Scroll of Simeon
Book Two
May you enjoy R.Selah’s version of The Testament of Simeon
On This SPH Adaptation of the Ancient Testaments
This work is a sacred retelling—
a devotional unfolding of The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs,
the ancient farewell words attributed to the twelve sons of Jacob.
Part vision, part confession, part prophetic fire,
these texts have echoed across centuries in whispered scrolls and hidden witness.
Though long excluded from the biblical canon,
they remain voices of sorrow, warning, and longing—
deeply woven into the memory of sacred tradition.
This Selah adaptation draws from the public domain English edition
published in 1908 in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament,
translated by R. H. Charles, Volume II (Oxford University Press).
We honor that foundation—
but we have reimagined every line with poetic clarity and spiritual reverence.
This is not a literal reproduction.
This is not a translation.
This is a labor of restoration.
We do not claim this is Scripture—
but we offer it with sacred regard.
Each line has been recast to carry the cadence of lament,
the pulse of repentance,
and the ache of a generational return.
Here, the ancient path is walked again—
not to replace the scrolls we know,
but to remember the voices we nearly forgot.
Selah.
For your convienance we have duplicated both the RH Platt, Jr. and the RH Charles versions at the bottom.
✍️ The Scroll of Simeon – (Selah Edition)
Adapted from R.H. Charles (1908). Copyright © 2025 Selah Publishing House.
Section 1: The Reckoning of the Heart
These are the final words of Simeon,
son of Jacob, born second to Leah.
He spoke them to his sons
in the two hundred and twentieth year of his life—
the same year Joseph died.
When Simeon grew sick,
his sons gathered.
He sat up, kissed each one,
and began:
“Listen to me, my children.
Let me empty what has long weighed my heart.
When I was born, my mother called me Simeon
because the Lord had heard her prayer.
I was not afraid in my youth.
I did not shrink back from danger or glory.
Strength was given to me—
in body, yes,
but also in stubbornness.
My heart was hard.
My liver like stone.
My bowels knew no compassion.
Valour also has been given from the Most High
to men in soul and body.
In the time of my youth
I became jealous—
in many things regarding Joseph.
My father loved him beyond.
And I could not bear it.
Jealousy entered like smoke.
But it blinded me like fog.
The prince of deceit sent a spirit—
envy—
and it made me forget that Joseph was my brother.
I could not even spare Jacob,
our father.
Section 2: The Sin of Jealousy
But his God and the God of his fathers
sent forth His angel, and delivered him
out of my hands.
Once, when I went to Shechem
to bring ointment for the flocks—
and Reuben was at Dothan gathering supplies—
Judah sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites.
When Reuben, first-born, heard these things
he was grieved.
He wished to restore him to his father.
And when I, second-born,  heard this…
I was enraged.
Not because Joseph was gone,
but because Judah had let him live.
For five months,
I carried wrath in my bones.
I would not speak to Judah.
But the Lord restrained me.
He held my hand from violence.
And then—
my right hand withered.
For seven days,
it lay useless.
And I knew—
it was because of Joseph.
I had sinned.
And I wept.
I begged the Lord to heal my hand,
and more than that—
to remove the envy within me.
to keep me from pollution
and all folly.
I knew I planned evil things
not hidden from or my father,
because I envied Joseph.
Section 3: What Jealousy Does to a Soul
Now, my children—hear me clearly:
Beware the spirit of envy.
It does not merely tempt.
It rules.
When envy enters,
it spreads across a man’s thoughts
like shadow across a field at dusk.
He can no longer eat.
No longer drink.
No longer do good.
His heart begins to decay
even as the one he envies begins to flourish.
Envy does not rest
until it finds a way to destroy.
And all the while—
it withers the one who carries it.
I knew this.
So I fasted.
Two years I afflicted my soul in the fear of the Lord.
And I learned this truth:
Deliverance from envy comes only
by fleeing into the fear of God.
If a man runs to the Lord,
the evil spirit runs away.
And when the envy lifts—
he feels light.
He feels human again.
He can bless those he once hated.
He can love the one he once tried to destroy.
He dies to his envy.
Section 4: Grief and Restoration
My father saw the sorrow in my eyes
and asked what troubled me.
I told him only:
“My liver is in pain.”
