father Jacobs commandements but did whatsoever be willed me And Abraham the Father of my fathers blessed me to fight for Israel so did Isaac blesse me likewise I know that the kingdome shall stand by mee but I have read in the boks of Enoch the righteous that ye shall work wickednesse in the latter daies Therfore my Children keepe your selves from lecherie and covetousnes and give ear unto your father Juda for those things withdraw men from Gods law blind the understanding of their minds teach them a pride neither suffer they any man to shewe mercy b to his neighbour they bereave his soule c of all good things hold it downe in paines and sorrowes also they disappoint him of his rest sleepe d and consume his flesh Fâ—nally e they hinder Gods sacrifices neglect his blessings disobey the speaking of the Prophets and are offended at the word of godlinesse for these two passions are contrary to the commandements of God He that serveth them cannot obey God because they dazell mens minds and walke abroad as well a nights as of dayes My children covetousnesse leadeth men to Idolatry For through doting upon money he calleth them gods which are not and compelleth the infected party to growe most vilely out of kinde For monies sake I lost my children and had not the penance of the flesh and the humbling of my soule had not the prayers of my father Jacob been I had died as now without Children But the God of my fathers being mercifull and full of pitie and compassion knew that I sinned through ignorance For the prince of error had blinded mee and I overshot my selfe as a fleshly man and being corrupted with sinne knew not mine owne infirmitie but thought my selfe to be invincible Know ye therefore my sons that two spirits doe waite upon a man that is to wit the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of errour and in the middest betweene them is set the Spirit of understanding of the minde whose propertie is to incline which way it listeth the things that belong both to truth and untruth are written in the breast of man and God knoweth every whit of it and none of all mens works can bee hidden at any time from him because all the privities and secrets of mens hearts are written before the Lord and the spirit of truth beareth witnesse of all things and accuseth all and he that sinneth hath a burning in his heart and cannot lift up his face to his Iudge And now my children love ye Levi that yee may abide and exalt not your selveâ— above him lest yee perish The Lord hath given unto me the Kingdome and unto him the Priesthood and hath puâ— the Kingdome a under the Priesthood Vnto Levi is given the Priesthood anâ— unto Juda the Kingdome and God hatâ— put the kingdome under the Priesthood Vnto me he hath given the things thaâ— are upon the Earth and unto b him the things that are in heaven As farre as the Heaven surmounteth the earth so farâ— doth c the priesthood surmount the kingdom that is upon the earth For the Loâ—â— hath chosen him above me to approch uâ—to him and to eat of his table and to takâ— the firstlings of the children of Israel and thou shalt bee as a Sea to him For like as in the Sea both the righteous and unrighteous are in danger and the one sort are caught Prisoners and the other sort are inriched even so shall all kinde of men be hazarded in thee some sinking in misery other some floting in prosperity For in thee shall raign great whales which shall swallow up men as fishes and bring free mens sons and daughters into bondage They shall take away Mens Houses Lands Cattell and money by force and wrongfully they shall feed ravens other greedy fowles with many folkes flesh and they shall prosper and flourish in naughtinesse and be exalted through covetousnesse and there shall be false Prophets like stormes which shall persecute all righteous men But the Lord shall set them together by the eares among themselves there shall be continuall warres in Israel and my kingdome shall be knit up in strangers till the saviour of Israel come even till the comming of the God of righteousnesse that Jacob all nations may rest in peace and he shall maintain my kingdom in peace for ever For the Lord hath sworn to me that the kingdome of me and of my seede shall never faile world without end But I am very sorry my Children for the filthinesse trechery idolatry which ye shall worke against the Kingdome by following Witches and Conjurers by vowing your Daughters to deceitfull Divels by making them inchanters charmers and Strumpets and by intermedling your selves with the abhominations of the heathen for the which things the Lord shall bring upon you a famine b pestilence death and c sword wrathfull d besiegement e devouring dogs reproach f of friends and foes losse g paine of eies slaughter h of your children ravishings i of Wives spoile