of Belial tempt you to all naughtinesse to trouble you yet shall it not get the uppermost hand of you no more then it did of my brother Joseph How many folk would have killed him and yet God still defended him For he that feareth God and loveth his neighbour cannot be wounded of the aiery Spirit Belial and he that is shielded with the fear of the Lord is safe from harm both of man and beast and cannot be overcome because he is helped by the love of God which he hath towards his neighbour for Joseph beâ—ought our father Jacob to pray for my brethren to the Lord that he would not lay unto their charges the mischief that they had devised against him Whereat Jacob cried out O son Joseph thou hast overcome my heart And therewithall embracing him he kissed him two hours together and said In thee shal the prophecy of Heaven be resembled to the full concerning the Lamb of God and Saviour of the world that the unspotted sâ—all be delivered for the wicked dâ—â—ers and he that is without sinne shall die for the sinners in the blood of his testament to the salvation both of the Gentiles and of Israel and he shall dash Belial and all his servants My Children 〈◊〉 upon the end of that good man and follow his mercifulnesse with a good minde that you also may have a Crown of glory upon your heads A good man hath not a dark eye for he is mercifull and pitifull to all men yea though they be sinners and have devised mischief against him and he that doth good overcommeth evill 1 by the defence of goodnesse and loveth 2 the righteous as his own soul If another 3 man be honoured he envieth it not if a man be enriched it grieveth him not If a man be strong 4 or valiant he praiseth him and believing him also to be chaste he defendeth 5 him that hath the feare of God He worketh together with him that loveth God and if a man forsake the 6 Almighty he warneth him to return again Whosoever hath the grace of the good spirit him doth he love as his own life He 7 pitieth the poor succoureth the weak and praiseth and honoureth God My children if ye have a good minde evill men shall stand in awe of you and unthrifts shall for very shame be converted to goodnesse So that covetous men shall not only depart from their niggardlinesse but also give of their aboundance too the needy If ye be good doers both unclean spirits shall flee from you and shrewd beasts shall shun for feare of you For where the regard of good works is in the minde there darknesse flyeth away For if he doe wrong to any holy man he is sorry for it And if a holy man receive wrong he pâ—tieth the doer and putteth it up with silence And if any man betray a righteous soul and the righteous pray for his betrayer the betrayed is not a little disgraced and the Righteous becommeth much more notable afterward as did my Brother Joseph The guilefull spirit of Belial hath no power over a good mans minde for the Angell of peace guideth his soule He looketh not affectionately upon corruptible things â—e â—aketh together riches in the desire of voluptuousnesse He is not delighted with pleasures He grieveth not his neighbour he stuffeth not himself with meat neither wandreth he in the pride of his eyes For the Lord is his portion He taketh no glory for giving good counsell he passeth not how men dishonour him neither can he skill in any fraud or guile untruth strife or slanderousnesse for the Lord dwelleth in him and inlightneth his mind and he rejoyceth before all men in a good time A good minde hath not two tongues one to blesse with and another to curse with one to slander with and another to honour with one of sorrow and another of joy one of quietnesse and another of trouble one of dissimulation and another of truth one of poverty and another of riches but it hath one only disposition pure and uncorrupt towards all It hath no double sight nor double hearing For in all things that he doth speaketh or seeth he knoweth that the Lord beholdeth his heart and therefore he cleanseth his minde that he may not be found faulty before God and man But all the works of Belial are double and utterly void of simplicity Wherefore my children shun the naughtinesse of Belial for at the first he delighteth those that obey him but in the end he is a sword and the father of seaven mischiefs For when the minde hath once conceived by Belial it bringeth forth first envy secondly desperatenesse thirdly sorrow fourthly bondage fifthly needinesse sixthly trouble somness seaventhly desolation and for that cause was Cain tormented with seven punishments by God for in 7. yeares together God brought every yeare a new plague upon Cain Two hundred years he suffered and in the nine hundredth year the earth was made desolate with the Floud for his righteous brother Abels sake In seven hundred years is Cain judged and Lamech in seventy times seven for they that are like Cain in spightfulnesse hatred towards their brethren shall be punished with the same punishment for ever