Testament of Gad 1

¹THE copy of the testament of Gad, what things he spake unto his sons, in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life, ²saying unto them: Hearken, my children, I was the ninth son born to Jacob, and I was valiant in keeping the flocks. ³Accordingly I guarded at night the flock; and whenever the lion came, or the wolf, or any wild beast against the fold, I pursued it, and overtaking it I seized its foot with my hand and hurled it about a stone's throw, and so killed it. ⁴Now Joseph my brother was feeding the flock with us for upwards of thirty days, and being young, he fell sick by reason of the heat. ⁵And he returned to Hebron to our father, who made him lie down near him, because he loved him greatly. ⁶And Joseph told our father that the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah were slaying the best of the flock and eating them against the judgement of Reuben and Judah. ⁷For he saw that I had delivered a lamb out of the mouth of a bear, and put the bear to death; but had slain the lamb, being grieved concerning it that it could not live, and that we had eaten it. ⁸And regarding this matter I was wroth with Joseph until the day that he was sold. ⁹And the spirit of hatred was in me, and I wished not either to hear of Joseph with the ears, or see him with the eyes, because he rebuked us to our faces saying that we were eating of the flock without Judah. For whatsoever things he told our father, he believed him.