of your goods the burning k of your temple the desolation l of your country and the m captivity of your selves among all nations which shall geld some of you to make Eunuches for their wives but if ye returne to the Lord with hearty repentance humility walke in all the commandements of God he will visite you with mercy and lovinglie deliver you from the bondage of your enemies After this shall rise among you a Star out of Jacob and a man shall spring out of my seed which shall walk as the Day-sun of righteousnesse among the children of men in peace and meekenesse and righteousnesse and no sin shall be found in him The heavens shall open upon him to pour out the spirit of blessednesse upon him from the Father and he shall shed out the spirit of grace upon you and you shall be his children in truth walking in his flest and last Commandements This is the off-spring of the most high God and the well-spring of life to all flesh Then shall the Scepter of my Kingdom shine bright and out of your root shall spring the vessel of planting in whom shall grow up the Rod of righteousnesse unto the Gentiles to judge and save all such as call upon him After this shall Abraham Isaac and Jacob rise up again to life and I and the Princes my brethren shall be your Scepter in Israel Levi first I next Joseph the third Benjamin the fourth Simeon the fift Isachar the sixt and so all the rest And the Lord hath blessed us Levi shall be the messenger of my presence Simeon the power of my glory Reuben Heaven Issachar the earth Zabulon the Sea Joseph the Mountains Benjamin the Tabernacle Dan the lights Neptalim the Dainties
joy and comfort no doubt especially all the other Countries about being plagued with a great famine and he by Gods mercy not greatly feeling the same perceiving also his troublesome pilgrimage drawing to an end called his Sonne Joseph unto him and said If I have found grace in thy sight oh put thy hand under my thigh for in this order they tooke an oath in Jacobs time deale mercifully with me and truly bury me not in Egypt but let me sleep with my Fathers Where noting his sure faith in the promise of God made to his Fathers willed him to looke for Canaan his hoped inheritance and not to trust in Pharaohs land To which his request when Joseph his loving son obediently did condescend Jacob taking a little more strength unto him and sitting up desirous also to shew forth the great goodnesse of the Lord in preserving him and his said God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the Land of Canaan and blessed me saying Behold I will make thee fruitful and cause thee to multiply wil make a great number of people of thee and will give this Land unto thy seed for an everlasting possession Thy sonnes Manasses and Ephraim I take as mine own their own brethren shall be called after their name As I came from Mesopotamia Rachel dyed in the Land of Canaan and was buried by the way to Ephrata the same is Bethlehem Then Jacob albeit somewhat dimme for age beholding Josephs two sonnes said What are these To whom Joseph answered They are my sonnes which God hath given me O bring them to me said Iacob and let me blesse them I had not thought to have seen thy face Ioseph yet lo God hath shewed me thy seed God in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walke GOD which hath fed me all my life long unto this day and the Angell which hath delivered me from all evill blesse these lads and let my name be named on them and the name of my Fathers Abraham and Isaac and that they may grow into a multitude in the midst of the Earth Then as Joseph lifted his Fathers hand from Ephraim to Manasses the elder Jacob said Let it be I know wel my sonne he shall also be a great people but his yonger brother shal be greater in thee let Israel blesse and say God make thee as Ephraim Manasses After this he fainting said Behold Joseph I die God shal be with you bring you again to the land of your fathers Moreover I give unto thee a portioÌ„ of land above thy brethreÌ„ which I conquered by sword and bow of the Amorites And come you hither also O my children that I may tell you what shall come on you in the last dayes Gather yee together and heare ye sonnes of Iacob hearken unto Israel your Father Ruben my fiâ—st borne my might my strength excellent in dignity and power unconstant as water thou shalt not excell because thou didst defile my couch Simeon and Levi Brethren in evil who in your wrath slew a man in your selfewill digged down a Wall Cursed be your wrath for it was shameless your fiercenesse for it was cruell I will divide you in Iacob and scatter you in Israel Iuda thy hand shall be on the necke of thine enemies Thy brethren shall stoope unto thee as a Lyons whelpe shalt thou come up from the spoile thou shalt couch as a Lyon and as a Lyonesse who