THE BOOK OF JASHER
REFERRED
TO IN JOSHUA AND SECOND SAMUEL FAITHFULLY TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL HEBREW
INTO ENGLISH A Reprint of PHOTO LITHOGRAPHIC REPRINT OF EXACT EDITION
CONTENTS THIS
IS THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF MAN WHOM GOD CREATED UPON THE EARTH ON THE
DAY WHEN THE LORD GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH.
CHAPTER
1
1 And God said, Let us make
man in our image, after our likeness, and God created man in his own
image.
2 And God formed man from the
ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a
living soul endowed with speech.
3 And the Lord said, It is not
good for man to be alone; I will make unto him a helpmeet.
4 And the Lord caused a deep
sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took away one of his ribs, and he
built flesh upon it, and formed it and brought it to Adam, and Adam awoke from
his sleep, and behold a woman was standing before him.
5 And he said, This is a bone
of my bones and it shall be called woman, for
this has been taken from man; and Adam called her name Eve, for she was
the mother of all living.
6 And God blessed them and
called their names Adam and Eve in the day that he created them, and the Lord
God said, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
7 And the Lord God took Adam
and his wife, and he placed them in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it; and he commanded them and said unto them, From every tree of the garden you
may eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.
8 And when God had blessed and
commanded them, he went from them, and Adam and his wife dwelt in the garden
according to the command which the Lord had commanded them.
9 And the serpent, which God
had created with them in the earth, came to them to incite them to transgress
the command of God which he had commanded them.
10 And the serpent enticed and
persuaded the woman to eat from the tree of knowledge, and the woman hearkened
to the voice of the serpent, and she transgressed the word of God, and took
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she ate, and she took from
it and gave also to her husband and he ate.
11 And Adam and his wife
transgressed the command of God which he commanded them, and God knew it, and
his anger was kindled against them and he cursed them.
12 And the Lord God drove them
that day from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were
taken, and they went and dwelt at the east of the garden of Eden; and Adam knew
his wife Eve and she bore two sons and three daughters.
13 And she called the name of
the first born Cain, saying, I have obtained a man from the Lord, and the name
of the other she called Abel, for she said, In vanity we came into the earth,
and in vanity we shall be taken from it.
14 And the boys grew up and
their father gave them a possession in the land; and Cain was a tiller of the
ground, and Abel a keeper of sheep.
15 And it was at the expiration
of a few years, that they brought an approximating offering to the Lord, and
Cain brought from the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought from the firstlings
of his flock from the fat thereof, and God turned and inclined to Abel and his
offering, and a fire came down from the Lord from heaven and consumed it.
16 And unto Cain and his
offering the Lord did not turn, and he did not incline to it, for he had
brought from the inferior fruit of the ground before the Lord, and Cain was
jealous against his brother Abel on account of this, and he sought a pretext to
slay him.
17 And in some time after, Cain
and Abel his brother, went one day into
the field to do their work; and they were both in the field, Cain tilling and
ploughing his ground, and Abel feeding his flock; and the flock passed that
part which Cain had ploughed in the ground, and it sorely grieved Cain on this
account.
18 And Cain approached his
brother Abel in anger, and he said unto him, What is there between me and thee,
that thou comest to dwell and bring thy flock to feed in my land?
19 And Abel answered his
brother Cain and said unto him, What is there between me and thee, that thou
shalt eat the flesh of
my flock and clothe thyself with their wool?
20
And now therefore, put off the wool of my sheep with which thou hast
clothed thyself, and recompense me for their fruit and flesh which thou hast
eaten, and when thou shalt have done this, I will then go from thy land as thou
hast said?
21
And Cain said to his brother Abel, Surely if I slay thee this day, who
will require thy blood from me?
22
And Abel answered Cain, saying, Surely God who has made us in the earth,
he will avenge my cause, and he will require my blood from thee shouldst thou
slay me, for the Lord is the judge and arbiter, and it is he who will requite
man according to his evil, and the wicked man according to the wickedness that
he may do upon earth.
23
And now, if thou should slay me here, surely God knows thy secret views,
and will judge thee for the evil which thou didst declare to do unto me this
day.
24
And when Cain heard the words which Abel his brother had spoken, behold
the anger of Cain was kindled against his brother Abel for declaring this
thing.
25
And Cain hastened and rose up, and took the iron part of his ploughing
instrument, with which he suddenly smote his brother and he slew him, and Cain
spilt the blood of his brother Abel upon the earth, and the blood of Abel
streamed upon the earth before the flock.
26
And after this Cain repented having slain his brother, and he was sadly
grieved, and he wept over him and it vexed him exceedingly.
27
And Cain rose up and dug a hole in the field, wherein he put his
brother’s body, and he turned the dust over it.
28
And the Lord knew what Cain had done to his brother, and the Lord
appeared to Cain and said unto him,
Where is Abel thy brother that was with thee?
29
And Cain dissembled, and said, I do not know, am I my brother’s keeper?
And the Lord said unto him, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s
blood cries to me from the ground where thou hast slain him.
30
For thou hast slain thy brother and hast dissembled before me, and didst
imagine in thy heart that I saw thee not, nor knew all thy actions.
31
But thou didst this thing and
didst slay thy brother for naught and because he spoke rightly to thee, and
now, therefore, cursed be thou from the ground which opened its mouth to
receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand, and wherein thou didst bury
him.
32
And it shall be when thou shalt till it, it shall no more give thee its
strength as in the beginning, for thorns and thistles shall the ground produce,
and thou shalt be moving and wandering in the earth until the day of thy death.
33
And at that time Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, from the
place where he was, and he went moving and wandering in the land toward the
east of Eden, he and all belonging to him.
34
And Cain knew his wife in those days, and she conceived and bare a son,
and he called his name Enoch, saying, In that time the Lord began to give him
rest and quiet in the earth.
35
And at that time Cain also began to build a city: and he built the city
and he called the name of the city Enoch, according to the name of his son; for
in those days the Lord had given him rest upon the earth, and he did not move
about and wander as in the beginning.
36
And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad begat Mechuyael and Mechuyael begat Methusael.
CHAPTER 2
1 And it was in the hundred
and thirtieth year of the life of Adam upon the earth, that he again knew Eve
his wife, and she conceived and bare a son in his likeness and in his image,
and she called his name Seth, saying, Because God has appointed me another seed
in the place of Abel, for Cain has slain him.
2 And Seth lived one hundred
and five years, and he begat a son; and Seth called the name of his son Enosh,
saying, Because in that time the sons of men began to multiply, and to afflict
their souls and hearts by transgressing and rebelling against God.
3 And it was in the days of
Enosh that the sons of men continued to rebel and transgress against God, to
increase the anger of the Lord against the sons of men.
4 And the sons of men went and
they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the
earth: and in those days the sons of men made images of brass and iron, wood
and stone, and they bowed down and served them.
5 And every man made his god
and they bowed down to them, and the sons of men forsook the Lord all the days
of Enosh and his children; and the anger of the Lord was kindled on account of
their works and abominations which they did in the earth.
6 And the Lord caused the waters of the river Gihon to
overwhelm them, and he destroyed and consumed them, and he destroyed the third
part of the earth, and notwithstanding this, the sons of men did not turn from
their evil ways, and their hands were yet extended to do evil in the sight of
the Lord.
7 And in those days there was
neither sowing nor reaping in the earth; and there was no food for the sons of
men and the famine was very great in those days.
8 And the seed which they
sowed in those days in the ground became thorns, thistles and briers; for from
the days of Adam was this declaration concerning the earth, of the curse of God, which he cursed the earth, on account
of the sin which Adam
sinned before the Lord.
