high

And His presence is beloved, as a prophet of the Most High, of the seed of Abraham our father.

And some of them shall be high priests, and judges, and scribes; for by their mouth shall the holy place be guarded.

And I saw in a vision that he was standing on high in the midst of all the congregation.

And a man who reneweth the law in the power of the Most High, ye shall call a deceiver; and at last ye shall rush upon him to slay him, not knowing his dignity, taking innocent blood through wickedness upon your heads.

And the glory of the Most High shall be uttered over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification shall rest upon him in the water.

And Jacob my father slew Beelesath, king of all the kings, a giant in strength, twelve cubits high.

For though she desired them, she cat them not, but offered them in the house of the Lord, presenting them to the priest of the Most High who was at that time.

But Joseph came, and seized him, and ascended up with him on high.

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

He who defraudeth his neighbour provoketh God, and sweareth falsely against the Most High, and yet pitieth the poor: the Lord who commanded the law he setteth at nought and provoketh, and yet he refresheth the poor.

All these things, therefore, I proved in my life, and I wandered not from the truth of the Lord, and I searched out the commandments of the Most High, walking according to all my strength with singleness of face unto that which is good.

Until the Most High shall visit the earth, coming Himself as man, with men eating and drinking, and breaking the head of the dragon in the water.

They let me down into a pit, and the Most High brought me up again.

And I declared unto her the words of the Most High, if haply she would turn from her evil lust.

And if a man liveth in chastity, and desireth also glory, and the Most High knoweth that it is expedient for him, He bestoweth this also upon me.

And wheresoever the Most High dwelleth, even though envy, or slavery, or slander befalleth a man, the Lord who dwelleth in him, for the sake of his chastity not only delivereth him from evil, but also exalteth him even as me.

And the twelve tribes shall be gathered together there, and all the Gentiles, until the Most High shall send forth His salvation in the visitation of an only-begotten prophet.

And he returned, and implored the Most High God, and believed, beseeching Him with a burning in his heart, saying, 'O Most High God, O Creator of the Heavens and of the earth, O Creator of all created things!

And he returned, and implored the Most High God, and believed, beseeching Him with a burning in his heart, saying, 'O Most High God, O Creator of the Heavens and of the earth, O Creator of all created things!

Now when Nadan perceived what had happened he was seized with envy and jealousy, and he began to complain to every one who questioned him, and to mock his, uncle Haiqar, saying: 'My uncle has chased me from his house, and has preferred my brother to me, but if the Most High God give me the power, I shall bring upon him the misfortune of being killed.'

But Haiqar had been cut into the hiding-place, and he heard the weeping of his slaves and his neighbours, and he praised the Most High God, the Merciful One, and gave thanks, and he always prayed and besought the Most High God.

But Haiqar had been cut into the hiding-place, and he heard the weeping of his slaves and his neighbours, and he praised the Most High God, the Merciful One, and gave thanks, and he always prayed and besought the Most High God.

Then the king stripped off his costly robe, and put it on Haiqar, and Haiqar thanked God and did obeisance to the king, and departed to his dwelling glad and happy, praising the Most High God.

Then he said to the king. 'Be not wroth, O my lord! I will go to Egypt, and I will return the answers to Pharaoh, and I will display this letter to him, and I will reply to him about the taxes, and I will send back all those who have run away; and I will put thy enemies to shame with the help of the Most High God, and for the Happiness of thy kingdom.'

And the king and those who were with him wondered with a great wonder: and the king kissed Haiqar between his eyes and said to him, 'Go in peace, O my beloved! O pride of my kingdom! to Egypt and answer the questions of Pharaoh and overcome him by the strength of the Most High God.'

And I by the help of the Most High God and thy noble favour and the power of my lord the king will build it for thee as thou desirest.

And Haiqar said to him, 'O my lord the king! I would to God Most High that I may fulfil what is on thy mind, for God is with the weak that He may confound the strong.'

Then Pharaoh and all his nobles laughed. And he said, 'Blessed be the Most High God, who gave thee this wit and knowledge.'