shall stir thee up 2. The Scepter shall not depart from thee nor a law-giver from betweene thy feet untill Shiloh come all Nations shall seeke after him 3. Thou shalt binde thy Asse Fole to the Vine and the Asses Colt to the best Vine thou shalt wash thy garment in wine and thy cloake in the bloud of grapes thy eyes shall be red with Wine and thy teeth white with Milke Zabulon thou shalt dwell by the sea side and thou shalt be an Haven for ships thy border shall be unto Zidon Isachar thou shalt be a strong Asse couching down between two burdens And thou shalt see that rest is good and that the Land is pleasant and shalt bow thy shoulder to beare and shalt be subject unto tribute Dan thou shalt judge the people as one of the tribes of Israel Dan thou shalt be a serpent by the way an Adder by the path biting the horse heele so that his Rider shall fall backward Then Jacob foreseeing in his minde the great calamitie that should betide his posterity comforting himself and resting in gods promise cried out with heart and minde O Lord I have waited for thy salvation Gad an hoast of men shall overcome thee but thou shalt overcome at the last And what shall I say to Aser his bread shall be fat and he shall have pleasures for a King Neptalim is a hinde sent for a present giving goodly words Ioseph is a flourishing Bough by a Welside the small boughs shall ruâ— upon the Wall The Archers shot against him and hated him but his bough was made strong and his Armes strengthned by the hands of the almighty God of Iacob Out of him shall come an Heardman a stone in Israel All these things shall come from my Fathers God which hath helped thee and blessed thee with blessings of the Heaven with blessings of the deep beneath with blessings of the breast and wombe The blessings of me thy father that I give thee are stronger than the blessings that I had of mine elders Untill the end of the hils of the world they shall be on thy head Benjamin shall ravine as a Wolfe in the morning hee shall devoure the prey and at night divide the spoil And now when I shall be gathered to my people bury me with my father in the cave that is in the Field of Ephron the Hethite in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan which Abraham bought with the Field of Ephron the Hethite for a possession to burie in where as were buried Abraham and Sara his wife and Isaac with Rebecca and there I buried Lea. The Field and the Cave that is therein was bought of the Children of Heth. When Jacob had made an end of commanding all that he would unto his sons having lived one hundred forty and seven years he plucked up his feet into the bed and quickly died Then Joseph falling upon his Fathers face and kissing him with teares caused him to be embalmed by Physicians to the space of forty dayes and mourned for him threescore and tenne dayes Who departing from Egypt into Canaan with noble men of the Land in Chariots and horsemen buried him in the place which Jacob had appointed The Testament of Ruben made to his Children at his death concerning the things that he had in his minde by the suggestion of the spirit of fore-knowledge Behold the
favour in all the ignorances of the righteous They offer to the Lord the sweet savor of a reasonable service a sacrifice without bloud In the other that is under this are the Angels that bring answers from the Angels in Gods presence In that which is above it are the thrones and potestates wherein is continuall offering up of hymnes unto God Therefore whensoever the Lord looketh upon us all of us are moved yea and even heaven earth the bottomlesse deep are moved at the sight of his greatnesse but the children of men being witles shall sin and provoke the highest unto wrath Now therefore understand that the Lord will execute iudgement upon the children of men Because that men will still continue in unbeliefe and unrighteousnesse even when the stone shall cleave asunder the sunne be darkned the waters dryed up the fire quake all creatures be troubled at the fainting of the invisible Spirit and the spoiling of hell in the passion of the highest therefore shall they be condemned to punishment The highest then hath heard thy prayer to separate thee from unrighteousnesse and to make thee his sonne and servant and a minister in his presence a lanterne of knowledge to lighten Jacob throughly and to be as a day sunne among the children of Israel and unto thee and thy seed shall the power of blessing be given till God visit all nations in the bowels of the mercy of his Sonne for ever Neverthelesse thy sons shall lay their hands upon him to crucifie him and for this cause is wisedome and understanding given unto thee to give thy children knowledge of him because that if they blesse him they shall be blessed and they that curse him shall perish in his