as he was You therefore my children eschew malice envy and hatred towards your brethren and cleave to goodnesse and lovingnesse He that hath a mâ—nd clean in love looketâ— not upon a woman in way of lechery Foâ— he hath no defiâ—ing in his heart because the spirit of the Lord resteth in him For as the Sun is not defiled by shining upon a puddle or dunghill but doth rather dry up and drive away the stinke even so a pure minde striveth against the uncleannesse of the earth and overcommenth it but is not defiled it selfe And I perceive by the sayings of the righteous Enoch that there shall be evil deeds among you For you shall defile your selves with the foâ—nication of Sâ—dom and perish all save a few multiply inordinate lusts in Women and the reign of the Lord shall not be among you for he shal take it away suddenly Neverthelesse the Lords Temple shall be made in our portion and it shall be glorious among you For the Lord himselfe shall take the Kingdome upon him and the twelve Tribes shall be gathered together there and all Nations shall resort thither untill the most High send his salvation in the visitation of his onely begotten And he shall enter into the first Temple and there the Lord shall suffer wrong and be despised and be lifted up unto a piece of timber And the veil of the Temple shall be rent asunder and the Spirit of the Lord shall come down upon the Gentiles poured out as fire and rising up from the grave he shall ascend from earth to Heaven He shall remember how base he hath been upon earth and how glorious
the daies of his life he did never cast us in the teeth with it but loved us as his owne soule and more than his owne Children honouring us and giving us riches cattell and corne abundantly You therefore my children love yee one another with a good heart and put from you the spirit of Envie for it maketh a Mans sou'e to grow savage marreth his body breedeth wrath and war in his thoughts setteth his bloud on fire driveth him out of his wits and suffereth no reason to beare any sway or rule Moreover it taketh away his sleep disquieteth his minde and maketh his body to tremble For even in sleep some spice of imagined malice gnaweth him cumbring his soule with Spirits of mischiefe making his body ghastly and his mind affrighted with trouble and appearing unto men as it were with a pernicious Spirit and powring out of poyson Therefore was Joseph faire of face beautifull and comely to behold because no wicked thing dwelt in him for he had a countenance cleare from cumverance of mind And now my children let your hearts be meek before the Lord and walke right before man so shall ye finde favour both with God man and beware that ye fall not to whoredome For whoredome is the mother of all naughtines separating a man from God sending him to Belial For I have seene in Enochs writings that you and your children shall be corrupted with whoredome and do Levi wrong by the sword But they shall not prevaile against Levi because he shall fight the Lords battels and take all your tents and very few shall be divided in Levi and Juda for hee shall be your Captaine as my Father Jacob prophesied in his blessings Behold I tell you all these things aforehand that I may be cleare from the sin of your soules Now if you put from you all enviousnes and all stiffneckednes all my bones shall flourish as a rose in Israel and my flesh as a Lilâ—ie in Jacob and my savor shall be as the sent of Libanus my holy ones shall be multiplied as the Cedars for ever their boughs shall spreade out in length for evermore Then shall the seed of Canaan perish together with all the remnant of Amalek All the Cappadocians shall perish and all tâ—e Sethians shall likewise be destroyed Then shall the land of Cham faile and all the people goe to wreck Then shall the Earth rest from trouble and all men under Heaven from war Then shall Sem be glorified when the great Lord God of Israel appeareth upon earth as a man to save Adam in him Then shall the spirits of errour he troden under foote and men shall reign over hurtfull fiends then shall I arise again in joy and blesse the highest in his wonderful works for God taking a body upon him and eating with men shal save men And now my children obey Levi and you shall be delivered by Juda and advance not your selves above these two tribes for of them two shall the saving health of God spring unto us For the Lord shall set up of Levi the prince of priests and of Juda the King of Kâ—ngs God man So shall he save all the Gentiles the off-spring of Israel For these things sake I charge you to command your children to keepe these things thoroughout all their generations And Simeon making an end of these his sayings and commandements to his children slept with his fathers when as he was of the age of an hundred twenty yeares And then they laid him in a coffin of wood that rotteth not that they might cary his bones againe into Hebron they conveyed him privily