History of Joseph the Carpenter

History of Joseph the Carpenter

Prologue

This is the departure from the body of our father Joseph the carpenter, the father of the Anointed One according to the flesh. His whole life was one hundred and eleven years. His departure from this world took place on the twenty-sixth day of Epep [also transmitted as Abib]. Our Savior told the history of his life, his labor, and his departure to the apostles on the Mount of Olives, and they wrote it and placed it in the library at Jerusalem.

1

One day, when the Savior sat with his disciples on the Mount of Olives, he said to them: My brothers and friends, sons of the Father who chose you from among humanity, you know that I have told you many times that I must be crucified, die for the life of Adam and his descendants, and rise from the dead. Now I entrust to you the teaching of the good message, which I have already announced to you, so that you may proclaim it through the whole world. I will clothe you with power from above and fill you with the Set-Apart Spirit. You will proclaim repentance and release from sins to all nations.

2

He said: A single cup of water, if it is found in the age to come, is greater than all the wealth of this world. A place no wider than one foot in the house of my Father is better than all earthly riches. One hour in the dwelling of the righteous is more blessed than a thousand years among those who remain in sin, where weeping does not cease and no rest is found. Go, therefore, and tell all nations: the Savior searches out what is due and administers justice. Every idle word will be examined, and every work will be made clear in the day of judgment, whether good or evil. Let not the strong boast in strength, nor the rich in riches; let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

3

There was a man named Joseph, from Bethlehem, the city of David in Judah. He was wise and learned, and he was skilled in the craft of a carpenter. Like other men, he took a wife and had children: four sons, Judas, Justus, James, and Simon; and two daughters, Assia and Lydia. His wife, who sought the glory of God in her works, departed from this life. Joseph, the righteous man, my father according to the flesh and the spouse of my mother Mary, continued his work as a carpenter with his sons.

4

When Joseph had become a widower, my mother Mary was twelve years old. Her parents had offered her in the temple when she was three, and she remained in the temple of the Lord for nine years. When the priests saw that she was reaching womanhood, they said to one another: We must seek a righteous and devout man to whom Mary may be entrusted until the appointed time of marriage, so that she may not remain in the temple when the ordinary condition of women comes upon her, and so that we may not sin and bring anger upon ourselves.

5

They gathered twelve aged men from the tribe of Judah and wrote the names of the tribes of Israel. The lot fell upon the righteous old man Joseph. The priests said to my blessed mother: Go with Joseph and remain with him until the time of your marriage. Joseph received my mother and brought her into his house. She found James the Less there grieving because his mother had died, and she cared for him. Because of this she was called Mary the mother of James. Joseph left her in his house and went to the place where he worked at the craft of carpentry. After she had spent two years in his house, she was fourteen years old.

6

I chose her by my own will, with the agreement of my Father and the counsel of the Set-Apart Spirit, and I took flesh from her by a mystery beyond the grasp of created understanding. Three months after her conception, righteous Joseph returned from his work. When he found my mother Mary with child, he was deeply troubled and thought of sending her away secretly. Because of fear, sorrow, and anguish of heart, he could neither eat nor drink that day.

7

At midday the holy Gabriel, prince among the angels, appeared to him in a dream with a command from my Father and said: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Set-Apart Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins. When the angel had spoken, he departed from him. Joseph rose from sleep and did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and Mary remained with him.

8

After this, a decree went out from Augustus Caesar that the inhabited world should be enrolled, each person in his own city. The old man Joseph rose and took Mary with him to Bethlehem, for the time of her birth was near. Joseph entered his name in the enrollment, because he was of the tribe of Judah and of the house of David. My mother Mary brought me forth in Bethlehem, in a cave near the tomb of Rachel, the wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin.

9

Then Satan stirred up Herod the Great, father of Archelaus, and Herod searched for me, thinking that my kingdom belonged to this world. Joseph, the devout old man, was warned in a dream. He rose and took Mary my mother, while I lay in her arms, and Salome went with them. They departed into Egypt and remained there one full year, until the hatred of Herod had passed.

10

Herod died in misery because of the innocent children whose blood he had shed. When that impious ruler was dead, Joseph, Mary, and I returned to the land of Israel and dwelt in Nazareth, a city of Galilee. Joseph returned to his carpenter's trade and earned his bread by the work of his hands. According to the commandment of the Law, he did not seek to live from the labor of another without working himself.

11

The old man Joseph advanced to a great age, yet his body did not fail. His sight did not dim, no tooth was lost from his mouth, and his mind did not wander all the days of his life. In his work he retained the strength of youth, and his limbs remained sound and free from pain. His whole life came to one hundred and eleven years.

