Now after these things the angel took me up into the heavens. I saw my father Abraham: I [greeted] him, and he greeted me together with all the saints. All of them were gathered together: they honoured me because of my father. They walked with me, they took me to the veil of [GOD]: I cast myself down, I worshipped Him with my father and all the saints. We all sang a hymn unto Him, crying out and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Thy holy glory. The Lord said unto my father from the holy place: "Every man that shall give the name of My beloved Isaac to his son, My blessing shall be in his house for ever. Well hast thou come, O Abraham the faithful; well has thy blessed and good root come. Now indeed all requests that thou desirest, seek after them [in memory of] thy beloved son Isaac, and they shall be fulfilled unto thee to-day to be a

covenant for ever. My father Abraham said: Thine is the power, O Lord the Almighty. The Lord said unto my father from the holy place: "Every man that shall give the name of My beloved Isaac unto his son, or write his testament and lay it in his hand for a blessing, My blessing shall not fail in that house for ever and ever. Or if he give to eat to a beggar that is an-hungered on the day of the commemoration of My beloved Isaac, it shall make him acceptable unto you in My kingdom." My father Abraham said: Lord GOD Almighty, if it be impossible for him to write his testament, let Thy mercy take hold upon him, for Thou art merciful and compassionate. The Lord said unto Abraham: "Let him give bread unto them that are an-hungered and the poor, and I will give him unto you in My kingdom, and he shall come with you unto the first hour of the thousand years." Our father Abraham said: If he be poor and cannot find bread? The Lord said: "Let him pass the night of My beloved Isaac without slumber, and I will give him unto you as an inheritor in My kingdom." My father Abraham said: If he be weak and this be impossible for him, let Thy mercy take hold upon him in love. The Lord said unto him: "Let him offer up a little incense in My name and on the day of the commemoration of My beloved Isaac, and I will give him to you as a son in My kingdom. And again, if he cannot find incense, let him busy himself about his testament and meditate upon it on the day of My beloved Isaac thy son: but again if he know not how to meditate, let him go and listen to it from them that meditate. Again, if he can do none of these things, let him go within his house, and shut his door upon him, and pray an hundred times, and I will give him to you as a son in My kingdom. But it is better than all these if he offer up a sacrifice [for My sake, in memory of] My beloved Isaac. And again, every one that shall do all these things that I have spoken, they are inheritors with them that are in My kingdom. Every one that shall be careful about his life (and they that write his testament), or do any compassionate thing, even unto one cup of water, or he that shall write his testament or meditate upon it in faith with all his heart and believe in all these things which I have spoken, My power and the power of the Holy Ghost [Gabriel] shall be with them, and shall guide them in all the world; and no difference shall there be in My city, and I will give them unto you as sons in My kingdom, and they shall come unto the first hour of the thousand years. My peace be with you all, O My holy athletes."

When He had finished saying these things, all the heavenly ones sang a hymn, crying out and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of Thy holy glory. [GOD] spake unto Michael from the holy place: "Michael, My faithful steward, call a multitude of angels with all the saints." And [the glory of] the Lord our GOD went up on the chariot of the Cherubim, while the Seraphim went before [it], and the angels and all the saints. Now when he had spoken these things, Jacob sped unto his father Isaac, he kissed his lips, weeping. Our father Isaac touched him, giving him a sign with the winking of his eyes, meaning: Be silent.

Our father Abraham said unto the Lord: My Lord, remember my son. Isaac also answered and said unto the Lord: My Lord, remember my son Jacob. The Lord said unto him: "My power shall be with him, and he shall be glorified in My name. He shall rule over the land of the inheritance, and the enemy shall gain no advantage over him." Our father Isaac said unto Jacob: My beloved son, keep this commandment which I give into thy hand to-day. Keep watch over thyself exceedingly. Afflict not the likeness [creation] of GOD; for what thou shalt have done unto the likeness of man, thou hast done unto the likeness [creation] of GOD, and GOD shall do the same unto thee also in the hour when thou shalt meet Him. This is the beginning and the end. Now when he had said this, the Lord took away from his body his soul [by His angels], which was white like snow. [They] greeted it, set it upon a chariot, took it up to the heavens, while the Seraphim went before [them] and all His holy angels. He granted unto him the good things of His kingdom, and all requests which our father requested from the Lord, He granted them unto him for a covenant for ever.