9
And it was when men continued to rebel and transgress against God, and
to corrupt their ways, that the earth also became corrupt.
10
And Enosh lived ninety years and he begat Cainan;
11
And Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and
had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men,
and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge; for Cainan was a very wise
man and had understanding in all wisdom, and with his wisdom he ruled over
spirits and demons;
12
And Cainan knew by his wisdom that God would destroy the sons of men for
having sinned upon earth, and that the Lord would in the latter days bring upon
them the waters of the flood.
13
And in those days Cainan wrote upon tablets of stone, what was to take
place in time to come, and he put them in his treasures.
14
And Cainan reigned over the whole earth, and he turned some of the sons
of men to the service of God.
15
And when Cainan was seventy years old, he begat three sons and two
daughters.
16
And these are the names of the children of Cainan; the name of the first
born Mahlallel, the second Enan, and the third Mered, and their sisters were
Adah and Zillah; these are the five children of Cainan that were born to him.
17
And Lamech, the son of Methusael, became related to Cainan by marriage,
and he took his two daughters for his wives, and Adah conceived and bare a son
to Lamech, and she called his name Jabal.
18
And she again conceived and bare a son, and called his name Jubal; and
Zillah, her sister, was barren in those days and had no offspring.
19
For in those days the sons of men began to trespass against God, and to
transgress the commandments which he had commanded to Adam, to be fruitful and
multiply in the earth.
20
And some of the sons of men
caused their wives to drink a draught that would render
them barren, in order that they might retain their figures and whereby their
beautiful appearance might not fade.
21
And when the sons of men caused some of their wives to drink, Zillah
drank with them.
22
And the child-bearing women appeared abominable in the sight of their
husbands as widows, whilst their husbands lived, for to the barren ones only
they were attached.
23
And in the end of days and years,
when Zillah became old, the Lord opened her womb.
24
And she conceived and bare a son and she called his name Tubal Cain,
saying, After I had withered away have I obtained him from the Almighty God.
25
And she conceived again and bare a daughter, and she called her name
Naamah, for she said, After I had withered away have I obtained pleasure and
delight.
26
And Lamech was old and advanced in years, and his eyes were dim that he
could not see, and Tubal Cain, his son, was leading him and it was one day that
Lamech went into the field and Tubal Cain his son was with him, and whilst they
were walking in the field, Cain the son of Adam advanced towards them; for
Lamech was very old and could not see much, and Tubal Cain his son was very
young.
27
And Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he
smote Cain, who was yet far off, and he slew him, for he appeared to them to be
an animal.
28
And the arrows entered Cain’s body although he was distant from them,
and he fell to the ground and died.
29
And the Lord requited Cain’s evil according to his wickedness, which he
had done to his brother Abel, according to the word of the Lord which he had
spoken.
30
And it came to pass when Cain had died, that Lamech and Tubal went to
see the animal which they had slain, and they saw, and behold Cain their
grandfather was fallen dead upon the earth.
31
And Lamech was very much grieved at having done this, and in clapping
his hands together he struck his son and caused his death. And the wives of
Lamech heard what Lamech had done, and they sought to kill him.
33
And the wives of Lamech hated him from that day, because he slew Cain
and Tubal Cain, and the wives of Lamech separated from him, and would not
hearken to him in those days.
34
And Lamech came to his wives, and he pressed them to listen to him about
this matter.
35
And he said to his wives Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice O wives of
Lamech, attend to my words, for now you have imagined and said that I slew a
man with my wounds, and a child with my stripes for their having done no
violence, but surely know that I am old and grey-headed, and that my eyes are
heavy through age, and I did this thing unknowingly.
36
And the wives of Lamech listened to him in this matter, and they
returned to him with the advice of their father Adam, but they bore no children
to him from that time, knowing that God’s anger was increasing in those days
against the sons of men, to destroy them with the waters of the flood for their
evil doings.
37
And Mahlallel the son of Cainan lived sixty-five years and he begat
Jared; and Jared lived sixty-two years
and he begat Enoch.
CHAPTER
3
1 And Enoch lived sixty-five
years and he begat Methuselah; and Enoch walked with God after having begot
Methuselah, and he served the Lord, and despised the evil ways of men.
2 And the soul of Enoch was
wrapped up in the instruction of the Lord,
in knowledge and in understanding; and he wisely retired from the sons of men,
and secreted himself from them for many days.
3 And it was at the expiration
of many years, whilst he was serving the Lord, and praying before him in his
house, that an angel of the Lord called to him from Heaven, and he said, Here
am I.
4 And he said, Rise, go forth
from thy house and from the place where thou dost hide thyself, and appear to
the sons of men, in order that thou mayest teach them the way in which they should
go and the work which they must accomplish to enter in the ways of God.
5 And Enoch rose up according
to the word of the Lord, and went forth
from his house, from his place and from the chamber in which he was concealed;
and he went to the sons of men and taught them the ways of the Lord, and at
that time assembled the sons of men and acquainted them with the instruction of
the Lord.
6 And he ordered it to be proclaimed
in all places where the sons of men dwelt, saying, Where
is
the man who wishes to know the ways of the Lord and good works? let him come to
Enoch.
7 And all the sons of men then
assembled to him, for all who desired this thing went to Enoch, and Enoch
reigned over the sons of men according to the word of the Lord, and they came
and bowed to him and they heard his word.
8 And the spirit of God was
upon Enoch, and he taught all his men the wisdom of God and his ways, and the
sons of men served the Lord all the days of Enoch, and they came to hear his
wisdom.
9 And all the kings of the sons of men, both first
and last, together with their princes and judges, came to Enoch when they heard
of his wisdom, and they bowed down to him, and they also required of Enoch to
reign over them, to which he consented.
10 And they assembled in all,
one hundred and thirty kings and princes, and they made Enoch king over them
and they were all under his power and command.
11 And Enoch taught them
wisdom, knowledge, and the ways of the Lord; and he made peace amongst them,
and peace was throughout the earth during the life of Enoch.
12 And Enoch reigned over the
sons of men two hundred and forty-three years, and he did justice and
righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord.
13 And these are the
generations of Enoch, Methuselah, Elisha, and Elimelech, three sons; and their
sisters were Melca and Nahmah, and Methuselah lived eighty-seven years and he
begat Lamech.
14 And it was in the
fifty-sixth year of the life of Lamech when Adam died; nine hundred and thirty
years old was he at his death, and his two sons, with Enoch and Methuselah his son,
buried him with great pomp, as at the burial of kings, in the cave which God
had told him.
15 And in that place all the
sons of men made a great mourning and weeping on account of Adam; it has
therefore become a custom among the sons of men to this day.
16 And Adam died because he ate
of the tree of knowledge; he and his
children after him, as the Lord God had spoken.
17 And it was in the year of
Adam’s death which was the two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of
Enoch, in that time Enoch resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and
to secret himself as at first in order to serve the Lord.
18 And Enoch did so, but did
not entirely secret himself from them, but kept away from the sons of men three
days and then went to them for one day.
19 And during the three days
that he was in his chamber, he prayed to, and praised the Lord his God, and the
day on which he went and appeared to his subjects he taught them the ways of
the Lord, and all they asked him about the Lord he told them.
20 And he did in this manner
for many years, and he afterward concealed himself for six days, and appeared
to his people one day in seven; and after that once in a month, and then once
in a year, until all the kings, princes and sons of men sought for him, and
desired again to see the face of Enoch, and to hear his word; but they could
not, as all the sons of men were greatly afraid of Enoch, and they feared to
approach him on account of the Godlike awe that was seated upon his
countenance; therefore no man could look at him, fearing he might be punished
and die.
