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

S IM EON
CHAPT ER 1 1 T he copy of the words of Simeon, the things which h e spak e to his sons b efore he died, in the hu ndred a nd twentieth year of his life, at which time Joseph, his brother, died. 2 For when Simeo n was sick , his sons came to vi sit him, and he strengthened himself and sat u p and k issed them, and said: CHAPT ER 2 1 Heark en, my children, to Simeon you r fa ther, And I will declare u nto you what things I have in my heart. 2 I was born of Jacob as my fa ther's secon d so n; And my mo ther Lea h called me Simeon, Becau se the Lord had heard her prayer. 3 Moreover, I became strong e xceedingly; I shrank from no a chievement, nor was I afraid of ou ght. 4 For my heart was hard, and my liver was immovable, and my bo wel withou t compassion. 5 Becau se valou r also hath been given from the Most High to men in sou l a nd body. 6 For in the time of my you th I was jea lou s in many things of Joseph, beca u se my father loved him beyond a ll. 7 And I set my mind against him to destroy him, becau se the prince of deceit sent forth the spirit of jealou sy a nd blinded my mind, so that I rega rded him not as a brother, nor did I spare even Jacob my father. 8 But his God and the God of his fa thers sent forth His angel, and d elivered him ou t of my hands. 9 For when I went to Shechem to bring ointment for the flo ck s, and Reu ben to Dothan, where were ou r necessaries and all ou r stores, Ju dah my brother sold him to the Ish ma elites. 10 And when Reu ben heard these things he was grieved, for he wish ed to restore him to his fath er, 11 But on hearing this I was exce edingly wroth against Ju dah in that he let him g o away alive, and for five months I co ntinu ed wrathfu l against him. 12 Bu t the Lord restrained me, a nd withheld from me the power of my hands; for my right hand was half withered for seven days. 13 And I k new, my children, that becau se of Joseph this had befallen me, and I repented and wept; and I besou ght the Lord God that my hand might be restored, and that I might hold aloof from all pollu tion a nd envy, and from all fol ly. 14 For I k new that I had devised an evil thing before the Lord and Jacob my father, on accou nt of Joseph my brother, in that I envied him. CHAPT ER 3 1 And now, my children, heark en u nto me and beware of the spirit of deceit and of envy. 2 For envy ru l eth over the whole mind of a man, and su ffereth him neither to eat nor to drink , nor to do any good thing. 3 But it ever su ggesteth (to him) to destroy him that he en vieth; and so long as he that is envied flou risheth,

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he tha t envieth fadeth away. 4 Two years therefore I afflicted my sou l with fasting in the fear of the Lord, and I learnt that delive ra nce from envy cometh by the fear of God. 5 For if a man flee to the Lord, the evil spirit ru nneth away from him, a nd his mind is lightened. 6 And hencefor ward he sy mpa thiseth with him whom he envied and a greeth with those who lov e him, a nd so ceaseth from his envy. CHAPT ER 4 1 And my father ask ed concerning me, becau se he saw that I was sad; a nd I said u nto him, I am pained in my liver. 2 For I mourned more than they all, beca u se I was gu ilty of the selling of Joseph. 3 And when we went down into Egypt, and he bou nd me as a spy, I k new that I was su ffering ju stly, and I grieved not. 4 Now Joseph was a goo d man, and ha d the Spirit of God within him: being compassionate and pitifu l, he bore no malice against me; bu t loved me even as the rest of his brethren. 5 Beware, therefore, my children, of a ll jealou sy and envy, and walk in singleness o f heart, that God may give you also grace and glory, and blessing u pon you r heads, even as ye sa w in Joseph's case. 6 All his days he reproached u s not concerning this thing, bu t loved u s a s his own sou l, and beyond his own sons glorified u s, and gave u s ric hes, a nd cattle and fruits. 7 Do ye also, my children, love ea ch one his brother with a good hea rt, and the spirit of envy will

