trouble." So she rose and knelt upon her knees, with her face turned
towards the east, and looked up into heaven and prayed. "Save me,"
she said, "from those who are pursuing me, before I am caught by them;
as a little child when it is frightened runs to its father, and the
father stretches out his arms and catches it to his breast, so I flee
to Thee. I know that Satan, the Old Lion, is hunting me; for he is
the father of the gods of Egypt, and I have insulted them and
destroyed their images. I have no hope but in Thee. See, I have cast
off all my beautiful robes and ornaments; I sit here in sackcloth and
ashes; I have fasted and wept these seven days, because I know that
I have done wrong in worshipping dumb idols, and in speaking
scornfully against Joseph. But, Lord, I did it in ignorance; save me,
and above all watch over Joseph, whom I love more than my own life.
Keep him, Lord, in safety, and let me be his handmaid and his slave,
if Thou wilt, so that I may minister to him all the days I have to
live."

Much more did Aseneth say in her prayer, but it is not written down
here. When she had ended, the morning star was just coming up in the
east, and Aseneth rejoiced when she saw it and said, "Can it be that
God has heard my prayer, and that this star is the herald of the
light of the great day?" Then, in that part of the sky where the star
was shining, there opened a little cleft in the heavens, and a bright
light shone out of it: so dazzling that she fell on her face upon the
ashes. And in the next instant there stood over her a man who was all
flashing with light; and he called to her, "Aseneth, rise up." "Who
can this be who calls me?" she said; "my door is barred and the tower
is high. No one can have come into my chamber." So she did not look
up; but the man called to her again, "Aseneth, Aseneth!" And at last
she answered, "Here am I, lord: tell me, who art thou?" He