sight And the angell opened me the gates of heaven and I saw the holy Temple and the highest sitting on the throne of glorie and he said unto me Levi I have given thee the blessings of the Priesthood till I come my selfe to dwell in the midst of Israel Then the angell brought mee downe to the earth and gave me a shield and a sword saying Execute vengeance in Sechem for Dina and I will be with thee for God hath sent me And at that time I slew the sonnes of Hemor as it is written in the tables of Heaven And I said unto him Lord I pray thee tell me thy name that I may call upon thee in the time of my trouble And he answered I am an Angell which excuseth Israel that he might not be stricken for ever because all wicked spirits he in waite for him Afterward being waked as it were out of sleep I blessed the most highest and the angel that excuseth the ofspring of Israel and all righteous men And when I came to my Father I found an Aspe of bâ—â—sse whereupon the hill took the name of 〈◊〉 is which is hard by Gebat on the rigâ—â— side of Abila And I laid up these sayings in my hearâ— and I counselled my father anâ— my brother Ruben to perswade the sons of Hemâ—r to bee circumcised because I was zâ—â—lously grieved for the abominâ—â—ion which they had wrought in Israel For first fall I killed Sichem then Simeon killed Hemor and after this came our brethren who smoâ—e the Citie with the edge of the sword When my father heard of it hee was angrie because they had received circumcision and were killed afterward and therefore he dealt otherwise with us in blessing For wee sinned in doing it against his will he fell sicke the same day But I knew then the Lord intended evill to the Sichemites because they had heretofore purposed to have done the like unto Sara as they did unto our sister Dina but GOD letted them And they persecuted our father Abraham as then a stranger caried away his cattel and furthermore did beat Jeblao very sore who was born in his house After the same manner dealt they with all othâ—r strangers taking away their wives from them by force driving the men themselves out of their country For which cause the wrath of the Lord came upon them in the end And I said to my father Sir bee not offended for God will bring the Canaanites to nothing before thee give their land unto thee unto thy holy one after thee For from henceforth Sichem shall be called the city of fooles because that as men do scorn fools so have we scorned them for their working of folly in Israel in taking away our sister for to defile her Then came we into Bethel and there when I had sacrificed threescore and ten dayes together I saw the thing again as I had seen it before And I saw seven men in white rayment saying unto me Vp put on the Stole of Priesthood the crowne of righteousnesse the Reasonal of understanding the Robe of truth the Brestplate of faith the Mitre of holiness and the Ephod of Prophecie And so every of them bringing something with him did put them upon me saying Be thou henceforth the Lords Priest thou and thy seed for evermore The first of them anointed me with holy Oyl and gave me the Scepter of judgement The second washed me with cleane water and fed me with Bread and Wine that is to wit with the most Holy of Holies and clothed me with a glorious Robe downe to the ground The third did put upon me a Silken garment like to an Ephod. The fourth girded me with a girdle like to Purple The fift gave unto me an Olive bough very full of fatness The sixt did set the Mitre of Priesthood upon my head The seventh filled my hands with incense to the intent I should execute the office of a priest unto the Lord And he said unto me Levi unto three principall things is thy seede appointed of God namely to be a signe of the glorious Lord that is to come he that believeth shall be the first The great lot shall not fall upon him the second shall be in Priesthood and the third shall have a new name because a King shall rise up in Juda and renew my priesthood according unto the figure of the Gentiles among all nations But the comming of him is unutterable as who shall be the Prophet of the highest born of our Father Abraham All the pleasant things of Israel shall be given unto thee to thy seed and you shall eat all that is faire to see to and thy seed shall distribute the Lords Table and of them shall be high Priests Iudges and Scribes for in their mouth shall the holy things be kept When I awoke I perceived that this vision was like the other and I laid it up in mine heart and shewed it not unto any man living upon the earth The first two dayes I Iuda went to our grandfather Isaac and he blessed me according to all the sayings
