CHAPTER XXV.

XXV. And the Philistines sought to fight with

the men of Israel: and they inquired of the Lord and said: Shall we go up and fight against the Philistines? and God said to them: If ye go up with a pure heart, fight; but if your heart is defiled, go not up. And they inquired yet again saying: How shall we know if all the heart of the people be alike? and God said to them: Cast lots among your tribes, and it shall be unto every tribe that cometh under the lot, that it shall be set apart into one lot, and then shall ye know whose heart is clean and whose is defiled. 2. And the people said: Let us first appoint over us a prince, and so cast lots. And the angel of the Lord said to them: Appoint. And the people said: Whom shall we appoint that is worthy, Lord? And the angel of the Lord said to them: Cast the lot upon the tribe of Caleb, and he that is shown by the lot, even he shall

be your prince. And they cast the lot for the tribe of Caleb and it came out upon Cenez, and they made him ruler over Israel. 3. And Cenez said to the people: Bring your tribes unto me and hear ye the word of the Lord. And the people gathered together and Cenez said to them: Ye know that which Moses the friend of the Lord charged you, that ye should not transgress the law to the right hand or to the left. And Jesus also who was after him gave you the same charge. And now, lo, we have heard of the mouth of the Lord that your heart is defiled. And the Lord hath charged us to cast lots among your tribes to know whose heart hath departed from the Lord our God. Shall not the fury of anger come upon the people? But I promise you this day that even if a man of mine own house come out in the lot of sin, he shall not be saved alive, but shall be burned with fire. And the people said: Thou hast spoken a good counsel, to perform it.

4. And the tribes were brought before him, and there were found of the tribe of Juda 345 men, and of the tribe of Ruben 560, and of the tribe of Simeon 775, and of the tribe of Levi 150, and of the tribe of Zabulon 655 ( or 645), and of the tribe of Isachar 665, and of the tribe of Gad 380. Of the tribe of Aser 665, and of the tribe of Manasse 480, and of the tribe of Effraim 468, and of the tribe of Benjamin 267. And all the number of them that were found by the lot of sin was 6110. And Cenez took them all and shut them up in prison, till it should be known what should be done with them.

5. And Cenez said: Was it not of this that Moses the friend of the Lord spake saying: There is a (Dt. 29:18) strong root among you bringing forth gall and bitterness? Now blessed be the Lord who hath revealed all the devices of these men, neither hath he suffered them to corrupt his people by their evil works. Bring hither therefore the Demonstration and the Truth and call forth Eleazar the priest, and let us inquire of the Lord by him. 6. Then Cenez and Eleazar and all the elders and the whole synagogue prayed with one accord saying: Lord God of our fathers, reveal unto thy servants the truth, for we are found not believing in the wonders which thou didst for our fathers since thou broughtest them out of the land of Egypt unto this day. And the Lord answered and said: First ask them that were found, and let them confess their deeds which they did subtilly, and afterwards they shall be burned with fire. 7. And Cenez brought them forth and said to them: Behold now ye know how that Achiar confessed when the lot fell on him, and declared all that he had done. And now declare unto me all your wickedness and your inventions: who knoweth, if ye tell us the truth, even though ye die now, yet God will have mercy upon you when he shall quicken the dead? 8. And one of them named Elas said unto him: Shall not death come now upon us, that we shall die by fire? Nevertheless I tell thee, my Lord, there are none inventions like unto these which we have made wickedly. But if thou wilt search out the truth plainly, ask severally the men of every tribe, and so shall some one of them that stand by perceive the difference of their sins. 9. And Cenez asked them of his own tribe and they told him: We desired to imitate and make the calf that they made in the wilderness. And after that he asked the men

of the tribe of Ruben, which said: We desired to sacrifice unto the gods of them that dwell in the land. And he asked the men of the tribe of Levi, which said: We would prove the tabernacle, whether it were holy. And he asked the remnant of the tribe of Isachar, which said: We would inquire by the evil spirits of the idols, to see whether they revealed plainly: and he asked the men of the tribe of Zabulon, which said: We desired to eat the flesh of our children and to learn whether God hath care for them. And he asked the remnant of the tribe of Dan, which said: The Amorites taught us that which they did, that we might teach our children. And lo, they are hid under the tent of Elas, who told thee to inquire of us. Send therefore and thou shall find them. And Cenez sent and found them. 10. And thereafter asked he them that were left over of the tribe of Gad, and they said: We committed adultery with each other's wives. And he asked next the men of the tribe of Aser, which said: We found seven golden images which the Amorites called the holy Nymphs, and we took them with the precious stones that were set upon them, and hid them: and lo, now

they are laid up under the top of the mount Sychem. Send therefore and thou shalt find them. And Cenez sent men and removed them thence. 11. Now these are the Nymphs which when they were called upon did show unto the Amorites their works in every hour. For these are they which were devised by seven evil men after the flood, whose names are these: <? Cham> Chanaan, Phuth, Selath, Nembroth, Elath, Desuath. Neither shall there be again any like similitude in the world graven by the hand of the artificer and adorned with variety of painting, but they were set up and fixed for the consecration (i.e. the holy place?) of idols. Now the stones were precious, brought from the land of Euilath, among which was a crystal and a prase ( or one crystalline and one green), and they shewed their fashion, being carved after the manner of a stone pierced with open-work, and another of them was graven on the top, and another as it were marked with spots ( or like a spotted chrysoprase) so shone with its graving as if it shewed the water of the deep lying beneath.

12. And these are the precious stones which the Amorites had in their holy places, and the price

of them was above reckoning. For when any entered in by night, he needed not the light of a lantern, so much did the natural light of the stones shine forth. Wherein that one gave the greatest light which was cut after the form of a stone pierced with open-work, and was cleansed with bristles; for if any of the Amorites were blind, he went and put his eyes thereupon and recovered his sight. Now when Cenez found them, he set them apart and laid them up till he should know what should become of them.

13. And after that he asked them that were left of the tribe of Manasse, and they said: We did only defile the Lord's sabbaths. And he asked the forsaken of the tribe of Effraim, which said: We desired to pass our sons and our daughters through the fire, that we might know if that which was said were manifest. And he asked the forsaken of the tribe of Benjamin, which said: We desired at this time to examine the book of the law, whether God had plainly written that which was therein, or whether Moses had taught it of himself.