T H E T E S TA M E N T O F

BENJAMIN
CHAPT ER 1 1 T he copy of the words o f Benj a min, which he commanded his son s to observe, after he had lived a hu ndred a nd twenty-fiv e years. 2 And he k issed th em, and said: As Isa a c was born to Abraham in his old a ge, so also was I to Jacob. 3 And since Rachel my mother died in giving me birth, I had no milk ; therefore I was su ck led by Bilhah her ha ndmaid. 4 For Rachel remained barren for twelve years after she had borne J oseph; a nd she prayed the Lord with fa sting twelve days, an d she con ceived and bare me. 5 For my father loved Rachel dea rly, a nd prayed that he might see t wo sons born from her. 6 T herefore was I called Benjamin, tha t is, a son of days. CHAPT ER 2 1 And when I went into Egypt, to Joseph, and my brother recognised me, he said u nto me: What did they tell my father when they sold me? 2 And I said u nto him, T hey da bbled thy coat with bloo d and sent it, a nd sa id: Know wheth er this be thy son's coat? 3 And he said u nto me: Even so, brother, when they had stripped me of my coat they gave me to the Is hma elites, and they gave me a loin cloth, and scou rged me, and bade me ru n. 4 And as for one of them that had bea ten me with a rod, a lion met him a nd slew him. 5 And so his asso ciates were a ffrighted. CHAPT ER 3 1 Do ye also, therefore, my chi ldren, love the Lord God of heaven and earth, and k eep His comman dments, following the example o f the good and holy man Joseph. 2 And let you r mind be u nto good, even as ye k now me; for he that hath his mind right, seeth all things rightly. 3 Fear ye the Lord, and love your neighbou r; and even thou gh the sp irits of Beliar claim you to afflict you with every evil, yet shall they not have dominion over you , even as they had not over Joseph my brot her. 4 How many men wished to slay him, and G od shielded him! For he that feareth God and loveth his neighbou r cannot be smitten by the spirit of B eliar, being shielded by the fear of God. 5 Nor can he be ru led over by the device of men or beasts, for he is helped by the Lord throu gh the love which he hath towards his neig hbou r. 6 For Joseph also besou ght our fa ther that he wou ld pray for his brethren, that the Lord wou ld not impu te to them as sin whatever evil they had done u nto him. 7 And thu s Jacob cried ou t: My good child, thou hast prevailed over the bowel s o f thy father Jacob. And he embraced hi m, and k issed him for two hou rs, saying: 8 In thee shall be fu lfilled the prophecy o f heaven concerning the Lamb of God, and Saviou r of the

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world, that a blameless one shall be delivered u p for lawless men , and a sinless shall die for u ngodly men in the blood of the covenant, for the sa lva tion of the Gentiles and of Isra el, and shall destroy Beliar and. his servants. CHAPT ER 4 1 See ye, therefore, my children, the end of the good man? Be fo llowers of his compassion, therefore, with a good mind, that ye also may wea r crowns of glory. 2 For the good man hath not a dark eye; for he showeth mercy to all men, even thou gh they be sinners. 3 And thou gh they devise with evil intent concerning him, by doing good he overco meth evil, being shielded by God; and he loveth the righteou s as his own sou l. 4 If a ny one is glorified, he envieth him not; if any one i s enriched, he is not jealou s; if any one is valiant, he pra iseth him; the virtu ou s man he lau deth; on the poor man he hath mercy; on the weak he hath compa ssion; u nto God he singeth praises. 5 And him that hath the grace of a good spirit he loveth as his own sou l. CHAPT ER 5 1 If, therefore, ye also have a good mind, then will both wick ed men be a t pea ce with you , and the profligate will reverence you and turn u nto good; and the covetou s will not only cea se from their inordinate desire, bu t even give the objects of their covetou sness to them that are a fflicted. 2 If ye do well, even the u nclean spirits will flee from you ; and the bea sts will dread you .

3 For where there is reverence for good work s and light in the mind, even dark ness fleeth away from him. 4 For if any one do eth violence to a holy man, he repenteth; for the holy man is mercifu l to his reviler, and holdeth his peace. 5 And if any one betrayeth a rig hteou s man, the righteou s man prayeth: thou gh for a little he be hu mbled, yet not long after he a ppeareth far more gloriou s, as was Joseph my brother. CHAPT ER 6 1 T he inclination of the good man is not in the power o f the deceit of the spirit of Beliar, for the angel of peace gu ideth his sou l. 2 And he gazeth not passionately u pon corru ptible things, nor gath ereth together riches throu gh a desire of pleasu re. 3 He delighteth not in pleasure, he grieveth not his neighbou r, he sateth not himsel f with lu xu ries, he erreth not in the u plifting of the eyes, for the Lord is his portion. 4 T he good inclination receiveth not glory nor dishonou r from men, and it k noweth not any guile, or lie, or fighting, or reviling; for the Lord dwelleth in him and lighteth u p his sou l, and he rejoiceth towards all men alway. 5 T he good mind hath not two to ngu es, of blessing and of cu rsing, of contu mely and of honou r, of so rrow and of joy, of qu ietness and of co nfu sion, of hypocrisy and of tru th, of poverty and of wealth; bu t it hath one dispo sition, u ncorru pt and pu re, concerning all men. 6 It hath no dou ble sight, nor dou ble hearing; for in everything which he do eth, or speak eth, or