in the warte of the Egyptians For the Egyptians kept the bones of Joseph in the Kings treasure For their inchanters told them that whensoever Josephs bones were carried away there should be such a plague of miste and darknesse among the Egyptians as one brother should not know another no not even by torchlight and Symeons children bewailed there Father according to the Law of mourning continued in Egypt till the day of their departing thence under the hand of Moyses The Testament of LEVI made to his Childrena this death concerning Priesthood Flie sinne be just rage not give light Ye Preachers of Gods Word For what else sheweth Sun and Moone Dame Venus Wolfe and Sword 〈…〉 THe Copy of Levies words namely which hee spake to his children concerning all the things which they should doe and which should happen unto them untill the day of judgement Hee was in health when he called them unto him for he knew before when he should die So when they were come together he said unto them I Levi was bred and borne in Charran and afterward came with my father into Sichem I was at that time but young about 20 yeers old when I helped my brother Simeon to revenge our sister Dina against Hemor Now as we were â—eeding of our flocks in Abelmuel the spirit of the understanding of the Lord came upon me I saw all men undermining their own waies and how unrighteousnes had builded her selfe a fortresse wickedness sat upon the throne thereof And I was sory for mankind besought the Lord to save them Then there fell a sleep upon me and I saw a very high mountain It was the mountaine of Aspis in Abelmuel And behold the heavens opened and the Angell of God said unto me Levi come hither and went from the first heaven to the second and there saw the water hanging betweene the one and the other And I saw the third heaven much brighter than them both for the height thereof was infinit And I said to the angell what meaneth this And the Angell answered me Marvel not at these things for thou shalt see foure heavens yet brighter without comparison when thou commest up to them For thou shalt stand by the Lord be his Minister and utter his secrets unto men and preach of the deliverer of Israel which is to come by thee and by Juda the Lord will appear to men to save all mankind in them Thy life shall depend upon the Lord by him shalt thou have thy fields vineyards fruits gold and silver Therefore harken as touching the seven heavens The lowest is most lowring because it is neerest to all the unrighteousnes of men The second hath fire snow yce prepared by the Lords appointment against the day of Gods rightfull judgement In it are all the spirits of vengeance for the punishing of the wicked In the third are the powers of hosts ordaâ—ned against the day of iudgement to take vengeance upon the spirits of error and Belial In the fourth above these are the saints for in the higher places dwelleth great glory in the holy of all holies above all holinesse In the next unto this are the angels that do serve in Gods presence and seek his
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
great-man in the land of Canaan and thy father sorroweth for thee in sackcloth Then I could fain have wept yet I refrained my selfe for shaming of my brethren and said I know if not for I am a bondman Then they took counsell amongst themselves whither or to whom they might sell me lest I should be found in their hands for they feared Jacob lest he should be revenged of them for they had heard that he was mighty both to God and man Then said the Merchant to them Redeem him now from the judgement of Putiphar they hearing this went and asked for me saying that they had bought me for mony he delivered me Memphitica spake unto her husband to buy me for she said I hear say they would sell him And they sent an Eunuch to the Ismaelites desired to buy me and when he could not bargain with them his returned shewed his Lady that they asked a great price for the childe she sent again another Eunuch saying Although they aske two besaunces of gold see that thou spare not for money but buy the childe and bring him to me He paid 80 golden Crowns for me said to his Lady that he paid 100 and I perceiving this held my peace lest the Eunuch should have been searched Behold my sonnes what I have sustained love one of you another and with continuance cast out from among you deceitfull minds for God delighteth in the concord of brethren hath pleasure also in the love choice of a proved heart For when my brothers came out of Egypt and knew me I gave them their money and never gave reproach unto them but comforted them after the death of Jacob I loved them more aboundantly and all that ever he commanded me I did very gladly and they marvelled because I suffered not them to be troubled for a small cause for all that was in my power I gave them Their children were reputed to me as mine own and mine own children as their servants Their life was my life