withdraw from you . 8 For this mak eth savage the sou l and destroyeth the body; it cau ses anger and war in the mind, and stirreth u p u nto deeds of blood, a nd leadeth the mind into frenzy, an d cau seth tu mult to the soul and tre mbling to the body. 9 For even in sleep some maliciou s jealou sy, delu ding him, gnaweth, and with wick ed spirits distu rbeth his sou l, and cau seth the body to be trou bled, and wak eth the mind from sleep in con fu sion; and as a wick ed and poisonou s spirit, so appeareth it to men. CHAPT ER 5 1 T herefore was Joseph comely in appearance, and goodly to look u pon, becau se no wick edness dwelt in him; for some of the trou ble of the spirit the face manifesteth. 2 And now, my children, Mak e your hearts good before the Lord, And you r ways straight before men, And ye shall find grace before the Lord and men. 3 Beware, therefore, of fornication, For fornication is mother of all evils, Separating from God, and bringing near to Beliar. 4 I have seen it inscribed in the writing of Enoch that you r sons shall be corru pted in fornication, and shall do harm to the sons o f L e vi with the sword. 5 Bu t they shall not be able to withstand Levi; for h e shall wage the war of the Lord, and shall co nqu er all you r hosts. 6 And they shall be few in nu mber, divided in Levi and Ju dah, and there shall be none o f you for sovereig n ty, even as also ou r father proph esied in his blessings.

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CHAPT ER 6 1 Behold I have told you all things, tha t I may be acqu itt ed of you r sin. 2 Now, if ye remove from you your envy a nd all stiff -neck edness, as a rose shall my bones flou rish in Isra el, and as a lily my flesh in J a cob, a nd my od ou r shall be as the odou r of Libanu s; and as cedars sha ll holy ones b e mu ltiplied from me for ever, and their branches shall stretch afar off. 3 T hen shall perish the seed o f C a na a n, a nd a remnant shall not be u nto Ama lek , and all the Cappad ocians sha ll perish, and all the Hittites sha ll be utterly destroyed. 4 T hen shall fail the land of Ham, a nd all the people shall perish. T hen sha ll a ll the earth rest from trou ble, a nd a ll the world u nder heaven from wa r. 5 T hen shall a sign be glorified grea tly u nto Israel, for the Lord God a ppea ring on earth shall come [as ma n], and saving throu gh hi m man. 6 T hen shall all the spirits of deceit be given to be trodden u nder foot, And m en shall ru le over wick ed sp irits. 7 T hen shall I arise in joy, and will bless the Most High becau se of His ma rvellou s work s, becau se God hath tak en a body and eaten wi th men a nd sa ved men. CHAPT ER 7 1 And now, my children, obey Levi a nd Ju dah, and be not lifted u p a ga inst these two tribes, for from them shall arise u nto you the salva tion of God. 2 For the Lord shall raise u p from Levi a s it were a High -priest, and from Ju dah as it were a King, God

and man, He shall save all the Ge ntiles and the race of Israel. 3 T herefore I give, you these co mmands that ye also may co mmand you r children, that they may observe them throu ghou t their generations. CHAPT ER 8 1 And when Simeon had made an end of commanding his son s, he slept with his fathers, being an hu ndred and twenty years old. 2 And they laid him in a wooden coffin, to tak e u p his bones to H ebron. And they took them u p secre tly du ring a war of the Egyptians. 3 For the bones o f Joseph the Egyptians guarded in the tombs of the Kings. 4 For the sorcerers told them, that on the d epartu re of the bo nes of J oseph there shou ld be throu ghou t all the land dark ness and gloom, and an exceedin g great plagu e to the Egy ptians, so that even with a lamp a man shou ld not recognise his brot her. CHAPT ER 9 1 And the son s of Si meon b ewailed their father. 2 And they were in Egypt u ntil the day of their departure by the hand of Moses.