translated by R. H. Charles, in R. H. Charles's Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (1913)
The Martyrdom of Isaiah survives only as one of three originally independent works later combined into the Christian composite known as the Ascension of Isaiah; Charles's introduction here treats it separately as the earliest and most purely Jewish of the three. It tells how the prophet Isaiah, warning the dying King Hezekiah that his son Manasseh will fall under the sway of the demon Beliar, withdraws with a band of faithful prophets into the wilderness after Manasseh turns Jerusalem to idolatry and persecution. There the false prophet Belchira discovers Isaiah's retreat and denounces him to Manasseh on three charges — prophesying Jerusalem's destruction, claiming to have seen God, and calling Jerusalem's princes and people by the names of Sodom and Gomorrah. Manasseh has Isaiah sawn in two with a wood saw while Belchira and the court prophets stand by mocking him; Isaiah endures the martyrdom in silence, "his lips speaking with the Holy Spirit" until his death. Charles dates the work's Jewish core to the second century BCE or shortly after, seeing in the legend of Isaiah's death at Manasseh's hands (already implied at 2 Kings 21:16) an early instance of the "righteous sufferer" martyrology later so influential in Jewish and Christian literature alike.
Introductory Note (1913, R. H. Charles)
A Short Account of the Book
THE Martyrdom of Isaiah has not survived independently, but as one of the three constituents of the Ascension of Isaiah. In its present form we cannot be sure that the Ascension of Isaiah existed earlier than the latter half of the second century of our era. The three constituents of which it consists are the Martyrdom of Isaiah, the Vision of Isaiah, and the Testament of Hezekiah. The _ first of these with which we are here mainly concerned was of Jewish origin, and is of less interest than the other two, which were the work of Christian writers. The Vision of Isaiah—vi—xi. 40 of the Ascension of Isaiah—is important for the knowledge it affords us of first-century beliefs in certain circles as to the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the Seven Heavens, &c.
The long-lost Testament of Hezekiah—ii. 13 6—iv. 18 of the same work—is of very great value for the insight it gives us into the history of the Christian Church at the close of the first century. Its descriptions of the worldliness and lawlessness which prevailed among clergy, of the covetousness and vainglory and growing heresies among Christians generally, agree with similar accounts in 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, and Clement of Rome (ad Cor. iii, xxiii). The Martyrdom of Isaiah—i. 1-2 a, 6 6-134, ii. 1-8, 10—iii. 12, v. 1 c-14—is fragmentary. It opens with Hezekiah’s summons of Manasseh his son and of Isaiah into his presence in order that the former should receive his dying commands relative to his duty in the coming days (i. 1-2 a). But Isaiah assures Hezekiah that all his words will be of none effect inasmuch as Manasseh would become the servant of Beliar and he Isaiah would be sawn asunder by Manasseh, and that no action of Hezekiah’s could prevent his martyrdom (i. 6 ὅ--13 α).
On the death of Hezekiah Manasseh turned to evil ways and became the servant of Beliar and caused Israel to sin in every form of witch- craft, and fornication and lawlessness (ii. 1-7). And Isaiah withdrew first to Bethlehem and then to the mountains beyond it, where he and the prophets with him spent two years mourning and fasting because of the apostasy of Israel (ii. 10-16). The false prophet Belchira discovers his retreat and accuses him before Manasseh on three grounds: that he had prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, that he had claimed to see God, though Moses had said that no man could see God and live, and that he had called Jerusalem Sodom, and its princes and people Gomorrah (iii. 1-12). On account of _ these things Manasseh caused Isaiah to be sawn asunder with a wood saw, Belchira and the false prophets standing by and deriding him (v. 1 c-14).