of the visions that I had seene but he would not â—o with us unto Bethel But when we came to Bethel my father Jacob saw in a vision concerning mee that I should be their priest before the Lord And he arose in the morning and tithed all things to the Lord by me Then came we to Hebron to dwell there and by and by Isaac called me to expound the law of the Lord accâ—rding as Gods angell had shewed it to me and he taught mee the law of Priesthood Sacrifices Burnt offerings â—irâ—â—â—ings Free-will offerings and offerings for health Every day he taught me understanding and called upon me continuâ—lly before the Lord saying My son give no care to the spirit of fornication for he will follow thee and defile the holy things by thy seede Therefore take thee a Wife in thy youth such an one that hath not any blemish nor uncleannesse nor is of the kindred of the Allophytes or of the Gentiles And before thou enter into the Holies wash and likewise ere thou sacrificest also when thou hast done offer unto the Lord the fruites of the twelve trees that are ever green as my father Abraham taught me to do and the fruite of all clean beastes and of clean soules offer thou in sacrifice Likewise offer up thy first-born of all things and the first fruits of thy Vine and sprinkle thy Sacrifices with Salt Now therefore my Sons keep ye all the things that I command you for whatsoever I have heard of my Fathers that have I told unto you I am clear from all the wickednesse and sin which you shall commit to the end of the world Ye shall work wickedness against the Saviour of the world and ye shall seduce Israel stirring up much evill against him from the Lord and dealing wickedly with him so that Jerusalem shall not continue by reason of your naughtinesse The Veil of the Temple shall be rent in sunder to discover your foulnesse and ye shall be scattered as prisoners amongst the Heathen and be scorned cursed and trodden under-foot Neverthelesse the House which the Lord shall choose shall be called Jerusalem as the Book of Enoch the righteous containneth Therefore when I was twenty and eight years old I took a Wife whose name was Melcha and she conceived and bare me a son called his name Gershon because we were but strangers in our land for Gershon signifieth vanishment Now I knew of him that he should not be of the chief degree The second was Caath who was born the five and thirtieth year I saw a vision Eastward how all the congregation stood up aloft and therefore I called his name Caath which signifieth the beginning of greatnesse and learning The third was Merari who was born in the five and fiftieth year of my life And because his mother was hardly delivered of him she called him Merari which is as much to say as my bitterness And in the threescore and fourth year of my life was my daughter Jochebed born in Eâ—â—pt and so was I honorable among my â—rethren Also my son Gershon took him a wife which bare him Lybni and Schimi The sons of Caath were Amram Yshvar Hebron and Uziel and the sons of Merari were Mahali and Mushi An the fourscore and fourteenth year of my life Amram took unto wife my daughter Jochebed because that be and she were born both on one day I was eight year old when I entred into the Land of Canaan and eighteen year old when I entred into the office of Priesthood At eight and twenty yeares 〈◊〉 a Wife and at fourtie yeares â—ld I enâ—red into Egypt and behold ye be â—ow my childrens children in the third generation Joseph died in the hundreth and tenth year And now my Children I warn you feare the Lord your God with all your heart and walke plainely in all thinges according to his Law Moreover bring up your children in learning that they may have understanding by reading the law of God without ceasing all their life long For whosoever knoweth Gods law shall be honoured and go wheresoever he will be shall be no stranger also he shall have more friends than his forefathers had 〈◊〉 many shall be glad to serve him and 〈◊〉 heare the law at his mouth My sonnes deale rightfully upon earth that you may finde Heaven and sowe good things in your minds that you may finde them in your life For if ye sowe evill things ye shall finde and reape all manner of combrance and trouble Get yee wisedome iâ— the feare of God for if captivitie come and Cities and Countries be destroyed gold and silver and all possessions perish but none can take away the wise man wisedome save only the blindnesse of ungodlinesse and sinne For his wisedome shall become a shield to him among his enemies and make a strange countrey to be as his owne home and cause him to find friendship in the midst of his foes If he teach and doe such things he shall sit with Kings as did our brother Joseph And truly my Children I know by the writings of Enoch that in the end ye shall doe wickedly laying your hands most spitefully upon the Lord and through you your brethren shall be confounded and made a scorning stock to all nations