O my boy! thou hast been to me like a man who took a stone, and threw it up to heaven to stone his Lord with it. And the stone did not hit, and did not reach high enough, but it became the cause of guilt and sin.

SINCE I have collected material for a memorable history of my visit to Eleazar the High Priest of the Jews, and because you, Philocrates, as you lose no opportunity of reminding me, have set great store upon receiving an account of the motives and object of my mission, I have attempted to draw up clear exposition of the matter for you, for I perceive that you possess a natural love of learning, a quality which is the highest possession of man--to be constantly attempting 'to add to his stock of knowledge and acquirements' whether through the study of history or by actually participating in the events themselves.

On a former occasion too, I sent you a record of the facts which I thought worth relating about the Jewish race,--the record which I had obtained from the most learned high priests of the most learned land of Egypt.

And the king when he understood all the facts of the case ordered a letter to be written to the Jewish High Priest that his purpose (which has already been described) might be accomplished.

If it please you, O king, a letter shall be written to the High Priest in Jerusalem, asking him to send six elders out of every tribe--men who have lived the noblest life and are most skilled in their law--that we may find out the points in which the majority of them are in agreement, and so having obtained an accurate translation may place it in a conspicuous place in a manner worthy of the work itself and your purpose.

'King Ptolemy sends greeting and salutation to the High Priest Eleazar.

I have sent Andreas, the chief of my bodyguard and Aristeas--men whom I hold in high esteem--to lay the matter before you and present you with a hundred talents of silver, the first-fruits of my offering for the temple and the sacrifices and other religious rites.

To this letter Eleazar replied appropriately as follows: 'Eleazar the High Priest sends greetings to King Ptolemy his true friend.

These gifts were brought to me by Andreas, one of your most honoured servants, and by Aristeas, both good men and true, distinguished by their learning, and worthy in every way to be the representatives of your high principles and righteous purposes.

They made the table two cubits [*1] long, one cubit broad, one and a half cubits high fashioning it of pure solid gold.

The basis of the foot on the ground consisted of a ruby and measured a hand's breadth high all round.

So everything was carried out on a grand scale, in a manner worthy of the king who sent the gifts and of the high priest who was the ruler of the land.

It was surrounded by three walls more than seventy cubits high and in length and breadth corresponding to the structure of the edifice.

For they take up with both hands the limbs of a calf, each of them weighing more than two talents, and throw them with each hand in a wonderful way on to the high place of the altar and never miss placing them on the proper spot.

The High Priest selected men of the finest character and the highest culture, such as one would expect from their noble parentage.

The king was very anxious to meet the envoys, and gave orders that all the other officials should be dismissed and the envoys summoned to his presence at once. 5 Now this excited general surprise, for it is customary for those who come to seek an audience with the king on matters of importance to be admitted to his presence on the fifth day, while envoys from kings or very important cities with difficulty secure admission to the Court in thirty days--but these men he counted worthy of greater honour, since he held their master in such high esteem, and so he immediately dismissed those whose presence he regarded as superfluous and continued walking about until they came in and he was able to welcome them.

And Nicanor summoned the lord high steward, Dorotheus, who was the special officer appointed to look after the Jews, and commanded him to make the necessary preparation for each one.

And he answered, 'By praying constantly to God that you may be inspired with high motives in all your undertakings and by warning your descendants not to be dazzled by fame or wealth, for it is God who bestows all these gifts and men never by themselves win the supremacy.'

Onias, a man of the highest character, being then high priest and having the office for his life, a certain Simon raised a faction against him, but since despite every kind of slander he failed to injure him on account of the people, he fled abroad with intent to betray his country.

Moved by these words, Onias, the high-priest, although most scrupulous in other cases, made intercession for him lest king Seleucus should possibly think that Apollonius had been overthrown by a human device and not by divine justice.

But Seleucus dying, his successor on the throne was his son Antiochus Epiphanes, an overweening terrible man; who dismissed Onias from his sacred office, and made his brother Jason high-priest instead, the condition being that in return for the appointment Jason should pay him three thousand six hundred and sixty talents yearly.