Title
The Martyrdom of Isaiah has, as we have seen, been preserved to us only in a fragmentary form as part of the Ascension of Isaiah. The whole book was known under several names. (a) ᾿Απόκρυφον Ἡσαΐου is the designation given to it early in the third century by Origen in his commentary on Matthew xiii. 57 (Lommatzsch, iii. 49) καὶ “Hoatas δὲ πεπρίσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ ἱστόρηται. εἰ δέ τις οὐ προσίεται τὴν ἱστορίαν διὰ τὸ ἐν τῷ ἀποκρύφῳ Ἡσαΐᾳ αὐτὴν φέρεσθαι πιστευσάτω τοῖς ἐν τῇ πρὸς ‘EBpatovs οὕτω γεγραμμένοις (Heb. xi. 37). See also Ep. ad Afric. 9, and the Constitutiones Apostolicae vi. 26. (4) It was known in the fourth century as τὸ ᾿Αναβατικὸν ᾿Ησαΐου according to Epiphanius, Haer. xl. 2, who says that it was used by his Archontici and his Hieracites. Cf. also Ixvii. 3. In like manner erome (Comm. in Isaiam \xiv. 4) calls it his Ascensio Tsaiae. (c) Again it went by the name Opaots “Hoatov as may be inferred from the texts of ES and L? of vi. 1.
This designation appears in Montfaucon’s and Pitra’s list of Canonical and Apocryphal books, and was used by Euthymius Zigabenus in the eleventh century when anathematizing his Massaliani ( Victoria de Massal. Anath. iv). This title belongs specifically and probably originally only to vi.—xi. 40. (d) Finally, it is named the Διαθήκη Ἐζεκίου by Cedrenus I. 120-1. That such a work was incorporated in the Ascension might also be inferred from i. 24-5 a, which describe the contents of Hezekiah’s vision. This description is applicable to the Christian Apocalypse iii. 13 —iv. 18 and to it alone.
The fact, too; that Cedrenus quotes partially iv. 12, 14 and refers to iv. 15-18 of this very section points to the conclusion that.such a book existed independently.
The Versions
Since the Martyrdom of Isaiah was originally an independent work, we shall deal here only with the Versions of this work and not with those that reproduce the rest of the Ascension — of Isaiah. (a) The Greek Version. This version existed in two forms, G! and G?, as early as the third century. The former is lost, but its characteristics are reproduced by the Ethiopic (= E) and the first Latin Version (= L!). Phrases and sentences of G! from every chapter of the Ascension of Isaiah, except iv, have been preserved by the ‘Greek Legend’. This work was found by von Gebhardt in a Greek MS. of the twelfth century, no. 1534 in the National Library at Paris, and published by him in the Z/WT 330-53.
In my edition of the Ascension of Isaiah it is reprinted from Gebhardt’s text with one or two necessary emendations, and all the phrases taken directly from G! are printed in thick type, and the chapter and verse placed in the margin. Of ( an actual fragment was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in a papyrus of the fifth or sixth century. On this fragment see my edition, pp. xxviii-xxxi, and for the fragment itself, pp. 84-95. G1! and G? are in turn derived from a lost archetype G, which was known in its original form to the writer of the Opus [imperfectum: seé pp. xl-xlii of my edition. (6) The Ethiopic Version. This is the only version that preserves in its entirety the Ascension of Isaiah.
It is, as I have shown in my edition, derived from αἰ. It is a very faithful reproduction of the Greek. So closely does it follow the latter that it can almost always be retranslated without difficulty. Like every version, however, with a long history behind it, it has its defects. As yet only three MSS., αὖς, have been brought to Europe from Abyssinia.
The first of these was edited by Laurence, Ascensio [saiae Vatis, Oxoniae, 1819, and the whole three by Dillmann, Ascensio Isaiae Aethiopice et Latine, Lipsiae, 1877, and by the present writer, Zhe Ascension of Isaiah translated from the Ethiopic Version, which, together with the new Greek Fragment, the Latin Versions, and the Latin Translation of the Slavonic, is here published in full, London, 1900. The last work is based on a fresh and more accurate collation of the MSS. (c) The Latin Versions. There were two Latin versions, one of which, L*, embraces vi—xi. 1-19, 23-40, the other, 1.1, only ii. 14— iii. 13, vii. 1-19. The former was printed by Antonius de Fantis at Venice in 1522 from a MS. now unknown, and reprinted by Gieseler in 1832 and by Dillmann as an appendix to his edition in 1877, and by the present writer with critical notes and corrections in his edition of 1go0o. The two smaller fragments, i.e. 1.1, which were first edited by Mai in 1828 from a sixth- century Vatican MS., were re-edited by the present writer from a fresh collation of the MS.
