Testament Of Levi
1926 anthology, complete selected publisher reading text
Rutherford H. Platt
10 Whosoever teaches noble things and does them, shall be enthroned with kings, as was also Joseph my brother.
11 Therefore, my children, I have learnt that at the end of the ages ye will transgress against the Lord, stretching out hands to wickedness against Him; and to all the Gentiles shall ye become a scorn.
12 For our father Israel is pure from the transgressions of the chief priests [who shall lay their hands upon the Saviour of the world].
13 For as the heaven is purer in the Lord’s sight than the earth, so also be ye, the lights of Israel, purer than all the Gentiles.
14 But if ye be darkened through transgressions, what, therefore, will all the Gentiles do living in blindness?
15 Yea, ye shall bring a curse upon our race, because the light of the law which was given for to lighten every man this ye desire to destroy by teaching commandments contrary to the ordinances of God.
16 The offerings of the Lord ye shall rob, and from His portion shall ye steal choice portions, eating them contemptuously with harlots.
17 And out of covetousness ye shall teach the commandments of the Lord, wedded women shall ye pollute, and the virgins of Jerusalem shall ye defile; and with harlots and adulteresses shall ye be joined, and the daughters of the Gentiles shall ye take to wife, purifying them with an unlawful purification; and your union shall be like unto Sodom and Gomorrah,
18 And ye shall be puffed up because of your priesthood, lifting yourselves up against men, and not only so, but also against the commands of God.
19 For ye shall contemn the holy things with jests and laughter.
20 Therefore the temple, which the Lord shall choose, shall be laid waste through your uncleanness, and ye shall be captives throughout all nations.
21 And ye shall be an abomination unto them, and ye shall receive reproach and everlasting shame from the righteous judgement of God.
22 And all who hate you shall rejoice at your destruction.
23 And if you were not to receive mercy through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers, not one of our seed should be left upon the earth.
24 And now I have learnt that for seventy weeks ye shall go astray, and profane the priesthood, and pollute the sacrifices.
25 And ye shall make void the law, and set at nought the words of the prophets by evil perverseness.
26 And ye shall persecute righteous men, and hate the godly; the words of the faithful shall ye abhor.
27 And a man who reneweth the law in the power of the Most High, ye shall call a deceiver; and at last ye shall rush upon him to slay him, not knowing his dignity, taking innocent blood through wickedness upon your heads.
28 And your holy places shall be laid waste even to the ground because of him.
29 And ye shall have no place that is clean; but ye shall be among the Gentiles a curse and a dispersion until He shall again visit you, and in pity shall receive you through faith and water.
CHAP. V.
He prophesies the coming of the Messiah. This was written 100 years before Christ.
AND whereas ye have heard concerning the seventy weeks, hear also concerning the priesthood. For in each jubilee there shall be a priesthood.
2 And in the first jubilee, the first who is anointed to the priesthood shall be great, and shall speak to God as to a father.
3 And his priesthood shall be perfect with the Lord, and in the day of his gladness shall he arise for the salvation of the world.
4 In the second jubilee, he that is anointed shall be conceived in the sorrow of beloved ones; and his priesthood shall be honoured and shall be glorified by all.
5 And the third priest shall he taken hold of by sorrow.
6 And the fourth shall be in pain, because unrighteousness shall gather itself against him exceedingly, and all Israel shall hate each one his neighbour.
7 The fifth shall be taken hold of by darkness. Likewise also the sixth and the seventh.
8 And in the seventh shall, be such pollution as I cannot express before men, for they shall know it who do these things.
9 Therefore shall they be taken captive and become a prey, and their land and their substance shall be destroyed.
10 And in the fifth week they shall return to their desolate country, and shall renew the house of the Lord.
11 And in the seventh week shall become priests, who are idolaters, adulterers, lovers of money, proud, lawless, lascivious, abusers of children and beasts.
12 And after their punishment shall have come from the Lord, the priesthood shall fail.
13 Then shall the Lord raise up a new priest.
14 And to him all the words of the Lord shall be revealed; and he shall execute a righteous judgement upon the earth for a multitude of days.
15 And his star shall arise in heaven as of a king.
16 Lighting up the light of knowledge as the sun the day, and he shall be magnified in the world.
17 He shall shine forth as the sun on the earth, and shall remove all darkness from under heaven, and there shall be peace in all the earth.
18 The heavens shall exult in his days, and the earth shall be glad, and the clouds shall rejoice;