For although continuall companyings do not alwaies worke wickednesse yet breede they incurable stings to them and to us everlasting shame before Belial because that fornication hath neither understanding nor godlinesse in it and all enviousnes dwelleth in the desire thereof and for that cause shalt yee envie the Children of Levi and seeke to be exalted above them but ye shall not be able to compasse it for God will avenger them and you shall die a dangerous death for unto Levi and Iuda hath the Lord given the soveraignty and unto mee and Dan and Joseph hath hee granted to be Princes with them Wherfore I charge you heare Levi for he shall know the law of the Lord deale forth judgement and offer sacrifices for all Israel till the full time of Christ the chiefâ— priest because the Lord hath spoken it I charge you by the God of heaven that every of you do deale faithfully with his neighbour and flicke unto Levi in humblenesse of heart that ye may receive blessing at his mouth for he shall blesse Israel and Juda. God hath chosen Juda to bee the King of all people wherefore worship you his seed for he shall die for you in battels both visible and invisible and shall raigne over you world without end Ruben having given his Children the foresaid charge and blessed them dyed Then they put him in a coffin carrying him out of Egypt buried him at Hebron in the double Cave where his Fathers slept The Testament of SIMEON made to his Children at his death concerning Envie The heart in womans mouth the face the sword the wolfe the cap All these paint out the envious race That run to their mishap The Testament of Simeon THe copy of Simeons words which hee spake unto his sons at his death in the hundreth twentieth yeare of his life in the which Joseph died For they came to visit him upon his death-bed and he sitting up kissed them saying Hearken my Children heare me your father Simeon whatsoever I have in my heart I am my father Jacobs second son and my mother Lea named me Simeon because the Lord heard her prayer I became very mighty I went through with my doings and was not affraid of any thing For my heart was stout my mind unmoveable and my stomack undiscourageable for hardiness is given of the highest into mens soules and bodies In those daies I envied Joseph because my father loved him I hardened my heart against him to kill him because the prince of errour sending forth the spirit of envie so blinded my mind that I could not take heed to spare my father Jacob But his God the God of his fathers sending his angell did rid him out of my hands For while I went into Sichem to carrie fare for our flockes and Ruben into Dotaim where all our necessaries were laid up in store our brother Juda sold him unto the Ismaelites therefore when my brother was come againe he was sorry for he intended to have conveied him selfe againe to our father But I was angry with Juda for letting him goe alive and bare him grudge five moneths after howbeit God letted me and restrained the working of my hands for my right hand was halfe withered up for vii dayes together Then did I perceive my sonnes that that befell me for Josephs sake whereupon I repented soon after and besought the Lord to restore my hand and I would abstain from all rancor envie and folly For I knew I had conceived a wicked thought against the Lord and against my Father Jacob for my brother Josephs sake whom I envied Now therefore my children keep your selves from the spirits of error and envy For envie overruleth the a mind of everie Man suffering b him not to eate or drink in rest or so do any good thing and is alwaies egging him to c slay the party whom he envieth and d pining away at his prosperitie Two yeares together I punished my soul with fasting in the fear of the Lord For I knew that the way to deliver me from envie was the feare of the Lord If a man flie unto the Lord the wicked Spirit flieth from him so as his minde becommeth meeke and of spitefull he becommeth pitifull bearing no grudge towards such as love him and so his envie ceaseth And because my father saw me sad he asked me the cause of it In whom I lied saying I have a pain in my stomach for I was sorâ—iest of all my brothers for that I had been the cause of Josephs selling into Egypt And when I came into Egypt and was put inward by him as a sâ—te then perceived I that I was justly punished and I was not sorry for it But Joseph being a good man and having Gods spirit in hâ—m and being full of pitie and mercy minded not to doe mee any harm but loved me as well as the residue of my brethren Therefore my children keep your selves from all spite and envie and walke in singlenesse of minde and good conscience after the example of your fathers brother that God may give you grace glory and blessedness upon your heads as you see in him Of all