A study of E, L', L’, the ‘Greek Legend’, and of the Slavonic Version (= S) which exists only for vi-xi proves that E 1,1 and the ‘Greek Legend’ go back to a definite Greek text, which we might name G!, and that S L? go back similarly to G?.
Relation of the Various Versions
Some of these relations have already been briefly indicated in the preceding section. The student will find them dealt with at length in my edition, pp. xviii-xxxiii, xl-xlii.. As regards the Martyrdom of Isaiah the textual affinities of all the textual authorities can be shortly summarized in the following table :— not existing but known in its original form to the writer of G (= Greek Martyrdom of Isaiah as edited in the ‘ Ascension ’: | | the Opus Imperfectum). αἱ (not existing but known to and G? (in part existing in the newly used by the writer of the ‘ Greek recovered fragment ii. 4—iii. 12). Legend’). — E (= Ethiopic Version). L! (= Latin Version: ii. 14—iii. 12). ᾧ 5.
THE EXTENT OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ISATAH. All writers save Laurence recognize a plurality of authorship in the Ascension of Isaiah, and the independent origin of the Martyrdom of Isaiah. Ewald was the first to distinguish the works of three different authors. Ewald’s analysis was remodelled and issucd in the following form by Dillmann :— ii. The Vision of Isaiah, of Christian origin: vi. 1—xi. 1, 23-40. ἀπ ee ae ie tp Oe πρὶ ee INTRODUCTION _ iii.
The above two constituents were put together by a Christian writer, who prefixed i. 1, 2, 46-13 and appended xi. 42, 43. iv. Finally a Christian editor incorporated the two sections ili. 13 —v. 1 and xi. 2-22, and added also i. 3, 4 a, v. 15, 16, xi. 41. Dillmann’s analysis has on the whole been accepted by Harnack, Schiirer, Deane, and Beer. All these scholars have been influenced by Gebhardt’s statement that in his ‘Greek Legend’ there is nota trace of iii. 13—-v. I, xi. 2-22, and that, accordingly, these sections were absent from the text when _the ‘Greek Legend’ was composed.
Thus according to Gebhardt, Dillmann’s analysis is confirmed by external evidence. But Gebhardt’s statement is wrong ; for as I have shown in my edition the writer of the ‘Greek Legend’ was acquainted with both these sections, inasmuch as he incorporates phrases from iv. 2. 6,
The Date
The Martyrdom is quoted by the Opus Imperfectum, Ambrose, Jerome, Origen, Tertullian, and in all probability by Justin Martyr (Dial. c. Tryph. cxx. 14, 15 περὶ τὸν θάνατον ‘Hoatov ὃν πρίονι ξυλίνῳ ἐπρίσατε). It was not improbably known to the writer of the Epistle to the. Hebrews (xi. 37). This brings us, if the last reference is trustworthy, to the first century A,D.
And this appears to. be the right date; for it is unlikely that works written by Jews in the second century should attain to circulation in the Christian Church.
Authorship and Original Language
The author was a Jew. The details as to the death of Isaiah at the hands of Manasseh are found in the Talmud (Febamoth 496) in a form closely related to that in our text. Thus it is told that Rabbi Simeon ben ‘Azzai found in Jerusalem an account of the death of Isaiah at the hands of Manasseh. Manasseh condemned Isaiah to death because he had claimed to see (Isa. vi. τ sqq.), whereas according to the Law it was declared that no man could see God and live (Exod. xxxili. 20). The same passage tells also of Isaiah taking refuge in a cedar tree, and of the cedar being sawn in sunder and Isaiah within it.
Another version of the same legend is given in the Jerusalem Talmud (Sanh. x), and still another in Targum on Isaiah quoted by Jolowicz (Die Himmelfahrt und Vision des Prophets Fesajas, p. 9). See Fewish Encyc., viii. 636. It is very probable that the original was written in Hebrew. The Jewish origin of the legend points in this direction, and particularly its recurrence in the Talmud. The following facts also lend confirmation to this hypothesis.
