In the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life, while be was still
robust in health, Asher summoned his children unto him, and admonished
them to walk in the ways of virtue and the fear of God. He spake:
"Hearken, ye sons of Asher, unto your father, and I will show you all
that is right before God. Two ways hath God put before the children of
men, and two inclinations hath He bestowed upon them, two kinds of
actions and two aims. Therefore all things are in twos, the one
opposite to the other. But ye, my children, ye shall not be double,
pursuing both goodness and wickedness. Ye shall cling only to the ways
of goodness, for the Lord taketh delight in them, and men yearn after
them. And flee from wickedness, for thus you will destroy the evil
inclination. Heed well the commands of the Lord, by following truth
with a single mind. Observe the law of the Lord, and have not the same
care for wicked things as for good things. Rather keep your eyes upon
what is truly good, and guard it through all the commands of the Lord.
The end of man, when he meets the messengers of God and of Satan, shows
whether he was righteous or unrighteous in his life. If his soul goes
out with agitation, she will be plagued by the evil spirit, whom she
served with her lusts and her evil deeds; but if she departs
tranquilly, the angel of peace will lead her to life eternal.
"Be not like Sodom, my children, which recognized not the angels of the
Lord, that ye be not delivered into the hands of your enemies, and your
land be cursed, and your sanctuary destroyed, and you be scattered to
the four corners of the earth, and scorned in the confusion like stale
water, until the Most High shall visit the earth, and break the heads
of the dragons in the waters. Tell this, my sons, unto your children,
that they be not disobedient toward God, for I read in the tablets of
the heavens that you will be contumacious and act impiously toward Him,
in that you will have no care for the law of God, but you will heed
human laws, and they are corrupted by reason of man's godlessness.
Therefore ye will be dispersed abroad like unto Gad and Dan, my
brethren, and you will not know either your land, or your tribe, or
your tongue. Nevertheless the Lord will gather you in His faithfulness,
for the sake of His gracious mercy, and for the sake of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob."
And when he had made an end of saying these words, he commanded them to
bury him in Hebron. And he sank into sweet sleep, and died. His sons
did as he had commanded, and they carried him up and buried him with
his fathers.[16]