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

DAN
CHAPT ER 1 1 T he copy of the words o f Dan, which he spak e to his sons in his la st da ys, in the hu ndred and twe n ty-fifth y ear of his life. 2 For he called together his family, a nd sa id: Heark en to my words, ye sons of Dan; and give he ed to the words o f you r father. 3 I ha ve proved in my heart, and in my whole life, that tru th with ju st dea ling is good and well -plea sing to God, a nd that lying and anger are evil, becau se they teach man all wick edness. 4 I confess, therefore, this day to you , my children, that in my heart I resolved on the d eath of Joseph my brother, the tru e and good man. 5 And I rejoiced that he wa s sold, beca u se his father loved him more tha n u s. 6 For the spirit of jealou sy and va in-glory said to me: T hou thyself a lso art his son. 7 And one of th e spirits o f Beliar stirred me u p, saying: Tak e this sword, and with it slay Joseph; so sha ll thy father love thee when he is dea d. 8 Now this was the spirit of anger tha t persuaded me to cru sh Joseph a s a leopard cru sheth a k id . 9 Bu t the God of my fathers did not su ffer him to fall into my hands, so tha t I shou ld find him alone and sla y him, and cau se a second tribe to be destroyed in Israel. CHAPT ER 2 1 And now, my children, behold I a m dying, and I tell you of a tru th, that u nless ye k eep you rselves from the spirit of lying and of anger, and love tru th and long-su ffering, ye shall perish. 2 For anger is blindness, and doth not su ffer one to see the face of a ny man with tru th. 3 For thou gh it be a father or a mother, he behaveth to wards them as enemies; thou gh it be a brother, he k noweth him not; thou gh it be a prophet of the Lord, he disobeyeth him; thou gh a righteou s man, he r egardeth him not; thou gh a friend, he doth not ack nowledge him. 4 For the spirit of anger encompa sseth him with the n et of deceit, and blindeth his eyes, and throu gh lying dark eneth his mind, and giveth him its own pecu liar vision. 5 And wherewith encompasseth it his eyes? With hatred of heart, so as to be enviou s of his brother. CHAPT ER 3 1 For anger is an evil thing, my children, for it trou bleth even the sou l itself. 2 And the body of the angry man it mak eth its own, and over his sou l it getteth the mastery, and it bestoweth u pon the body power that it may work all iniqu ity. 3 And wh en the bo dy do eth all these things, the sou l ju stifieth what is done, since it seeth not aright. 4 T herefore he who is wrathfu l, if he be a mighty man, hath a threefold power in his anger: one by the help of his servants; and a second by his wealth, whereby he per su adeth a nd overcometh wrong fu lly; and thirdly,

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ha ving his own natural power he work eth thereby the evil. 5 And thou gh the wrathful man be wea k , yet hath he a power twofold of tha t which is by nature; for wrath ever a ideth su ch in lawlessness. 6 T his spirit goeth a lways with lying a t the right hand of Satan, that with cru elty and lying his work s ma y be wrou ght. CHAPT ER 4 1 Understand ye, therefore, the power of wrath, that it is vain. 2 For it first of all giveth provoc a tion by word; then by deeds it strengtheneth him who is angry, and with sharp losses distu rbeth his mind, and so stirreth u p with great wra th his sou l. 3 T herefore, when any one spe a k eth a gainst you , be not ye moved to a nger, and if any man praiseth you a s holy men, be n ot u plifted: be not moved eit her to delight or to disgu st. 4 For first it pleaseth the hearing, a nd so mak eth the mind k een to perceive the grou nds for provoc a tion; and then being enraged, he think eth that he is ju stly angry. 5 If ye fall into any loss or ruin, my children, be not afflicted; for this very spirit mak eth (a man) d esire that which is perishable, in o rder tha t he may be enraged throu gh the a ffliction. 6 And if ye su ffer loss volu ntarily, or involu ntarily, be not vexed; for from vexation ariseth wrath rwith lying. 7 Moreover, a twofold mischief is wra th with lying; and they assist one a nother in order to di stu rb the hea rt; and when the sou l is cont inu ally distu rbed, the Lord departeth

