HISTORY OF JOSEPH THE CARPENTER.[1]
CHAPTER I.
It happened, one day, when our Saviour, Master, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, sat with his disciples, and they were all assembled on the Mount of Olives, that he said to them, O, my brethren and friends, sons of my Father, who hath chosen you out of all men! you know that I have often told you I must be crucified, and die for the salvation of Adam and his descendants, and that I shall rise from the dead. Now I shall commit to you the doctrine of the Holy Gospel (before) announced (to you), that you may proclaim it through all the world; and I will clothe you with power from above, and will fill you with
- ↑ The Arabic text has an introduction to the following effect:—
In the name of God, one in His essence and threefold in His Persons.
The history of the death of our father, the holy old man, Joseph the carpenter.
His blessings and prayers preserve us all, O brethren! Amen.
His whole life was a hundred and eleven years, and his departure from this world fell on the 26th of the month Abib, which answers to the month Ab. His prayer preserve us, Amen. And, indeed, it was our Lord Jesus Christ himself who rehearsed this to his holy disciples on Mount Olivet, and all his (Joseph's) labour, and the completion of his days. Now the holy Apostles kept this discourse and left it in writing in the library at Jerusalem. Their prayer preserve us, Amen.