12

Justus and Simon, the elder sons of Joseph, married and had households of their own. His two daughters also married and lived in their own houses. In Joseph's house there remained Judas, James the Less, and my mother Mary. I lived with them as one of his sons. I called Mary my mother and Joseph my father, and I obeyed them in all things. I did not contend with them, nor did I answer them with resistance, but loved them dearly, like the pupil of my eye.

13

When the time drew near for the old man Joseph to depart from this world, as happens to all who are born of the earth, an angel of the Lord made known to him that his death was near. Fear and trembling came upon him. He rose and went to Jerusalem, entered the temple of the Lord, and poured out his prayer before the sanctuary.

14

He said: O God, giver of all comfort, God of all compassion, Lord of the whole human race, God of my soul, my body, and my spirit, I bow before you with supplication. If my days are fulfilled and the time has come for me to leave this world, send Michael, the great prince of your holy angels, to remain with me, so that my poor soul may depart from this afflicted body without distress, terror, or impatience.

15

For great fear and deep sorrow seize every body on the day of death, whether man or woman, beast of the field or creature that creeps upon the earth or flies in the air. Every creature under heaven in whom there is the breath of life is struck with fear when the soul departs from the body. Therefore, O Lord my God, let your holy angel be with my soul and body until they are separated. Let not the angel appointed over me from the day of my birth turn his face from me, but let him be my companion until he brings me to you. Let his face be joyful toward me and let him lead me in peace.

16

Let no terrifying powers come near me on the road by which I must travel. Let not the gatekeepers hinder my soul from entering paradise. Do not uncover my sins before your dreadful judgment seat. Let not the lions rush upon me, and let not the waves of the fiery sea overwhelm my soul before I have seen the glory of your Godhead. O God, righteous Judge, who will judge humanity in justice and repay each according to his works, be present to me in your compassion. Enlighten my path, that I may come to you, for you are the fountain of every good thing, and to you belongs glory forever. Amen.

17

After this, Joseph returned to his house in Nazareth. He was seized by illness and lay upon his bed. This illness was heavy upon him, unlike anything he had known from the day of his birth. He had lived forty years before taking a wife. His wife remained with him forty-nine years, and then died. After one year of widowhood, my mother Mary was entrusted to him by the priests, that he should guard her until the time appointed. She remained in his house two years, and in the third year, when she was in her fifteenth year, she brought me forth upon the earth by a mystery that no creature can fully search out.

18

The full age of Joseph, my father, that righteous old man, was one hundred and eleven years, according to what my Father in heaven had appointed. The day on which his soul left his body was the twenty-sixth day of Epep [also transmitted as Abib]. Then the fine gold began to lose its brightness, and the silver was worn down by use: that is, his understanding and wisdom began to fail. He loathed food and drink, and his skill in carpentry left him. At dawn on that day, as he lay on his bed, his soul was troubled and ready to depart.

19

Joseph opened his mouth with deep sighs, struck his hands together, and cried out: Woe to the day on which I was born into the world. Woe to the womb that bore me. Woe to the breasts that nursed me. Woe to the hands that carried and raised me until I grew. For I was conceived in iniquity, and in sin my mother desired me. Woe to my tongue and lips, which have spoken vanity, slander, falsehood, ignorance, mockery, idle tales, deceit, and hypocrisy. Woe to my eyes, which have looked upon things that bring scandal. Woe to my ears, which have delighted in the words of slanderers.

20

Woe to my hands, which have taken what did not rightly belong to them. Woe to my belly and inward parts, which have desired food not lawful to eat. Woe to my throat, which has consumed like fire whatever it found. Woe to my feet, which have often walked in paths displeasing to God. Woe to my body, and woe to my miserable soul, which has turned aside from God its Maker. What shall I do when I arrive before the righteous Judge and he asks me to give account of the works I gathered in my youth? Woe to every person who dies in sins. The hour that came upon my father Jacob, when his soul departed from his body, has now come near to me. I am wretched today and worthy of lamentation. God alone is the disposer of my soul and body, and he will deal with them according to his good pleasure.

21

When Joseph had spoken these words, I went in to him and found his soul greatly troubled. I said to him: Peace to you, my father Joseph, righteous man. How are you? He answered: Peace to you, my beloved son. The agony and fear of death have already surrounded me, but when I heard your voice, my soul found rest. O Yeshua of Nazareth, Yeshua my Savior, Yeshua the deliverer of my soul, Yeshua my protector, sweet is your name in my mouth and in the mouth of all who love it. Hear me, eye that sees and ear that hears. I am your servant, and today I humble myself before you and pour out my tears before your face.

