The Testament Of Joseph
1926 anthology, complete selected publisher reading text
Rutherford H. Platt
The Testament Of Joseph
The Eleventh Son of Jacob and Rachel.
CHAP. I.
Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob and Rachel, the beautiful and beloved. His struggle against the Egyptian temptress.
THE copy of the Testament of Joseph.
2 When he was about to die he called his sons and his brethren together, and said to them:--
3 My brethren and my children, hearken to Joseph the beloved of Israel; give ear, my sons, unto your father.
4 I have seen in my life envy and death, yet I went not astray, but persevered in the truth--of the Lord.
5 These my brethren hated me, but the Lord loved me:
6 They wished to slay me, but the God of my fathers guarded me:
7 They let me down into a pit, and the Most High brought me up again.
8 I was sold into slavery, and the Lord of all made me free:
9 I was taken into captivity, and His strong hand succoured me.
10 I was beset with hunger, and the Lord Himself nourished me.
11 I was alone, and God comforted me:
12 I was sick, and the Lord visited me.
13 I was in prison, and my God showed favour unto me;
14 In bonds, and He released me;
15 Slandered, and He pleaded my cause;
16 Bitterly spoken against by the Egyptians, and He delivered me;
17 Envied by my fellow-slaves, and He exalted me.
18 And this chief captain of Pharaoh entrusted to me his house.
19 And I struggled against a shameless woman, urging me to transgress with her; but the God of Israel my father delivered me from the burning flame.
20 I was cast into prison, I was beaten, I was mocked; but the Lord granted me to find mercy, in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
21 For the Lord doth not forsake them that fear Him, neither in darkness, nor in bonds, nor in tribulations, nor in necessities.
22 For God is not put to shame as a man, nor as the son of man is he afraid, nor as one that is earth-born is He weak or affrighted.
23 But in all those things doth He give protection, and in divers ways doth He comfort, though for a little space He departeth to try the inclination of the soul.
24 In ten temptations He showed me approved, and in all of them I endured; for endurance is a mighty charm, and patience giveth many good things.
25 How often did the Egyptian woman threaten me with death!
26 How often did she give me over to punishment, and then call me back and threaten me, and when I was unwilling to company with her, she said to me:
27 Thou shalt be lord of me, and all that is in my house, if thou wilt give thyself unto me, and thou shalt be as our master.
28 But I remembered the words of my father, and going into my chamber, I wept and prayed unto the Lord.
29 And I fasted in those seven years, and I appeared to the Egyptians as one living delicately, for they that fast for God’s sake receive beauty of face.
30 And if my lord were away from home, I drank no wine; nor for three days did I take my food, but I gave it to the poor and sick.
31 And I sought the Lord early, and I wept for the Egyptian woman of Memphis, for very unceasingly did she trouble me, for also at night she came to me under pretence of visiting me.
32 And because she had no male child she pretended to regard me as a son.
33 And for a time she embraced me as a son, and I knew it not; but later, she sought to draw me into fornication.
34 And when I perceived it I sorrowed unto death; and when she had gone out, I came to myself, and lamented for her many days, because I recognized her guile and her deceit.
35 And I declared unto her the words of the Most High, if haply she would turn from her evil lust.
36 Often, therefore, did she flatter me with words as a holy man, and guilefully in her talk praise my chastity before her husband, while desiring to ensnare me when we were alone.