Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/146

30 so multiplied his flocks that there was no man like him among the people of Israel. This then he began to do when he was fifteen years of age. When he was twenty years old, he took Anna, the daughter of Achar, to wife, of his own tribe, that is, of the tribe of Judah of the stock of David. And when they had remained together twenty years, he had no sons nor daughters by her.

it came to pass that on the feast days Joachim stood among those who offered incense to the Lord, preparing his gifts in the presence of the Lord. And the priest, Reuben by name, came to him and said, It is not lawful for thee to stand among those who perform the sacrifices of God, because God hath not blessed thee to give thee a branch in Israel. Therefore being put to shame in the sight of the people, he retired weeping from the temple of the Lord, and did not return home, but went away to his sheep, taking with him the shepherds to the mountains in a far off land, so that Anna his wife could hear no message from him for five months. She meanwhile wept in her prayer, and said, O Lord God of Israel, most mighty, seeing that thou hast not yet given me sons, why hast thou also taken my husband from