from it, and Beliar ru leth over it. CHAPT ER 5 1 Observe, therefore, my children, the commandments of the Lord, And k eep His law; Depart from wrath, And hate lying, T hat the Lord may dwell among you , And Beliar may flee fro m you . 2 Speak tru th each one with his neighbou r, So shall ye not fall into wrath and confu sion; But ye shall be in peace, having the God of peace, So shall no war prevail over you . 3 Love the Lord throu gh all your life, And one another with a tru e heart. 4 I k now that in the last days ye shall depart from the Lord, And ye shall provok e Levi u nto anger, And fight against Ju dah; But ye shall not prevail against them, For an angel of the Lord shall gu ide them both; For by them shall Israel stand. 5 And whensoever y e d epart from the Lord, ye shall walk in all evil and work the abominations of the Gentiles, going a -whoring after women of the lawless ones, while with all wick edness th e spirits of wick edness work in you . 6 For I have read in the book of Enoch, the righteou s, that you r prince is Satan, and that all the sp irits of wick edness and pride will conspire to attend co nstantly on the sons o f Levi, to cau se them to sin before the Lord. 7 And my sons will draw near to Levi, And sin with them in all things; And the son s of Ju dah will be cov etou s, Plu ndering other men's goods lik e lions. 8 T herefore shall ye be led away with them into captivity, And there shall ye receive all the plagu es of

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Egypt. And all the evils o f the Ge n tiles. 9 And so when ye retu rn to the Lord ye shall obtain mercy, And He sha ll bring you into His sanctuary, And He shall give you peace. 10 And there shall arise u nto you from the tribe of Ju dah and of Levi the sa lvation of the Lord; And he sha ll mak e war against Beliar, And execu te an everlasting vengeance on ou r enemies: 11 And the captivity shall he tak e from Beliar the sou ls of the saints, And tu rn disobedient hearts u nto the Lord, And give to them that call u pon him eternal peace. 12 And the saints shall rest in Eden, And in the New Jeru salem will the righteou s rejoice, And it sha ll be u nto the glory of God for ever. 13 And no longer shall Jeru salem endu re desolation, Nor Israel be led ca ptive; For the Lord shall be in the midst of it living amongst men, And the Holy One of Israel shall reign over it in hu mility and in poverty; a nd he wh o believ eth on Him shall reign a mongst men in tru th. CHAPT ER 6 1 And now, fear the Lord, my children, and beware of Satan and his spirits. 2 Dra w near u nto God and to the a ngel that intercedeth for you , for he is a mediator between God and ma n, a nd for the peace of Israel he sha ll stand u p against the k ingdom of the enemy. 3 T herefore is the enemy eager to destroy all that call u pon the Lord. 4 For he k noweth that on the day on which Israel shall repent, the k ingdom of the en emy shall be

brou ght to an end. 5 For the very angel of peace shall strengthen Israel, that it fall not into the extremity of evil. 6 And it shall be in the time of the lawlessness o f Israel, that the Lord will (not) depart from them, bu t will transform them into a nation that doeth His will, for none of the a ngels will be equ al u nto him. 7 And His name sha ll be in ev ery place of Israel, and among the Ge ntiles. 8 Keep, therefore, yourselves, my children, from every evil work , And cast away wrath and all lying, And love truth and long-su ffering. 9 And the things which y e have heard from you r father, do ye als o impart to you r children that the Sa viou r of the Gentiles may receive you ; for he is tru e and long su ffering, meek and lowly, and te a cheth by his work s the law of God. 10 Depart, therefore, from all u nrighteou sness, and cleave u nto the righteou sness o f God, and you r race will be saved for ever. 11 And bu ry me near my fathers. CHAPT ER 7 1 And when he had said these things he k issed them, and fell a sleep at a good old age. 2 And his sons bu ried him. And a fter that they carried u p rhis bones, and placed them near Abraham, a nd Isaac, and Jacob. 3 Nevertheless, Dan prophesied u nto them that they shou ld forget th eir God, and shou ld be alienated from the land of their inheritance a nd from the race of Israel, and from the family of their seed.