21 And all the kings and
princes resolved to assemble the sons of men, and to come to Enoch, thinking
that they might all speak to him at the time when he should come forth amongst
them, and they did so.
22 And the day came when Enoch
went forth and they all assembled and
came to him, and Enoch spoke to them the words of the Lord and he taught them
wisdom and knowledge, and they bowed down before him and they said, May the
king live! May the king live!
23 And in some time after, when the kings and
princes and the sons of men were speaking to Enoch, and Enoch was teaching them
the ways of God, behold an angel of the Lord then called unto Enoch from
heaven, and wished to bring him up to heaven to make him reign there over the
sons of God, as he had reigned over the sons of men upon earth.
24 When at that time Enoch heard this he went and assembled all the inhabitants of the earth, and
taught them wisdom and knowledge and gave them divine instructions, and he said
to them, I have been required to ascend into heaven, I therefore do not know
the day of my going.
25 And now therefore I will
teach you wisdom and knowledge and will give you instruction before I leave
you, how to act upon earth whereby you may live; and he did so.
26 And he taught them wisdom
and knowledge, and gave them instruction, and he reproved them, and he placed
before them statutes and judgments to do upon earth, and he made peace amongst
them, and he taught them everlasting life, and dwelt with them some time
teaching them all these things.
27 And at that time the sons of
men were with Enoch, and Enoch was speaking to them, and they lifted up their
eyes and the likeness of a great horse descended from heaven, and the horse
paced in the air;
28 And they told Enoch
what they had seen, and Enoch said to
them, On my account does this horse descend upon earth; the time is come when I
must go from you and I shall no more be seen by you.
29 And the horse descended
at that time and stood
before Enoch, and all the sons of men that were with Enoch saw him.
30 And Enoch then again ordered
a voice to be proclaimed, saying, Where
is the man who delighteth to know the ways of the Lord his God, let him come
this day to Enoch before he is taken from us.
31 And all the sons of men
assembled and came to Enoch that day; and all the kings of the earth with their
princes and counsellors remained with him that day; and Enoch then taught the
sons of men wisdom and knowledge, and gave them divine instruction; and he bade
them serve the Lord and walk in his ways all the days of their lives, and he
continued to make peace amongst them. 32
And it was after this that he rose up and rode upon the horse; and he went
forth and all the sons of men went after him, about eight hundred thousand men;
and they went with him one day’s journey.
33 And the second day he said
to them, Return home to your tents, why will you go? perhaps you may die; and
some of them went from him, and those that remained went with him six day’s
journey; and Enoch said to them every day, Return to your tents, lest you may
die; but they were not willing to return, and they went with him.
34 And on the sixth day some of
the men remained and clung to him, and they said to him, We will go with thee
to the place where thou goest; as the Lord liveth, death only shall separate
us.
35 And they urged so much to go
with him, that he ceased speaking to them; and they went after him and would
not return;
36 And when the kings returned
they caused a census to be taken, in order to know the number of remaining men
that went with Enoch; and it was upon the seventh day that Enoch ascended into
heaven in a whirlwind, with horses and chariots of fire.
37 And on the eighth day all
the kings that had been with Enoch sent to bring back the number of men that
were with Enoch, in that place from which he ascended into heaven.
38 And all those kings went to
the place and they found the earth there filled
with snow, and upon the snow were large stones of snow, and one said to
the other, Come, let us break through the snow and see, perhaps the men that
remained with Enoch are dead, and are now under the stones of snow, and they
searched but could not find him, for he had ascended into heaven.
CHAPTER
4
1
And all the days that Enoch lived upon earth, were three hundred and
sixty-five years.
2
And when Enoch had ascended into heaven, all the kings of the earth rose
and took Methuselah his son and anointed him, and they caused him to reign over
them in the place of his father.
3
And Methuselah acted uprightly in the sight of God, as his father Enoch had taught him, and he
likewise during the whole of his life taught the sons of men wisdom, knowledge
and the fear of God, and he did not turn from the good way either to the right
or to the left.
4
But in the latter days of Methuselah, the sons of men turned from the
Lord, they corrupted the earth, they robbed and plundered each other, and they
rebelled against God and they transgressed, and they corrupted their ways, and
would not hearken to the voice of Methuselah, but rebelled against him.
5
And the Lord was exceedingly wroth against them, and the Lord continued
to destroy the seed in those days, so that there was neither sowing nor reaping
in the earth.
6
For when they sowed the ground in order that they might obtain food for
their support, behold, thorns and thistles were produced which they did not
sow.
7
And still the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and their
hands were still extended to do evil in the sight of God, and they provoked the
Lord with their evil ways, and the Lord was very wroth, and repented that he
had made man.
8
And he thought to destroy and annihilate them and he did so.
9
In those days when Lamech the son of Methuselah was one hundred and
sixty years old, Seth the son of Adam died.
10
And all the days that Seth lived, were nine hundred and twelve years,
and he died.
11 And Lamech was one hundred
and eighty years old when he took Ashmua, the daughter of Elishaa the son of Enoch his uncle, and she conceived.
12 And at that time the sons of
men sowed the ground, and a little food
was produced, yet the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and they
trespassed and rebelled against God.
13 And the wife of Lamech
conceived and bare him a son at that time, at the revolution of the year.
14 And Methuselah called his
name Noah, saying, the earth was in his days at rest and free from corruption,
and Lamech his father called his name Menachem, saying, this one shall comfort
us in our works and miserable toil in the earth, which God had cursed.
15 And the child grew up and
was weaned, and he went in the ways of his father Methuselah, perfect and
upright with God.
16 And all the sons of men
departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the
face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their
evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord.
17 And every man made unto himself
a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his
relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence.
18 And their judges and rulers
went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands
according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the
cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and
taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith
to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all
flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.
19 And the Lord said, I will
blot out man that I created from the face of the earth, yea from man to the
birds of the air, together with cattle and beasts that are in the field for I
repent that I made them.
20 And all men who walked in
the ways of the Lord, died in those days, before the Lord brought the evil upon
man which he had declared, for this was from the Lord, that they should not see
the evil which the Lord spoke of concerning the sons of men.
21 And Noah found grace in the
sight of the Lord, and the Lord chose him and his children to raise up seed
from them upon the face of the whole earth.
CHAPTER 5
1 And it was in the
eighty-fourth year of the life of Noah, that Enoch the son of Seth died, he was
nine hundred and five years old at his death.
2 And in the one hundred and
seventy ninth year of the life of Noah, Cainan the son of Enosh died, and all
the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
3 And in the two hundred and
thirty fourth year of the life of Noah, Mahlallel the son of Cainan died, and
the days of Mahlallel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he
died.
4 And Jared the son of
Mahlallel died in those days, in the
three hundred and thirty-sixth year of the life of Noah; and all the days of
Jared were nine hundred and sixty- two years, and he died.
5 And all who followed the
Lord died in those days, before they saw the evil which God declared to do upon
earth.
6 And after the lapse of many
years, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the life of Noah, when all
those men, who followed the Lord had died away from amongst the sons of men,
and only Methuselah was then left, God said unto Noah and Methuselah, saying,
7 Speak ye, and proclaim to
the sons of men, saying, Thus saith the Lord, return from your evil ways and
forsake your works, and the Lord will repent of the evil that he declared to do
to you, so that it shall not come to pass.
8 For thus saith the Lord,
Behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years; if you will turn to
me and forsake your evil ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I
told you, and it shall not exist, saith the Lord.
