El testamento de los 12 patriarcas

THE TESTAMENTS OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS
From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament by R. H. Charles, vol. II, Oxford Press
THE TESTAMENT OF REUBEN, THE FIRST-BORN SON OF JACOB AND LEAH
1 1 The copy of the Testament of Reuben, even the commands which he gave his sons before he 2 died in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. Two years after the death of Joseph his 3brother, when Reuben fell ill, his sons and his sons' sons were gathered together to visit him. And 4 he said to them: My children, behold I am dying, and go the way of my fathers. And seeing there Judah, and Gad, and Asher, his brethren, he said to them: Raise me up, that I may tell to my brethren and to my children what things I have hidden in my heart, for behold now at length 5 I am passing away.And he arose and kissed them, and said unto them: Hear, my brethren, and 6 do ye, my children, give ear to Reuben your father in the commands which I give unto you. And behold I call to witness against you this day the God of heaven, that ye walk not in the sins of 7 youth and fornication, wherein I was poured out, and defiled the bed of my father Jacob. And I tell you that he smote me with a soreplague in my loins for seven months; and had not my father 8 Jacob prayed for me to the Lord, the Lord would have destroyed me. For I was thirty years old 9 when I wrought the evil thing before the Lord, and for seven months I was sick unto death. And 10 after this I repented with set purpose of my soul for seven years before the Lord. And wine and strong drink I drank not, and flesh entered notinto my mouth, and I eat no pleasant food; but I mourned over my sin, for it was great, such as had not been in Israel.
2 1 And now hear me, my children, what things I saw concerning the seven spirits of deceit, when 2 I repented. Seven spirits therefore are appointed against man, and they are the leaders in the works 3 of youth. [And seven other spirits are given to him at his creation, thatthrough them should be 4 done every work of man. The first is the spirit of life, with which the constitution (of man) is 5 created. The second is the sense of sight, with which ariseth desire. The third is the sense of hearing, with which cometh teaching. The fourth is the sense of smell, with which tastes are given 6, 7 to draw air and breath. The fifth is the power of speech, with which comethknowledge. The sixth is the sense of taste, with which cometh the eating of meats and drinks; and by it strength is 8 produced, for in food is the foundation of strength. The seventh is the power of procreation and 9 sexual intercourse, with which through love of pleasure sins enter in. Wherefore it is the last in order of creation, and the first in that of youth, because it is filled with ignorance,and leadeth the youth as a blind man to a pit, and as a beast to a precipice.
3 1 Besides all these there is an eighth spirit of sleep, with which is brought about the trance of 2 3 nature and the image of death. With these spirits are mingled the spirits of error.] First, the spirit of fornication is seated in the nature and in the senses; the second, the spirit of insatiableness, 4 in thebelly; the third, the spirit of fighting, in the liver and gall. The fourth is the spirit of 5 obsequiousness and chicanery, that through officious attention one may be fair in seeming. The fifth is the spirit of pride, that one may be boastful and arrogant. The sixth is the spirit of lying, 6 in perdition and jealousy to practise deceits, and concealments from kindred and friends. The seventh is thespirit of injustice, with which are thefts and acts of rapacity, that a man may fulfill the desire of his heart; for injustice worketh together with the other spirits by the taking of gifts. 7, 8 And with all these the spirit of sleep is joined which is (that) of error and fantasy.] And so perisheth every young man, darkening his mind from the truth, and not understanding the law of 9 God, nor...