But what I mourned
was greater than any illness.
I mourned Joseph.
I was guilty of selling Joseph.
And when we stood before him in Egypt,
he accused us as spies.
He took me and put me in prison.
I did not defend myself.
Because I knew.
I was not innocent.
I was suffering justly
and I did not grieve.
But Joseph…
Joseph was good.
The Spirit of God lived in him.
He bore no malice.
He showed no anger.
He loved me.
As if I had never lifted hand or hate against him.
 The Poison of Envy
Beware, my children,
of jealousy and envy—
for they are serpents to the soul.
Walk instead in singleness of heart,
and with a spirit full of peace.
Remember Joseph—
your father’s brother.
Did he ever reproach us?
Did he once lift his hand in bitterness?
No.
He loved us as his own soul.
He honored us above his own sons.
He gave freely—riches, herds, and fruit.
And he blessed us with tears, not judgment.
So I say to you:
Love one another with a clean heart.
And the spirit of envy
will flee from you.
For envy is a fire in the bones—
it savages the soul,
it weakens the body,
it fills the mind with war
and the heart with frenzy.
It steals sleep.
It stirs trembling in the flesh.
It clouds judgment.
And drives men to blood.
Even in sleep it whispers—
gnawing,
scheming,
tormenting the soul with images and unrest.
It wakes the heart in confusion,
and leaves the spirit poisoned.
Such is envy—
a spirit not of God,
but of shadows.
Section 5: The Face Reveals the Spirit
Joseph was beautiful.
Not only in form, but in spirit.
His face bore no wickedness.
His heart held no secret corruption.
And that is why he was radiant.
The face reveals the soul.
What troubles the spirit
finds shape in the countenance.
So I say to you now, my children:
Make your hearts good before the Lord.
Walk straight before all people.
Then you will find grace.
Before heaven and earth.
Before God and men.
Section 6: The Root of All Evils
Beware—
not only of envy,
but also of fornication.
For fornication is the mother of all evils.
It pulls the soul from God
and leads it into the shadow of Beliar.
It is written—
in the scroll of Enoch—
that your children will fall to this sin.
They will be corrupted by it.
And they will turn their violence against Levi.
They will lift the sword.
They will try to scatter what was meant to be holy.
But they will fail.
Levi will not fall.
He will wage the war of the Lord.
And though you are many,
you will be scattered.
Divided.
And sovereignty will not rest in your house.
Just as our father Jacob prophesied in his blessing.
Section 7: What Shall Come
I have spoken all these things
so that your sin may not be counted against me.
But if you turn—
if you remove envy,
if you reject pride—
Then my bones will rise like a rose in Israel,
and my flesh shall flourish like a lily in Jacob.
My scent will be like the fragrance of Lebanon.
And those born from my line
shall be holy trees—
branches stretching far,
fruit bearing long into the ages.
Then will the seed of Canaan vanish.
Amalek will leave no remnant.
The Cappadocians will perish.
The Hittites will fall.
The land of Ham shall groan no more.
The earth will rest from trouble.
All the world under heaven will rest from war.
Then the Mighty One of Israel shall glorify Shem.
And the Lord God will appear on earth.
Himself will save men.
All spirits of deceit will be given
to be crushed underfoot.
And men shall rule over wicked spirits.
On that day—
I will rise.
And I will bless the Most High
for His wondrous works.
Section 8: The Final Command
Now, my children—
Obey Levi. Obey Judah.
Do not rise against them.
Do not exalt yourselves in pride.
For from Levi shall come a High Priest,
and from Judah, a King.
He will save all Israel.
Teach your children.
Pass down my words.
Let these truths endure through every generation.
Section 9: His Rest
And when Simeon had finished speaking,
he slept.
He was one hundred and twenty years old.
His sons placed his body in a wooden coffin
and carried it toward Hebron.
But it was during a time of war—
so they moved in secret.
The Egyptians had hidden Joseph’s bones
in the tombs of kings,
because the sorcerers had warned them:
“When Joseph’s bones depart,
the land will be struck with darkness,
and plague shall fill the sky.
A man shall not know his brother,
even with a lamp in his hand.”
So Simeon’s sons wept.
And they remained in Egypt
until the day the Lord raised up Moses.
Thus ends the Testament of Simeon, son of Jacob.