9 And Noah and Methuselah spoke
all the words of the Lord to the sons of men, day after day, constantly
speaking to them.
10 But the sons of men would
not hearken to them, nor incline their ears to their words, and they were stiff
necked.
11 And the Lord granted them a
period of one hundred and twenty years, saying, If they will return, then will
God repent of the evil, so as not to destroy the earth.
12 Noah the son of Lamech
refrained from taking a wife in those days, to beget children, for he said,
Surely now God will destroy the earth, wherefore then shall I beget children?
13 And Noah was a just man, he
was perfect in his generation, and the Lord chose him to raise up seed from his
seed upon the face of the earth.
14 And the Lord said unto Noah,
Take unto thee a wife, and beget children, for I have seen thee righteous
before me in this generation.
15 And thou shalt raise up
seed, and thy children with thee, in the midst of the earth; and Noah went and
took a wife, and he chose Naamah the daughter of Enoch, and she was five
hundred and eighty years old.
16 And Noah was four hundred
and ninety-eight years old, when he took Naamah for a wife.
17 And Naamah conceived and
bare a son, and he called his name Japheth, saying, God has enlarged me in the
earth; and she conceived again and bare a son, and he called his name Shem,
saying, God has made me a
remnant, to raise up seed in the midst of the earth.
18
And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bare Shem, and
the boys grew up and went in the ways of the Lord, in all that Methuselah and
Noah their father taught them.
19
And Lamech the father of Noah, died in those days; yet verily he did not
go with all his heart in the ways of his father, and he died in the hundred and
ninety-fifth year of the life of Noah.
20
And all the days of Lamech were
seven hundred and seventy years, and he died.
21
And all the sons of men who knew the Lord, died in that year before the
Lord brought evil upon them; for the Lord willed them to die, so as not to
behold the evil that God would bring upon their brothers and relatives, as he
had so declared to do.
22
In that time, the Lord said to Noah and Methuselah, Stand forth and
proclaim to the sons of men all the words that I spoke to you in those days,
peradventure they may turn from their evil ways, and I will then repent of the
evil and will not bring it.
23
And Noah and Methuselah stood forth, and said in the ears of the sons of
men, all that God had spoken concerning them.
24
But the sons of men would not hearken, neither would they incline their
ears to all their declarations.
25
And it was after this that the Lord said to Noah, The end of all flesh
is come before me, on account of their evil deeds, and behold I will destroy
the earth.
26
And do thou take unto thee gopher wood, and go to a certain place and
make a large ark, and place it in that spot.
27
And thus shalt thou make it; three hundred cubits its length, fifty
cubits broad and thirty cubits high.
28
And thou shalt make unto thee a door, open at its side, and to a cubit
thou shalt finish above, and cover it within and without with pitch.
29
And behold I will bring the flood of waters upon the earth, and all
flesh be destroyed, from under the heavens all that is upon earth shall perish.
30
And thou and thy household shall go and gather two couple of all living
things, male and female, and shall bring them to the ark, to raise up seed from
them upon earth.
31
And gather unto thee all food that is eaten by all the animals, that
there may be food for thee and for them.
32
And thou shalt choose for thy sons three maidens, from the daughters of
men, and they shall be wives to thy sons.
33
And Noah rose up, and he made the ark, in the place where God had
commanded him, and Noah did as God had ordered him.
34
In his five hundred and ninety-fifth year Noah commenced to make the
ark, and he made the ark in five years, as the Lord had commanded.
35
Then Noah took the three daughters of Eliakim, son of Methuselah, for
wives for his sons, as the Lord had commanded Noah.
36
And it was at that time Methuselah the son of Enoch died, nine hundred
and sixty years old was he, at his death.
1
At that time, after the death of Methuselah, the Lord said to Noah, Go
thou with thy household into the ark; behold I will gather to thee all the
animals of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and
they shall all come and surround the ark.
2
And thou shalt go and seat thyself by the doors of the ark, and all the
beasts, the animals, and the fowls, shall assemble and place themselves before
thee, and such of them as shall come and crouch before thee, shalt thou take
and deliver into the hands of thy sons, who shall bring them to the ark, and
all that will stand before thee thou shalt leave.
3
And the Lord brought this about on the next day, and animals, beasts and
fowls came in great multitudes and surrounded the ark.
4
And Noah went and seated himself by the door of the ark, and of all
flesh that crouched before him, he brought into the ark, and all that stood
before him he left upon earth.
5
And a lioness came, with her two whelps, male and female, and the three
crouched before Noah, and the two whelps rose up against the lioness and smote
her, and made her flee from her place, and she went away, and they returned to
their places, and crouched upon the earth before Noah.
6
And the lioness ran away, and stood in the place of the lions.
7
And Noah saw this, and wondered greatly, and he rose and took the two
whelps, and brought them into the ark.
8
And Noah brought into the ark from all living creatures that were upon
earth, so that there was none left but which Noah brought into the ark.
9
Two and two came to Noah into the
ark, but from the clean animals, and clean fowls, he brought seven couples, as
God had commanded him.
10
And all the animals, and beasts, and fowls, were still there, and they
surrounded the ark at every place, and the rain had not descended till seven
days after.
11
And on that day, the Lord caused the whole earth to shake, and the sun
darkened, and the foundations of the world raged, and the whole earth was moved
violently, and the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared, and all the
fountains in the earth were broken up, such as was not known to the inhabitants
before; and God did this mighty act, in order to terrify the sons of men, that
there might be no more evil upon earth.
12
And still the sons of men would not return from their evil ways, and they increased the anger of the Lord at that time, and
did not even direct their hearts to all this.
13 And at the end of seven
days, in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, the waters of the flood
were upon the earth.
14 And all the fountains of the
deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain was
upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
15 And Noah and his household,
and all the living creatures that were with him, came into the ark on account
of the waters of the flood, and the Lord shut him in.
16 And all the sons of men that
were left upon the earth, became exhausted through evil on account of the rain,
for the waters were coming more violently upon the earth, and the animals and
beasts were still surrounding the ark.
17 And the sons of men
assembled together, about seven hundred thousand men and women, and they came
unto Noah to the ark.
18 And they called to Noah,
saying, Open for us that we may come to thee in the ark--and wherefore shall we
die?
19 And Noah, with a loud voice,
answered them from the ark, saying, Have you not all rebelled against the Lord,
and said that he does not exist? and therefore the Lord brought upon you this
evil, to destroy and cut you off from the face of the earth.
20 Is not this the thing that I
spoke to you of one hundred and twenty years back, and you would not hearken to
the voice of the Lord, and now do you desire to live upon earth?
21 And they said to Noah, We
are ready to return to the Lord; only open for us that we may live and not die.
22 And Noah answered them,
saying, Behold now that you see the trouble of your souls, you wish to return
to the Lord; why did you not return during these hundred and twenty years,
which the Lord granted you as the determined period?
23 But now you come and tell me
this on account of the troubles of your souls, now also the Lord will not
listen to you, neither will he give ear to you on this day, so that you will
not now succeed in your wishes.
24 And the sons of men
approached in order to break into the ark, to come in on account of the rain,
for they could not bear the rain upon them.
25 And the Lord sent all the
beasts and animals that stood round the ark. And the beasts overpowered them
and drove them from that place, and every man went his way and they again
scattered themselves upon the face of the earth.
26 And the rain was still
descending upon the earth, and it descended forty days and forty nights, and
the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth; and all flesh that was upon the
earth or in the waters died, whether men, animals, beasts, creeping things or
birds of the air, and there only remained Noah and those that were with him in
the ark.
