Virtue, Vice and the Two Spirits

A¹nd now hear me, my children, what things I saw in my repentance concerning the seven spirits of error.

² Seven spirits are given against man from Beliar, and they are chief of the works of youth; and seven spirits are given to him at his creation, that in them should be done every work of man. ³ The first (1) spirit is of life, with which man’s whole being is created. ⁴ The second (2) spirit is of sight, with which ariseth desire. ⁵ The third (3) spirit is of hearing, with which cometh teaching. ⁶ The fourth (4) spirit is of smelling, with which taste is given to draw air and breath. ⁷ The fifth (5) spirit is of speech, with which cometh knowledge. ⁸ The sixth (6) spirit is of taste, with which cometh the eating of meats and drinks; and by them strength is produced, for in food is the foundation of strength. ⁹ The seventh (7) spirit is of begetting and sexual intercourse, with which through love of pleasure sin also entereth in: wherefore it is the last in order of creation, and the first of youth, because it is filled with ignorance, which leadeth the young as a blind man to a pit, and as cattle to a precipice.

A¹nd now, my children, I am dying, and I tell you of a truth, that unless ye keep yourselves from the spirit of lying and of anger, and love truth and long-suffering, ye shall perish.

² There is blindness in anger, my children, and no wrathful man regardeth any person with truth: for though it be a father or a mother, he behaveth towards them as enemies; though it be a brother, he knoweth him not; though it be a prophet of the Lord, he disobeyeth him; though a righteous man, he regardeth him not; a friend he doth not acknowledge. ³ For the spirit of anger encompasseth him with the nets of deceit, and blindeth his natural eyes, and through lying darkeneth his mind, and giveth him a sight of his own making. ⁴ And wherewith encompasseth he his eyes? In hatred of heart; and he giveth him a heart of his own against his brother unto envy.

A¹nd now, my children, hearken to the words of truth to work righteousness, and all the law of the Most High, and not go astray through the spirit of hatred, for it is evil in all the doings of men.

² Whatsoever a man doeth, that doth the hater abhor: though he worketh the law of the Lord, he praiseth him not; though he feareth the Lord, and taketh pleasure in that which is righteous, he loveth him not: he dispraiseth the truth, he envieth him that ordereth his way aright, he delighteth in evil-speaking, he loveth arrogance, for hatred hath blinded his soul; even as I also looked on Joseph.

T¹he record of the testament of Asher, what things he spake to his sons in the hundred and twentieth year of his life.

² While he was still in health, he said to them: Hearken, ye children of Asher, to your father, and I will declare to you all that is right in the sight of God. ³ Two ways hath God given to the sons of men, and two minds, and two doings, and two places, and two ends. ⁴ Therefore all things are by twos, one corresponding to the other. ⁵ There are two ways of good and evil, with which are the two minds in our breasts distinguishing them. ⁶ Therefore if the soul take pleasure in good, all its actions are in righteousness; and though it sin, it straightway repenteth. ⁷ For, having his mind set upon righteousness, and casting away maliciousness, he straightway overthroweth the evil, and uprooteth the sin. ⁸ But if his mind turn aside in evil, all his doings are in maliciousness, and he driveth away the good, and taketh unto him the evil, and is ruled by Beliar; and even though he work what is good, he perverteth it in evil. ⁹ For whenever he beginneth as though to do good, he bringeth the end of his doing to work evil, seeing that the treasure of the devil is filled with the poison of an evil spirit.

W¹hen, therefore, I grew up, my children, I walked in uprightness of heart, and I became a husbandman for my parents and my brethren, and I brought in fruits from the field according to their season; and my father blessed me, for he saw that I walked in simplicity.

² And I was not a busybody in my doings, nor malicious and slanderous against my neighbour. ³ I never spoke against any one, nor did I censure the life of any man, but walked in the simplicity of my eyes. ⁴ Therefore when I was thirty years old I took to myself a wife, for my labour wore away my strength, and I never thought upon pleasure with women; but through my labour my sleep sufficed me, and my father always rejoiced in my simplicity. ⁵ For on whatever I laboured I offered first to the Lord, by the hands of the priests, of all my produce and all first-fruits; then to my father, and then took for myself. ⁶ And the Lord increased twofold His benefits in my hands; and Jacob also knew that God aided my simplicity, for on every poor man and every one in distress I bestowed the good things of the earth in simplicity of heart.

D¹o ye also therefore, my children, love the Lord God of heaven, and keep His commandments, and be followers of the good and holy man Joseph; and let your mind be unto good, even as ye know me.

² He that hath his mind good seeth all things rightly. ³ Fear ye the Lord, and love your neighbour; and even though the spirits of Beliar allure you into all troublous wickedness, yet shall no troublous wickedness have dominion over you, even as it had not over Joseph my brother. ⁴ How many men wished to slay him, and God shielded him! ⁵ For he that feareth God and loveth his neighbour cannot be smitten by Beliar’s spirit of the air, being shielded by the fear of God; nor can he be ruled over by the device of men or of beasts, for he is aided by the love of the Lord which he hath towards his neighbour. ⁶ For he even besought our father Jacob that he would pray for our brethren, that the Lord would not impute to them the evil that they devised concerning Joseph. ⁷ And thus Jacob cried out, My child Joseph, thou hast prevailed over the bowels of thy father Jacob. ⁸ And he embraced him, and kissed him for two hours, saying, In thee shall be fulfilled the prophecy of heaven concerning the Lamb of God, even the Saviour of the world, that spotless shall He be delivered up for transgressors, and sinless shall He be put to death for ungodly men in the blood of the covenant, for the salvation of the Gentiles and of Israel, and shall destroy Beliar, and them that serve him.

A¹nd when they had grown up together, Satan had envy of him, and he cast this envy into the heart of Cain, who was envious [of Abel] first, because of the words of his father Adam, who said, " He who hath the good-tempered face shall be the heir of my kingdom "; and secondly, because of his sister with the beautiful face, who was born with him and who had been given unto Abel, even as God commanded them to multiply and fill the earth — now the face of the sister who had been born with Abel resembled that of Cain, and their father had transferred them (i.e., the two sisters) when giving them [in marriage]; — and thirdly, because when the two [brothers] offered up sacrifice, God accepted the offering of Abel and rejected the offering of Cain.

² And because of this envy Cain killed Abel. Thus fratricide was first created through Satan's envy of the children of Adam. And having killed his brother, Cain fell into a state of trembling and horrible fright, and he was repulsed by his father and his Lord. ³ And [then] Seth was born, and Adam looked upon him and said, " Now hath God shown compassion upon me, and He hath given unto me the light of my face. In sorrowful remembrance I will console myself (?) with him. The name of him that shall slay my heir shall be blotted out, even to his ninth generation."