Testament of Joseph

Chapter 7

  1. 1 But her heart was still set upon evil, and she looked around how to ensnare me, and sighing deeply she became downcast, though she was not sick.
  2. 2 And when her husband saw her, he said unto her: Why is thy countenance fallen? And she said unto him: I have a pain at my heart, and the groanings of my spirit oppress me; and so
  3. 3 he comforted her who was not sick. 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,
  4. 4 if thou wilt not lie with me. And when I saw the spirit of Beliar was troubling her, I prayed unto
  5. 5 the Lord, and said unto her: Why, wretched woman, art thou troubled and disturbed, blinded through, sins? Remember that if thou kill thyself, Asteho, the concubine of thy husband, thy rival,
  6. 6 will beat thy children, and thou wilt destroy thy memorial from off the earth. And she said unto me: Lo, then thou lovest me; let this suffice me: only strive for my life and my children, and
  7. 7 I expect that I shall enjoy my desire also. But she knew not that because of my lord I spake
  8. 8 thus, and not because of her. For if a man hath fallen before the passion of a wicked desire and become enslaved by it, even as she, whatever good thing he may hear with regard to that passion, he receiveth it with a view to his wicked desire.