Section 5: The Face Reveals the Spirit
Joseph was beautiful.
Not only in form, but in spirit.
His face bore no wickedness.
His heart held no secret corruption.
And that is why he was radiant.
The face reveals the soul.
What troubles the spirit
finds shape in the countenance.
So I say to you now, my children:
Make your hearts good before the Lord.
Walk straight before all people.
Then you will find grace.
Before heaven and earth.
Before God and men.
Section 6: The Root of All Evils
Beware—
not only of envy,
but also of fornication.
For fornication is the mother of all evils.
It pulls the soul from God
and leads it into the shadow of Beliar.
It is written—
in the scroll of Enoch—
that your children will fall to this sin.
They will be corrupted by it.
And they will turn their violence against Levi.
They will lift the sword.
They will try to scatter what was meant to be holy.
But they will fail.
Levi will not fall.
He will wage the war of the Lord.
And though you are many,
you will be scattered.
Divided.
And sovereignty will not rest in your house.
Just as our father Jacob prophesied in his blessing.
Section 7: What Shall Come
I have spoken all these things
so that your sin may not be counted against me.
But if you turn—
if you remove envy,
if you reject pride—
Then my bones will rise like a rose in Israel,
and my flesh shall flourish like a lily in Jacob.
My scent will be like the fragrance of Lebanon.
And those born from my line
shall be holy trees—
branches stretching far,
fruit bearing long into the ages.
Then will the seed of Canaan vanish.
Amalek will leave no remnant.
The Cappadocians will perish.
The Hittites will fall.
The land of Ham shall groan no more.
The earth will rest from trouble.
All the world under heaven will rest from war.
Then the Mighty One of Israel shall glorify Shem.
And the Lord God will appear on earth.
Himself will save men.
All spirits of deceit will be given
to be crushed underfoot.
And men shall rule over wicked spirits.
On that day—
I will rise.
And I will bless the Most High
for His wondrous works.
Section 8: The Final Command
Now, my children—
Obey Levi. Obey Judah.
Do not rise against them.
Do not exalt yourselves in pride.
For from Levi shall come a High Priest,
and from Judah, a King.
He will save all Israel.
Teach your children.
Pass down my words.
Let these truths endure through every generation.
Section 9: His Rest
And when Simeon had finished speaking,
he slept.
He was one hundred and twenty years old.
His sons placed his body in a wooden coffin
and carried it toward Hebron.
But it was during a time of war—
so they moved in secret.
The Egyptians had hidden Joseph’s bones
in the tombs of kings,
because the sorcerers had warned them:
“When Joseph’s bones depart,
the land will be struck with darkness,
and plague shall fill the sky.
A man shall not know his brother,
even with a lamp in his hand.”
So Simeon’s sons wept.
And they remained in Egypt
until the day the Lord raised up Moses.
Thus ends the Testament of Simeon, son of Jacob.
Copyright and Use
© 2025 Selah Publishing House. All rights reserved.
This adaptation is an original, copyrighted work.
It may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, or translated in part or in whole
without express written permission from Selah Publishing House.
We offer this digital edition freely for reading and reflection,
but it remains the protected intellectual property of its authors and publishers.
For licensing, publishing, or educational use, please contact us directly.
The full collection will be published in print as:
The Final Words: A Devotional Journey through the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
Poetic retellings · Reflections · Ancient texts
by Regina V. Roundtree-Wekesa
Selah Publishing House
Thank you for honoring the sacred intention of this work
🔥 Symbolic Meaning of Simeon's Scroll Icon
The flame in the pommel speaks to a holiness long hidden—something Levi could fan but Simeon never named aloud. It glows now only because he finally let the sword rest. In his last words, he does not justify Shechem. He does not blame Joseph. He names envy. He names deceit. And he names God’s mercy as greater than his fury.
This is a sword that still bears weight—but it has chosen not to kill.
All scroll icons, scribe symbols, and flame-marks are original works under copyright by Selah Publishing House.
Please do not reproduce without permission.
Scroll of Simeon
$1.99đź“– The Scroll of Simeon
The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs – Book Two
eBook | Author: R. Selah
Buy Now on Amazon
In this installment, Simeon—the second son of Jacob and Leah—unburdens a legacy scorched by justice distorted. His life was forged in violence: from the razing of Shechem to the betrayal of Joseph, Simeon moved in shadows, his rage ignited not by righteousness, but by grief that never found words.