Howbeit our Father Israel is cleare from the wickednesse of the high Priests which shall lay hands upon the Saviour of the World The Heaven above the earth is cleane you be the lights of the heathen as the Sun and the Moone What shall all the heathen do if you be overdarkned with wickednesse and bring cursednesse upon your country folke for whose sakes the light of the World is put into you to inlighten all men withal this light of the World shall you most wilfully steal and teach commandements contrarie to the righteousnes of God Ye shall purloin the Lords offering and filch away pieces of it Before you do your sacrifices unto the Lord ye shall steale away the choicest things and eat them disdainfully with Harlots teaching Commandements of covetousnesse Ye shall defile maryed women and inforce maidens in Jerusalem you shall match your selves with whoâ—es and Harlots you shall take the daughters of the Heathen unto wife purifying them with unrighteous purifying and your mingling shall be like unto Sodom and Gomorrha and ye shall be swoln with wickednesse in the Priesthood insomuch that you shall most disdainfully and spitefully laugh the holy things to scorn not only vaunting and boasting your selves against men but also being puffed and swoln up with pride against the Commandements of God For this cause shall the Temple which the Lord shal have chosen be undoubtedly left desolate in uncleannesse and you your selves become captives to all Nations and be loathed and abhord among them and receive endlesse shame and confusion through Gods righful judgement and all that see you shall shun
you And were it not for our Fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob there should not one of my seed be left upon earth Furthermore I know by the Book of Enoch that ye shall goe astray by the space of threescore and ten wreks and defile the Priesthood stain the Sacrifices destroy the Law despise the sayings of the Prophets frowardly persecute righteous folk hate the godly abhor the sayings of soothfast men and call him Hereticke that goeth about to renew the Law by the power of the Highest and in the end ye shall kill him out of hand as you think not knowing that he shall rise again and so shall ye receive his innocent bloud wilfully upon your own heads For his sake shall your holy places be left desolate which you shall have defiled even by utter forswearing and your dwelling shall not be clean but you shall be accursed among the Heathen and despair shall vex you till he visite you again and mercifully receive you through faith and water And forsomuch as ye have heard of the threescore and ten weeks hear ye also of the Priesthood For in every Iubilie shall be Priesthood In the first Iubilie the first anointed into the priesthood shall be great talke to God as to his father his priesthood shall be full of the feare of the Lord and in the day of his gladnesse he shall rise up unto the salvation of the world In the second Iubilee the anointed shall be conceived in the heavinesse of the beloved sort and his priesthood shall be honourable and he shall be glorified amongst all men The third priest shall be taken up in sorrow and the fourth shall be in griefe because the multitude of iniquities shall be laid upon him and throughout all Israel every man shall hate his neighbour The fift shall be held fast in darknesse and likewise the sixt and the seventh And in the seventh shall be such abhomination both before God and man as I am not able to expresse Howbeit that the doers thereof shall not be known For this cause shall they be in captivity corruption and their land and substance shall be destroyed but in the fifth weeke they shall retuâ—ne into their desolate country and renew the Lords house In the seventh weeke shall come idolatrous priests covetous warriours unrighteous scribes and filthâ—e abusers of men children and beasts After that the Lord hath sent vengeance upon them in the priesthood then will God raise up a new Priest unto whom all the Lords word shall be opened and he shall execute true judgement upon earth many dayes and his starre shall arise in heaven As a King shall hee shed forth the light of knowledge in the open sunshine of the day and he shall be magnified over all the World and be received and shine as the Sun upon the earth and drive away all darknesse and there shall be peace upon all the earth In his dayes the heavens shall rejoyce the earth shall be glad the clouds shall be merry the knowledge of the Lord shall bee powred out upon the earth as the waters of the Seas and the angels of glory that are in the Lords presence shall rejoyce in him The heavens shall be opened out of the temple of glory shall sanctification come upon him with the Fathers voyce as from Abraham the Father of Isaac and the glory of the