t12papocrypha
Testament of Levi 2
Levi, grieving over the corruption of men, prays for deliverance and receives a vision of ascending heavens. An angel calls him through the first and second heavens — where suspended waters mark the boundary between realms — toward a third heaven of unbounded height, with four brighter heavens beyond. There the angel reveals Levi's foreordination: he will stand near Jehovah as His minister, declare His mysteries, and proclaim the Redeemer of Israel. Through Levi and Judah, Jehovah will appear among men. Levi's inheritance is not land but Jehovah Himself — field, vineyard, provision — the pattern of the priestly portion set in the Law and anchored in the Holy Order.
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I Levi was conceived in Haran and born there, and after that I came with my father to Shechem. And I was young, about twenty years of age, when with Simeon I wrought the vengeance on Hamor for our sister Dinah. And when we were feeding our flocks in Abel-Maul, a spirit of understanding of the Lord came upon me, and I saw all men corrupting their way, and that unrighteousness had built to itself walls, and iniquity sat upon towers; and I grieved for the race of men, and I prayed to the Lord that I might be saved. Then there fell upon me a sleep, and I beheld a high mountain: this is the mountain of Aspis in Abel-Maul. And behold, the heavens were opened, and an angel of God said to me, Levi, enter. And I entered from the first heaven into the second, and I saw there water hanging between the one and the other. And I saw a third heaven far brighter than those two, for there was in it a height without bounds. And I said to the angel, Wherefore is this? And the angel said to me, Marvel not at these, for thou shalt see four other heavens brighter than these, and without comparison, when thou shalt have ascended thither: because thou shalt stand near the Lord, and shalt be His minister, and shall declare His mysteries to men, and shalt proclaim concerning Him who shall redeem Israel; and by thee and Judah shall the Lord appear among men, saving in them every race of men; and of the portion of the Lord shall be thy life, and He shall be thy field and vineyard, fruits, gold, silver.
