the seventh son of Jacob and Bilhah
Chapter 1
1:1 “A copy of the words of Dan, which he spoke to his sons at the last of his days, in the one hundred twenty-fifth year of his life.”
1:2 “Assembling his clan, he said, Sons of Dan, hear my words; give heed to what is uttered by the mouth of your father.”
1:3 “I have made proof in my heart and in my life that truth with honest dealings is good and well-pleasing to God, while falsehood and anger are evil because they instruct mankind thoroughly in every evil.”
1:4 “My children, I confess to you today that in my heart I rejoiced over the death of Joseph, a man who was true and good.”
1:5 “I was glad about the sale of Joseph, because Father loved him more than the rest of us.”
1:6 “For the spirit of jealousy and pretentiousness kept saying to me, You too are his son.”
1:7 “And one of the spirits of Beliar/Satan was at work within me, saying, Take this sword, and with it kill Joseph; once he is dead, your father will love you.”
1:8 “This is the spirit of anger that persuaded me that as a leopard sucks the blood of a kid, so I should suck the blood of Joseph.”
1:9 “But the God of Jacob, our father, did not allow him to fall into my hands so that I might find him alone, nor did he permit me to accomplish this lawless act, lest two tribes be lost from Israel.”
Chapter 2
2:1 “And now, my children, I am dying, and I say to you in truth that if you do not guard yourselves against the spirit of falsehood and anger, and love truth and forbearance, you will perish.”
2:2 “There is blindness in anger, my children, and there is no angry person who can perceive the face of truth.”
2:3 “For even if one is his father or mother, he treats them as enemies; if it is a brother, he does not recognize him; if it is a prophet of the Lord, he misunderstands; if it is a just men, he is unaware of him; if a friend, he ignores him.”
2:4 “For the spirit of anger ensnares him in the nets of deceit, blinds his eyes literally, darkens his understanding by means of a lie, and provides him with its own peculiar perspective.”
2:5 “By what means does it ensnare the vision? By hatred in the heart, it gives him a peculiar disposition to envy his brother.”
Chapter 3
3:1 “Anger is evil, my children, for it becomes the motivation force of the soul itself.”
3:2 “That force has strange effects on the body of the angry man; it dominates his soul, and provides the body with a peculiar power so that it can accomplish every lawless act.”
3:3 “When the soul acts, it justifies whatever is done since it lacks discernment.”
3:4 “So then whoever is angry, if he is a powerful person, has triple strength by reason of his anger: First through the power and support of his subordinates; second through his wealth, by which he can win by persuasive acts and triumph in injustice; third, he has the natural force of his own body, and through it he accomplishes evil.”
3:5 “But if the angry one is a weak person, his strength is twice that of nature, for anger always supports such a person in their transgression.”
3:6 “This spirit always moves with falsehood at the right hand of Satan, in order that such deeds may be done through savagery and deception.”
Chapter 4
4:1 “Understand, then, the power of anger, that it is senseless.”
4:2 “First, it arouses by spoken word; then by actions it gives strength to the one who is aroused, by sharp losses it perturbs his mind, and thus arouses his soul with great anger.”
4:3 “When anyone speaks against you, do not be moved to anger; and if anyone praises you as being kind, do not be elated, nor be carried away, neither by pleasure nor by shame.”
4:4 “First it is pleasant to hear and thus it sharpens the mind to be sensitive to some provocation; and then when anyone is aroused by anger, it makes him suppose his self-esteem is justified.”
4:5 “If you suffer a loss, if you undergo the destruction of anything, do not become alarmed, my children, because this spirit makes one desire what is transitory in order that he might be made angry over what he is missing.”
4:6 “If you lose something, by your own action or otherwise, do not be sorrowful, for grief arouses anger as well as deceit.”
4:7 “Anger and falsehood together are a double-edged evil, and work together to perturb the reason. And when the soul is continually perturbed, the Lord withdraws from it and Beliar/Satan rules it.”
Chapter 5
5:1 “Observe the Lord’s commandments, then, my children, and keep his Law. Avoid wrath, and hate lying, in order that the Lord may dwell among you, and Beliar/Satan may flee from you.”
5:2 “Each of you speak truth clearly to his neighbor, and do not fall into pleasure and troublemaking, but be at peace, holding to the God of peace. Thus no conflict will overwhelm you.”
5:3 “Throughout all your life love the Lord, and one another with a true heart.”
5:4 “For I know that in the last days you will defect from the Lord, you will be offended at Levi, and revolt against Judah; but you will not prevail over them. An angel of the Lord guides them both, because by them Israel shall stand.”
5:5 “To the extent that you abandon the Lord, you will live by every evil deed, committing the revolting acts of the gentiles/nations, chasing after wives of lawless men, and you are motivated to all wickedness by the spirits of deceit among you.”
5:6 “For I read in the Book of Enoch the Righteous that your prince is Satan and that all the spirits of sexual promiscuity and of arrogance devote attention to the sons of Levi in the attempt to observe them closely and cause them to commit sin before the Lord.”
5:7 “My sons will draw close to Levi, will participate with them in all manner of sins; and with the sons of Judah they will share in greed, like lions snatching what belongs to others.”
5:8 “Accordingly you will be led off with them into captivity; there you will receive all the plagues of Egypt, and all the evils of the gentiles/nations.”
5:9 “Therefore when you turn back to the Lord, you will receive mercy, and he will lead you into his holy place, proclaiming peace to you.”
5:10 “And there shall arise for you from the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Levi the Lord’s salvation. He will make war against Beliar/Satan; he will grant the vengeance of victory as our goal.”
5:11 “And he shall take from Beliar/Satan the captives, the souls of the saints/elect; and he shall turn the hearts of the disobedient ones to the Lord, and grant eternal peace to those who call upon him.”
5:12 “And the saints/elect shall refresh themselves in Eden; the righteous shall rejoice in the New Jerusalem, which shall be eternally for the glorification of God.”
5:13 “And Jerusalem shall no longer undergo desolation, nor shall Israel be led into captivity, because the Lord will be in her midst [living among human beings]. The Holy One of Israel will rule over them in humility and poverty, and he who trusts in him shall reign in truth in the heavens.”
Chapter 6
6:1 “And now fear/reverence the Lord, my children, be on guard against Satan and his spirits.”
6:2 “Draw near to God and to the angel who intercedes for you, because he is the mediator between God and men for the peace of Israel. He shall stand in opposition to the kingdom of the enemy.”
6:3 “Therefore the enemy is eager to trip up all who call on the Lord,”
6:4 “Because he knows that on the day in which Israel trusts, the enemy’s kingdom will be brought to an end.”
6:5 “This angel of peace will strengthen Israel so that it will not succumb to an evil destiny.”
6:6 “But in Israel’s period of lawlessness it will be the Lord who will not depart from her and therefore she will seek to do his will, for none of the angels is like him.”
6:7 “His name shall be everywhere throughout Israel; [and the Savior will be known among the nations].”
6:8 “Keep love, truth, and patience.”
6:9 “What you have heard from your father pass on to your children, so that the father of nations may accept you. For he is true and patient, lowly and humble, exemplifying by his actions the Law of God.”
6:10 “Forsake all unrighteousness and cling to the righteousness of the Law of God.”
6:11 “And bury me near my fathers.”
Chapter 7
7:1 “When he had said this, he kissed them and slept an eternal sleep.”
7:2 “And his sons buried him and later they carried his bones to be near Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
7:3 “Dan prophesied to them, however, that they would go astray from God’s law, that they would be estranged from their inheritance, from the race of Israel, and from the patrimony; and that is what occurred.”