The Martyrdom of Isaiah

Translated by Robert H. Charles, 1914

Isaiah's Prophesy Concerning Manasseh

1 And it came to pass in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah king of Judah that he
called Manasseh his son. 2Now he was his only one. And he called him into the presence of
Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet; and into the presence of Josab the son of Isaiah.
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And whilst he Hezekiah gave commands, 7Josab the son of Isaiah standing by, Isaiah said to
Hezekiah the king, but not in the presence of Manasseh only did he say unto him: "As the Lord
liveth, whose name has not been sent into this world, and as the Beloved of my Lord liveth, and
as the Spirit which speaketh in me liveth, all these commands and these words shall be made of
none effect by Manasseh thy son, and through the agency of his hands I shall depart mid the
torture of my body. 8And Sammael Balchira shall serve Manasseh, and execute all his desire,
and he shall become a follower of Beliar rather than of me. 9And many in Jerusalem and in
Judaea he shall cause to abandon the true faith, and Beliar shall dwell in Manasseh, and by his
hands I shall be sawn asunder."
And when Hezekiah heard these words he wept very bitterly, and rent his garments, and
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placed earth upon his head, and fell on his face.

And Isaiah said unto him: "The counsel of Sammael against Manasseh is consummated:
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nought shall avail thee."

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And on that day Hezekiah resolved in his heart to slay Manasseh his son.
And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: "The Beloved hath made of none effect thy design, and the
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purpose of thy heart shall not be accomplished, for with this calling have I been called and I
shall inherit the heritage of the Beloved." {Top}
Manasseh Leads Jerusalem into Apostasy

2 And it came to pass after that Hezekiah died and Manasseh became king, that he did not
remember the commands of Hezekiah his father but forgat them, and Sammael abode in
Manasseh and clung fast to him. 2And Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father,
and he served Satan and his angels and his powers. 3And he turned aside the house of his
father which had been before the face of Hezekiah from the words of wisdom and from the
service of God. 4And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of
lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbuchus. And he
delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he made him strong in apostatizing Israel
and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem. 5And witchcraft and magic
increased and divination and auguration, and fornication, and adultery, and the persecution of
the righteous by Manasseh and Belachira, and Tobia the Canaanite, and John of Anathoth, and
by Zadok the chief of the works. 6And the rest of the acts, behold they are written in the book of
the Kings of Judah and Israel.

The Activities of Isaiah and the Prophets

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And when Isaiah the son of Amoz saw the lawlessness which was being perpetrated in
Jerusalem and the worship of Satan and his wantonness, he withdrew from Jerusalem and
settled in Bethlehem of Judah. 8And there also there was much lawlessness, and withdrawing
from Bethlehem he settled on a mountain in a desert place. 9And Micaiah the prophet, and the
aged Ananias, and Joel and Habakkuk, and his son Josab, and many of the faithful who
believed in the ascension into heaven, withdrew and settled on the mountain. 10They were all
clothed with garments of hair, and they were all prophets. And they had nothing with them but
were naked, and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the going astray of
Israel. 11And these eat nothing save wild herbs which they gathered on the mountains, and
having cooked them, they lived thereon together with Isaiah the prophet. And they spent two
years of days on the mountains and hills.
 And after this, whilst they were in the desert, there was a certain man in Samaria named
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Belchira, of the family of Zedekiah, the son of Chenaan, a false prophet whose dwelling was in
Bethlehem. Now Hezekiah the son of Chanani, who was the brother of his father, and in the
days of Ahab king of Israel had been the teacher of the 400 prophets of Baal, had himself
smitten and reproved Micaiah the son of Amada the prophet. 13And he, Micaiah, had been
reproved by Ahab and cast into prison. And he was with Zedekiah the prophet: they were with
Ahaziah the son of Ahab, king in Samaria. 14And Elijah the prophet of Tebon of Gilead was
reproving Ahaziah and Samaria, and prophesied regarding Ahaziah that he should die on his
bed of sickness, and that Samaria should be delivered into the hand of Leba Nasr because he
had slain the prophets of God. 15And when the false prophets, 16who were with Ahaziah the son
of Ahab and their teacher Gemarias of Mount Joel had heard now he was brother of Zedekiah
when they had heard, they persuaded Ahaziah the king of Aguaron and slew Micaiah. {Top}
Belchira, the False Prophet

3 And Belchira recognized and saw the place of Isaiah and the prophets who were with him; for
he dwelt in the region of Bethlehem, and was an adherent of Manasseh. And he prophesied
falsely in Jerusalem, and many belonging to Jerusalem were confederate with him, and he was
a Samaritan. 2And it came to pass when Alagar Zagar, king of Assyria, had come and captured
Samaria and taken the nine and a half tribes captive, and led them away to the mountains of
the Medes and the rivers of Tazon; 3this Belchira while still a youth, had escaped and come to
Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, but he walked not in the ways of his father of
Samaria; for he feared Hezekiah. 4And he was found in the days of Hezekiah speaking words of
lawlessness in Jerusalem. 5And the servants of Hezekiah accused him, and he made his escape
to the region of Bethlehem. 6And they persuaded...
And Belchira accused Isaiah and the prophets who were with him, saying: "Isaiah and those
who are with him prophesy against Jerusalem and against the cities of Judah that they shall be
laid waste and against the children of Judah and Benjamin also that they shall go into
captivity, and also against thee, O lord the king, that thou shalt go bound with hooks and iron
chains: 7But they prophesy falsely against Israel and Judah. 8And Isaiah himself hath said: 'I
see more than Moses the prophet.' 9But Moses said: 'No man can see God and live': and Isaiah
hath said: 'I have seen God and behold I live.'
"Know, therefore, O king, that he is lying. And Jerusalem also he hath called Sodom, and the
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princes of Judah and Jerusalem he hath declared to be the people of Gomorrah".

And he brought many accusations against Isaiah and the prophets before Manasseh. 11But
Beliar dwelt in the heart of Manasseh and in the heart of the princes of Judah and Benjamin
and of the eunuchs and of the councillors of the king. 12And the words of Belchira pleased him
exceedingly, and he sent and seized Isaiah. {Top}
Isaiah is Sawn in Two

4 And he sawed him asunder with a wood-saw.

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And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder Balchira stood up, accusing him, and all the false
prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because of Isaiah. 3And Balchira, with the aid of
Mechembechus, stood up before Isaiah, laughing deriding;
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And Belchira said to Isaiah: "Say: 'I have lied in all that I have spoken, and likewise the ways
of Manasseh are good and right. 5And the ways also of Balchira and of his associates are
good.'" 6And this he said to him when he began to be sawn in sunder.
But Isaiah was absorbed in a vision of the Lord, and though his eyes were open, he saw them
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not.
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And Balchira spake thus to Isaiah: "Say what I say unto thee and I will turn their heart, and I
will compel Manasseh and the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem to reverence
thee."
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And Isaiah answered and said: "So far as I have utterance I say: Damned and accursed be thou
and all thy powers and all thy house. 10For thou canst not take from me aught save the skin of
my body."
And they seized and sawed in sunder Isaiah, the son of Amoz, with a wood-saw. 12And
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Manasseh and Balchira and the false prophets and the princes and the people and all stood
looking on. 13And to the prophets who were with him he said before he had been sawn in
sunder: "Go ye to the region of Tyre and Sidon; for for me only hath God mingled the
cup." 14And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips
spake with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in twain. {Top}