This is the coming forth from the body of our lord and father Abraham and our beloved father Isaac; Abraham indeed on the twenty-eighth day of Mesore, and Isaac too on the same twenty-eighth day of this month Mesore, being an hundred and eighty years old. And the day when our father Abraham offered him up as a sacrifice to GOD was the eighteenth day of Emshir: the heavens and the earth were full of the sweet savour of his sacrifice unto the Lord. But our father Isaac, like silver that is tried and made excellent and purified through fire--of this sort are all who shall be purified through [the example of] our father Isaac the patriarch. For on the day when Abraham the patriarch his father offered him up as a sacrifice to GOD, the sweet savour of his sacrifice went in unto the veil of the Almighty. Blessed is every man that shall do an act of mercy on the day of the holy patriarchs Abraham and our father Isaac; they shall be made sons unto them in the kingdom of GOD. For our Lord hath founded a covenant with them for ever; He shall keep it with them and those that shall come after them, saying unto them: "Every man that shall do an act of mercy [in memory of] My beloved Isaac, I will give him unto you as a son in the kingdom of the heavens, and he shall come with you unto the first hour of the thousand years." So that they shall keep festival in the ages of light in the kingdom of our Lord and our King [GOD]; His is the glory and the honour and the power and the worship to the age of all ages. Amen.

Remember the disciple that wrote, Makarius, that the Lord may give rest unto his miserable soul. Amen.

II. THE TESTAMENT OF JACOB

This again also is the coming forth from the body of our father the Patriarch Jacob, who is called Israel, on the twenty-eighth day of the month Mesore, in the peace of GOD. Amen.

Now it came to pass when the days of our beloved father Jacob the Patriarch, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, drew nigh that he should come forth from the body, and the GOD-loving Jacob was advanced in days, the Lord sent unto him Michael the archangel; and he said unto him: Israel, my beloved and thou good root, write thy words of instruction for thy sons, and establish for them thy testament, and take care for thine household; for the time is come that thou shalt go unto thy fathers and have joy with them for ever. But the GOD-loving Jacob, when he heard these words from the angel, answered and spake unto him on this wise: My lord (now it was his custom daily to speak with angels); he spake unto him on this wise: May the will of the Lord be done.

And GOD blessed our father Jacob. He put him in a solitary place whither he could retire, making his prayers unto GOD day and night: angels came to seek after him, watching over him, saving him, giving him strength in all things. GOD blessed him; and his people multiplied in the land of Egypt exceedingly. For in the time when he came down into Egypt unto Joseph his son, his eyes were dimmed through much weeping and grief for Joseph his son; but when he came down into Egypt, he saw clear, when he beheld the face of Joseph his son. And Jacob Israel cast himself down upon his face, upon the neck of Joseph his son; he [greeted] him, weeping and saying: Now let me die, because I have seen thy face once more and thou still livest, O my beloved; and Joseph was king over the whole of Egypt. Jacob dwelt in the land of Goshen seventeen years; he became exceeding old, full of days; he kept all the commandments and the fear of the Lord: and his eyes were dimmed so that he saw no man, because of his exceeding old age.