saying the Assyrians Medes Elamites Galathites Caldees and Syrians shall hold the Scepter of Israel in thraldome And again a seven moneths after I saw our father Jacob standing in the sea of Jamma and us his Sonnes with him And behold there came a ship sayling by full of 〈◊〉 flesh without Mariner or Pilate Vpon the ship was written Jacob and our Father said to us Let us go to our ship When we were within it there rose a sore tempest and a mighty gale of winde and our father who held the stern flew away from us and then we being tossed with the storm were carried into the sea and our ship was filled with water and weather-â—eatâ—n and torn on all sides Then Joseph fled out in the boat and we all were divided upon twelve boards and Levi and Juda was among us so were we scattered on all coasts and Levi being clad in sackcâ—oth prayed unto the Lord for us all As soon as the tempest was allayed the ship came quickly to land and behold our Father Jacob came and we rejoyced all together with one minde I told my father these two dreams and he said to me these things must be fulfilled in their time and Israel must indure many things Then said he further to me I believe that Joseph is alive for I see that the Lord doth alwayes number him with us And he said thou livest my sonne Joseph but yet I see thee not neither seest thou Jacob that begat thee truly he made us to weep at these words of his and my vowels glowed within me to bewray unto him that Joseph was sold but I was afraid of my brothers Behold my sons I have shewed you the last times and all things that shall be done in Israel You therefore command your children to be helpfull unto Levi and Juda. For by Juda shall health and welfare spring up unto Israel and in him shall Jacob be blessed For by his Scepter shall God appeare and dwell among men upon earth to save the flock of Israel and to gather the righteous from amongst the Heathen My children if you do well both men and angels shall praise and blesse you and God shall be glorified by you among the Gentiles the Divell shall flâ—e from you the beasts shall stand in awe of you and the Angels shall receive you For like as if a man bring up his children well the child giveth and endeavoureth alwayes to be mindefull and thankfull So of good works there is a good remembrance with God But as for him that doth not good him shall men and Angels curse and God shall be dishonoured through him among the Gentiles and the Divel shall possesse him as a peculiar vessell and instrument and all beasts shall overmasâ—er him and the Lord shall hate him For the commandments of the law are of two sorts and are fulfilled in work For there is a time for a man to company with his wife and a time to forbear her that he may give himselfe to prayer There are two commandements which breed sinne except they be done in their due order and so it is in the rest of the commandments Therefore be you wise and skilfull in the Lord knowing the order of his commandements and the laws of all things that God may love ye Having commanded them many other such things he prayed them to conveigh his bones to Hebron and to bury him by his Fathers And so eating and drinking with a merry heart he covered his face and died And Neptalims children did all things according as their Father had commanded them The Testament of GAD made to his Children at his death concerning Hatred You that excell in Martiall feats Loe Gad but GOD obey Lest in Gads wrath you GOD offend And lose your hoped prey The Testament of Gad. THe Copy of Gads Testament and of the things that he spake to his Children in the hundred and seventh year of his life saying I was Jacobs seventh son and skilfull and strong in keeping of sheep I kept the flocks by night and when there came any Lion Leopard Wolf Beare or other wilde Beast upon our Caâ—tel I ran to it and killed it Joseph also did feed sheep with us about a thirty dayes who being tender fell sick by reason of overmuch heat and went home to Hebron to his father whom he lodged by himselfe because he loved him And Joseph told our father tâ—at the sons of Bilha wasted his goods at Zâ—lpha and made havock of them without the knowledge of Juda and Ruben For he knew that I had rescued a lamb out of a Bears mouth and killed the Bear and that because the lamb could not live which thing grieved me we killed it also and ate it He told our father of it and our brothers were greatly discontentâ—d with his doing even to the day that he was sold into Egypt and the spirit of hatred was in me insomuch as I could not finde in my heart to hear Joseph speak or to see him because he had rebuked us openly for eating the lamb without Juda. To be shorâ— he made our father believe whatsoever he told him But now I acknowledge my sinne my children that I was often in minde to have killed him for I hated him from my heart and I was utterly without compassion towards him and the cause of this my great hatred towards him was his dreams Therefore I would have devoured him as an Oxe eateth up grasse from the earth And for that cause I and Juda sold him to the Ismaelites for 30 gildernes of the which we kept away ten privily and shewed the other xx to our brethren And so covetousnesse perswaded me to wish his death But the God of our Fathers delivered him out of my hands to the intent I should not do such wickedness in Israel and now my children give eare to the words of truth that ye may live righteously and keep the law of the highest and not go astray through the Spirit of hatred for that is evill in all mens doings Whatsoever another man doe hâ— that doth the hater mislike and abhorre If one keep the law of the Lord he praiseth it not if one feare the Lord and deal righteously him he loveth not but dispraiseth the truth he envieth him that ordereth his wayes aright he embraceth backbiting he loveth scornfulnesse and because that hatred hath blinded his minde he doth to his neighbours as we did to Joseph therefore my Children keep your selves from hatred because it committeth wickednesse even against the Lord for it will not hear the words of Gods commandement concerning the loving of a mans neighbour but sinneth spitefully against God If a brother offend by and by it blazeth him abroad and is hastie to have him condemned and killed or punished for his offence And if the offender be a servant or bondman it accuseth him to his master and deviseth all means that may be to persecute
