http://gospeltranslations.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Joseph%2C_Part_1 2026-05-04T10:56:24Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.16alpha http://gospeltranslations.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph,_Part_1&diff=14483&oldid=prev 2008-10-13T12:32:26Z

<p>New page: {{info}}The single lamp would flicker in&lt;br&gt;The late-night draft, and kiss the thin&lt;br&gt;Unconscious face of Dinah on&lt;br&gt;Her fevered cheek until the dawn,&lt;br&gt;While Joseph watched and prayed ...</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{info}}The single lamp would flicker in&lt;br&gt;The late-night draft, and kiss the thin&lt;br&gt;Unconscious face of Dinah on&lt;br&gt;Her fevered cheek until the dawn,&lt;br&gt;While Joseph watched and prayed that she&lt;br&gt;Would live. She was eighteen, and he,&lt;br&gt;Less than a year behind her in&lt;br&gt;The line of Jacob's seed. He'd been&lt;br&gt;Mistaken for her twin, and worse,&lt;br&gt;Accused of bringing down this curse&lt;br&gt;On his half-sister's head because,&lt;br&gt;His brothers said, he broke the laws&lt;br&gt;Of God and loved her as no boy&lt;br&gt;Should love a sister, nor enjoy&lt;br&gt;The bed of his own father's child.&amp;nbsp;<br /> <br /> But Leah, Dinah's mother, smiled&lt;br&gt;At Joseph, lovingly, across&lt;br&gt;The bed, and said, “Joseph, the loss&lt;br&gt;Of my own daughter would not make&lt;br&gt;Me doubt your chastity or take&lt;br&gt;My daughter for a wench. I know&lt;br&gt;Why she lies here like this, and so&lt;br&gt;Do they. It was the filthy rape&lt;br&gt;Of Shechem. Simeon may drape&lt;br&gt;His guilty conscience with some slur&lt;br&gt;Against my daughter's character&lt;br&gt;And your uprightness, but it will&lt;br&gt;Not stand. When angry brothers kill&lt;br&gt;In vengeance, troubles come. Tonight&lt;br&gt;My daughter lies with some Hittite&lt;br&gt;Disease, and Levi schemes to blame,&lt;br&gt;With Simeon, the boy whose name&lt;br&gt;They most despise because you are&lt;br&gt;Your father's favorite son by far.&lt;br&gt;Oh, they made boast to Jacob, sure,&lt;br&gt;That no Hittite would ever lure&lt;br&gt;A Hebrew girl into his bed&lt;br&gt;Without the price of his own head.&lt;br&gt;And they made good their word with plot&lt;br&gt;And trickery. (Deceit is not&lt;br&gt;So quickly crushed, but deeply runs&lt;br&gt;Between a father and his sons.)&lt;br&gt;Yet they will blame my daughter's death&lt;br&gt;On you, and use her final breath&lt;br&gt;To justify their jealousy,&lt;br&gt;And, if by any means, to see&lt;br&gt;Your father lose the apple of&lt;br&gt;His eye, and steal an old man's love.” <br /> <br /> The lad looked up from Dinah's face&lt;br&gt;And stared at Leah's piercing grace:&lt;br&gt;“I thank you, madam, for your trust.&lt;br&gt;Not once did I so much as lust&lt;br&gt;At your fair daughter; though I do&lt;br&gt;Confess to love my sister. True,&lt;br&gt;She is a fair and winning maid,&lt;br&gt;But I have fixed my heart and stayed&lt;br&gt;My mind to die, or go to pit&lt;br&gt;Or dungeon first, before I sit&lt;br&gt;On scented sheets with any maid&lt;br&gt;Unmarried to my soul. I've prayed&lt;br&gt;Now every night that she would wake,&lt;br&gt;And I am much perplexed, and quake&lt;br&gt;With baffled fear that she will die.&lt;br&gt;Oh, Leah, why? Why, Leah, why?” <br /> <br /> “Perhaps,” she said, “the answer lies&lt;br&gt;Not so much in the minds of wise&lt;br&gt;And learned men, as in the long&lt;br&gt;Obedience that fights the wrong&lt;br&gt;And does the right, no matter what,&lt;br&gt;And waits to see the answer cut&lt;br&gt;In living stone, and really wrought&lt;br&gt;In flesh and blood before it's taught.&lt;br&gt;Perhaps the answer is the same&lt;br&gt;As why your brothers hate your name.&lt;br&gt;Is not this hate a hundred times&lt;br&gt;More evil than your sister's “crimes”&lt;br&gt;Of burning fever and distress,&lt;br&gt;And slowly breathing less and less?&lt;br&gt;And is our God less able to&lt;br&gt;Remove the heat of rage t'ward you,&lt;br&gt;Than to defeat the raging flame&lt;br&gt;Of Dinah's raped and burning frame?&lt;br&gt;I think not, Joseph. Rather both&lt;br&gt;Are easy for our God. One oath&lt;br&gt;From heaven's throne, and she would rise.&lt;br&gt;One more, and all your brothers' eyes&lt;br&gt;That hate you now would weep. And so&lt;br&gt;The answer why they hate, will show&lt;br&gt;The answer why your sister lies&lt;br&gt;Unwaking through your prayers and dies. <br /> <br /> There is a meaning, Joseph, in&lt;br&gt;The hatred of your brothers. Sin&lt;br&gt;Does not have power to nullify&lt;br&gt;The deity of God. Ask why&lt;br&gt;Your sister lies unconscious there,&lt;br&gt;And why they hate in spite of prayer.