In ii. 1 there is a paronomasia of the words ‘ Manasseh . . . did not remember’ = when retranslated into Hebrew: ΠΣ πῶ. Again in i. 8 Malchira is probably a transliteration of ν᾽ 3ΡῸ or »Π ΝΟ as S. A. Cook has pointed out. In iii. 2 we have the familiar Hebraism καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐλθεῖν... καί.
Finally, ‘wooden saw’, i.e. πρίων ξύλινος in v. 11,1 appears to be ἃ mistranslation of yy wm, which means a saw for sawing wood. In the Greek γε. iii. 14 it is described as πρίων σίδηρος.
The Martyrdom of Isaiah in Jewish and Christian Literature
The legend of the Martyrdom of Isaiah took its origin most probably in 2 Kings xxi. 16. Although Josephus does not mention it, it was certainly a Jewish tradition. In Sanh, 103 ὁ it is said that Manasseh put Isaiah to death ; and in Jebamoth 49 ὁ that Isaiah was put to death by Manasseh because he declared that he had seen God. There, as in our text, Isaiah is charged with contradicting the words of Moses in Exod. xxxiii. 20. His death also by being sawn in sunder is also recounted.
This account is probably drawn ultimately from the Semitic original of our text. Another form of the Legend appears in Jerusalem Talmud (Sanh. x). The legend was known in the Apostolic age, if, as is generally assumed, we have in Heb. xi. 37 (ἐπρίσθησαν) a reference to the specific mode of Isaiah’s martyrdom. But, even if this is doubtful, there is the evidence of the Ascension (i. 1, 2 a, 6—iii. 12, v. 1 6-14) which cannot be much later than the middle of the first century A.D. In the next century Justin Martyr most probably quotes from our text (see note on v. 11), while somewhat later frequent references and quotations are found in Origen.
But though the legend is undoubtedly Jewish, it appears to have been derived from Eastern sources. According to the Zamydd Yast 46 (S.B.£. xxiii. 297), Bundahis xxxi. 5, xxxiv. 4 (op. cit. v. 131,150) Yima reigned 616% years and was then dethroned for his blind pride in accepting divine worship and sawn in two by the serpent of three heads, Azhi Dahaka. In the Persian work ‘The History of King Djemchid and the Devas’ which Larionoff translated into French from the Persian (Fournal Aszat. pp. 59-83, 1889) we find a nearly related legend. When Djemchid’s throne was seized by Zohak, the man of serpents, he fled into the wilderness. One hundred years later Ahriman and Biver (i.e.
Zohak) having come upon him there, God caused a tree to open itself, in order that Djemchid might conceal! himself therein. Notwithstanding, through the help of Iblis they discovered his hiding-place and had the tree sawn in twain, and so Djemchid was killed. This legend appears to have directly influenced the Talmudic accounts of the martyrdom of Isaiah exactly in the points wherein they differ from that in our text.
The Martyrdom of Isaiah
And it came to pass in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah that he called Manasseh his son. Now he was his only one. And he called him into the presence of lsaiah the son of Amoz the prophet; and into the presence of Jésdb the son of Isaiah. | And whilst he (Hezekiah) gave commands, Jésab the son of Isaiah standing by, Isaiah said to ezekiah the king, but not in the presence of Manasseh only did he say unto him: ‘ As the Lord yveth, whose name has not been sent into this world, [and as the Beloved of my Lord liveth], and as the Spirit which speaketh in me liveth, all these commands and these words shall be made of none effect by Manasseh thy son, and through the agency of his hands I shall depart mid the torture of ‘my body. And Sammael Malchira shall serve Manasseh, and execute all his desire, and he shall become a follower of Beliar rather than of me. And many in Jerusalem and in Judaea he shall ‘cause to abandon the true faith, and Beliar shall dwell in Manasseh, and by his hands I shall be sawn asunder.’ And when Hezekiah heard these words he wept very bitterly, and rent his garments, Ι and placed earth upon his head, and fell on his face.