and their sorrow was my sorrow and all their infirmity or disease was mine my Land was their land my counsel was the counsel of them and I never exalled my self above them in pride for mine own worldly glory but was amongst them as one of the least Tâ—erefore my sons if ye walk in the Commandements of the Lord the Lord shall exalt you and blesse you in ricâ—â—s pâ—rpetual And if any man will do evâ—ll to you with meeknesse look that ye pray for him and God shall deliver you from all evill For behold and see that for my long sufferance the Daughter of my Lord was given me to wife and there was given to me with her an hundred talents of Gold for God made them to serve me and gave me beauty that I should be as a flower above them that were faire in Israel and he kept me unto mine age both in strength and beauty because I was like to Jacob in all things And what dreams I have seen my children now heare There were xii Harts feeding and nine were divided abroad in the earth also I saw how that of Juda was a Virgin born having a white silken robe and of her came forth an immaculate Lamb And on the left hand of the said Lamb was as it were a Lyon and all Beasts made against him and the Lamb overcame them and trod them under his feet and in him joyed the Angels the men and all the earth These things shall come to passe in their time that is to say in the latter dayes Therefore my Sons keepe the commandement of the Lord and honour Juda and Levi For of them to you shall spring the Lamb of God which by his grace shall preserve all Gentiles and Israel The Kingdome of him is a Kingdome eternall which shal never passe For my Kingdome shall be ended in you aâ— the keeping of an Orchard for after the harvest it shall appear no more I know right well that after my death the Egyptians shall trouble you but God shall revenge you and bring you to the promised land which he share to Abraham Isaac and Jacob But carry my bones with you for in so doing the Lord shal be in the light with you against the Egyptians and Belial shal be in darknesse with the Egyptians Also carry wiâ—h you your Mother Zilphâ— and â—igh unto the valley neer unto Rachel bury her When he had said these words he stretched forth his feet and slept the sleep of all the World Then they imbalmed him with spices putting him in a Chest in Egypt after he had lived 110. years who saw Ephraims Children unto the third generation For unto Machir the sonne of Manasseâ— were children born on Josephs knees After this all 〈◊〉 of Israel bewailed him and all the Egyptians with a great mourning For he had compassion of Egypt as of his own proper members and assisted them both with his labour and counsell and did them good at all times and seasons The Testament of BENIAMIN made to his Children at his death concerning a clean minde Lo what true faithfull love doth mean All you that Lovers be It is in heart and not in lust As here you plainly seâ— The Testament of Benjamin THe Copy of Benjaminâ— words which he uttered to his Children being of the age of an hundred and twenty years He kissed them and said As Isaac was born in the hundreth year of Abraham so was I in the hundreth year of Jacob and because Rachel dyed at my birth I sucked her Bond-woman Bilha For after that Rachel had born Joseph she was barren twelve years And when she had prayed to the Lord in those twelve years she conceived and bare me for my father loved Rachel exceedingly and wished to see two Sonnes by her and therefore I was called Benjamin that is to say the sonne of my dayes or the sonne of my sorrow because my Mother dyed in the birth of me When I came first into Egypt and that my brother Joseph knew me he said to me What sayd they to me Father when they had sold me I answered They stained thy Coat with bloud and bringing it to him said See if this be thy Sons coat or no And my Brother also sayd unto me Truly when the Ismaelites took me one of them stripping me out of my coat gave me a thin shirt to put on and lashing me with a wâ—ip bade the run And as he went aside to hide my garment a Lion met him and flew him and his partners being afraid sold me is their fellowes You therefore my Children love the God of Heaven and obey his commandements following that good and holy man Joseph and let your mind be set upon goodnesse as ye know that mine hath been He that hath a good minde looketh rightly upon all things Feare God and love your neighbours and then although the spirit
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
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
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