highest shall be spread out upon him and the Spirit of understanding sanctification shall rest upon him whereof he shall give abundantly and mightily to his children in truth for evermore and there shall none succeed him from generation to generation world without end In his Priesthood all sin shal come to an end and the unrighteous shall cease from their naughtiness but the righteous shall rest in him and he shall open the gates of Paradise and stay the threatning sword against Adam and feed the Lambs with the fruit of life and the spirit of holiness shall be in them He shall binde up Belial and give his own children power to tread down hurtful spirits and the Lord shall rejoyce in his children and accept them as his beloved for evermore Then shall Abraham Isaac and Jacob be glad and then shall I and all Saints rejoyce Now my children ye have heard all Therefore choose unâ—o you either light or darkness either the Law of the Lord or the works of Belial and we answered our Father saying We will walk before the Lord according to his law And our Father said the Lord is witness and his Angels are witnesses and I am a witness and you your selves are witnesses of the words of my mouth And when we had answered We will be witnesses Levi rested with this charge given unto his children And stretched out his feet and was put to his fathers when he had lived a hundred and seven and thirty years and they laid him in a coffin and buried him afterward in Hebron besides Abraham Isaac and Jacob The Testament of JVDA made to his Children at his death concerning valiantnesse covetousnesse and fornication Lo here the blessed Princely state Of Juda suffering not his mate The Scepter Lion Purse and Crowne Betoken glory and renowne The Testament of Iuda THe Copie of all the sayings of Juda which he spake unto his Children at the time of his death when they were come together before him he said unto them I was my fathers fourth son and my mother called me Juda saying I thank the Lord for that he hath given me a fourth sonne I was swift of foot and painfull in my youth and obeyed my Father in all things and blessed my mother and my mothers sisters And when I came unto mans estate my father Jacob praied over me saying Thou shalt be a King and prosperous in all things Behold God gave me grace in all my workes both abroade at home Vpon a time I saw a Hind and ran after her and caught her made good meate of her for my father Also I outran the Roes and overtook all things that were in the fields insomuch that I caught a wild Mare and tamed her I plucked a Kidde out of the mouth of a Beare taking him by the pawe overthrew him and rent asunder all wilde beasts that turned upon me as if I had been a Dog I encountered with a wilde Boar and overrunning him tare him in pieces In Hebron a bastard Lyon leapt upon a Dog and I catching him by the tail flung him away by and by and be brast asunder In the borders of Gare a wilde Bull was feeding in the fields and I took him by the horns and swinged him about and finally killed him There came two Kings of the Chananites armed upon our flock and much people with them and I alone running unto the flock stept to King Sur and striking up his legs overthrew him and so slew him Also I killed another King
Gad the day-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
good thing in the passion wherein he is overcome he draweth the same to his pernicious or filthy desire I say unto you my Sonnes that it was about six of the clocke when she went from me and I fell upon my knees praying to God all that day with the night following And about the break of the day I arose weeping that I might once be deâ—ivered from this Egyptian woman Finally she caught me fast by the garment drawing me to have gone to bed with her Then perceiving that she waxed mad and that violently and with strength she held my clothes I let my clothes slip from me and fled away Then shâ— complained to her husband of me which put me in prison in the Kings house The day following after I was sore beaten and cast in prison And when I lay bound in fetters this Egyptian Woman waxed sick for sorrow and harkened how I lauded GOD being in a House of Darknesse For I rejoycing with a glad voice glorified my God onely that by such occasion I was delivered from the Egyptian woman Yet she left not to stand hearkening said Have done and take the offer which I put unto thee and fulfill my desire and I will deliver thee from thy Bond and bring thee out from the darkness but all that could perswade me nothing insomuch that in thought I was not inclined to any desire of her For God loveth him better which fasteth in chastitâ— being in a prison of darknesse then him which taketh his pleasure with voluptuousnesse in a chamber of honour riches For if a man live in chastity and