He lifted up his eyes unto the light of the angel which spake with him, having the likeness and the face of his father Isaac; he was afraid and troubled. The angel said unto him: Be not afraid, Jacob. I am the angel [of GOD] that have walked with thee since thy childhood. I chose thee, that thou shouldst receive the blessing of Isaac thy father and Rebecca thy mother. I am with thee, O Israel, in every thing that thou doest and every thing that thou hast seen. It is I that delivered thee [by GOD's leave] out of the hand of Laban when he pursued after thee; I gave thee all his possessions. I blessed thee, and all thy wives, and thy children, and all thy beasts. It is I again that delivered thee from the hands of Esau. It is I again that showed thee the way into the land of Egypt, O Israel; I have made thee to spread out exceedingly. Blessed is thy father Abraham, because he became a friend of GOD on high through his hospitality. Blessed is thy father Isaac that begat thee, because his sacrifice was made perfect, pleasing unto GOD. Blessed art thou also, O Jacob, because thou didst see [the angel of] GOD face to face, and thou didst gaze upon the host of the angels of GOD on high. Thou didst see the ladder set up upon the earth, with its head stretching unto heaven; thou didst see also [the glory of] the Lord standing upon the head thereof in power unspeakable; thou didst cry aloud, saying: This is the house of GOD, and this is the gate of heaven. Blessed art thou, because thou hast found strength in GOD, and been mighty among men; now therefore be not troubled, O beloved of GOD. Blessed art thou, O Israel, and blessed is all thy seed, for ye shall be called Patriarchs until the consummation of this age; for verily ye are [GOD's] people, and ye are the root of the servants of GOD. Blessed is every people that shall emulate thy holiness and thy virtues and thy righteousness and thy good doings. Blessed is the man that shall keep the remembrance of you on your honourable feast. Blessed is he that shall do a deed of charity [in memory of you], or give a cup of water unto a man, or bring a perfect offering [to GOD] unto your holy place or any holy place [in memory of you], or give hospitality unto a stranger, or go to visit the sick, or comfort an orphan, or clothe one that is naked [in memory of you]; he shall lack no good thing in the world (and he shall gain) in the age also that is to come life eternal. And more still for him that shall write your life with its labours, or shall write it with his hands, or read it with attention, together with him that shall hear it with faith and confirmation of their heart, and him that shall emulate your doing; for they shall be forgiven [by GOD] all their sins, and they shall be a gift unto you in the kingdom of the heavens. Now then arise, that thou mayest be taken from labour and sorrow unto eternal repose, and thou shalt be brought unto rest unceasing and repose unfailing and light unsetting, and joy and gladness and spiritual pleasure. Now therefore charge thy words unto thy sons; and peace be with thee, for I must go unto Him that sent me.

Now when he had thus spoken unto him, the angel went back away from him in peace up to the heavens, while he looked after him. And they that were in the house heard him confessing the Lord, giving praise unto Him with blessings. And all his sons were gathered together unto him, from the smallest to the greatest, all weeping and being heavy at heart, saying: He departeth and leaveth us. And they would say unto him: O our beloved father, what shall we do, for we are sojourners in a strange land? Jacob said unto them: Be not afraid; for GOD [spoke] unto me in Mesopotamia, saying: "I am the GOD of thy fathers. Be not afraid; I am with thee for ever, and thy seed for ever that shall come after thee. The land whereon thou standest, I will give it to thee and thy seed for ever." And again He said unto me: "Be not afraid to go down into Egypt; I will go with thee [by My help] down into Egypt, so that I may make thee to multiply, and thy seed to flourish for ever, and Joseph to lay his hands upon thine eyes. And thy people shall multiply exceedingly in Egypt; then they shall return unto Me in this place, and I will do good unto them for thy sake." Now therefore shall ye remove from this place.

Now after this the days of Jacob Israel drew nigh that he should come forth from the body. He called Joseph; he spake unto him after this fashion: If I have found grace in thy sight, then put thy blessed hand upon my thigh, and swear unto me an oath in the sight of the Lord, to lay my body in the sepulchre of my fathers. But Joseph said unto him: I will do according to thy word, O my beloved father. His father said unto him: I will that thou swear. And Joseph swore unto Jacob his father according to these words, to take his body unto the sepulchre of his fathers. And Jacob bowed himself upon the neck of his son.

Now after these things, one sought for Joseph, saying: Behold, thy father is troubled. He took his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh; he came unto Israel his father. When Israel saw them, he said unto Joseph: Who are these of thine, O my son? Joseph said unto Jacob Israel his father: These are my sons which GOD gave me in the land of my lowliness. Israel said: Bring them nigh unto me. Now the eyes of Israel were darkened through his exceeding old age, so that he could not see clear. And he brought them nigh unto him; he kissed them. When Israel had embraced them, he said: GOD shall add to thy seed. And Joseph made his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, bow down before him upon the ground. Joseph brought Manasseh under his right hand and Ephraim under his left hand. Israel changed his hands; he laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh. And he blessed them; he gave them their inheritance, saying: GOD, before whom my fathers were pleasing, Abraham and Isaac, the GOD which fed me from my childhood unto this day; [through] the angel which redeemed me from all my tribulations, bless these lads that are my sons, that have my name named upon them and the name of my holy fathers Abraham and Isaac. They shall increase and multiply; they shall become a great nation upon the earth. Afterward Israel said unto Joseph: I shall die; and ye shall return again unto the land of your fathers, and GOD shall be with you. Lo and behold, thou hast received a blessing above thy brethren, for I have taken the Amorites with my bow and my sword.

