then

Then there fell upon me a sleep, and I beheld a high mountain, and I was upon it.

Then the angel brought me down to the earth, and gave me a shield and a sword, and said to me: Execute vengeance on Shechem because of Dinah, thy sister, and I will be with thee because the Lord hath sent me.

And Jochebed was born. in Egypt, in my sixty-fourth year, for I was renowned then in the midst of my brethren.

For if one keep oneself from these evil things, then even among his enemies shall wisdom be a glory to him, and in a strange country a fatherland, and in the midst of foes shall prove a friend.

Then shall the Lord raise up a new priest.

Then shall Abraham and Isaac and Jacob exult, and I will be glad, and all the saints shall clothe themselves with joy.

Then being insulted by them, I was therefore wroth, and rushed against them to the summit; and they kept slinging against me stones and darts.

Then they asked from us terms of peace; and having taken counsel with our father, we received them as tributaries.

For if in your gladness the fear of God departeth, then drunkenness ariseth and shamelessness stealeth in.

Then shall the sceptre of my kingdom shine forth; and from your root shall arise a stem; and from it shall grow a rod of righteousness to the Gentiles, to judge and to save all that call upon the Lord.

Then appeared to Jacob an angel of the Lord, saying: Two children shall Rachel bear, inasmuch as she hath refused company with her husband, and hath chosen continency.

And my father always rejoiced in my rectitude, because I offered through the priest to the Lord all first-fruits; then to my father also.

Then we all rose up and said unto him: If thou givest not up the coat, we will say to our father that thou alone didst this evil thing in Israel.

For it first of all giveth provocation by word; then by deeds it strengtheneth him who is angry, and with sharp losses disturbeth his mind, and so stirreth up with great wrath his soul.

For first it pleaseth the hearing, and so maketh the mind keen to perceive the grounds for provocation; and then being enraged, he thinketh that he is justly angry.

And he began then to say: Hear, my children, ye sons of Naphtali, hear the words of your father.

For God made all things good in their order, the five senses in the head, and He joined on the neck to the head, adding to it the hair also for comeliness and glory, then the heart for understanding, the belly for excrement, and the stomach for grinding, the windpipe for taking in the breath, the liver for wrath, the gall for bitterness, the spleen for laughter, the reins for prudence, the muscles of the loins for power, the lungs for drawing in, the loins for strength, and so forth.

So then, my children, let all your works be done in order with good intent in the fear of God, and do nothing disorderly in scorn or out of its due season.

And we were all scattered unto the ends of the earth. 16 Then Levi, girt about with sackcloth, prayed for us all unto the Lord.

Then my father saith unto me: I believe God that Joseph liveth, for I see always that the Lord numbereth him with you.

So, then, there are two commandments; and, unless they be done in due order, they bring very great sin upon men.

He dispraiseth the truth, he envieth him that prospereth, he welcometh evil-speaking, he loveth arrogance, for hatred blindeth his soul; as I also then looked on Joseph.

A person then may with words help the good for the sake of the evil, yet the issue of the action leadeth to mischief.

How often did she give me over to punishment, and then call me back and threaten me, and when I was unwilling to company with her, she said to me:

So then after one day she came to me and observed the food, and said unto me: Why is it that thou hast not eaten of the food?

Then, accordingly seizing an opportunity, she rushed unto me while her husband was yet without, and said unto me: I will hang myself, or cast myself over a cliff, if thou wilt not lie with me.

And she said unto me: Lo, then thou lovest me; let this suffice me: only strive for my life and my children, and I expect that I shall enjoy my desire also.

At last, then, she laid hold of my garments, forcibly dragging me to have connexion with her.

And Pentephris said unto him: Whence, then, is the Hebrew slave?

Then, therefore, they took counsel to sell me, that I should not be found in their hands.

Then said the merchant unto them: Release me from the judgement of Pentiphri.

If therefore, ye also have a good mind, then will both wicked men be at peace with you, and the profligate will reverence you and turn unto good; and the covetous will not only cease from their inordinate desire, but even give the objects of their covetousness to them that are afflicted.

And then shall ye see Enoch, Noah, and Shem, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, rising on the right hand in gladness,

Then shall we also rise, each one over our tribe, worshipping the King of heaven, who appeared upon earth in the form of a man in humility.

Then also all men shall rise, some unto glory and some unto shame.

And then shall He judge all the Gentiles, as many as believed Him not when He appeared upon earth.

Then there came to him a voice saying, 'Inasmuch as thou hast relied first of all on graven images, and hast offered sacrifices to them, for this reason thou shalt remain childless thy life long.

Then Haiqar went and presented Nadan his sister's son. And he did homage and wished him power and honour.

Then the king swore to him that he would make him the greatest of his favourites, and the most powerful of his friends, and that he should be with him in all honour and respect. And he kissed his hands and bade him farewell.

