The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 111
Joseph 1
Joseph summoned both his sons and his brethren when about to die and urged them to hearken to him as the beloved of Israel. Themes: Deliverance and Rescue
1he record of the testament of Joseph. When he was about to die he called his sons and his brethren together, and said to them: My children and brethren, hearken to Joseph the beloved of Israel; give ear, my sons, unto your father.
2 I have seen in my life envy and death, and I wandered not in the truth of the Lord.
3 These my brethren hated me, and the Lord loved me: they wished to slay me, and the God of my fathers guarded me: they let me down into a pit, and the Most High brought me up again: I was sold for a slave, and the Lord made me free: I was taken into captivity, and His strong hand succoured me: I was kept in hunger, and the Lord Himself nourished me: I was alone, and God comforted me: I was sick, and the Most High visited me: I was in prison, and the Saviour showed favour unto me; in bonds, and He released me; amid slanders, and He pleaded my cause; amid bitter words of the Egyptians, and He rescued me; amid envy and guile, and He exalted me.
Did You Know?
Joseph summoned both his sons and his brethren when about to die and urged them to hearken to him as the beloved of Israel.
Joseph says his brethren hated him and wished to slay him, yet the God of his fathers guarded him throughout.
After his brethren let him down into a pit, Joseph affirms that the Most High brought him up again.
Sold for a slave and taken into captivity, Joseph declares the Lord made him free and His strong hand succoured him.
Joseph recounts hunger, loneliness, sickness, prison, bonds, slanders, and Egyptian bitter words, each met by divine rescue and exaltation.
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