Jacob called all his sons; he said unto them: Come ye all together unto me, that I may tell you that what shall befall you, and again that which shall befall each one of you in the last days. All the sons of Israel were gathered together unto him, from the least to the greatest. Jacob Israel answered and said unto his sons: Hear, ye sons of Jacob; hearken unto Israel your father, from Reuben my first-born unto Benjamin. He told them what should become of the twelve sons according to their names and their tribes in the blessing of heaven. Then was all the multitude of men silent, that he might repose a little while. He was taken up to the heavens, so that he might walk through the places of repose. And behold a multitude of tormentors came out, each of them different in appearance, ready to torment the sinners, namely, the whoremongers, and the harlots, and the effeminate, and them that defile themselves with men, and the adulterers and them who have destroyed the creature of GOD, and the sorcerers, and the poisoners; and them that do violence, and the servers of idols, and the idlers, and the slanderers, and the double-tongued. In short, for every sin whereof we have spoken, there is a great punishment, the fire that is not quenched, the place where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth and the worm that sleepeth not. And it is a fearful thing when thou art brought before the judge, and it is a fearful thing to come into the hands of the living GOD. Woe unto all sinful men, for whom these tortures and these tormentors are made ready. And again after these things I was taken up; he showed me the place wherein my fathers were, Abraham and my father Isaac, which was all light, and they were full of life and joy in the kingdom of the heavens, in the beloved city. And he showed me all the places of repose, and all the good things made ready for the just, and the things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor have they come unto the heart of man: these things which GOD hath made ready for them that shall love Him and do His will upon earth, if they shall have made an end well doing His will.

After these things Jacob said unto his sons: Lo and behold I am to be taken away and laid with my people. Lay my body with my people in the double sepulchre in the field of Ephron the Hittite, wherein they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; wherein they buried Isaac, in the pathway of the field; with the sepulchre that is therein which was purchased from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of saying these things, he drew up his feet upon the bed, he came forth from the body like unto all men. And [the angels of] the Lord came from heaven, and Michael and Gabriel went with [them], and multitudes of legions of angels, singing before His [glory]. They received the soul of Jacob Israel into abodes of light with his holy fathers, Abraham and Isaac. Now these are the years of the life of Jacob Israel the Patriarch. Joseph set him before Pharaoh when he was an hundred and thirty years old, and other seventeen years did he live in Egypt; all these make an hundred and forty and seven years. He fell asleep in a green old age, being perfect in every virtue and spiritual grace together: he gave praise unto GOD in all his ways, in the peace of GOD. Amen.

Joseph fell upon his father: he kissed him, weeping for him. And Joseph commanded his servants that were embalmers, saying: Embalm my father well, after the manner of the Egyptians. They spent forty days embalming Israel, and when they had finished the forty days of the embalming of Israel, they spent other eighty days mourning for him. Now when the days of the mourning of Pharaoh were ended, wherein he wept for Jacob because of his love for Joseph, Joseph spake with the great ones of Pharaoh saying unto them on this wise: If I have found grace in your eyes, speak for me unto Pharaoh the king, saying: My father made me swear, when he was about to come forth from the body, saying, Bury my body in the sepulchre of my fathers, in the land of Canaan; now let him command me that I may bury my father there, and come again. Pharaoh the king spake unto Joseph the wise, saying: Go in peace and bury thy father, according to the oath which he made thee swear. Take with thee the chariots and the cars and all the great ones of my kingdom, and whomever thou shalt require from among my servants. Joseph worshipped GOD before Pharaoh; he went from him. Joseph went up to bury his father; there went with him all the servants of Pharaoh, and the elders of Egypt, and all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and all the house of Israel. And there went up with him the chariots and the horsemen; the host became exceeding great. And they stayed at the threshing-floor of Gadad which is upon the bank beyond Jordan: they mourned him there with a great and very sore mourning: and they made a mourning for him for seven days. They that dwelt in the lower land heard the mourning that was made at the threshing-floor of Gadad; they said: This grievous mourning is of the Egyptians. Unto this very day they call that place: The mourning of the Egyptians. They carried Israel and buried him in the land of Canaan in the double sepulchre which Abraham bought for the price of silver of Ephron the Hittite before Mamre. And Joseph returned into Egypt, and his brethren with him, and the host of the house of Pharaoh. Joseph lived after the death of his father for many more years, being a king in Egypt. But Jacob Israel died, and was laid with his people.

