Forbidden Gospels and Epistles, Complete

CHAPTER IV.

1 An An­gel ap­pears to An­na and tells her she shall con­ceive; two an­gels ap­pear on the same er­rand. 5 Joachim sac­ri­fices. 8 An­na goes to meet him, 9 re­joic­ing that she shall con­ceive.

THEN an an­gel of the Lord stood by her and said, An­na, An­na, the Lord hath heard thy prayer; thou shalt con­ceive and bring forth, and thy proge­ny shall be spo­ken of in all the world.

2 And An­na an­swered, As the Lord my God liveth, what­ev­er I bring forth, whether it be male or fe­male, I will de­vote it to the Lord my God and it shall min­is­ter to him in holy things, dur­ing its whole life.

3 And be­hold there ap­peared two an­gels, say­ing un­to her, Be­hold Joachim thy hus­band is com­ing with his shep­herds.

4 For an an­gel of the Lord hath al­so come down to him, and said, The Lord God hath heard thy prayer, make haste and go hence, for be­hold An­na thy wife shall con­ceive.

5 And Joachim went down and called his shep­herds, say­ing, Bring me hith­er ten she-​lambs with­out spot or blem­ish, and they shall be for the Lord my God.

6 And bring me twelve calves with­out blem­ish, and the twelve calves shall be for the priests and the el­ders.

7 Bring me al­so a hun­dred goats, and the hun­dred goats shall be for the whole peo­ple.

8 And Joachim went down with the shep­herds, and An­na stood by the gate and saw Joachim com­ing with the shep­herds.

9 And she ran, and hang­ing about his neck, said, Now I know that the Lord hath great­ly blessed me:

10 For be­hold, I who was as a wid­ow am no longer as a wid­ow, and I who was bar­ren shall con­ceive.