him and to put him to death if it be possible for hatred worketh with spitefulnesse and is alway sorry to hear or see men go forward or prosper in well-doing For like as love beareth good will then to the dead and wisheth them alive and would if it were possible stay them from death which are condemned to die So hatred seeketh to stay the living and deemeth them unworthy of life which have offended never so lightly For the spirit of hatred doth through cankred frowardnesse of heart work joyntly with Sathan in all things even to the death and destruction of men But the spirit of love doth through long sufferance worke with Gods Law to the welfare of men Hatred is evil because it abideth with lying speaking continually against the truth making a great adoe of small matters overshadowing the lâ—ght with darknesse counting sweet to be sowre teaching slanderousnesse war wrong and aboundance of all mischief and finally filling the heart with divellish poison My children I speak these tâ—ings upon experience to the intent you should eschew hatred and stick to godly love Righteousnesse driveth out hatred and lowlinesse killeth it for a righteous and lowly person is ashamed to doe wrong not for feare of rebuke but for conscience sake because God seeth his intent He backbiteth no man because the feare of the highest overcommeth hatred for the feare of the Lord offendeth not neither wil do any man wrong no not even in thought At length I came to the knowledge of these things when I had repented the of my dealings toward Joseph For the true Repentance that is according to Gods will mortifieth a man to obedience chaseth away darknesse inlightneth the eyes giveth knowledge to the minde and leadeth the soul to salvation And whatsoever men know not of themselves that doth repentance teach them For it brought upon me the pain of the heart and if my father Jacobs prayers had not beene surely I had died out of hand For loâ—k wherein a man sinneth by the same he is punished Forasmuch therefore as my heart was mercilesse toward Joseph I suffered Gods rigorous justice in my heart by the space of xi moneths that the time of my punishment might fall out even with the time that I urged the selling of Joseph Now therefore my children each of you love his brothers and put away hatred from your hearts loving one another in deed word and tâ—ought of minde For before my fathers face I spake mildly of Joseph but behinde his backe the spirit of hatred darkened my understanding and tempted my minde to kill him Wherefore love ye one another heartily and if any of you offend other tell him of it gently driving out the poyson of hatred and fostering no deceit in heart And if the offender confesse it and be sorry for it give it him and if he deny it strive not with him lest he fall to swearing and so sinne double Let no stranger hear you uttering one anothers secrets in variance lest he turn to be your ill-willer and worke some great mischief against you For he will talke guilefully with thee and undermine thee to do thee a shrewd turn taking his poyson at thine own hand Therefore if he deny it and he ashamed of it and hold his peace when he is rebuked draw him not out for in denying he repenteth him so as he will no more offend thee but honour thee and fear thee and be in quiet But if he be unshamefac't and abide by his naughtiness then refer the revengement of it to God with all thy heart If another man prosper more then thou be not grieved at it but pray for him that he may have perfect prosperity For peradventure it may be to your own benefit And if he be exalted more and more envy him not but remember that all flesh shall die and praise God for it who giveth good and profitable things to all men Seek the Lords judgements and so thy mind shal let him alone and be in quiet Now if a man be enriched by evill means as Esau my Fathers brother was envy him not for in so doing ye controll the Lord who either taketh away his benefits from the wicked or leaveth them still to the repentant or else reserveth them in the unrepentant to their endlesse punishment For the poore man having sufficient of all things giveth thanks unto the Lord and is enriched of all men because men wish him no harm Therefore my children away with hatred out of your hearts and love one another with a right meaning minde Also will you your children to honour Levi and Juda for out of them shall the Lord make the Saviours of Israel to come I know that in the end your children shall depart from them and walke in all manner of mischief naughtinesse and corruption before the Lord And after a little pausing he said again My sonnes hear me your Father bury me