27 And the waters prevailed and
they greatly increased upon the earth, and they lifted up the ark and it was
raised from the earth.
28 And the ark floated upon the
face of the waters, and it was tossed upon the waters so that all the living
creatures within were turned about like pottage in a cauldron.
29 And great anxiety seized all
the living creatures that were in the ark, and the ark was like to be
broken.
30 And all the living creatures
that were in the ark were terrified, and the lions roared, and the oxen lowed,
and the wolves howled, and every living creature in the ark spoke and lamented
in its own language, so that their voices reached to a great distance, and Noah
and his sons cried and wept in their troubles; they were greatly afraid that
they had reached the gates of death.
31 And Noah prayed unto the
Lord, and cried unto him on account of this, and he said, O Lord help us, for
we have no strength to bear this evil that has encompassed us, for the waves of
the waters have surrounded us, mischievous torrents have terrified us, the
snares of death have come before us; answer us, O Lord, answer us, light up thy
countenance toward us and be gracious to us, redeem us and deliver us.
32 And the Lord hearkened to
the voice of Noah, and the Lord remembered him.
33 And a wind passed over the
earth, and the waters were still and the ark rested.
34 And the fountains of the
deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was
restrained.
35 And the waters decreased in
those days, and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
36 And Noah then opened the
windows of the ark, and Noah still called out to the Lord at that time and he
said, O Lord, who didst form the earth and the heavens and all that are
therein, bring forth our souls from this confinement, and from the prison wherein
thou hast placed us, for I am much wearied with sighing.
37 And the Lord hearkened to
the voice of Noah, and said to him, When though shalt have completed a full
year thou shalt then go forth.
38 And at the revolution of the
year, when a full year was completed to Noah’s dwelling in the ark, the waters
were dried from off the earth, and Noah put off the covering of the ark.
39 At that time, on the
twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry, but Noah and his
sons, and those that were with him, did not go out from the ark until the Lord
told them.
40 And the day came that the
Lord told them to go out, and they all went out from the ark.
41 And they went and returned
everyone to his way and to his place, and Noah and his sons dwelt in the land
that God had told them, and they served the Lord all their days, and the Lord
blessed Noah and his sons on their going out from the ark.
42 And he said to them, Be
fruitful and fill all the earth; become strong and increase abundantly in the
earth and multiply therein.
CHAPTER
7
1
And these are the names of the sons of Noah: Japheth, Ham and Shem; and
children were born to them after the flood, for they had taken wives before the
flood.
2
These are the sons of Japheth; Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal,
Meshech, and Tiras, seven sons.
3
And the sons of Gomer were Askinaz, Rephath and Tegarmah.
4
And the sons of Magog were Elichanaf and Lubal.
5
And the children of Madai were Achon, Zeelo, Chazoni and Lot.
6
And the sons of Javan were Elisha, Tarshish, Chittim and Dudonim.
7
And the sons of Tubal were Ariphi, Kesed and Taari.
8
And the sons of Meshech were Dedon, Zaron and Shebashni.
9
And the sons of Tiras were Benib, Gera, Lupirion and Gilak; these are
the sons of Japheth according to their families, and their numbers in those
days were about four hundred and sixty men.
10
And these are the sons of Ham; Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan, four
sons; and the sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama and Satecha, and
the sons of Raama were Sheba and Dedan.
12
And the sons of Phut were Gebul, Hadan, Benah and Adan.
13
And the sons of Canaan were Zidon, Heth,
Amori, Gergashi, Hivi, Arkee, Seni, Arodi, Zimodi and Chamothi.
14
These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, and their
numbers in those days were about seven hundred and thirty men.
15
And these are the sons of Shem; Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram,
five sons; and the sons of Elam were Shushan, Machul and Harmon.
16
And the sons of Ashar were Mirus and Mokil, and the sons of Arpachshad
were Shelach, Anar and Ashcol.
17
And the sons of Lud were Pethor and Bizayon, and the sons of Aram were
Uz, Chul, Gather and Mash.
18
These are the sons of Shem, according to their families; and their
numbers in those days were about three hundred men.
19
These are the generations of Shem; Shem begat Arpachshad and Arpachshad
begat Shelach, and Shelach begat Eber and to Eber were born two children, the
name of one was Peleg, for in his days the sons of men were divided, and in the
latter days, the earth was divided.
20
And the name of the second was Yoktan, meaning that in his day the lives
of the sons of men were diminished and lessened.
21
These are the sons of Yoktan;
Almodad, Shelaf, Chazarmoveth, Yerach, Hadurom, Ozel, Diklah, Obal, Abimael,
Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab; all these are the sons of Yoktan.
22
And Peleg his brother begat Yen, and Yen begat Serug, and Serug begat
Nahor and Nahor begat Terah, and Terah was thirty-eight years old, and he begat
Haran and Nahor.
23
And Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a wife in those days in
his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod, saying, At
that time the sons of men again began to rebel and transgress against God, and
the child grew up, and his father loved him exceedingly, for he was the son of
his old age.
24
And the garments of skin which God made for Adam and his wife, when they
went out of the garden, were given to Cush.
25
For after the death of Adam and his wife, the garments were given to
Enoch, the son of Jared, and when Enoch was taken up to God, he gave them to
Methuselah, his son.
26
And at the death of Methuselah,
Noah took them and brought them to the ark, and they were with him until
he went out of the ark.
27
And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father,
and he took them and hid them from his brothers.
28
And when Ham begat his first born Cush, he gave him the garments in
secret, and they were with Cush many days.
29
And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush
had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and
Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old he put on those garments.
30
And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, and God gave him
might and strength, and he was a mighty hunter in the earth, yea, he was a
mighty hunter in the field, and he hunted the animals and he built altars, and
he offered upon them the animals before the Lord. 31 And Nimrod strengthened himself, and he rose up from amongst his
brethren, and he fought the battles of his brethren against all their enemies
round about.
32
And the Lord delivered all the enemies of his brethren in his hands, and
God prospered him from time to time in his battles, and he reigned upon earth.
33
Therefore it became current in those days, when a man ushered forth
those that he had trained up for battle, he would say to them, Like God did to
Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter in the earth, and who succeeded in the battles
that prevailed against his brethren, that he delivered them from the hands of
their enemies, so may God strengthen us and deliver us this day.
34
And when Nimrod was forty years old, at that time there was a war
between his brethren and the children of Japheth, so that they were in the
power of their enemies.
35
And Nimrod went forth at that time, and he assembled all the sons of
Cush and their families, about four hundred and sixty men, and he hired also
from some of his friends and acquaintances about eighty men, and be gave them
their hire, and he went with them to battle, and when he was on the road, Nimrod strengthened the hearts of the people that went with him.
36
And he said to them, Do not fear, neither be alarmed, for all our enemies will
be delivered into our hands, and you may
do with them as you please.
37 And all the men that went
were about five hundred, and they fought against their enemies, and they
destroyed them, and subdued them, and Nimrod placed standing officers over them
in their respective places.
38 And he took some of their
children as security, and they were all servants to Nimrod and to his brethren,
and Nimrod and all the people that were with him turned homeward.
39 And when Nimrod had joyfully
returned from battle, after having
conquered his enemies, all his brethren, together with those who knew him
before, assembled to make him king over them, and they placed the regal crown
upon his head.
40 And he set over his subjects
and people, princes, judges, and rulers, as is the custom amongst kings.
41 And he placed Terah the son
of Nahor the prince of his host, and he dignified him and elevated him above
all his princes.