he is in heaven When Joseph was in Egypt I longed to see his person and the form of his countenance And through the prayers of my Father Jacob I saw him awake in the day of his full and perfect shape Now therefore my Children know you that I shall die Wherefore deale every of you truly and rightfully with his neighbour worke ye justly and faithfully and keep ye the law and commandement of the Lord for that doe I teach you instead of all Inheritance And give you the same to your Children for an everlasting possession For so did Abraham Isaac and Jacob they gave us all these things for an Inheritance saying Keep the Lords commandements till he reveale his saving health unto all Nations Then shall ye see Enoch Noe Sem Abraham Isaac and Jacob rising at his right hand with joyfulnesse Then shall we rise also every of us to his own Scepter worshipping the King of heaven which appeared on earth in the base shape of man As many as beleeve in him shall rejoyce with him at that time And all these shall rise again to glory and the residue unto shame And the Lord shall first of all judge Israel for the unrighteousnesse committed against him because they beleeved not in God that came in the flesh to deliver Then shal he judge all Nations as many as believed not in him when he appeared upon earth and he shâ—ll reprove Israel among the chosen of the Gentiles as he reproved Esau in the Midianites that seduced his brethren by fornication and Idolatry who were estranged from God and fell away from the Inheritance of the Children because they feared not God But if you walke in holinesse before the Lord ye shall dwell in Hope again in me And all Israel shall be gathered to the Lord and I shall no more be called a ravening Wolfe for your Robberies sakes but I shall be called the Lords Workmâ—n which gâ—veth food unto such as doe good And in my seed shall be raised up the Beloved of the Lord whose voice shall be heard upon the earth and he shall give new knowledge and enlighten all Nations with the light of understanding and shall come up to save Israel He shall take from them as a Wolfe and give to the Synagogue of the Gentiles aâ—d continue in the Sâ—nagogue of the Gentiles to the worlds end Hâ— shall be among their Princes as musical melody in the mouths of all men and his doings and sayings shall be written in â—oly books He shaâ—l be the Lords Dearling for evermore And as concerning him my Father Jacob taught me saying He shall ameâ—d the defaults of thy Tribe And when he had ended tâ—ese sayings he commanded his Children to carry his bones out of Egypt and to bury them in Hebron by his Fathers So Benjamin dyed in hundred and five and twenty years old in a good age and they put him in a Coffin and in the fourscore and eleventh year before the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt they and their brethren conveyed their Fathers bones privily againe into the Land of Chanaan and buried him in Hebron at the feet of his Fathers and returned again out of the Land of Chanaan and dwell in Egypt till the day of their departure thence all together FINIS How these Testaments of the twelve Patriarchs were first found and by whose means they were translated out of Greek into Latine THese Testaments were hidden and concealed a long time so as the Teachers and the ancient Interpreters could not finde them Which thing happened through the spitefulnesse of the Iewes who by reason of the most evident manifest and often Prophecies of Christ that are written in them did hide them a long while At length the Greeks being very narrow searchers out of ancient writings tought these Testaments warily and got them more warily and translated them faithfully out of Hebrew into Greek Nevertheless this writing continued yet still unknown because there was not any man to be found that was skillfull both in the Greek and Latine nor any Interpreter that might procure the translation of this noble work untill the time of Robert the second surnamed Grosthead Bishop of Lincolne who sent diligent searchers as far as Greece to fetch him a Copy of the said writing without respect of their charges which he bare most liberally Therefore to continue the memories of those most lightsome Prophecies to the strengthening of the Christian faith that reverend Bishop did in the year of our Lord 1242. translate them painfully and faithfully word for word out of Greek into Latine in which two tongues he was counted very skilfull by the help of M. Nicholas Greek Parson of the Church of Datchot and Chaplain to the Abbot of St. Albons to the intent that by that means the evident Prophecies which shine more bright than the day light might the more gloriously come abroad to the greater confusion of the Iewes and of all Hereticks and enemies of the Church of Christ to whom be praise and glory for ever Amen 1658. At LONDON Printed for the Company oâ— the STATIONERS Levi Iacob Simeon Iudas Isachar Zabulon Dan. Gad. Aser Neptalim Ioseph Benjamin Eccles 14â— Gen. 23. Simple for innocence Jacob beloved not of merit Rom. 9. but of grace Gen. 25. Gen. 26. Gen. 27. A caveat for mariage Trouble paine are destined to the Elect. An example for children A godly note for servants Mans life is but a pilgrimage God alway provideth for the righteous Parents