Joachim was very grieved, and went to the genealogy of the twelve tribes of the people, saying, I will see the genealogy of the twelve tribes of Israel, whether I alone have not produced seed in Israel. And he sought and found that all the righteous had raised up seed in Israel; and he remembered the patriarch Abraham, that at the last day God gave him his son Isaac. And Joachim was very grieved, and did not show himself to his wife, but betook himself into the wilderness, and there pitched his tent, and fasted forty days and forty nights,[1] saying in himself, I will not go down either for meat or for drink, until the Lord my God shall visit me; and prayer shall be my meat and drink.
CHAPTER II.
Now his wife Anna grieved with double grief, and lamented with a double lamentation, saying, I will bewail my widowhood, and I will bewail my childless condition. And the great day of the Lord drew nigh, and Judith her maiden said, How long dost thou humble thy soul? Behold the great day of the Lord is at hand, and it is not lawful for thee to mourn; but take this headband, which the lady who made it gave to me, and it is not proper
- ↑ Comp. Matt. iii. 1.
