(44) I shall go down with thee, and I shall bring thee up2 (again), and in this land wilt thou be buried, and Joseph will put his hands upon thy eyes. Fear not ; go down into Egypt."

(43) And they went up and told their father that Joseph was alive, and was measuring out corn to all the nations of the earth, and thathe was ruler over all the land of Egypt.

(43) And early in the morning they departed, and it came to pass that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said unto the steward of his house : " Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, ' For good ye have requited me with evil ; you have stolen from me the silver cup out of which my lord drinks.' And bring back to me their youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment."

(40) And the Lord gave Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said unto his servants : " We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with him."

(45) And Israel blessed his sons before he died and told them everything1 that would befall them in the land of Egypt ; and he made known to them what would come upon them in the last days, and blessed them and gave to Joseph two portions in the land.

(2) When Joseph was taken, his father Jacob lost his sight because of the tears of blood that flowed from his eyes. The name of Joseph was always on his lips. At last the Angel Gabriel went to him and said: ' If ever again you utter the

word ''Joseph'' I will strike your name from the roll of prophets and messengers.' When Jacob received this message from God the name of Joseph was lifted from his tongue, but he did not cease to repeat it in his heart. One night he saw Joseph in a dream, and would have called to him, but remembering God's command, he beat his breast and heaved a sad sigh from his immaculate heart. Then Gabriel came: ' God says that although you have not pronounced the name "Joseph" with your tongue, you have heaved a sigh, and thus destroyed all the effect of your repentance.'

(40) And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because of Joseph, for the Lord was with him, and gave him favour and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew him and those who heard concerning him, and Pharaoh's kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil person (therein).

(46) And there was no Satan nor any evil all the days of the life of Joseph which he lived after his father Jacob, for all the Egyptians honoured the children of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph.

(40) And then the chief butler remembered Joseph and spake of him to the king, and he brought him forth from the prison, and he told his two dreams before him.

(45) And Joseph went to meet his father Jacob, to the land of Goshen, and he fell on his father's neck and wept.

(45) And Israel said unto Joseph : " Now let me die since I have seen thee, and now may the Lord God of Israel be blessed, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac who hath not withheld His mercy and His grace from His servant Jacob.

(34) And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said : " An evil beast hath devoured Joseph " ; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with him all that day.

(42) And they went up from the land of Egypt and they came to the land of Canaan ; and they told their father all that had befallen them, and how the lord of the country had spoken roughly to them, and had seized Simeon till they should bring Benjamin.

(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.

(6) Then, with her maids, the daughter of the king, To bathe her beauty in the cleansing stream, Came near, straight saw, and took and raised me up; And knew me for a Hebrew. Miriam My sister to the princess ran, and said, 'Is it thy pleasure, that I haste and find A nurse for thee to rear this child Among the Hebrew women?' The princess Gave assent. The maiden to her mother sped, And told, who quick appeared. My own Dear mother took me in her arms. Then said The daughter of the king: 'Nurse me this child, And I will give thee wages.' And my name Moses she called, because she drew and saved Me from the waters on the river's bank.

(42) And Jacob said : " Me have ye bereaved of my children ! Joseph is not and Simeon also is not, and ye will take Benjamin away. On me hath your wickedness come." x

(46) And he aevised an evil device against the children of Israel of afflicting them ; and he said unto the people of Egypt :

(39) And he com- mitted all things into his hands, and the chief of the prison guards knew of nothing that was with him, for Joseph did everything, and the Lord perfected it. Joseph interprets the Dreams of the Chief Butler and the Chief Baker (xxxix. - ; cf. Gen. xl.).

(46) And Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old ; seventeen years he lived in the land of Canaan, and ten years he was a servant, and three years in prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all the land of Egypt.

(44) And there were born to Joseph in Egypt before his father came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar priest of Heliopolis bare unto him, Manasseh, and Ephraim — three.