&lt;br&gt;But do not be in haste, or chide&lt;br&gt;Your God, that he should wait and hide&lt;br&gt;His purposes for now. He knows&lt;br&gt;When we should understand, and goes&lt;br&gt;About his work with perfect pace.&lt;br&gt;And putting every piece in place,&lt;br&gt;He leads a faithful man at last,&lt;br&gt;By night, to stand where he can cast&lt;br&gt;His eyes in light across the ways&lt;br&gt;That made no sense for years, and praise&lt;br&gt;The hand that led him all his days,&lt;br&gt;And brought him through the baffling maze.”&lt;br&gt;She stopped and looked in Joseph's eyes&lt;br&gt;And prayed that God would make him wise. <br /> <br /> “I marvel, Leah, that you do&lt;br&gt;Not hate me like the rest. You knew&lt;br&gt;The dreams I had as soon as they&lt;br&gt;Were told – that all of you some day&lt;br&gt;Would bow to me: the sun, the moon,&lt;br&gt;Eleven stars, like cedars hewn,&lt;br&gt;Will fall before the hated boy.&lt;br&gt;And now my brothers would destroy&lt;br&gt;A son of Israel before&lt;br&gt;They put their faces on the floor&lt;br&gt;At his conceited feet. But you&lt;br&gt;Are different, Leah. Why?” <br /> <br /> “It's true,&lt;br&gt;I know the dreams. And I believe&lt;br&gt;That they have come from God. I grieve&lt;br&gt;That all my sons are blind, and can&lt;br&gt;Not see the first fruits of a plan&lt;br&gt;To humble them and save their souls.” <br /> <br /> Then Joseph said, “But, Leah, Why?&lt;br&gt;You see. You have another kind of eye.&lt;br&gt;Where did you get this sight?” She gazed&lt;br&gt;A long time at her daughter's glazed&lt;br&gt;And half-shut eyes, then said, “I watched&lt;br&gt;Your mother die because a botched&lt;br&gt;Delivery of Benjamin&lt;br&gt;Left her to hemorrhage within.&lt;br&gt;And as I watched, God turned my life&lt;br&gt;Around. I was the other wife,&lt;br&gt;The second choice, the undesired.&lt;br&gt;He slept with me, it was required.&lt;br&gt;I've known the favored place, first in&lt;br&gt;My husbands arms, and then I've been&lt;br&gt;Rejected just like you. And I&lt;br&gt;Have tasted hate and wondered why.&lt;br&gt;But as I watched my sister and&lt;br&gt;Your mother die, I saw the hand&lt;br&gt;Of God. Rachel was beautiful,&lt;br&gt;And I was plain, and worse, as full&lt;br&gt;Of envy as an evil heart&lt;br&gt;Could be. And when she died, my part&lt;br&gt;Might well have been to revel in&lt;br&gt;Her woe, except that all my sin&lt;br&gt;Swept over me and crushed my vain&lt;br&gt;Desires, and gave me more disdain&lt;br&gt;For my own enmity than all&lt;br&gt;Her favored charm. It was a call&lt;br&gt;To wait, before I judge the ways&lt;br&gt;Of God. Who would have thought my days&lt;br&gt;Would be the more and better ones,&lt;br&gt;And I, not she, would bear six sons&lt;br&gt;Of Israel? And yet, dear son&lt;br&gt;Of Rachel, it is you, not one&lt;br&gt;Of my six sons, that God exalts&lt;br&gt;In dreams, while all the ugly faults&lt;br&gt;Of mine are on display.” She paused. <br /> <br /> And Joseph said, “Has not this caused&lt;br&gt;You to resent the ways of God?”&lt;br&gt;“O Joseph, learn to kiss the rod,&lt;br&gt;My son. You will be tested soon,&lt;br&gt;And in the midst of sunny June,&lt;br&gt;Your winter will arrive. And though&lt;br&gt;I sit here in my winter's woe,&lt;br&gt;I know that spring will come, and God&lt;br&gt;Will smile, and lay aside his rod.&lt;br&gt;Be sure the wheel will turn again,&lt;br&gt;And one of my own sons will then&lt;br&gt;Be lifted up with scepter in&lt;br&gt;His hand, perhaps, and conquer sin.” <br /> <br /> At daybreak Jacob came to get&lt;br&gt;His son. The old man touched the wet&lt;br&gt;And fevered skin of Dinah's face,&lt;br&gt;Then said to Joseph, “Go and trace&lt;br&gt;The path your brothers took last week&lt;br&gt;With all our flocks beyond the creek&lt;br&gt;Of Hebron. You will find them t'ward&lt;br&gt;The plains of Shechem. They've ignored&lt;br&gt;My word to send me news again,&lt;br&gt;And I am worried that the men&lt;br&gt;There might have made a raid against&lt;br&gt;The boys.” So Joseph stood, and sensed&lt;br&gt;A chapter in his life was done.&lt;br&gt;He stooped to kiss his sister one&lt;br&gt;More time, and then before he went,&lt;br&gt;He turned to Leah for consent,&lt;br&gt;Who smiling, said, “She'll be all right.&lt;br&gt;Remember what we've seen tonight.” <br /> <br /> As Joseph meets the rising sun&lt;br&gt;And we light advent candle one,&lt;br&gt;Remember that the question, Why?,&lt;br&gt;Is answered not with skill, but by&lt;br&gt;A long obedience and fight&lt;br&gt;That hates the wrong and loves the right.</div>

Greetje