Ascension of Isaiah

Hezekiah's last days and the testament unto Manasseh; Isaiah's prophecy that Manasseh shall serve Beliar; the rise of the false prophet Belkira; the prophet's withdrawal unto Bethlehem and unto the wilderness.

1It came to pass in the twenty and sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah, that he called Manasseh his son. He was his only son. He called him into the presence of Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet, and into the presence of Josab the son of Isaiah, that he might give him over unto the Lord his God.

2And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah the king: As the Lord liveth, whose name hath not been delivered up unto this world, and as the Beloved of my Lord liveth, and as the Spirit of the Lord liveth, who speaketh in me — all these commandments and these words shall be made void by Manasseh thy son. By his hand I shall depart in the torments of my body.

3Beliar shall dwell in Manasseh; and by his hands shall I be sawn asunder. When Hezekiah heard these words, he wept very bitterly, and rent his garments, and put earth upon his head, and fell upon his face. Isaiah said unto him: The counsel of Sammael against Manasseh is consummated; nothing shall avail thee. For on this day I shall receive mine inheritance with my fathers.

4When Manasseh succeeded his father, he forsook the commandments of Hezekiah his father; and remembered them not. Sammael abode in Manasseh, and clave fast unto him. Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father; and he served Satan and his angels, and his powers.

5He turned aside the house of his father which had been before the face of Hezekiah from the words of wisdom; and from the service of God. Manasseh turned aside the heart of his father, and made him serve Beliar. Beliar is the angel of lawlessness; and the ruler of this world. His name is Matanbukus.

6He delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh; and he made him strong in apostatising and in the lawlessness which were spread abroad in Jerusalem. Sorcery, and magic, and divination, and auguring, and fornication, and adultery, and the persecution of the righteous by Manasseh — and by Belkira, and by Tobia the Canaanite, and by John of Anathoth, and by Zadok the chief of the works — multiplied.

7When Isaiah the son of Amoz beheld the lawlessness which was being perpetrated in Jerusalem, and the worship of Satan, and his wantonness — he withdrew from Jerusalem and dwelt in Bethlehem of Judah. There also there was much lawlessness; and being unable to bear it longer, he withdrew from Bethlehem unto a mountain in a desert place. There they dwelt — even the prophets that believed in the Ascension of the Beloved into heaven.

8All these withdrew unto a mountain. They were all clothed with garments of hair, and they were all prophets. They had nothing with them; for they were destitute, and all of them lamented with great lamentation because of the going astray of Israel. They had nothing to eat save wild herbs, which they gathered from the mountains, and having cooked, they did eat them with Isaiah the prophet. So they dwelt upon the mountains and upon the hills two years of days.