And Isaiah said unto him: ‘The counsel of Sammael against Manasseh is consummated: nought shall avail thee.’ And on that day Hezekiah resolved in his heart to slay Manasseh his son, And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: [ἡ The Beloved hath made of none effect thy design, and] the purpose of thy heart shall not be accomplished, for with this calling have I been called [and I shall inherit the heritage of the Beloved].’ And it came to pass after that Hezekiah died and Manasseh became king, that he did not — remember the commands of Hezekiah his father but forgat them, and Sammael abode in Manasseh — 2 and clung fast to him. And Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father, and he served 3 Satan and his angels and his powers. And he turned aside the house of his father which had been 4 before the face of Hezekiah (from) the words of wisdom and from the service of God. And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbichis. And he delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he made him strong in apostatizing (Israel) and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem. 5 And witchcraft and magic increased and divination and auguration, and fornication, [and adultery], and the persecution of the righteous by Manasseh and [ Belachira, and] Tobia the Canaanite, and John 6 of Anathoth, and by (Zadok) the chief of the works.
And the rest of the acts, behold they are written 7 in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And when Isaiah the son of Amoz saw the lawless- ness which was being perpetrated in Jerusalem and the worship of Satan and his wantonness, he 8 withdrew from Jerusalem and settled in Bethlehem of Judah. And there also there was much 9 lawlessness, and withdrawing from Bethlehem he settled on a mountain in a desert place. [And Micaiah the prophet, and the aged Ananias, and Joel and Habakkuk, and his son Jésab, and many of the faithful who believed in the ascension into heaven, withdrew and settled on the mountain. | They were all clothed with garments of hair, and they were all prophets. And they had nothing with them but were naked, and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the going tt astray of Israel. And these eat nothing save wild herbs which they gathered on the mountains, and having cooked them, they lived thereon together with Isaiah the prophet.
And they spent two years of days on the mountains and hills. [And after this, whilst they were in the desert, there was a certain man in Samaria named Belchira, of the family of Zedekiah, the son of Chenaan, a false prophet whose dwelling was in Bethlehem. Now +Hezekiaht the son of Chandni, who was the brother of his father, and in the days of Ahab king of Israel had been the teacher of the 400 prophets of Baal, had himself smitten and reproved Micaiah the son of Amada the prophet. And he, Micaiah, had _ been reproved by Ahab and cast into prison. «(And he was) with Zedekiah the prophet : they were _ 14 with Ahaziah the son of Ahab, king in Samaria. And Elijah the prophet of Tébén of Gilead was reproving Ahaziah and Samaria, and prophesied regarding Ahaziah that he should die on his bed of sickness, and that Samaria should be delivered -into the hand of Leba Nasr because he had slain the prophets of God. And when the false prophets, who were with Ahaziah the son of Ahab and their teacher Gemarias of Mount ;Joel} had heard—now he was brother of Zedekiah—when _ they had heard, they persuaded Ahaziah the king of fAguaron} and s/ew Micaiah.
‘x And Belchira recognized and saw the place of Isaiah and the prophets who were with him ; for he dwelt in the region of Bethlehem, and was an adherent of Manasseh. - And he prophesied falsely in Jerusalem, and many belonging to Jerusalem were confederate with him, and he was a Samaritan. And it came to pass when Alagar Zagar, king of Assyria, had come and captured Samaria and taken the nine (and a half) tribes captive,and led them away to the mountains of the Medes and the rivers of Tazén; this (Belchird) while still a youth, had escaped and come to Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, but he walked not in the ways of his father of Samaria; for he feared Hezekiah. And he was found in the days of Hezekiah speaking words of lawlessness in Jerusalem. _ 5 And the servants of Hezekiah accused him, and he made his escape to the region of Bethlehem. _ 6And they persuaded... And Belchira accused Isaiah and the prophets who were with him, ᾿ς saying: ‘ Isaiah and those who are with him prophesy against Jerusalem and against the cities of Judah that they shall be laid waste and (against the children of Judah and) Benjamin also that they shall go into captivity, and also against thee, O lord the king, that thou shalt go (ound) with hooks | 8 and iron chains’: But they prophesy falsely against Israel and Judah. And Isaiah himself hath |. gsaid: ‘I see more than Moses the prophet.’ But Moses said: ‘No man can see God and live’: | 10and Isaiah hath said: ‘I have seen God and behold I live.’ Know, therefore, O king, that he is ᾿ lying.
