(4) .... And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

(1) God's care for His children. O son, the pious are God's children, Deem Him not absent when they are endangered, He saith, "These saints are my children, For their trial they are orphans and wretched, Thou art backed by all my protection; My children are, as it were, parts of me. Verily these Darveshes of mine Are thousands on thousands, and yet no more than One; For if not, how did Moses with one magic staff

(10) For those who are the seed of Abraham, and besides servants of God, are "the called;" and the sons of Jacob are the elect - they who have tripped up the energy of wickedness.

(17) Having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, It may be they will reverence him, my son, when they see him.

(22) But to me is shewn the ladder of Jacob, upon which I am climbed up, even into heaven, and have received my ware, to offer for sale: Therefore if any one will climb up after me, let him take heed that he be not drunken, but he must be girt with the sword of the spirit.

(177) Behold I have set you upon Moses' chair, and entrusted you with my flock; but you mind nothing but the wool, and mind not my sheep, and therewith you build your great palaces. But I will set you on the stool of pestilence, and my own Shepherd shall feed my sheep eternally.

(2) ¶As he passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew (Levi, a publican ), sitting at the receipt of custom: he said unto him,

(15) And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

(5) ¶Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and, behold, many publicans and others sat at meat with Jesus and his disciples.

(22) Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, so now I say to you, Whither I go, ye cannot come.

(4) Henceforth let me live upon corn in your presence, ye gods, and let there come one who bringeth to me that I may feed from those seven loaves which he hath brought for Horus and upon the loaves for Thoth

(32) appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

(6) Then he draws down to the child's right ear and says milk, honey, and ghee and feeds [his son] out of a gold [spoon] which is not placed within [the mouth], saying: e I place in you Bhur \ I place in you Bhuvas \ I place in you Svar! Bhur, BhuvaS) Svar — everything 2 I place in you I 2,6. Then he gives him a name, saying i You are Veda. 3 So this becomes his secret name. 27, Then he presents him to the mother and offers the breast, saying: — 'Thy breast which is unfailing and refreshing, Wealth-bearer, treasure-finder, rich bestower. With which thou nourishest all things esteemed — Give it here, 0 SarasvatI, to suck from/

(92) 'And now, my son Methuselah, call to me all thy brothers And gather together to me all the sons of thy mother; For the word calls me, And the spirit is poured out upon me, That I may show you everything That shall befall you for ever.'

(51) Observe it; the Angel said to Mary, Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, and shalt call his Name Jesus; he shall be great, and be called a Son of the most High; and God the Lord shall give him the Throne of his Father David, and he shall be a King over the House of Jacob eternally, and of his Kingdom there shall be no End.

(65) And He has destined thy name to be among the holy, And will preserve thee amongst those who dwell on the earth, And has destined thy righteous seed both for kingship and for great honours, And from thy seed shall proceed a fountain of the righteous and holy without number for ever.

(5) And all bare witness, and wondered at the gracious words which pro-ceded out of his mouth. They said, Is not this Joseph's son? And Jesus said,

(1) THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat....

(22) Like the Gnostics, the Essenes were emanationists. One of their chief objects was the reinterpretation of the Mosaic Law according to certain secret spiritual keys preserved by them from the time of the founding of their order. It would thus follow that the Essenes were Qabbalists and, like several other contemporary sects flourishing in Syria, were awaiting the advent of the Messiah promised in the early Biblical writings. Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, are believed to have been members of the Essene Order. Joseph was many years the senior of Mary. According to The Protevangelium, he was a widower with grown sons, and in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew he refers to Mary as a little child less in age than his own grandchildren. In her infancy Mary was dedicated to the Lord, and the Apocryphal writings contain many accounts of miracles associated with her early childhood. When she was twelve years old, the priests held counsel as to the future of this child who had dedicated herself to the Lord, and the Jewish high priest, bearing the breastplate, entered into the Holy of Holies, where an angel appeared to him, saying, "Zacharias, go forth and summon the widowers of the people and let them take a rod apiece and she shall be the wife of him to whom the Lord shall show a sign." Going forth to meet the priests at the head of the widowers, Joseph collected the rods of all the other men and gave them into the keeping of the priests. Now Joseph's rod was but half as long as the others, and the priests on returning the rods to the widowers paid no attention to Joseph's but left it behind in the Holy of Holies. When all the other widowers had received back their wands, the priests awaited a sign from heaven, but none came. Joseph, because of his advanced age, did not: ask for the return of his rod, for to him it was inconceivable that he should be chosen. But an angel appeared to the high priest, ordering him to give back the short rod which lay unnoticed in the Holy of Holies. As the high priest handed the rod to Joseph, a white dove flew from the end of it and rested upon the head of the aged carpenter, and to him was given the child.

(4) Then cometh he to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.