ought to tell their children Gods blessings That is shall be uÌ„der their tribes Christ Counted as one of his children not that they should pray unto him being dead as Eckius gathered God hath mercy on whom he will By saith Jacob divideth the Land a yet but hoped for Begotten in my youth Levi had no Tribe Simeon was under Juda. Jud. 1. Blessings of Juda a worthy captaine A noble Prince Christ A fertile Land Judge 13.14.15.16 Josh. 1.21 Num. 33. Judg. 4.5 The blessing of Joseph Encrease of family All things come of God Not for the holinesse of the place but for memory of Gods promise A token of a good conscience Death is our long home Fornication plagued Gen. 15. a Prayer and repenâ—â—nce stayeth Goâ—â— wrath b The blessing prayer of a father to god for his children of what benefit In repentance the heart is to be considered not externall action The eight Instruments whereby man worketh the effect of them 1 Life 2 Seeing 3. Hearing 4 Smelling 5. Speech 6 Tasting 7. Seed of what property 8 Sleep of what property Eight spirits of errour of what property 1. Lechery 2. Gluttony 3. Envie 4. Bravery 5. Pride of what propertie 6. Vaine-glory in what it consisteth 7. Unrighteousnesse 8. Wilful ignorance Discommodities of ignorance Ringleaders to fornicatioÌ„ 1. a greedy eye 2. Close company with women 3. Bâ—sie questions 4. Drunkennesse Nothing so secretly
THE Testament of the twelve Patriarchs the sons of Iacob translated out of Greek into Latin by Robert Grosthead sometime Bishop of Lincolne and out of his Copie into French and Dutch by others and now Englished To the credit whereof an ancient Greeke Copie written in parchment is kept in the Vniversity Librarie of Cambridge London Printed by E C for the Companie of Stationers 1658. To the Christian Reader ALbeit these our happy dayes in some respect good Christian have and enjoy divers â—nd sundry workes tending â—o the subversion of Belial and the erection of godlinesse yet considering that as earthly so we spirituall souldiers seldome run to the watch without allarme I thought it convenient to call upon you with this grave and godly booke of long time hid in Hebrew now come to light in English The malice of the Jewish people in concealing it by reason of Christ the righteous so often prefigured was intolerable but the singular providence of God in preserving it unspeakable and now at last though chargâ—able yet fruitfull is the expressing and printing in our naturall language of this so worthy so golden a writ being of it selfe without the accessary painting of eloquent speech a Mirrour for Princes a Preacher for all Christians a beautifull glasse for women for children servants and such like a wise plausible and most ready schoolemaster for to apply to every particular estate his peculiar property Art thou a Prince a Magistrate a Rule let Iuda rule thee If thou thinkest upon manly courage hee teacheth valiantnesse if thou seeke to governe a right hee willeth thee to flye tyranny if thou thirst after manners of life hee foundeth it out that vaine-glory fornication and discord blemish weaken at length utterly consume nobility Let mee proceed farther aske a question Art thou a Bishop a Minister a preacher of Christs birth life and death behold Levi as a Lanterne Thou canst teach thy selfe but he can teach thee better thou speakest to others hearken to him that talketh to thee of thy office how holy it is how honourable the contemners thereof how miserable by whom begun continued and confirmed of thy state of life what how it should be Nunquam sine Sale sine Sole to be short of thy blessednesse if thou art godly wise learned of thine and their plagues where thou livest if wicked and ignorant What should I say more Looke upon Iacob O you Parents peruse the 12 godly Fathers in time and order learne of him his to pray to God in Christ his name for your children have regard to their instruction the want of the former your children shal misse the neglect of the latter you your selves shall bewail For the hearty prayer of a Father to the almighty for his children is a right singular benefit but he that for foolish pity giveth them the bridle is before God accounted a guilty partaker of their sinfull race View this book therefore hearken how to teach your selves and your children You have already handled a Sicke mans Salve enjoy now at length a Sicke mans tongue to instruct them when you leave them and what to leave them when you die else their end will be lamentation but yours lamentable misery And come you hither you children of the earth read see and say that old father Ruben with his good brethren readily and rightly describe the blessed path of righteousnesse and the forlorne way of Belial the one to flye the other to follow Wilt thou begin with the eldest for that old age seemeth wisest stop not then the eares of thy heart body to so wise sweet a charmer O the number O the uglisome portraiture of those deadly spirits