by my fathers And so plucking up his feet he slept in peace and after five years they carryed him thence and laid him with his Fathers in Hebron The Testament of ASER made to his Children at his death concerning two Faces of Vice and Vertue Two wayes saith Aser are prepar'd for men the one for joy The last for death 〈…〉 The Testament of ASER. THe Copy of Aser his Testament and of the things that he spake to his Children in the 120. year of his life Being still in health he said unto them Ye children of Aser hearken unto your father and I will shew you all things that are right before the Lord The Lord hath given two wayes unto the Sons of men two mindes two doings two places and two ends and therefore all wayes may be one yea though they be contraries as are the wayes of good and evill Also there are two mindes in our breasts which doe move us either to honesty or dishonesty Therefore if a man be led to goodnesse all his doings are occupied about righteousnesse and if that be doe any thing amisse by and by he repenteth him for in as much as his minde is bent unto righteousnesse he putteth away naughtinesse and out of hand amendeth his misdeeds and correcteth the corruptions of his mind But if his minde incline unto evill all his doings tend unto naughtinesse in so much that he thrusteth away the good and taketh unto him the bad because he is under the dominion of Belial and if he doe any good thing he turneth the same unto evill For if he begin to do any good he bringeth the end of his doings to an evil work because the treasure of his heart is infected with the venome of a divelâ—sh and mischievous Spirit and therefore the evill overmastereth the good in his minde and bringeth the end of the thing to naughtinesse Some man sheweth compassion upon him that serveth his turn in naughtinesse that man hath two faces and that deed
of his is stark lewdnesse Another man loveth ungraciousnesse and he is lewd likewise and although he could finde in his heart to die for the compassing of his evill yet it is manifest that he is double faced and his doing is altogether starke naught For his love being but lewdnesse doth as it were cloak his evill with a good Name whereas the drift of his doings tendeth unto a wicked end Another healeth doth open wrong pilleth and polleth is covetous and pitieth not the poor He also hath a double face and all this is stark naught for in being niggardly towards his neighbour he provoketh Gods wrath and denyeth the highest in not pitying the poor He despiseth and spiteth the Lord which is the commander of the law he suffereth not the poor to rest he defileth his own sent to make his body gay he killeth many and pâ—â—ieth few this is the part of a double faced person Another committeth whoredome and fornication or vexeth many men piteously with his power and riches and yet abstaineth from meats his fast is naught for he doth the commandements with an evil conscience and that is a double faced dealing which is altogether naught Such manner of folke are right Swine and Hares for they seem to be half clean but in very deed they be utterly unclean You therefore my children become not like them neither beare you in one hood two faces the one of goodnesse and the other of naughtiness but stick all only unto goodness for in goodnesse doth God rest and men like wel of it Shun naughtiness and kill the Divel in your good works for they that are double faced serve not God but their own lusts because they seeke to please Belial and such as are like themselves Now though plain dealing men and such as pretend but one face are taken for offenders at the hands of such as beare two faces yet are they righteous before GOD Fâ—r many in killing wicked persons doe two works at once namely good by evill but indeed the whole worke is good because that he which hath rooted out the evil hath destroyed it Some man hating his neighbour mercifully blameth him for his advoutry or theft such a one is double faced but yet is the whole work good because he followeth the Lords example not respecting what seemeth good when it is evill in deed Another will not make merry with Rioters lest he should be stained by them and defile his own soul This man also is double faced but yet is all his doings good and he is like a Roe or a Stagge which in a common wilde berd seem to be unclean and yet are altogether clean because he walked in the zeale of the Lord shunning and hating those whom God willeth to be shunned in his Commandements and so killeth be evil with weldoing See therefore my Sonnes how there are two in all things one against the other and the one hiddeâ— under the other Death succeedeth to life shame to glory night to day and darkenesse unto light All righteous things are under light and life therefore doth eternall life overmaster death It is not to be said that truth is untruth righteousness unrighteousness or right wrong because that as all things are under God so all truth is under light I have practised all these things in my life and not strayed from the truth of the Lord but sought out the Commandements of the Highest to the uttermost of my power and walked with one face in goodness Take heed therefore my Children to the Lords Commandements and foâ—low the truth with one single face For they that are double faced shall