22

You are my God and my Lord, as the angel told me many times, especially on the day when my soul was troubled with thoughts concerning the pure and blessed Mary, who carried you in her womb, and I considered sending her away secretly. While I was thinking these things, angels of the Lord appeared to me in sleep and said: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. Do not grieve your soul or speak unworthy words concerning her conception, for what is in her is from the Set-Apart Spirit. She will bear a son, and his name shall be called Yeshua, for he will save his people from their sins. Do not be angry with me, O Lord, because I did not know the mystery of your birth.

23

I also remember, my Lord, the day when a boy died from the bite of a serpent, and his relatives wanted to hand you over to Herod, saying that you had killed him. But you raised him from the dead and gave him back to them. Then I came to you and took hold of your hand [some Coptic witness reads: your right ear], saying: My son, take care of yourself. You answered me: Are you not my father according to the flesh? I will teach you who I am. Therefore, O Lord my God, do not be angry with me and do not condemn me because of that hour. I am your servant and the son of your handmaid, but you are my Lord, my God, my Savior, and truly the Son of God.

24

When my father Joseph had said these things, he could weep no more. I saw that death had gained hold over him. My mother, Mary, undefiled, rose and came to me, saying: My beloved son, this righteous old man Joseph is dying. I answered: My dear mother, the necessity of death lies upon every creature born into this world. Death rules over the whole human race. Even you, my mother, must look for the same end of life as other mortals. Yet your death, and the death of this righteous man, is not death but life that endures. I too must die according to the body I received from you. Rise, honored mother, and go in to Joseph, so that you may see what happens when his soul ascends from his body.

25

My mother Mary went into the place where Joseph was. I sat at his feet and looked at him, for the signs of death had appeared on his face. That blessed old man raised his head and fixed his eyes on my face, but he could not speak because the agonies of death held him fast. He sighed many times. I held his hands for an hour, and he turned his face toward me, making signs that I should not leave him. Then I placed my hand upon his breast and perceived that his soul had come near his throat, preparing to depart from its dwelling.

26

When my mother saw me touching his body, she touched his feet and found that they were already cold and stiff, like snow. She said: My beloved son, his feet have begun to stiffen and are cold. Then she called his sons and daughters and said: Come, all of you, and go to your father, for he is at the point of death. Assia, his daughter, answered: Woe to me, my brothers. This is the same illness by which my beloved mother died. She wept and lamented, and all Joseph's other children mourned with her. I also, and my mother Mary, wept with them.

27

I turned my eyes toward the south side of the doorway and saw Death approaching, and with him the place of punishment and his company. Their clothing, faces, and mouths poured out flame. When my father Joseph saw them coming toward him, his eyes dissolved in tears and he groaned strangely. Seeing the force of his sighing, I drove back Death and all the host that accompanied him, and I called upon my good Father.

28

I said: Father of all mercy, eye that sees and ear that hears, listen to my prayer and supplication for the old man Joseph. Send Michael, prince of your angels, and Gabriel, herald of light, and all the light of your angels. Let their whole company walk with the soul of my father Joseph until they have brought it to you. This is the hour in which my father needs mercy. I say to you that all the saints, and all people born into the world, righteous or unrighteous, must taste death.

29

Then Michael and Gabriel came to the soul of my father Joseph. They took it and wrapped it in a shining cloth. He committed his spirit into the hands of my good Father, and my Father gave him peace. None of his children yet knew that he had fallen asleep. The angels protected his soul from the powers of darkness that were on the way, praising God until they brought it into the dwelling of the righteous.

30

His body lay without breath. I reached out my hand, set his eyes in order, and closed his mouth. I said to Mary: My mother, where is the skill he showed throughout his life in this world? See, it has passed away as though it had never been. When his children heard me speaking with Mary, they understood that he had breathed his last, and they wept and lamented. I said to them: The death of your father is not death, but enduring life, for he has been freed from the troubles of this life and has entered rest. When they heard this, they tore their garments and wept.

31

The inhabitants of Nazareth and Galilee heard their lamentation and gathered to them. They wept from the third hour until the ninth. At the ninth hour they came to Joseph's bed, lifted his body, and anointed it with costly spices. I prayed to my Father with the prayer of the heavenly ones, the prayer I had written with my own hand before I was carried in the womb of Mary my mother. When I had finished and said amen, a great multitude of angels came. I commanded two of them to spread their shining garments and wrap the body of Joseph, the blessed old man.

32

I spoke to Joseph and said: The smell and corruption of death shall not have dominion over you, nor shall a worm come forth from your body. No limb of yours shall be broken, no hair of your head shall be changed, and nothing of your body shall perish, O my father Joseph. It shall remain whole and uncorrupted until the banquet of the thousand years. Whoever gives an offering on the day of your remembrance, or gives food to the poor, the widow, and the orphan from the labor of his hands in your name, shall not lack good things all the days of his life.