that he hath so orderly numbred and cunningly coloured Lechery Envy Gluttony Bravery Pride Vaine-glory Vnrighteousnesse Wilfull ignorance All these as they seem are indeed pernicious but the former is most detestable the end whereof is consumption of this earthly body destruction of the soule Which welspring puddle of evil if thou wilt have dryed up cease from drunkennes if not see it have not a narrow and greedy eye upon a beautifull face if not drink yet stoppe thy mouth from busie questions with women to conclude if not therein be ducked and drowned use labour tame youthfulnesse For in this I overshooting my selfe saith Ruben to his Children defiled my Fathers bed Therefore looke not upon the beauty of women muse not upon their doings but keepe your selves occupied either in learning or some worke charge your wives and daughters that they trim not their heads will them to chasten their looks for every woman that deales deceitfully in those things is reserved to the punishment of the world to come Which trade of life to eschew seeing it is difficult without the fulfilling of the law and the law partly consisteth in mutuall love strive with Simeon the second brother to avoid strife which blindeth the mind pineth the body provoketh murder The remedy whereof is both forgiving and forgetting Take to thee Iosephs cheerefull countenance a perfect platform of a quiet mind yet set before thine eyes Simeons withered hand a right plague for such a sin All which disquietness and mischief safely to set a side let not Iuda be set a part Gather by him experience that for a man to glory in his own works is sinfull hee which upbraideth another mans vice standeth slippery Iuda choked Ruben his eldest brother with his fornication mark who sinned immediatly but envious rayling Iuda Did he not offend after the flesh in the Canaanites house did he not take a wife without consent of his Parents two great sins and alas in these our dayes too much used yet punished the one with want or at least small joy of children saith father Iuda the Patriarch but the other with intolerable danger of body and soule saith S. Paul Wherefore abstraine from wine abhor drunkennesse for such a one slandereth not rehearseth not another mans sins breedeth no sedition but embraceth love and charity in a single heart as good Father Isachar who never railed nor was hurtfull and spitefull to his neighbour never ate his meat alone but gave part to the poore never removed the bounds and markes of other mens ground but loved all men as his naturall children O that as we read this so we might expresse the same in life and conversation Mercy and Love is a precious Jewell the maintainers whereof being jointly connexed prosper once dissevered come to nought For the waters saith Zabulon wash away the sand when the stones and timber are dissolved whose mercy and singular compassion was rewarded singularly Sift his testament resemble his rare charity in cloathing the naked and feeding the hungry knowne unknown as well strangers as his countrimen Let not the spirit of Dan possesse your minde Suffer not the wrath of Gad to settle in your heart for such work
with 3 sore instruments bitter speech treachery and violent hands yeelding fruit not much unlike as you may reade as you may see Wilt thou be taught the ready path to that that thou dost seek Two wayes there be saith Aser Vice the one the other Vertue Neptalims race Embrace the latter eschew the former But hee that walketh in them both blindeth men deceiveth himselfe and mocketh GOD whose double faced dealing shall bee double punished Such are the covetous such are they that are mercifull in evilnesse such are they saith Aser that fast from meats but not from fornication Have therfore a simple heart with righteous Ioseph the blessed of the Lord that right figure of Iesus Christ for hatred hee shewed love being cursed hee blessed being shot through he did not so much as bend his bow albeit his brethren would have slain him albeit they cast him into a Well though they sold him as a bond-slave and that to strangers and such as hated shepheards to the death of whom hee was whipped and tormented yet he when they stood in feare gave them comfort when they were well-nigh famished gave them food when by his authority he might destroy he by his authority did preserve being their Lord using them as his betters being their brother accepting them as his children their unkindnesse not spoken of their conspiracies forgotten their cruell dealing most lovingly most mercifully forgiven You have heard his love towards his neighbour hearken his obedience toward God when he was miserably afflicted did hee rage swell when he was made a bond-slave of a free mans sonne did he cry out on heaven being utterly forsaken did he impatiently accuse Gods justice no Expectans expectavit Dominum And at the last the Lord which hid his face did shew his countenance of a caitife in respect making him