be double punished The spirit of errour hateth the man that fighteth against it Keep the law of the Lord and regard not evill that seemeth good but have an eye to the thing that is good indeed and keep the same returning to the Lord in all his Commandements and resting upon him for the ends whereat men doe aym doe shew their righteâ—usnesse And know the Angels of the Lord from the Angels of Sathan For if ye cleave to wicked spirits your souls shall be tormented of the wicked Spirit whom ye serve in wicked lusts and worke But if ye quietly and cheerfully acquaint your selves with the Angel of Peace he shall comfort you in your life time My children become not like the Sodomites which knew not the Angel and perished for ever For I am sure that you shall sinne and be delivered into the hands of your enemies your land shal be laid waste and your selves shal be scattered into the four corners of the earth and be despised as unprofitable water in your dispersing abroad untill the Highest do visit the earth eatâ—ng and drinking as a man with men and breaking the Serpents head in pieces without noise He shall save Israel and all the Heathen by water being GOD hidden in man Therefore tell your children these things that they neglect not Gods Law written in the Tables of heaven For the time will come that they shall give no credit to the Law of the Lord And you falling unto naughtiness shall deal wickedly against God giving no heed to his Law but unto mens commandments For this cause shall ye be scattered abroad as my Brothers Gad and Dan which were not acquainted with their own countrey tribe and tongue Neverthelesse the Lord shall gather you together again in faith for the hope of his mercy for Abraham Isaac and Jacobs sake When he had so said he commanded them to bury him in Hebron And he died sleeping a good sleep and afterward his sonnes doing as he had willed them carryed him back and buryed him with his Fathers The Testament of JOSEPH made to his Children at his death concerning Chastity and Patience Let Joseph teach thee Love and Chastity So shalt thou have A long blessed life Void of all strife Even to thy grave The Testament of Ioseph MY sons and my brethren hear ye Joseph the well-beloved of Israel My children hear your Father I hâ—ve known in my life Envy and Death with the which my brethren would have destroyed me For they hated me and God loved me they would have killed me and the God of my Fathers kept me they put me into a pit and the most high brought me out again I was sold as a bondman and the Lord made me free and his strong hand helped me I was kept in hunger and the Lord himself nourished me I was left alone and the Lord comforted me I was sick and the Lord visited me I was in prison and the Saviour made me glad I was fastned in Chaines and the Lord unbound me He pleaded my cause in the accusations of the Egyptians and not only delivered me from Envy and Deceit but also exalted me insomuch that Putiphar chief Steward of Pharaohs house did lend me ladging where I was in jeopardy of my life by reason of a
pot the beare the bed doe note the strength the lust Of Ruben and unconstant head who therefore was accurst The Testament of Ruben THis is the copy of Rubens testament concerning all the things which hee gave in charge to his children before he died in the 125. yeare of his life Two yeares after the decease of Joseph his children and childrens children came to visit him in his sicknesse and be said unto them My children I die goe the way of my Fathers And seeing there his brethren Iuda Gad and Aser he said unto them Lift me up my brethren that I may tell you and my Children the things that I have hidden in my heart for I am henceforth drawing to my long home Then standing up he kissed them and weeping said Harken my brethren and you my children give ear to the words of your father Ruben mark what I give in charge to you Behold I command you this day before the God of Heaven that ye walke not in the ignorance of youthfulnesse and fornication wherein I overshot my selfe and defiled the bed of my Father Jacob For I assure you that the Lord did therfore strike me with a sore plague in my flanks the space of 7 moneths a I had perished if my Father b Jacob had not prayed to the Lord for mee because he was minded to have slaine mee I was thirty yeares old when I did this evill in the sight of the Lord and seven moneths was I sick to the death and with a free heart did I seven yeere penance before the Lord I drank no wine nor strong drink no flesh came within my mouth I tasted not any fine bread but I mourned for my sinne for it was great and there shall none such bee done in Israel And now my sonnes heare mee that I may shew you what I saw concerning the seven spirits of error in my repentance Belial giveth seven spirits against a man which are the welsprings of youthful workes and seven spirits are given man in hâ—s creation wherby all his works are done The first is the spirit of life wherewith is created his being The second is the spirit of seing wherwith cometh lusting The third the spirit of hearing wherwith cometh learning The 4 th is the spirit of smelling wherewith cometh delight by drawing in of the aire and by breathing of it out againe The fift is the spirit of speech wherewith knowledge is made