The Descent and Return of the Beloved

A¹nd Belchira recognized and saw the place of Isaiah and the prophets who were with him; for he dwelt in the region of Bethlehem, and was an adherent of Manasseh. And he prophesied falsely in Jerusalem, and many belonging to Jerusalem were confederate with him, and he was a Samaritan.

² And it came to pass when Alagar Zagar, king of Assyria, had come and captured Samaria and taken the nine (and a half) tribes captive, and led them away to the mountains of the Medes and the rivers of Tézén; ³ This (Belchira), whilst still a youth, had escaped and come to Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, but he walked not in the ways of his father of Samaria; for he feared Hezekiah. ⁴ And he was found in the days of Hezekiah speaking words of lawlessness in Jerusalem. ⁵ And the servants of Hezekiah accused him, and he made his escape to the region of Bethlehem. And they persuaded ... ⁶ And Balchira accused Isaiah and the prophets who were with him, saying: ‘Isaiah and those who are with him prophesy against Jerusalem and against the cities of Judah that they shall be laid waste and (against the children of Judah and) Benjamin also that they shall go into captivity, and also against thee, O lord the king, that thou shalt go (bound) with hooks and iron chains’: ⁷ But they prophesy falsely against Israel and Judah. ⁸ And Isaiah himself hath said: ‘I see more than Moses the prophet.’ ⁹ But Moses said: ‘No man can see God and live’; and Isaiah hath said: ‘I have seen God and behold I live.’ ¹⁰ Know, therefore, O king, that he is lying. And Jerusalem also he hath called Sodom, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem he hath declared to be the people of Gomorrah. And he brought many accusations against Isaiah and the prophets before Manasseh. ¹¹ But Beliar dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and in the heart of the princes of Judah and Benjamin and of the eunuchs and of the councillors of the king. ¹² And the words of Belchira pleased him exceedingly, and he sent and seized Isaiah. ¹³ For Beliar was in great wrath against Isaiah by reason of the vision, and because of the exposure wherewith he had exposed Sammael, and because through him the going forth of the Beloved from the seventh heaven had been made known, and His transformation and His descent and the likeness into which He should be transformed (that is) the likeness of man, and the persecution wherewith He should be persecuted, and the tortures wherewith the children of Israel should torture Him, and the coming of His twelve disciples, and the teaching, and that He should before the Sabbath be crucified upon the tree, and should be crucified together with wicked men, and that He should be buried in the sepulchre, ¹⁴ And the twelve who were with Him should be offended because of Him: and the watch of those who watched the sepulchre: ¹⁵ And the descent of the angel of the Christian Church, which is in the heavens, whom He will summon in the last days. ¹⁶ And that (Gabriel) the angel of the Holy Spirit, and Michael, the chief of the holy angels, on the third day will open the sepulchre: ¹⁷ And the Beloved sitting on their shoulders will come forth and send out His twelve disciples: ¹⁸ And they will teach all the nations and every tongue of the resurrection of the Beloved, and those who believe in His cross will be saved, and in His ascension into the seventh heaven whence He came: ¹⁹ And that many who believe in Him will speak through the Holy Spirit: ²⁰ And many signs and wonders will be wrought in those days. ²¹ And afterwards, on the eve of His approach, His disciples will forsake the teaching of the Twelve Apostles, and their faith, and their love and their purity. ²² And there will be much contention on the eve of His advent and His approach. ²³ And in those days many will love office, though devoid of wisdom. ²⁴ And there will be many lawless elders, and shepherds dealing wrongly by their own sheep, and they will ravage (them) owing to their not having holy shepherds. ²⁵ And many will change the honour of the garments of the saints for the garments of the covetous, and there will be much respect of persons in those days and lovers of the honour of this world. ²⁶ And there will be much slander and vainglory at the approach of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will withdraw from many. ²⁷ And there will not be in those days many prophets, nor those who speak trustworthy words, save one here and there in divers places, ²⁸ On account of the spirit of error and fornication and of vainglory, and of covetousness, which shall be in those, who will be called servants of that One and in those who will receive that One. ²⁹ And there will be great hatred in the shepherds and elders towards each other. ³⁰ For there will be great jealousy in the last days; for every one will say what is pleasing in his own eyes. ³¹ And they will make of none effect the prophecy of the prophets which were before me, and these my visions also will they make of none effect, in order to speak after the impulse of their own heart.