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seeth, he k noweth that the Lord lo ok eth on his sou l. 7 And he cleanseth his mind that he be not condemn ed by men as well as by God. And in lik e manner the work s of Beliar are twofold, and there is no singleness in them. CHAPT ER 7 1 T herefore, my children, I tell you , flee the malice of Beliar; for he giveth a sword to them that obey him. 2 And the sword is the mother of seven evils. First the mind conce iveth throu gh Beliar, and first there is bloodsh ed; secondly, ru in; thirdly, tribu la tion; fou rthly, exile; fifthly, dea rth; sixthly, panic; seventhly, d estru ction. 3 T herefore was Cain also del ivered over to seven vengeances by God, for in every hu ndred years the Lord brou ght one plagu e u pon him. 4 And when he was two hu ndred yea rs old he began to su ffer, and in the nine-hu ndredth year he was d e stroyed. For on accou nt of Abel, his brother, with all the evils was he ju dged, bu t Lamech with seventy times sev en. 5 Becau se forever those who are lik e u nto Cain in envy and ha tred of brethren, shall be pu nished with the sa me ju dgement. CHAPT ER 8 1 And do ye, my children, flee evil doing, envy, and hatred of brethren, a nd cleave to goodness and love. 2 He that hath a pu re mind in love, look eth not after a woman with a view to fornication; for he hath no defilement in his heart, becau se the Spirit of God resteth u pon him. 3 For as the su n is not defiled by

shining on du ng and mire, bu t rather drieth u p both and driveth away the evil smell; so also the pu re mind, thou gh encompassed by the defil ements of earth, rather cleanseth (them), and is not itself defiled. CHAPT ER 9 1 And I believe that there will be also evil-doings amon g you , from the words of En och the righteou s: that ye shall commit fornication with the fornication of Sodom, and shall perish, all save a few, and shall renew wanton deed s with women; and the k ingdom of the Lord shall not be among you , for straightway He shall tak e it away. 2 Nevertheless the temple o f God shall be in you r portion, and the last (temple) shall be more gloriou s than the first. And the twelve tribes shall be gathered together the re, and all the Gentiles, u ntil the Most High shall send forth His salvation in the visitation of an only-begotten prophet. 3 And He shall enter into the first temple, and there shall the Lord be treated with ou trage, and He shall be lifted u p u pon a tree. 4 And the veil of the temple shall be rent, and the Spirit of God shall pass on to the Gentiles as fire pou red forth. 5 And He shall ascend from Hades and shall pass from earth into hea ven. And I k now how lowly He shall be u pon earth, and how gloriou s in heaven. CHAPT ER 1 0 1 Now when Joseph was in Egypt, I longed to see his figu re and the form o f his cou ntenance; and throu gh the prayers of Jacob my f a -

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ther I saw him, while awak e in the da y-time, even his entire figu re e xa ctly,a s he was. 2 And when he had said these things, he said u nto them: Know ye, therefore, my children, that I am d ying. 3 Do ye, therefore, truth ea ch one to his neighb ou r, and k eep the law of the Lord and His commandments. 4 For these things do I leave you instea d of inheritance. Do ye also, therefore, give them to you r chil dren for an everlasting possession; for so did both Abraham, and Isaac, a nd Ja cob. 5 For all these things they gave u s for a n inheritance, saying: Keep the comma ndments o f God, u ntil the Lord shall reveal His salvatio n to a ll Gentiles. 6 And then shall ye see Enoch, Noa h, and Shem, and Abraham, and Isa a c, and Jacob, rising on the right ha nd in gladness. 7 T hen shall we also rise, each one over ou r tribe, worshipping the King of hea ven, Who appeared u pon earth in the form of a man in hu mility. And a s many as believe on Him on the ea rth shall rejoice with Him. 8 T hen also all men shall rise, some u nto glory and some u nto shame. And the Lord shall ju dge I srael first, for their u nrighteou sness; for when He appeared as God i n the flesh to d eliver them they believ ed Him not. 9 And then shall He ju dge all the Gentiles, as many as believed Him not when He appeared u pon earth. 10 And He shall convict Israel throu gh the chosen ones of the Ge ntiles, even as he reproved Esau throu gh the Madianites, who d eceived their brethren, so that they

fell into fornication, and idolatry; and they were alienated from God, becoming therefore children in the portion of them that fear the Lord. 11 If ye therefore, my children, walk in holiness accor ding to the commandments o f the Lord, ye shall again dwell secu rety with me, and all Israel shall be gathered u nto the Lord. CHAPT ER 11 1 And I shall no longer be called a ravening wolf on accou nt of you r ravages, bu t a work er of the Lord distribu ting food to them that work what is good. 2 And there shall arise in the la tter days one beloved o f the Lord, of the tribe of Ju dah and Levi, a doer of His good pleasure in his mou th, with new k nowledge enlightening the Gentiles. 3 Until the consu mmation of the a ge shall he be in the synagogu es o f the Gentiles, and among their ru lers, as a strain of mu sic in the mou th of all. 4 And he shall be inscribed in the holy book s, both his work and his word, and he shall be a chosen o ne of God for ever. 5 And throu gh them he shall go to and fro as Jacob my father, saying: He shall fill u p that which lack eth of thy tribe. CHAPT ER 1 2 1 And when he had said these things he stretched ou t his feet, 2 And died in a beautifu l and good sleep. 3 And his so ns did as h e had e njoined them, and they took u p his body and bu ried it in Hebron with his fathers.

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4 And the nu mber (of the days) of his life were a hu ndred and twenty five years.