The sixt is the spirit of Tasting whereof cometh the feeding upon things that are to be eatâ—n and drunke and through them is engendered strength because the substance of strengâ—h is in meat The seventh is the spirit of seed and generation wherewith entereth in the lust of pleasure For this cause it is the last of creation and the first of youth because it is full of Ignorance and Ignorance leadeth the yonger sort as a blind body into the ditch and as an ore to the stall Among all these is the eight spirit which is of sleep with whom is created the wasting away of Nature and the Image of Death With these spirits are mingled the spirits of errour Whereof the first is the spirit of lechery who lieth within the nature and senses of man The second spirit of unsatiablenes lieth in the belly The third spirit of strife lieth in the Liver in choler The fourth spirit is of bravery and gallantnes that the party may seeme comely by excesse The fifth is the spirit of Pride which moveth a man to minde over great things or to think well of himself The sixt is the spirit of lying or vain gloriousnesse in boasting a mans selfe and in desire to file his talke concerning his own kindred and acquaintance The seventh is the spirit of unrighteousnesse which stirreth up the affections that a man should perform the lustfull pleasures of his heart For unrighteousnesse worketh with all the other spirits by taking guile unto him Vnto all these spirits is matched the eight spirit which is the spirit of sleep or sluggishnesse in errour imagination and so the soules of young folkes perish because their minds are darkned and hidden from the truth understand not the law of the Lord neither obey the doctrine of their Fathers as befell to me in my youth But now my children love the truth and that shall preserve you Harken to your Father Ruben and let not your eyes 1. run a gazing after women neither bee ye 2. alone with a Woman that is married neither doe ye seeke about 3. what Women are doing For if I had not seene Bilha bathing her selfe in a secret place I had not fallen into that great wâ—ckednes But my mind raâ—so so upon the naked Woman till it suffered mee not to sleepe till I had committed abhomination For while my Father Jacob was away at his Father Isaacks and I in Gader hard by Euphrata a house of Bethlehem Bilha fel 4. drunken and as she lay asleepe uncovered in her chamber I went in so and seeing her nakednesse wrought wickednesse with her leaving her asleepe went my way By and by an Angel of God bewrayed my wickednes to my father Jacob who comming home mourned for mee and touched not Bilha any more Therefore looke not upon the beautie of women neither muse you upon their doings but walke ye with a single heart in the feare of the Lord God busying your selves about some worke and keeping your selves occupied either in learning or about your flockes untill such time as God give you such wives as he listeth lest you doe suffer as I have done I durst not looke my Father in the face to his dying day nor speake to any of my brethren for shame My conscience biâ—eth me even yet still for my sin But my Father comforted me and prayed for me unto the Lord that his wrath might passe away from me as the Lord himselfe shewed unto me Therefore from that time forth I was kept from sinning any more And you my children likewise keepe ye that I shall tell you and you shall not sinne For Fornication is the destruction of the Soule separating it from God and making it to draw unto Idols because it leadeth the minde and understanding into errour and bringeth men to their grave before their time For whoredom hath undone many men although a man be ancient or noble yet doth it shame him and make him a laughing stock both before Belial and the sons of men But Ioseph because he kept himselfe from all Women and cleansed his thoughts from all fornication found favour both before the Lord and men The Egyptian Woman did much so him by using the helpe of witches and by offering him slaubar sauces but the purpose of his mind admitted no noysome desire For this
Gad the Day-sunne and Aser an Olive-tree And there shall be one people of the Lord and one tongue and there shall be no more the false spirit of Belial because he shall be cast into endlesse fire They that are buryed in sorrow shal rise in joy and they that were poor for the Lords sake shall be made rich They that suffered penury shall have plenty and they that were weak shall be made strong they that died for the Lords sake shall wake up unto life and run in Jacob yea they shall run skipping and leaping and they shal flie as Eagles for joy But the ungodly shall be sorrowfull and the sinners shall mourn and all people shall glorifie the Lord for ever Therefore my children keep all the law of the Lord for there is hope for all such as walk aright A hundred and nineteen years old doe die in your sight Let none of you bury me in costly Cloaths nor rip my belly for so will Rulers doe but carry me back into Hebron with you With these words Juda dyed and his Children doing in all things as he commanded them buried him with his Fathers in Hebron The Testament of ISACHAR made to his Children at his death concerning a single heart Learn here a simple life Not void of pain but strife The Sythe the Spade the Asse Set