33

Whoever gives a cup of water or wine to a widow or orphan in your name, I will place that person in your care, that you may bring him into the banquet of the thousand years. Whoever presents an offering on the day of your commemoration, I will bless and repay thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Whoever writes the history of your life, your labor, and your departure from this world, and the account that has come from my mouth, I will commit that person to your keeping as long as he remains in this life. When his soul departs from the body and he must leave this world, I will burn the book of his sins. He shall cross the fiery sea without trouble or pain. And if a poor man can give none of these things, let him name a son Joseph, and poverty and sudden death shall not take hold in that house.

34

Then the leaders of the city came to the place where the body of blessed Joseph lay, bringing burial cloths. They wished to wrap him according to the burial custom, but they found that the shroud already held fast to his body. When they tried to remove it, it was like iron and could not be loosened. They could find no end in that linen cloth, and they were greatly astonished. At last they carried him to the cave of burial and opened the entrance, that they might place his body with the bodies of his fathers.

35

Then I remembered the day when he walked with me into Egypt, and the great trouble he endured because of me. I mourned for his death for a long time. Lying upon his body, I said: O Death, who makes knowledge vanish and raises so many tears and lamentations, surely God my Father has permitted your power. Human beings die because of the transgression of Adam and Eve, and Death spares no one. Yet nothing comes upon anyone apart from the command of my Father.

36

There have been people who lived nine hundred years, yet they died. Though some lived longer, they too came under the same fate; none of them said, I have not tasted death. The Lord does not send the same punishment more than once, for it pleased my Father to bring death upon humanity. When Death sees the command descending from heaven, it says: I will go against that person and shake him greatly. Then it goes out against the soul and takes hold of it, doing with it what it has been commanded.

37

Because Adam did not do the will of my Father, but transgressed his command, the wrath of my Father was kindled against him and he was handed over to death. Thus death entered the world. If Adam had kept my Father's command, death would not have fallen upon him. Do you think I cannot ask my good Father to send a chariot of fire to take the body of my father Joseph to the place of rest, so that it may dwell with the spirits? But because of Adam's transgression, the trouble and violence of death have descended upon the whole human race. For this reason I too must die according to the flesh, for the sake of the work I have made, so that they may receive grace.

38

When I had spoken, I embraced the body of my father Joseph and wept over it. They opened the tomb and placed his body beside the body of his father Jacob. When he fell asleep, he had completed one hundred and eleven years. No tooth in his mouth had hurt him, his sight had not grown dim, his body had not bent, and his strength had not failed. He worked at the craft of carpentry until the last day of his life. This was the twenty-sixth day of Epep [also transmitted as Abib].

39

When we apostles heard these things from our Savior, we rose with joy, bowed before him, and said: Our Savior, show us your grace. We have heard the word of life, yet we wonder about Enoch and Elijah, because they did not undergo death but dwell in the habitation of the righteous until now, and their bodies have not seen corruption. Joseph the carpenter was your father according to the flesh, and you commanded us to go into all the world and proclaim the good message. You told us to relate the death of your father Joseph and to celebrate for him a yearly holy day. If anyone takes away from this account or adds to it, he sins. Since Joseph called you his son according to the flesh from the day you were born in Bethlehem, why did you not make him immortal like them, since you say he was righteous and chosen?

40

The Savior answered: The word spoken by my Father concerning Adam because of his disobedience has now been fulfilled, and all things are ordered according to the will and pleasure of my Father. If a person rejects the commandment of God and follows the works of the Accuser by committing sin, his life may be prolonged so that he may repent and remember that he must be delivered into the hands of death. If a person is zealous in good works, his life may also be prolonged, so that the reputation of his old age may lead the upright to imitate him. But when you see a person whose mind is quick to anger, know that his days are shortened, and such people are often taken away in the flower of their age.

41

Every word my Father has spoken concerning the children of humanity must be fulfilled. As for Enoch and Elijah, who remain alive until now in the bodies with which they were born, and as for my father Joseph, who was not allowed to remain in the body as they are: even if a person should live many myriads of years in the world, he must at some time exchange life for death. I say to you, my brothers, that Enoch and Elijah must return into the world near the end of time and die in the day of trembling, terror, confusion, and affliction. The lawless adversary will shed their blood like water because they will expose his impiety and reproach him while they live.

42

We said: Our Lord, our God and Savior, who are those whom the lawless adversary will slay because of the reproach they bring upon him? The Lord answered: They are Enoch and Elijah [some Arabic tradition adds Sibylla and Tabitha]. When we heard this from our Savior, we rejoiced and gave glory and thanksgiving to the Lord God and to our Savior Yeshua the Anointed One, to whom belong glory, honor, majesty, dominion, power, and praise, with the good Father and the life-giving Set-Apart Spirit, now and through all ages. Amen.