t12papocrypha
Testament of Joseph 10
Joseph teaches his children that patience, fasting, prayer, and sobriety of heart are the conditions under which the Most High dwells within a man — and that when the Most High dwells there, envy, slavery, and slander cannot hold him. Joseph names himself as the demonstration: sold by his brethren, silent about his lineage before the Ishmaelites, yet guarded in deed, word, and thought. His silence is not weakness but covenant discretion — the hidden servant who does not exalt himself, knowing that exaltation belongs to the Lord who indwells the sober heart.
1
Ye see therefore, my children, how great things patience worketh, and prayer with fasting.
2
And if ye therefore follow after sobriety and purity in patience and humility of heart, the Lord will dwell among you, because He loveth sobriety.
3
And wheresoever the Most High dwelleth, even though a man fall into envy, or slavery, or slander, the Lord who dwelleth in him, for his sobriety's sake not only delivereth him from evil, but also exalteth and glorifieth him, even as me.
4
For in every way the man is guarded, whether in deed, or in word, or in thought.
5
My brethren know how my father loved me, and I was not exalted in my heart; although I was a child, I had the fear of God in my thoughts.
6
For I knew that all things should pass away, and I kept myself within bounds, and I honoured my brethren; and through fear of them I held my peace when I was sold, and revealed not my family to the Ishmaelites, that I was the son of Jacob, a great man and a mighty.