Behold now we have told you these things for your assurance as to the coming forth from the body of our father the Patriarch Jacob Israel, up to the measure which we could reach, seeing that it is written in the spiritual scriptures of GOD and the ancient compositions of our holy fathers the Apostles, even I, Athanasius your father. If ye desire to know the establishment of this testament of the Patriarch Jacob, take unto you the Genesis of the prophet Moses the lawgiver and read therein; your mind shall receive light, ye shall find these things and more written concerning it. Ye shall find GOD and His angels, GOD being their friend while they were still in the body, and speaking with them many times; in many passages of the scripture. And again that He spake in many passages in the scripture with the Patriarch Jacob, saying: "I will bless thy seed like the stars of the heaven." And again Jacob was speaking with Joseph his son, saying: My GOD [spoke] unto me in the land of Canaan, at Luz. He blessed me, saying: "I will bless thee, and make thee multiply, and make peoples and nations spring from thee; I will give this land unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession."

Lo therefore, O my beloved, we have heard these things concerning our fathers the Patriarchs; let us emulate therefore their doings, and their virtues, and their love of GOD, and their love of men, and their hospitality, so that we may be worthy to become sons unto them in the kingdom of the heavens; so that they may pray for us unto GOD [by His leave], that He may deliver us from the punishments which are in Hell, even those which the holy Patriarch Jacob rehearsed in his words full of all sweetness, when he was instructing his sons concerning the punishments, calling them the sword of the Lord GOD. These are the river of fire that is prepared, making great waves for the sinners and for them that have defiled themselves. These are the things which the Patriarch Jacob revealed when he was instructing the rest of his sons, so that they who love learning might listen and do that which is good for all time, and love one another, and love charity and pity; for pity is praised above judgement, and charity covereth a multitude of sins; and again, he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth [a goodly loan] unto GOD.

Now therefore, my sons, let us not fail in prayer and fasting, and remain ye in expectation, for these are the things that drive away the devils. My sons, keep yourselves from fornication, and wrath, and adultery, and every evil thing; but especially violence and blasphemy and thieving; for there is no violence that shall inherit the kingdom of the heavens; nor shall any whoremonger, nor effeminate, nor he that defiles himself with men, nor blasphemer, nor covetous, nor idolater, nor curser, nor impure person, or in short of any of those that we have declared unto you, that shall inherit the kingdom of GOD. My sons, [honour] the saints, for it is they who pray for you [by GOD's leave] that your seed may multiply, and that ye may inherit the earth in an everlasting inheritance. My sons, be hospitable, that ye may obtain the portion of our father Abraham, the great Patriarch. My sons, love the poor, that as thou doest unto the poor here, so may GOD give thee the bread of life for ever in the heavens, unto the end; he that shall give a poor man to eat of the bread that is here, GOD shall give him to eat from the tree of life. Clothe the poor man that is naked here upon earth, that He may put upon thee a robe of glory in the heavens, and that thou mayest become a son of our holy fathers the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the heavens for ever. Have a care unto the word of GOD here and remember the saints that they may write their counsels and their hymns which give comfort to them that hear them, so that they may write thy name also in the book of life in the heavens, and number thee with the number of His saints that have pleased Him in their generation and now take their place with the angels in the place of the living. For we are keeping the remembrance of the saints, our fathers the Patriarchs at this season year by year. Our father Abraham the Patriarch on the twenty-eighth day of Mesore. Again, our father Isaac the Patriarch on the twenty-eighth day of Mesore. And again, our father Jacob on the twenty-eighth day of this same month Mesore, even as we have found it written in the ancient compositions of our holy fathers that were pleasing unto GOD. Through their supplications and their prayers [by GOD's leave] may it happen unto us all together to obtain their part and their inheritance in the kingdom of our Lord and our GOD and our Saviour. His is the glory, now and always and for ever. Amen.

Remember me, that GOD may forgive me all my sins, and give me understanding, and give me rest without sin. Amen.