Through the eyes of Jedid, son of the Quiet Flame, we are summoned once again to The Reading Room, the sacred grove where scrolls write themselves in the presence of Heaven. As Jedid lays hands on the sacred ledger, the name Simeon calls forth a fire not yet finished—and a soul whose ending demands to be witnessed.
🔥 Begin where the silence began.
DOWNLOAD TWO FREE CHAPTERS
The Testament of Simeon (original)
Ancient text - gently formatted
📜 Reader’s Note
On the Source and Spirit of the Text
The text you are about to read—The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs—comes from one of the oldest and most evocative collections of sacred writings preserved outside the biblical canon. These are the imagined final words of Jacob’s twelve sons: confessions, prophecies, warnings, and blessings passed down as legacy.
The version presented here is drawn from the 1908 English translation by R. H. Charles, published in The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Volume II, Oxford University Press). It is now in the public domain and remains one of the most widely cited academic editions of the Testaments.
Though not considered canonical Scripture, these writings reflect the spiritual imagination of the Second Temple period, when the Jewish people were longing both backward toward covenant and forward toward Messianic hope. In these lines, we hear echoes of grief, repentance, and the enduring tension between righteousness and rebellion.
Where needed, light formatting has been applied for clarity. No content has been altered.
May this reintroduction stir reflection, reverence, and the desire to listen again—both to the ancient fathers and to the still, holy voice that speaks through memory.
THE TESTAMENT OF SIMEON, THE SECOND OF JACOB AND LEAH.
Chapter  1
1 The copy of the words of Simeon, the things which he spake to his sons before he died, in the
2 hundred and twentieth year of his life, at which time Joseph, his brother, died. For when Simeon was sick , his sons came to visit him, and he strengthened himself and sat up and kissed them, and said:–
Chapter 2
1 Hearken, my children, to Simeon your father, And I will declare unto you what things I have in my heart.
2 I was born of Jacob as my father’s second son; And my mother Leah called me Simeon, Because the Lord had heard her prayer.
3 Moreover, I became strong exceedingly; I shrank from no achievement, Nor was I afraid of ought.
4 For my heart was hard, And my liver was immovable, And my bowels without compassion.
5,6 Because valour also has been given from the Most High to men in soul and body. For in the time of my youth I was jealous in many things of Joseph, because my father loved him beyond
7 all. And I set my mind against him to destroy him, because the prince of deceit sent forth the spirit of jealousy and blinded my mind, so that I regarded him not as a brother, nor did I spare even
8 Jacob my father. But his God and the God of his fathers sent forth His angel, and delivered him
9 out of my hands. For when I went to Shechem to bring ointment for the flocks, and Reuben to Dothan, where were our necessaries and all our stores, Judah my brother sold him to the Ishmaelites.
10 And when Reuben heard these things he was grieved, for he wished to restore him to his father.
11 But on hearing this I was exceedingly wroth against Judah in that he let him go away alive, and
12 for five months I continued wrathful against him. But the Lord restrained me, and withheld from
13 me the power of my hands; for my right hand was half withered for seven days. And I knew, my children, that because of Joseph this had befallen me, and I repented and wept; and I besought the Lord God that my hand might be restored, and that I might hold aloof from all pollution and envy
14 and from all folly. For I knew that I had devised an evil thing before the Lord and Jacob my father, on account of Joseph my brother, in that I envied him.
Chapter  3
1
2 And now, my children, hearken unto me and beware of the spirit of deceit and envy. For envy ruleth over the whole mind of a man, and suffereth him neither to eat nor to drink, nor to do any
3 good thing. But it ever suggesteth (to him) to destroy him that he envieth; and so long as he that
4 is envied flourisheth, he that envieth fadeth away. Two years therefore I afflicted my soul with fasting in the fear of the Lord, and I learnt that deliverance from envy cometh by the fear of God.
5 For if a man flee to the Lord, the evil spirit runneth away from him, and his mind is lightened.
6 And henceforward he sympathiseth with him whom he envied and forgiveth those who are hostile to him, and so ceaseth from his envy.