forth what man he was The Testament of Isachar THE Copie of Isachars words He calling his children about him said unto them Ye children of Isachar hear your Father and hearken to the words of the beloved of the LORD I am Jacobs fift son in the reward of mandrake For Ruben brought Mandrakes out of the field Rachel meeting him took them of him Thereat Ruben wept and at his noise my mother Lea came out Now the Mandrakes were sweet sented Apples which the Land of Aram bringeth forth in high countries by the water vallies And Rachel said I wil not give thee these apples because they shall help me to children Now there were two of these apples and Lea said doth it not suffice thee that thou hast gotten away the husband of my virginity but that thou wilt have this alâ—o She answered Let Jacob lie with thee to night for thy sons Mandragoras Lea said unto her Doe not boast nor brag for Jacob is mine and I am the wife of his youth And Rachel answered How so was he not first handfasted unto me and served he not our Father fourteen years for me What shal I do to thee For many are the wiles and policies of men and guile goes forward upon earth If it had been otherwise thou shouldest not have seen Jacob in the face at this day For thou art not his wife but wert guilefully put to him in my stead My father deceived me and conveying me away that night suffered me not to see him For had I been there this had not come to passe Wherefore take the one Mandrake and in lieu of the other I grant thee him for one night and Jacob knew Lea who conceiving bare me and called my name Issachar because of the hire Then an Angel of the Lord appeared unto Jacob and said that Rachel should bear but two sonnes because she had forsaken the company of her husband and chosen continency and if my mother Lea had not given the two Apples for his company she should have born eight children whereas by reason of that she bare but six Rachel two and because God visited her in the Mandrakes For he knew that she greatly desired to company with Jacob for Issues sake and not for lust of pleasure for she layed up the Mandrake and delivered it unto Jacob the next day and therefore God heard Rachel in the Mandrakes because that although she had a mindâ— unto them yet she ate them not but offered them to the Priest of the most High which was in those dayes and laid them up in the Lords House Therefore my Children when I came unto mans state I walked with an upright heart and became Bayliff of Husbandry unto my fathers and brought them the fruits of their Lands in their due seasons and my father blessed me when he saw how I walked plainly and simply I was no busie body in my doings I was not hurtfull nor spitefull to my neighbour I rayled not upon any man neither dispraysed I the life of any that walked in singlenesse of minde By reason hereof when I was thirty years old I took a Wife because labour had consumed my strength I never knew the pleasures of a woman through wantonnesse but my labour made me to sleep soundly and my father did alwayes rejoyce of my simplicity For whatsoever pains I took first of all I offered all the first fruits and the first ingendred cattel unto the Lord by the Priest and then gave my Father the rest and the Lord doubled his benefits in my hands Yea and Jacob himself perceived well that God wrought with my plain dealing For unto every poor man and to every man in adversity gave I of the fruits of the earth with a single heart And now my children hearken and walk in singlenesse of minde for I know that the Lord is very well pleased with it The single-hearted man coveteth not gold undermineth not his neighbour lusteth not after diversity of meats desireth not shift of apparel nor behighteth himself long time but only hath an eye to Gods will and the spirits of errour can doe nothing against him For he cannot skill to entertain a fair woman lest he should defile his own minde wrath overmastereth not his wit envie melteth not his soul neither doth his minde run covetously upon gain For he leadeth an upright life and beholdeth all things with a single eye excluding all hurtfulnesse of worldly errour lest he should oversee any of the Commandements of God Therefore my Children keep Gods Law and hold fast plainnesse walk on in innocency and be not too inquisitive into Gods secrets or of your neighbours doings but love God and your neighbour pitty the poor and weak bow down your back to Husbandry and labour in rilling of the Earth in all manner of Husbandry offering presents to the Lord with thanksgiving who blessed the earth with encrease and a new spring of fruits as he blessed all holy men from Abel to this day for there is none other portion given thee than of the fatnesse of the Earth whose fruits come by pains taking for our Father Jacob blessed me with the benefits of the Earth and the firstlings of fruits Levi and Juda are glorified of the Lord among the Children of Jacob For God hath planted himself in them giving to the one the Priesthood and to the other the Kingdom Therefore obey ye them and walk plainly as our Father Jacob did For unto Gad it is given to destroy the temptations of Israel My Children I know that in the last dayes
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
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