So he appointed Jason high-priest and made him chief ruler over the people.

Accordingly, the tyrant Antiochus, accompanied by his councillors, sat in judgement on a certain high place with his troops drawn up around him in full armour, and he ordered his guards to drag there every single man of the Hebrews and compel them to eat swine's flesh and things offered to idols; but if any should refuse to defile themselves with the unclean things, they were to he tortured and put to death.

But the tyrant, although fiercely exasperated by his brethren, felt pity for the boy, and seeing him there already bound he had him brought near, and sought to persuade him, saying: 'Thou seest the end of the folly of thy brethren; for through their disobedience they have been racked to death. Thou, too, if thou dost not obey, wilt thyself also be miserably tortured and put to death before thy time; but if thou dost obey thou shalt be my friend, and thou shalt be advanced to high office in the business of the kingdom.'

And I shall be no stranger, for with the Lord Most High and Merciful there is no grudging.

O Most High, thou wilt not forsake me, for thou art my hope:

And thirst was relieved and quenched: for from the Most High the draught was given.

And the Most High shall be known in His Saints, to announce to those that have songs of the coming of the Lord;

They who make songs shall sing the grace of the Lord Most High;

Hear the word of truth, and receive the knowledge of the Most High.

For in the will of the Lord is your salvation, and His thought is everlasting life; and your end is immortality. q Be enriched in God the Father, and receive the thought of the Most High.

And it became to me for the praise of the Most High, and of God my Father.

And I was unpolluted by my love for them, because they confessed me in high places: and the traces of the light were set upon their heart:

For the Most High clave my heart by His Holy Spirit and searched my affection towards Him: and filled me with His love.

And my inebriation was not one without knowledge, but I forsook vanity and turned to the Most High my God,

And the Most High hath given it to His words, which are the interpreters of His own beauty, and the repeaters of His praise, and the confessors of His counsel, and the heralds of His thought, and the chasteners of His servants.

And they knew Him who made them, because they were in concord; for the mouth of the Most High spake to them; and His explanation ran by means of it:

And He who knew and brought me up is the Most High in all His perfection. And He glorified me by His kindness, and raised my thoughts to the height of His truth.

My heart was lifted up in the love of the Most High and was enlarged: that I might praise Him for His name's sake.

And they spake truth from the inspiration which the Most High breathed into them; Praise and great comeliness to His name Hallelujah.

My arms I lifted up to the Most High, even to the grace of the Lord: because He had cast off my bonds from me: and my Helper had lifted me up to His grace and to His salvation:

He who brought me down from on high, also brought me up from the regions below;

Walk ye in the knowledge of the Most High without grudging: to His exultation and to the perfection of His knowledge.

And His thought was like a letter; His will descended from on high, and it was sent like an arrow which is violently shot from the bow:

And there was seen at its head, the head which was revealed even the Son of Truth from the Most High Father,

Or who can rest on the Most High, so that with His mouth he may speak?

For the thought of the Most High cannot be anticipated; and His heart is superior to all wisdom. Hallelujah.

And according to His mercies He exalted me: and according to His excellent beauty He set me on high:

And I gave praise to the Most High because He exalted me His servant and the son of His handmaid. Hallelujah.

And He lifted up His voice to the Most High, and offered to Him the sons that were with Him.

And words from the Truth, who was self-originate: for He is strengthened by the holy power of the Most High: and He is unperturbed for ever and ever. Hallelujah.

And I spread out my hands in the lifting up of my soul: and I was made right with the Most High, and I was redeemed with Him. Hallelujah.

I rested in the Spirit of the Lord: and the Spirit raised me on high:

For according to the greatness of the Most High, so He made me: and like His own newness He renewed me; and He anointed me from His own perfection:

I stretched out my hands to my Lord: and to the Most I High I raised my voice:

Put on, therefore, the name of the Most High, and know Him, and you shall cross without danger, for the rivers will be subject to you.

The Son of the Most High appeared in the perfection of His Father;