O my son! if water would stand still in heaven, and a black crow become white, and myrrh grow sweet as honey, then ignorant men and fools might understand and become wise.

O my son! if thou desire to be wise, restrain thy tongue from lying, and thy hand from stealing, and thine eyes from beholding evil; then thou wilt be called wise.

And Haiqar sat at rest in his house, and every now and then Haiqar went and paid his respects to the king, and returned home.

Then he folded the two letters, and sealed them with the seal of his uncle Haiqar; they were nevertheless in the king's palace.

Then he went and wrote a letter likewise from the king to his uncle Haiqar: 'Peace and health to my Vizier, my Secretary, my Chancellor, Haiqar.

Then he sealed the letter and sent it to Haiqar by one of the king's servants. And he took the other letter which he had written and spread it before the king and read it to him and showed him the seal.

Then Nadan arose on the fifth day and took the king and the soldiers and the vizier, and they went to the desert to the plain of Nisrin. And the king looked, and lo! Haiqar and the army were set in array.

Then answered Haiqar and said, 'To hear is to obey.' And he arose straightway and bound his hands behind him, and chained his feet.

Then said the king, 'O Haiqar, my Secretary, the Governor of my affairs, my Chancellor, the ruler of my State, tell me what evil have I done to thee that thou hast rewarded me by this ugly deed.'

Then they showed him the letters in his writing and with his seal. And when Haiqar saw this, his limbs trembled and his tongue was tied at once, and he was unable to speak a word from fear; but he hung his head towards the earth and was dumb.

Then Nadan screamed and said, 'O Haiqar, O blackface! what avails thee thy meditation or thy power in the doing of this deed to the king?'

Then Haiqar knelt before the king, and said, 'Let my lord the king live for ever! and if thou desire to slay me, let thy wish be fulfilled; and I know that I am not guilty, but the wicked man bas to give an account of his wickedness; nevertheless, O my lord the king! I beg of thee and of thy friendship, permit the swordsman to give my body to my slaves, that they may bury me, and let thy slave be thy sacrifice.'

Then Haiqar took the swordsman aside apart from the company and said, 'O Abu Samik, dost thou not know that when Sarhadum the king, the father of Sennacherib, wanted to kill thee, I took thee and hid thee in a certain place till the king's anger subsided and he asked for thee?

And then the swordsman did as Haiqar had commanded him, and he went to the king and said to him, 'May thy head live for ever!'

Then Haiqar's wife let down to him in the hiding-place every week what sufficed for him, and no one knew of it but herself.

Then he called for Nadan and said to him, 'Go and take thy friends with thee and make a mourning and a weeping for thy uncle Haiqar, and lament for him as the custom is, doing honour to his memory.'

Then he sealed the letter and sent it to Sennacherib.

Then he assembled the old men and the learned men and the wise men and the philosophers, and the diviners and the astrologers, and every one who was in his country, and read them the letter and said to them, 'Who amongst you will go to Pharaoh king of Egypt and answer him his questions?'

Then the king called Nadan and said to him, 'Look at this letter and understand what is in it.' And when Nadan read it, he said, 'O my lord! who is able to build a castle between the heaven and the earth?'

'O my lord! command thy servants to cut off my head.' Then said the king to him: 'Woe to thee, Abu Samik, what is thy fault?'

Then the king said unto him. 'Woe unto thee, O Abu Samik, in what hast thou acted contrary to my command?'

And Haiqar said to him, 'What is the news, O Abu Samik?' And he told him all about Pharaoh from the beginning to the end. Then he took him and went to the king.

Then he consoled him and comforted him. And he stripped off his robe, and put it on the swordsman, and was very gracious to him, and gave him great wealth, and made Haiqar rest.

Then said Haiqar to the king, 'Let my lord the king live for ever! These be the deeds of the children of the world. I have reared me a palm-tree that I might lean on it, and it bent sideways, and threw me down. 30 But, O my Lord! since I have appeared fore thee, let not care oppress thee! And the king said to him: 'Blessed be God, who showed thee mercy, and knew that thou wast wronged, and saved thee and delivered thee from being slain.

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 dressed himself his gayest dress, and went riding to the king, with his slaves behind him and before him, rejoicing and delighted.

Then Haiqar took the letter and read it and understood its contents.

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.'

Then he took two little lads, and spent every day sacrificing lambs and feeding the eagles and the boys, and making the boys ride on the backs of the eagles, and he bound them with a firm knot, and tied the cable to the feet of the eagles,

Then leaving them he went to the king and said to him, 'O my lord! the work is finished according to thy desire. Arise with me that I may show thee the wonder.'

So the king sprang up and sat with Haiqar and went to a wide place and sent to bring the eagles and the boys, and Haiqar tied them and let them off into the air all the length of the ropes, and they began to shout as he had taught them. Then he drew them to himself and put them in their places.