42 And whilst he was reigning
according to his heart’s desire, after having conquered all his enemies around,
he advised with his counselors to build a city for his palace, and they did so.
43 And they found a large
valley opposite to the east, and they built him a large and extensive city, and
Nimrod called the name of the city that he built Shinar, for the Lord had
vehemently shaken his enemies and destroyed them.
44 And Nimrod dwelt in Shinar,
and he reigned securely, and he fought with his enemies and he subdued them,
and he prospered in all his battles, and his kingdom became very great.
45 And all nations and tongues
heard of his fame, and they gathered themselves to him, and they bowed down to
the earth, and they brought him offerings, and he became their lord and king,
and they all dwelt with him in the city at Shinar, and Nimrod reigned in the
earth over all the sons of Noah, and they were all under his power and counsel.
46 And all the earth was of one
tongue and words of union, but Nimrod
did not go in the ways of the Lord, and he was more wicked than all the
men that were before him, from the days of the flood until those days.
47 And he made gods of wood and
stone, and he bowed down to them, and he rebelled against the Lord, and taught
all his subjects and the people of the earth his wicked ways; and Mardon his
son was more wicked than his father.
48 And every one that heard of
the acts of Mardon the son of Nimrod
would say, concerning him, From the wicked goeth forth wickedness;
therefore it became a proverb in the whole earth, saying, From the wicked goeth
forth wickedness, and it was current in the words of men from that time to
this.
49 And Terah the son of Nahor,
prince of Nimrod’s host, was in those days very great in the sight of the king and his subjects, and the king and
princes loved him, and they elevated him very high.
50 And Terah took a wife and
her name was Amthelo the daughter of Cornebo; and the wife of Terah conceived
and bare him a son in those days.
51 Terah was seventy years old
when he begat him, and Terah called the name of his son that was born to him
Abram, because the king had raised him in those days, and dignified him above
all his princes that were with him.
1 And it was in the night that
Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod,
and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced
with him on that night.
2 And when all the wise men
and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes
toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one
very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up
the four stars from the four sides of the heavens.
3 And all the wise men of the
king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood
this matter, and they knew its import.
4 And they said to each other,
This only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will
grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his
children forever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their
lands.
5 And the wise men and
conjurors went home that night, and in the morning all these wise men and
conjurors rose up early, and assembled in an appointed house.
6 And they spoke and said to
each other, Behold the sight that we saw last night is hidden from the king, it
has not been made known to him.
7 And should this thing get
known to the king in the latter days, he will say to us, Why have you concealed
this matter from me, and then we shall all suffer death; therefore, now let us
go and tell the king the sight which we saw, and the interpretation thereof,
and we shall then remain clear.
8 And they did so, and they
all went to the king and bowed down to him to the ground, and they said, May
the king live, may the king live.
9 We heard that a son was born
to Terah the son of Nahor, the prince of thy host, and we yesternight came to
his house, and we ate and drank and rejoiced with him that night.
10 And when thy servants went
out from the house of Terah, to go
to our respective homes to abide there for the night, we lifted up our eyes to
heaven, and we saw a great star coming from the east, and the same star ran
with great speed, and swallowed up four great stars, from the four sides of the
heavens.
11 And thy servants were
astonished at the sight which we saw, and were greatly terrified, and we made
our judgment upon the sight, and knew by our wisdom the proper interpretation
thereof, that this thing applies to the child that is born to Terah, who will grow
up and multiply greatly, and become powerful, and kill all the kings of the
earth, and inherit all their lands, he and his seed forever.
12 And now our lord and king,
behold we have truly acquainted thee with what we have seen concerning this
child.
13 If it seemeth good to the
king to give his father value for this child, we will slay him before he shall
grow up and increase in the land, and his evil increase against us, that we and
our children perish through his evil.
14 And the king heard their words
and they seemed good in his sight, and he sent and called for Terah, and Terah
came before the king.
15 And the king said to Terah,
I have been told that a son was yesternight born to thee, and after this manner
was observed in the heavens at his birth.
16 And now therefore give me
the child, that we may slay him before his evil springs up against us, and I
will give thee for his value, thy house full of silver and gold.
17 And Terah answered the king
and said to him: My Lord and king, I have heard thy words, and thy servant
shall do all that his king desireth.
18 But my lord and king, I will
tell thee what happened to me yesternight, that I may see what advice the king will give his
servant, and then I will answer the king upon what he has just spoken; and the
king said, Speak.
19 And Terah said to the king,
Ayon, son of Mored, came to me yesternight, saying,
20 Give unto me the great and
beautiful horse that the king gave thee, and I will give thee silver and gold,
and straw and provender for its value; and I said to him, Wait till I see the
king concerning thy words, and behold whatever the king saith, that will I do.
21 And now my lord and king,
behold I have made this thing known to thee, and the advice which my king will
give unto his servant, that will I follow.
22 And the king heard the words
of Terah, and his anger was kindled and he considered him in the light of a
fool.
23 And the king answered Terah,
and he said to him, Art thou so silly, ignorant, or deficient in understanding,
to do this thing, to give thy beautiful horse for silver and gold or even for
straw and provender?
24 Art thou so short of silver
and gold, that thou shouldst do this thing, because thou canst not obtain straw
and provender to feed thy horse? and what is silver and gold to thee, or straw
and provender, that thou shouldst give away that fine horse which I gave thee,
like which there is none to be had on the whole earth?
25 And the king left off
speaking, and Terah answered the king, saying, Like unto this has the king
spoken to his servant;
26 I beseech thee, my lord and
king, what is this which thou didst say
unto me, saying, Give thy son that we may slay him, and I will give thee silver
and gold for his value; what shall I do with silver and gold after the death of
my son? who shall inherit me? surely then at my death, the silver and gold will
return to my king who gave it.
27 And when the king heard the
words of Terah, and the parable which he brought concerning the king, it
grieved him greatly and he was vexed at this thing, and his anger burned within
him. 28 And Terah saw that the anger
of the king was kindled against him, and he answered the king, saying, All that
I have is in the king’s power; whatever the king desireth to do to his servant,
that let him do, yea, even my son, he is in the king’s power, without value in
exchange, he and his two brothers that are older than he.
29 And the king said to Terah,
No, but I will purchase thy younger son for a price.
30 And Terah answered the king,
saying, I beseech thee my lord and king to let thy servant speak a word before
thee, and let the king hear the word of his servant, and Terah said, Let my
king give me three days’ time till I consider this matter within myself, and
consult with my family concerning the words of my king; and he pressed the king
greatly to agree to this.
31 And the king hearkened to
Terah, and he did so and he gave him three days’ time, and Terah went out from
the king’s presence, and he came home to his family and spoke to them all the
words of the king; and the people were greatly afraid.
32 And it was in the third day
that the king sent to Terah, saying, Send me thy son for a price as I spoke to
thee; and shouldst thou not do this, I will send and slay all thou hast in thy
house, so that thou shalt not even have a dog remaining.
33 And Terah hastened, (as the
thing was urgent from the king), and he took a child from one of his servants,
which his handmaid had born to him that day, and Terah brought the child to the
king and received value for him.
34 And the Lord was with Terah
in this matter, that Nimrod might not cause
Abram’s death, and the king took the child from Terah and with all his
might dashed his head to the ground, for he thought it had been Abram; and this
was concealed from him from that day, and it was forgotten by the king, as it was the will of Providence not to
suffer Abram’s death.
35 And Terah took Abram his son
secretly, together with his mother and nurse, and he concealed them in a cave, and he brought
them their provisions monthly.
