Testament of Joseph 7

¹But her heart was still set upon evil, and she looked around how to ensnare me, ²and sighing deeply she became downcast, though she was not sick. And when her husband saw her, he said unto her: Why is thy countenance fallen? And she said unto him: I have a pain at my heart, and the groanings of my spirit oppress me; and so he comforted her who was not sick. ³Then, accordingly seizing an opportunity, she rushed unto me while her husband was yet without, and said unto me: ⁴I will hang myself, or cast myself over a cliff, if thou wilt not lie with me. ⁵And when I saw the spirit of Beliar was troubling her, I prayed unto the Lord, and said unto her: ⁶Why, wretched woman, art thou troubled and disturbed, blinded through, sins? Remember that if thou kill thyself, Asteho, the concubine of thy husband, thy rival, will beat thy children, and thou wilt destroy thy memorial from off the earth. ⁷And she said unto me: Lo, then thou lovest me; let this suffice me: only strive for my life and my children, and I expect that I shall enjoy my desire also. ⁸But she knew not that because of my lord I spake thus, and not because of her. ⁹For if a man hath fallen before the passion of a wicked desire and become enslaved by it, even as she, whatever good thing he may hear with regard to that passion, he receiveth it with a view to his wicked desire.