be for the Lord my God.
6 And bring me twelve calves
without blemish, and the twelve
calves shall be for the priests and
the elders.
7 Bring me also a hundred
goats, and the hundred goats shall
be for the whole people.
8 And Joachim went down with
the shepherds, and Anna stood
by the gate and saw Joachim
coming with the shepherds.
9 And she ran, and hanging
about his neck, said, Now I know
that the Lord hath greatly blessed
me:
10 For behold, I who was as a
widow am no longer as a widow, and
I who was barren shall conceive.
CHAPTER V.
1 Joachim abides the first day in his house but
sacrifices on the morrow.
2 Consults the plate on the priests forehead,
3 and is without sin.
6 Anna brings forth a daughter,
9 whom she calls Mary.
AND Joachim abode the first
day in his house, but on the
morrow he brought his offerings,
and said,
2 If the Lord be propitious to
me let the plate which is on the
priests forehead make it manifest.
3 And he consulted the plate
which the priest wore, and saw it,
and behold sin was not found in
him.
4 And Joachim said, Now I know
that the Lord is propitious
to me, and hath taken away all
my sins.
5 And he went down from the
temple of the Lord justified,
and he went to his own house.
6 And when nine months were
fulfilled to Anna, she brought
forth, and said to the midwife,
What have I brought forth?
7 And she told her, A girl.
8 Then Anna said, The Lord
hath this day magnified my soul;
and she laid her in bed.
9 And when the days of her
purification were accomplished,
she gave suck to the child; and
called her name Mary.
CHAPTER VI.
1 Mary at nine months old, walks nine steps.
3 Anna keeps her holy.
4 When she is a year old, Joachim makes a great feast.
7 Anna gives her the breast, and sings a song to the Lord.
AND the child increased in
strength every day, so that
when she was nine months old, her
mother put her upon the ground,
to try if she could stand; and
when she had walked nine steps,
she came again to her mother's
lap.
2 Then her mother caught her
up, and said, As the Lord my God
liveth, thou shalt not walk again
on this earth, till I bring thee
into the temple of the Lord.
3 Accordingly she made her
chamber a holy place, and suffered
nothing uncommon or unclean to
come near her, but invited certain
undefiled daughters of Israel, and
they drew her aside.
4 But when the child was a year
old, Joachim made a great feast,
and invited the priests, scribes,
elders, and all the people of
Israel;
5 And Joachim then made an
offering of the girl to the chief-
priests, and they blessed her,
saying, The God of our fathers bless
this girl, and give her a name
famous and lasting through all
generations. And all the people
replied, So be it, Amen:
6 Then Joachim a second time
offered her to the priests, and they
blessed her, saying, O most high
God, regard this girl, and bless
her with an everlasting blessing.
7 Upon this her mother took
her up, and gave her the breast,
and sung the following song to the
Lord.
8 I will sing a song unto the
Lord my God, for he hath visited
me, and taken away from me the
reproach of mine enemies, and
hath given me the fruit of his
righteousness, that it may now be
told the sons of Reuben, that Anna
gives suck.
9 Then she put the child to rest
in the room which she had consecrated,
and she went out and ministered unto
them.
10 And when the feast was
ended, they went away rejoicing,
and praising the God of Israel.
CHAPTER VII.
3 Mary being three years old, Joachim causes certain virgins to
light each a lamp, and goes with her to the temple.
5 The high-priest places her on the third step of the altar, and
sits dances with her feet.
BUT the girl grew, and when
she was two years old, Joachim
said to Anna, Let us lead her
to the temple of the Lord,
that we may perform our vow,
which we have