36 And the Lord was with Abram
in the cave and he grew up, and Abram was in the cave ten years, and the king
and his princes, soothsayers and sages, thought that the king had killed Abram.
1 And Haran, the son of Terah,
Abram’s oldest brother, took a wife in those days.
2 Haran was thirty-nine years
old when he took her; and the wife of Haran conceived and bare a son, and he
called his name Lot.
3 And she conceived again and
bare a daughter, and she called her name Milca; and she again conceived and
bare a daughter, and she called her name Sarai.
4 Haran was forty-two years
old when he begat Sarai, which was in the tenth year of the life of Abram; and
in those days Abram and his mother and nurse went out from the cave, as the
king and his subjects had forgotten the affair of Abram.
5 And when Abram came out from
the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem, and he remained with them to learn
the instruction of the Lord and his ways, and no man knew where Abram was, and
Abram served Noah and Shem his son for a long time.
6 And Abram was in Noah’s house thirty-nine years, and Abram
knew the Lord from three years old, and he went in the ways of the Lord until
the day of his death, as Noah and his son Shem had taught him; and all the sons
of the earth in those days greatly transgressed against the Lord, and they
rebelled against him and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who
had created them in the earth; and the inhabitants of the earth made unto
themselves, at that time, every man his god; gods of wood and stone which could
neither speak, hear, nor deliver, and the sons of men served them and they
became their gods.
7 And the king and all his
servants, and Terah with all his household were then the first of those that
served gods of wood and stone.
8 And Terah had twelve gods of
large size, made of wood and stone, after the twelve months of the year, and he
served each one monthly, and every month Terah would bring his meat offering
and drink offering to his gods; thus did Terah all the days.
9 And all that generation were
wicked in the sight of the Lord, and they thus made every man his god, but they
forsook the Lord who had created them.
10 And there was not a man
found in those days in the whole earth, who knew the Lord (for they served each
man his own God) except Noah and his household, and all those who were under
his counsel knew the Lord in those days.
11 And Abram the son of Terah
was waxing great in those days in the house of Noah, and no man knew it, and
the Lord was with him.
12 And the Lord gave Abram an
understanding heart, and he knew all the works of that generation were vain,
and that all their gods were vain and were of no avail.
13 And Abram saw the sun
shining upon the earth, and Abram said unto himself Surely now this sun that
shines upon the earth is God, and him will I serve.
14 And Abram served the sun in
that day and he prayed to him, and when evening came the sun set as usual, and
Abram said within himself, surely this cannot be God?
15 And Abram still continued to
speak within himself, who is he who made the heavens and the earth? Who created
upon earth? Where is he?
16 And night darkened over him,
and he lifted up his eyes toward the west, north, south, and east, and he saw
that the sun had vanished from the earth, and the day became dark.
17 And Abram saw the stars and
moon before him, and he said, surely this is the God who created the whole
earth as well as man, and behold these his servants are gods around him: and
Abram served the moon and prayed to it all that night.
18 And in the morning when it
was light and the sun shone upon the earth as usual, Abram saw all the things
that the Lord God had made upon earth.
19 And Abram said unto himself
Surely these are not gods that made the earth and all mankind, but these are
the servants of God, and Abram remained in the house of Noah and there knew the
Lord and his ways’ and he served the Lord all the days of his life, and all
that generation forgot the Lord, and served other gods of wood and stone, and
rebelled all their days.
20 And King Nimrod reigned securely,
and all the earth was under his control, and all the earth was of one tongue
and words of union.
21 And all the princes of
Nimrod and his great men took counsel together; Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and Canaan
with their families, and they said to each other, Come let us build ourselves a
city and in it a strong tower, and its top reaching heaven, and we will make
ourselves famed, so that we may reign upon the whole world, in order that the
evil of our enemies may cease from us, that we may reign mightily over them,
and that we may not become scattered over the earth on account of their wars.
22 And they all went before the
king, and they told the king these words, and the king agreed with them in this
affair, and he did so.
23 And all the families assembled
consisting of about six hundred thousand men, and they went to seek an extensive
piece of ground to build the city and the tower, and they sought in the whole earth and they found none like one valley at the east of the land
of Shinar, about two days’ walk, and they journeyed there and they dwelt there.
24 And they began to make
bricks and burn fires to build the city and the tower that they had imagined to
complete.
25 And the building of the
tower was unto them a transgression and a sin, and they began to build it, and
whilst they were building against the Lord God of heaven, they imagined in
their hearts to war against him and to ascend into heaven.
26 And all these people and all
the families divided themselves in three parts; the first said We will ascend
into heaven and fight against him; the second said, We will ascend to heaven
and place our own gods there and serve them; and the third part said, We will
ascend to heaven and smite him with bows and spears; and God knew all their
works and all their evil thoughts, and he saw the city and the tower which they
were building.
27 And when they were building
they built themselves a great city and a very high and strong tower; and on
account of its height the mortar and bricks did not reach the builders in their
ascent to it, until those who went up had completed a full year, and after
that, they reached to the builders and gave them the mortar and the bricks;
thus was it done daily.
28 And behold these ascended
and others descended the whole day; and if a brick should fall from their hands
and get broken, they would all weep over it, and if a man fell and died, none
of them would look at him.
29 And the Lord knew their
thoughts, and it came to pass when they were building they cast the arrows toward the heavens, and all the arrows fell upon
them filled with blood, and when they saw them they said to each other, Surely
we have slain all those that are in heaven.
30 For this was from the Lord
in order to cause them to err, and in order; to destroy them from off the face
of the ground.
31 And they built the tower and
the city, and they did this thing daily until many days and years were elapsed.
32 And God said to the seventy
angels who stood foremost before him, to those who were near to him, saying,
Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not
understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them.
33 And from that day following,
they forgot each man his neighbor’s tongue, and they could not understand to
speak in one tongue, and when the builder took from the hands of his neighbor
lime or stone which he did not order, the builder would cast it away and throw
it upon his neighbor, that he would die.
34 And they did so many days,
and they killed many of them in this manner.
35 And the Lord smote the three
divisions that were there, and he punished them according to their works and
designs; those who said, We will ascend to heaven and serve our gods, became
like apes and elephants; and those who said, We will smite the heaven with
arrows, the Lord killed them, one man through the hand of his neighbor; and the
third division of those who said, We will ascend to heaven and fight against
him, the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.
36 And those who were left
amongst them, when they knew and understood the evil which was coming upon
them, they forsook the building, and they also became scattered upon the face
of the whole earth.
37 And they ceased building the
city and the tower; therefore he called that place Babel, for there the Lord
confounded the Language of the whole earth; behold it was at the east of the
land of Shinar.
38 And as to the tower which
the sons of men built, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up one third
part thereof, and a fire also descended from heaven and burned another third,
and the other third is left to this day, and it is of that part which was
aloft, and its circumference is three days’ walk.
39 And many of the sons of men
died in that tower, a people without number.
1 And Peleg the son of Eber
died in those days, in the forty-eighth year of the life of Abram son of Terah,
and all the days of Peleg were two hundred and thirty-nine years.
2 And when the Lord had
scattered the sons of men on account of their sin at the tower, behold they
spread forth into many divisions, and all the sons of men were dispersed into
the four corners of the earth.
3 And all the families became each
according to its language, its land, or
its city.
4 And the sons of men built
many cities according to their families, in all the places where they went, and
throughout the earth where the Lord had scattered them.
5 And some of them built
cities in places from which they were afterward extirpated, and they called
these cities after their own names, or the names of their children, or after
their particular occurrences.