free of a freeman wealthy of a wealthy subject an honourable personage Lord President of Pharo's land whom the Egyptians being alive loved being dead lâ—ved being rotten loved whom living neither wealth nor woe could mâ—ke to swell neither promise or threats of the Egyptian strumpet could make slide and therefore being dead neither world devill nor mans policy could make forgotten O that our mortall race might thus begin thus persevere might thus thus O Lord most happily finish The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Learne therefore of Benjamin to enflame thy heart that thou maist be ready both in body and soule Let us saith Ecclesiast commend and so say I let us behold the noble famous men and the generation of our fore-elders For many glorious acts hath the Lord done in them shewed his great power ever since the beginning Upon the consideration whereof and especially for that I would have nothing wanting in this book that might serve thy contentation I thought it as well pertinent to deal with the righteous Father as with the godly children For to shadow a face only without a body hath his deserved commendation but who so painteth a leg without a body or a body without a head it shall not be amisse as I suppose aswell to tearme him a foolish painter as to judge the thing undiscreetly painted Wherefore as wel to see the head as the leg to hear the Father as the children I have faithfully drawn out of Scripture and not according to my fancy fashioned the death testament of Iacob that blessed and right happy Father added to this ancient monument of the Children Therefore to recompense my pains read them but read them diligently neither read only but be content to follow For the imitation of good and godly men is the direct way course to godlinesse So may we account of Iacobs blessing So may we throughly challenge to be his children Children I meane not by flesh but spirit The Lord which made heaven and earth the Lord which gave his Sonne to shed his heart-blood for us GOD which disposeth all things to his pleasure preserve our King increase our faith and make us thankfull for his benefits Amen Richard Day The Testament of Iacob made at his death to his twelve sons the Patriarchs concerning what should betide them in the last dayes gathered out of Genesis 48 49. and added unto this book Come hearken my Sonnes two things I give my blessing and my ban The first to them that godly live the last to wicked man The Testament of Iacob IAcob the sonne of Isaac borne of Rebecca in the yeare of the world 2108. his Father being threescore yeares of age was a perfect man and rigâ—â—eous dwelling in Lents not given to plâ—aâ—ure and hunting as his elder brother elder by nature not by grace For the elder shall serve the younger saith the Lord Why not for that Iacob had so deserved but GOD had so appoâ—nted Wherefore when he thus by the determinate will of God and heavenly disposition which ordereth all things whatsoever had got his brothers birth-right and his Fathers blessing his parents considering that the slippery dayes of carnall copulation did approach and warily fearing his Brother Esau for that he conceived murder in his heart instituted a birth-day for his divelish purpose sent him from Bersaba to Mesopotamia to Laban his mothers brother there honestly to take a wife and quietly to live For matrimony without consent of Parents and due consideration of either partie contracted as it breedeth their disquietness so it provoketh Gods displeasure Iacob therefore after long travell being placed with his Vncle Laban and serving him foureteene yeeres in labour and paine albeit bee was the Childe of promise the Blessed of the Lord borne of a Free woman and that which is more his Vncles bone and flesh and Lord of Canaan not arguing with himselfe as the worldly Children of this earth saying Shall I which am a free and wealthie mans sonne bee made a servant Shall I be a drudge in my kinsmans house being sent to marry and not to serve had given him by Laban to Wife for his good service by which GOD blessed that little that Laban had before his two daughters Lea first then Rachel with their handmaids Bilha and Zilpha of whom according to the promise made to him in Bethel that his seed should be multiplied hee begat twelve sonnes twelve godly Fathers of the earth Ruben Simeon Levi. Juda. Dan. Neptalim Gad. Aser Isachar Zabulon Joseph Benjamin Thus he being blessed of the Lord as well in Children as in substance returned againe to his native Countrey hee and his Children there to live and there to die But behold the divine providence of God! after three and thirty yeeres expired he was removed from Canaan to Gosen in Egypt by meanes of his sonne Joseph chiefe Steward of Pharaohs land whom his brethren heretofore had sold Where when he had lived 17. yeeres and seene his family encreased exceedingly to his great
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