Then he bade him farewell, and took his troops and his army and the young men and the eagles, and went towards the dwellings of Egypt; and when he had arrived, he turned towards the country of the king.

But, O my lord the king! what thou hast said in it about the taxes of Egypt for three years--now the stability of a kingdom is strict justice, and if thou winnest and my hand hath no skill in replying to thee, then my lord the king will send thee the taxes which thou hast mentioned.

Then Pharaoh commanded that they should prepare a dwelling for Abiqam and supply him with provender, meat, and drink, and all that he needed.

Then Pharaoh commanded his Court to wear pure white, and Pharaoh was dressed like them and sat upon his throne, and he commanded them to fetch Haiqar. And he entered and sat down before him.

Then Pharaoh commanded his servants to wear robes of various colours, and Pharaoh wore a red velvet dress, and sat on his throne, and commanded them to fetch Abiqam. And he entered and did obeisance before him.

And Pharaoh was perplexed by the freedom of his tongue and his boldness in answering. Then Pharaoh arose from his throne, and stood before Haiqar, and said to him, 'Tell me now, that I may perceive whom thy lord the king is like, and his nobles, to whom they are like.'

Then he folded the letter, and presented it on the morrow to Pharaoh.

Then Haiqar said to him, 'Truly this is a debt which thou owest to my lord the king.'

Then said Haiqar, 'To hear is to obey. I will build thee a castle according to thy wish and choice; but, O my lord I prepare us lime and stone and clay and workmen, and I have skilled builders who will build for thee as thou desirest.'

Then Haiqar let the eagles out of the boxes, and tied the young men on their backs, and tied the ropes to the eagles' feet, and let them go in the air. And they soared upwards, till they remained between heaven and earth.

Then Haiqar went to his dwelling and on the morrow he appeared before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said, 'O Haiqar, what news is there of the horse of thy lord? for when he neighs in the country of Assyria and Nineveh, and our mares hear his voice, they cast their young.'

Then Haiqar went to the back of the house, and bored holes in the rough shore of the sea, and took a handful of sand in his hand, sea-sand, and when the sun rose, and penetrated into the holes, he spread the sand in the sun till it became as if woven like ropes.

Then Haiqar looked at it, and found another stone.

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

Then Haiqar arose, and kissed king Pharaoh's hands and kissed the ground in front of him, and wished him strength and continuance, and abundance in his treasury, and said to him, 'O my lord! I desire from thee that not one of our countrymen may remain in Egypt.'

Then Haiqar went and took leave of king Pharaoh, and journeyed, seeking the land of Assyria and Nineveh; and he had some treasures and a great deal of wealth.

Then said Haiqar unto him, 'O my lord the king, live for ever! Show favour, O my lord the king! to Abu Samik in my stead, for my life was in the hands of God and in his.'

Then said Sennacherib the king, 'Honour be to thee, O my beloved Haiqar! I will make the station of Abu Samik the swordsman higher than all my Privy Councillors and my favourites.'

Then the king began to ask him how he had got on with [paragraph continues] Pharaoh from his first arrival until he had come away from his presence, and how he had answered all his questions, and how he had received the taxes from him, and the changes of raiment and the presents.

Said the lark: "Now then may I come forward and eat, for I am hungry?" And the trap said to him, "Come forward." And the lark approached that it, might eat.

This embassy then I undertook with enthusiasm, having first of all found an opportunity of pleading with the king on behalf of the Jewish captives who had been transported from Judea to Egypt by the king's father, when he first obtained possession of this city and conquered the land of Egypt.

Then Sosibius and some others who were present said [paragraph continues] 'Yes, but it will be a fit tribute to your magnanimity for you to offer the enfranchisement of these men as an act of devotion to the supreme God.

Then there was a 'maeander' a cubit in height, with its surface. wrought out of precious stones of many colours, displaying great artistic effort and beauty.

Such then was the construction of the golden bowls, and they held more than two firkins each.

For, when these vessels had been completed and placed side by side, first a silver bowl and then a golden, then another silver, and then another golden, the appearance they presented is altogether indescribable, and those who came to see them were not able to tear themselves from the brilliant sight and entrancing spectacle.

For, when these vessels had been completed and placed side by side, first a silver bowl and then a golden, then another silver, and then another golden, the appearance they presented is altogether indescribable, and those who came to see them were not able to tear themselves from the brilliant sight and entrancing spectacle.

For, when these vessels had been completed and placed side by side, first a silver bowl and then a golden, then another silver, and then another golden, the appearance they presented is altogether indescribable, and those who came to see them were not able to tear themselves from the brilliant sight and entrancing spectacle.

these men were never allowed to leave the citadel, except on feast days and then only in detachments, nor did they permit any stranger to enter it.

For in the matter of meats and drinks he bids us first of all offer part as a sacrifice and then forthwith enjoy our meal.

Then I said 'I suppose you mean the informers, for he constantly exposes them to tortures and to painful forms of death.'