desire glory if God perceive it to be expedient for him he giveth it unto him as he hath done unto me Many times as though she had been sicke she descended unto me unlooked for and heard the voice of my praying and stood the more still But when I heard her sigh I held my peace for in her house she stripped her self naked breasts legges and arms whereby she might have kindled me into the love of her For she was very fair and gloriously adorned to have deceived me but God kept me from her works Therefore my Sonnes behold what sufferance with prayer and fasting doth And therefore if you love Soberness and Chastity in Sufferance and Humility of the heart the Lord shall dwell in you for he loveth sobriety and when the most High doeth dwell in a man although he chance to fall into envy or into bondage or slander the Lord which dwelleth in him will for his chastity not only deliver him but also exalt him and glorifie him as he hath done me for he is alwayes with him in word in deed and thought My Children ye know well how my Father did love me and yet I was never the prouder thereof in my heart For though I was a childe I had ever the fear of God in my minde When I grew unto age I moderated my selfe and honoured my brethren whom I feared I held my peace when I was sold because I would not have the Ismaelites to know my flock and kindred how I was the son of Jacob a man of great strength and power Therefore have you in your deeds the feare of God and honour your Brethren for all men that observe the Law of God are loved of him Then I came with the Ismaelites to a certain place called Indoclep and they demanded of me what I was and I said because I would not reprove my brethren that I was one of their houshold Slaves Then said the chief of them thou art no slave for thy countenance doth shew thee what thou art And he threatned me unto the death yet for all that I said againe I was their slave But when we came into Egypt they began to strive who should have me for the money that was paid and they agreed that I should abide in Egypt with a Merchant of their faculty untill such time as they had made their Merchandise and returned again and God gave me in the fight of the Merchant that he gave me the charge of his house and the Lord blessed him by my hand for the Lord gave him plenty of Gold and Silver and I was with him three moneths and five dayes In this time passed by Memphitica the wife of Putiphar in great glory and she cast her eyes upon me for the Eunuches had shewed her of 〈◊〉 she shewed her husband of the Merchant whiâ—h was made rich in the hand of a young man being an Hebrew and she sayd they had 〈◊〉 â—im out of the land of Chanaan therefore do now judgement upon him and that the young man to be your steward and tâ—e God of the Hebrewes shal blesse you for grace from heaven is in him Putiphar her husband perswaded with these words caused the Merchant to be sent for and said unto him what do I beare of thee that stealest souls out of the Land of the Hebrewes in selling of Children The Merchant fell down upon his knees and prayed him saying I beseech thee Lord shew me for I know not what thou sayst He answered againe Where gatesâ— thou this Hebrew childe and he said the Ismaelites left him with me untill they came this way again When he had said so Putiphar said bring the young man hither and I being brought in did reverence to the Prince of the Eunuches for he was the third man in dignity with Pharaoh and Prince of all the Eunuches and he had wife children and concubines And when he had taken me apart he said Art thou â—ond or art thou free I answered bond And he said unto me whose bondman art thou I answered him the Ismaelites And he said again unto me how came it to passe that thou â—ast made their bondman And I said for they bought me in the land of Chanaan yet he did not believe me saying truly thou â—iest and commanded me to be beaten Memphitica his Wife spied me â—eaten at a window and sent unto her Husband saying Thy judgement is unjust for thou doest punish wrongfully the young man that is stolen But because I changed not my word yet again was I beaten and commanded to be kept at his commandement till such time as my masters came And his wife said unto him Wherefore do ye keep in captivity the noble Childe it were more almes to let him goe and to beat you She would fain have spied me in desire of sin and I knew nothing of this He said again to Memphitica it is not honest among the Egyptians to take away another mans goods before he shew him of it He said that of the Merchant and of me when I should be imprisoned After that xxiiii dayes the Ismaelites came and they hearing that Jacob my father was heavy for me faâ—â— unto me wherefore is it that thou saidst thou wast a bondman and now we â—now that thou art the sonne of a