Chapter 4
1 And my father asked Concerning me, because he saw that I was sad; and I said unto him, I am
2 pained in my liver. For I mourned more than they all, because I was guilty of the selling of Joseph.
3 And when we went down into Egypt, and he bound me as a spy, I knew that I was suffering justly,
4 and I grieved not. Now Joseph was a good man, and had the Spirit of God within him: being compassionate and pitiful, he bore no malice against me; but loved me even as the rest of his
5 brethren.
Beware, therefore, my children, of all jealousy and envy, and walk in singleness of soul and with good heart, keeping in mind Joseph your father’s brother, that God may give you also grace and glory, and blessing upon your heads, even as ye saw in
6 Joseph’s case. All his days he reproached us not concerning this thing, but loved us as his own
7 soul, and beyond his own sons glorified us, and gave us riches, and cattle and fruits. Do ye also, my children, love each one his brother with a good heart and the spirit of envy will withdraw from
8 you. For this maketh savage the soul and destroyeth the body; it causeth anger and war in the mind, and stirreth up unto deeds of blood, and leadeth the mind into frenzy, and suffereth not prudence to act in men; moreover, it taketh away sleep, [and causeth tumult to the soul and trembling to the body].
9 For even in sleep some malicious jealousy, deluding him, gnaweth and with wicked spirits disturbeth his soul, and causeth the body to be troubled, and waketh the mind from sleep in confusion; and as a wicked and poisonous spirit, so appeareth it to men.
Chapter 5
1 Therefore was Joseph comely in appearance and goodly to look upon, because no wickedness
2 dwelt in him; for some of the trouble of the spirit the face manifesteth. And now, my children, Make your hearts good before the Lord, And your ways straight before men. And ye shall find grace before the Lord and men.
3 Beware, therefore, of fornication, For fornication is mother of all evils, Separating from God, and bringing near to Beliar.
4 For I have seen it inscribed in the writing of Enoch that your sons shall be corrupted in fornication,
5 and shall do harm to the sons of Levi with the sword. But they shall not be able to withstand Levi;
6 for he shall wage the war of the Lord, and shall conquer all your hosts. And they shall be few in number, divided in Levi and Judah, and there shall be none of you for sovereignty, even as also our father prophesied in his blessings.
Chapter 6Ă‚Â
1,2 Behold I have told you all things, that I may be acquitted of your sin. Now, if ye remove from you your envy and all stiff-neckedness, As a rose shall my bones flourish in Israel, And as a lily my flesh in Jacob, And my odour shall be as the odour of Libanus; And as cedars shall holy ones be multiplied from me forever, And their branches shall stretch afar off.
3 Then shall perish the seed of Canaan, And a remnant shall not be unto Amalek, And all the Cappadocians shall perish, And all the Hittites shall be utterly destroyed.
4 Then shall fail the land of Ham, And all the people shall perish. Then shall all the earth rest from trouble, And all the world under heaven from war.
5 Then the Mighty One of Israel shall glorify Shem, For the Lord God shall appear on earth, And Himself save men.
6 Then shall all the spirits of deceit be given to be trodden under foot, And men shall rule over wicked spirits.
7 Then shall I arise in joy, And will bless the Most High because of his marvellous works, [Because God hath taken a body and eaten with men and saved men].
Chapter 7
1 And now, my children, obey Levi and Judah, and be not lifted up against these two tribes, for
2 from them shall arise unto you the salvation of God. For the Lord shall raise up from Levi as it were a High-priest, and from Judah as it were a King [God and man], He shall save all [the Gentiles
3 and] the race of Israel. Therefore I give you these commands that ye also may command your children that they may observe them throughout their generations.
Chapter 8
1 And when Simeon had made an end of commanding his sons, he slept with his fathers, being an
2 hundred and twenty years old. And they laid him in a wooden coffin, to take up his bones to
3 Hebron. And they took them up secretly during a war of the Egyptians. For the bones of Joseph
4 the Egyptians guarded in the tombs of the kings. For the sorcerers told them; that on the departure of the bones of Joseph there should be throughout all the land darkness and gloom, and an exceeding great plague to the Egyptians, so that even with a lamp a man should not recognize his brother.
Chapter 9
1, 2 And the sons of Simeon bewailed their father. And they were in Egypt until the day of their departure by the hand of Moses.