Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
"My children, have you observed the mercy of the good man? Imitate it
with pure intention, that ye, too, may wear crowns of glory. A good man
has not an envious eye, he has mercy with all, even with sinners,
though their evil designs be directed against him, and by his good
deeds he conquers the evil, since it was ordained of God. If you do
good, the unclean spirits will depart from you, and even the wild
beasts will stand in fear of you. The inclination of a good man lies
not in the power of the tempter spirit Behar, for the angel of peace
guides his soul. Flee before the malice of Beliar, whose sword is drawn
to slay all that pay him obedience, and his sword is the mother of
seven evils, bloodshed, corruptness, error, captivity, hunger, panic,
and devastation. Therefore God surrendered Cain to seven punishments.
Once in a hundred years the Lord brought a castigation upon him. His
afflictions began when he was two hundred years old, and in his nine
hundredth year he was destroyed by the deluge, for having slain his
righteous brother Abel. And those who are like unto Cain will be
chastised forever with the same punishments as his.
"Know now, my children, that I am about to die. Practice truth and
righteousness, and observe the law of the Lord and also His
commandments. This I bequeath unto you as your sole heritage, and you
shall leave it to your children as an eternal possession. Thus Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob did, they transmitted it unto us, saying, 'Observe the
commands of God, until the Lord shall reveal His salvation in the sight
of all the heathen.' Then you will see Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob[17] rise up with rejoicing to new life at the right
hand of God, and we brethren, the sons of Jacob, will arise also, each
of us at the head of his tribe, and we will pay homage to the King of
the heavens."
After Benjamin had made an end of speaking thus, he said: "I command
you, my children, to carry my bones up out of Egypt and bury me near my
fathers."
And when he had made an end of saying these things, he fell asleep at a
good old age, and they put his body into a coffin, and in the
ninety-first year of their sojourning in Egypt, his sons and the sons
of his brethren brought up the bones of their father, in secret, and
buried them in Hebron, at the feet of their fathers. Then they returned
from the land of Canaan, and they dwelt in Egypt until the day of the
exodus from the land.[18]
III
JOB
JOB AND THE PATRIARCHS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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