And Jerusalem also he hath called Sodom, and the princes of Judah and Jerusalem he hath A smitten, &c. 1 Kings xxii. 24. i = Amada = Imlah. i a 13. And he was. &’ supplies. Ahab, king in Samaria. Alamerem balala’aw E; ᾿Αλὰ(μ) ἐν Σεμμωμα Ge. For ‘Alam’=‘ Ahab’ see (αὖ | iii. 15. balala’aw = probably basala’aw, i.e. βασιλέως.
The ‘-erem’ is explicable from ἐν Σεμμωμα Uk? as ‘in Samaria’. 1 3 14. Elijah is introduced here unexpectedly. iP of Téb6n of Gilead. Cf. 1 Kings xvii. 1 (LXX) ὁ Θεσβείτης ἐκ Θεσβῶν τῆς Ταλαάδ, and Josephus, A7zé. viii. 13. 2 | ἐκ πόλεως Θεσεβώνης τῆς Γαλαδίτιδος χώρας. This Thisbe is mentioned in Tobit i. 2. For the omission of 6 Θεσβείτης cf.
MS. A of the LXX. The Massoretic punctuation in 1 Kings xvii. 1 of ‘WN = ‘ of the sojourners of’. gree regarding Ahaziah. 2 Kings i. 1-6. ba NAsr. Corrupt for Salmanassar. Cf. 2 Bar. lxii. 6 and 4 Ezra xiii. 40. declared to be the people of Gomorrah.
And he brought many accusations against Isaiah and the prophets before Manasseh. But Beliar dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and in the heart of the princes of Judah and Benjamin and of the eunuchs and of the councillors of the king. And the words of Belchira pleased him [exceedingly], and he sent and seized Isaiah. 1b,2 And he sawed him asunder with a wood-saw. And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder Balchira stood up, accusing him, and all the false prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because οἵ Isaiah. And Balchiré, with the aid of Mechémbéchis, stood up before Isaiah, [laughing] deriding; And Belchira said to Isaiah: ‘ Say: “I have lied in all that I have spoken, and likewise the ways of Manasseh are good and right.
And the ways also of Balchira and of his associates are good.”’ And this he said to him when he began to be sawn in sunder. But Isaiah was (absorbed) in a vision of the Lord, and though his eyes were open, he saw them (not). And Balchira spake thus to Isaiah: ‘Say what I say unto thee and I will turn their heart, and I will compel Manasseh g and the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem to reverence thee.’ And Isaiah answered and said: ‘So far as I have utterance (I say): Damned and accursed be thou and all thy powers and το, 11 all thy house. For thou canst not take (from me) aught save the skin of my body.’ And they seized and sawed in sunder Isaiah, the son of Amoz, with a wood-saw. And Manasseh and Balchira and the false prophets and the princes and the people [and] all stood looking on.
And to the prophets who were with him he said before he had been sawn in sunder: ‘Go ye to the region οἵ Tyre and Sidon; for for me only hath God mingled the cup.” And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he — was sawn in twain.
Colophon
Prepared from R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, Vol. II: Pseudepigrapha (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), translation and introduction by R. H. Charles. Source: archive.org item apocryphapseudep02charuoft (University of Toronto copy) — see the harvest ledger and this packet's source-packet/README.md for the witness-verification record.
This edition's per-verse textual-critical apparatus — the running Ethiopic/Greek/Latin/Slavonic manuscript-comparison notes that follow each block of translation in the 1913 printing — is omitted from this transcription, per the same policy applied throughout this volume; it survives complete in the printed edition and in the cited scan. Charles's introduction is reproduced above in full except for his closing §9, a purely bibliographic list of editions and secondary literature, which is omitted per this volume's standing "condensed to substance" convention for very long or list-form apparatus.
As with this shelf's Book of Jubilees and Letter of Aristeas, this transcription does not carry the edition's individual chapter-and-verse numerals, which are printed inline in the source and proved unreliable to recover mechanically at scale; the complete narrative is presented as continuous prose in the witness's own order. The translation was produced by the same disk-to-disk extraction pipeline used for this packet's other two works, with the digit/period-or-comma apparatus-start rule finding and removing 53 footnote entries from this short work's eight printed pages.
Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted transcription and editorial work.
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