The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 233 -
Jonathan Fells A Mighty Tree
JOSEPH NOW called the four sons over and said to them,
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'Here, take this pound of silver and go into the city to buy flour and whatever else is still needed for the kitchen,
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and then come and prepare a good midday meal, since Cyrenius still honors me with his presence today.'
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At this the sons promptly went and carried out their father's wishes.
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Then Mary also came over and privately told Joseph that the supply of firewood was also so greatly depleted that it would hardly be possible to prepare a meal with the little that still remained.
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Here Joseph called Jonathan over and told him of this difficulty.
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And Jonathan declared, 'Brother, give me your large and strong axe, and I shall go into the forest over there by the hill;
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and truly, in three hours you shall have wood aplenty.'
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Here Joseph gave Jonathan a strong axe, whereupon the latter went into the woods of the nearest hill, which belonged to the villa, and there quickly chopped down a strong cedar, fastened a strong rope around the trunk and thus pulled the whole mighty tree in front of Joseph's house.
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When he arrived there with his felled tree, all were astonished at the enormous strength of Jonathan.
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Many servants of Cyrenius together now attempted to pull the tree farther but their efforts were in vain,
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for they, numbering about thirty, were not able to move the tree even a hairbreadth, since it weighed about one hundred hundredweights.
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At this Jonathan said to the servants of Cyrenius,
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'Instead of this vain attempt, just take big and little axes in hand and help me to quickly split up the tree!
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This effort will please the head of the house more than if you try to measure my enormous strength on this tree by your vain effort.
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Here all the servants of Cyrenius promptly lent a hand, and with the energetic assistance of Jonathan the whole tree was cut up in half an hour.
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Joseph was full of joy at this and asserted,
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'Truly, that would have been three days' work for me until I could have cut up such a tree,
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and you needed hardly three hours altogether.'
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And Jonathan retorted, 'Oh brother, great bodily strength is no doubt a useful thing;
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but what is it against the strength of Him who lives with you and before whose breath the whole creation trembles?'
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Here the little Child came over to Jonathan and said to him, 'Be still, Jonathan, and do not betray Me; for I know when I must reveal Myself!
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And if My power had not been with you now, you could neither have mastered this tree. - But be still and say nothing about it!' - Here Jonathan said no more and only now understood how he had so easily mastered this tree.