6 And the sons of Japheth the
son of Noah went and built themselves cities in the places where they were
scattered, and they called all their cities after their names, and the sons of
Japheth were divided upon the face of the earth into many divisions and
languages.
7 And these are the sons of
Japheth according to their families, Gomer, Magog, Medai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech
and Tiras; these are the children
of Japheth according
to their generations.
8 And the children of Gomer, according
to their cities, were the Francum, who dwell in the
land of Franza, by the river Franza, by the river Senah.
9 And the children of Rephath are the Bartonim, who dwell in the
land of Bartonia by the river Ledah, which empties its waters in the great sea
Gihon, that is, oceanus.
10 And the children of Tugarma
are ten families, and these are their names: Buzar, Parzunac, Balgar, Elicanum,
Ragbib, Tarki, Bid, Zebuc, Ongal and Tilmaz; all these spread and rested in the
north and built themselves cities.
11 And they called their cities
after their own names, those are they who abide by the rivers Hithlah and
Italac unto this day.
12 But the families of Angoli,
Balgar and Parzunac, they dwell by the great river Dubnee; and the names of
their cities are also according to their own names.
13 And the children of Javan
are the Javanim who dwell in the land of Makdonia, and the children of Medaiare
are the Orelum that dwell in the land of Curson, and the children of Tubal are
those that dwell in the land of Tuskanah by the river Pashiah.
14 And the children of Meshech
are the Shibashni and the children of Tiras are Rushash, Cushni, and Ongolis;
all these went and built themselves cities; those are the cities that are
situate by the sea Jabus by the river Cura, which empties itself in the river
Tragan.
15 And the children of Elishah
are the Almanim, and they also went and built themselves cities; those are the
cities situate between the mountains of Job and Shibathmo; and of them were the
people of Lumbardi who dwell opposite the mountains of Job and Shibathmo, and
they conquered the land of Italia and remained there unto this day.
16 And the children of Chittim
are the Romim who dwell in the valley of Canopia by the river Tibreu.
17 And the children of Dudonim
are those who dwell in the cities of the sea Gihon, in the land of Bordna.
18 These are the families of
the children of Japheth according to their cities and languages, when they were
scattered after the tower, and they called their cities after their names and
occurrences; and these are the names of all their cities according to their
families, which they built in those days after the tower.
19 And the children of Ham were
Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan
according to their generation and cities.
20 All these went and built
themselves cities as they found fit places for them, and they called their
cities after the names of their fathers Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan.
21 And the children of Mitzraim
are the Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuchim, Pathrusim, Casluchim and Caphturim,
seven families.
22 All these dwell by the river
Sihor, that is the brook of Egypt, and they built themselves cities and called
them after their own names.
23 And the children of Pathros
and Casloch intermarried together, and from them went forth the Pelishtim, the
Azathim, and the Gerarim, the Githim and the Ekronim, in all five families;
these also built themselves cities, and they called their cities after the
names of their fathers unto this day.
24 And the children of Canaan
also built themselves cities, and they called their cities after their names,
eleven cities and others without number.
25 And four men from the family
of Ham went to the land of the plain; these are the names of the four men,
Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim.
26 And these men built
themselves four cities in the land of the plain, and they called the names of
their cities after their own names.
27 And they and their children
and all belonging to them dwelt in those cities, and they were fruitful and
multiplied greatly and dwelt peaceably.
28 And Seir the son of Hur, son
of Hivi, son of Canaan, went and found a valley opposite to Mount Paran, and he
built a city there, and he and his seven sons and his household dwelt there,
and he called the city which he built Seir, according to his name; that is the
land of Seir unto this day.
29 These are the families of
the children of Ham, according to their languages and cities, when they were
scattered to their countries after the tower.
30 And some of the children of
Shem son of Noah, father of all the children of Eber, also went and built
themselves cities in the places wherein they were scattered, and they called
their cities after their names.
31 And the sons of Shem were
Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram, and they built themselves cities and
called the names of all their cities after their names.
32 And Ashur son of Shem and
his children and household went forth at that time, a very large body of them,
and they went to a distant land that they found, and they met with a very
extensive valley in the land that they went to, and they built themselves four
cities, and they called them after their own names and occurrences.
33 And these are the names of
the cities which the children of Ashur
built, Ninevah, Resen, Calach and Rehobother; and the children of Ashur dwell
there unto this day.
34 And the children of Aram
also went and built themselves a city, and they called the name of the city Uz
after their eldest brother, and they dwell therein; that is the land of Uz to
this day.
35 And in the second year after
the tower a man from the house of Ashur, whose name was Bela, went from the
land of Ninevah to sojourn with his household wherever he could find a place;
and they came until opposite the cities of the plain against Sodom, and they
dwelt there. 36 And the man rose up
and built there a small city, and called its name Bela, after his name; that is
the land of Zoar unto this day.
37 And these are the families
of the children of Shem according to their language and cities, after they were scattered upon the earth after the tower.
38 And every kingdom, city, and
family of the families of the children of Noah built themselves many cities
after this.
39 And they established
governments in all their cities, in order to be regulated by their orders; so
did all the families of the children of Noah forever.
1 And Nimrod son of Cush was
still in the land of Shinar, and he reigned over it and dwelt there, and he
built cities in the land of Shinar.
2 And these are the names of
the four cities which he built, and he called their names after the occurrences
that happened to them in the building of the tower.
3 And he called the first
Babel, saying, Because the Lord there confounded the language of the whole
earth; and the name of the second he called Erech, because from there God
dispersed them.
4 And the third he called
Eched, saying there was a great battle at that place; and the fourth he called
Calnah, because his princes and mighty men were consumed there, and they vexed
the Lord, they rebelled and transgressed against him.
5 And when Nimrod had built
these cities in the land of Shinar, he placed in them the remainder of his
people, his princes and his mighty men that were left in his kingdom.
6 And Nimrod dwelt in Babel,
and he there renewed his reign over the rest of his subjects, and he reigned
securely, and the subjects and princes of Nimrod called his name Amraphel,
saying that at the tower his princes and men fell through his means.
7 And notwithstanding this,
Nimrod did not return to the Lord, and he continued in wickedness and teaching
wickedness to the sons of men; and Mardon, his son, was worse than his father,
and continued to add to the abominations of his father.
8 And he caused the sons of
men to sin, therefore it is said, From
the wicked goeth forth wickedness.
9 At that time there was war
between the families of the children of Ham, as they were dwelling in the
cities which they had built.
10 And Chedorlaomer, king of
Elam, went away from the families of the children of Ham, and he fought with
them and he subdued them, and he went to the five cities of the plain and he
fought against them and he subdued them, and they were under his control.
11 And they served him twelve
years, and they gave him a yearly tax.
12 At that time died Nahor, son
of Serug, in the forty-ninth year of the
life of Abram son of Terah. 13 And
in the fiftieth year of the life of Abram son of Terah, Abram came forth from
the house of Noah, and went to his father’s house.
14 And Abram knew the Lord, and
he went in his ways and instructions, and the Lord his God was with him.
15 And Terah his father was in
those days, still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed
strange gods.
16 And Abram came to his
father’s house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the
anger of Abram was kindled when he saw these images in his father’s house.
17 And Abram said, As the Lord
liveth these images shall not remain in my father’s house; so shall the Lord
who created me do unto me if in three days’ time I do not break them all.
18 And Abram went from them,
and his anger burned within him. And Abram hastened and went from the chamber
to his father’s outer court, and he found his father sitting in the court, and
all his servants with him, and Abram came and sat before him.
19 And Abram asked his father,
saying, Father, tell me where is God who created heaven and earth, and all the
sons of men upon earth, and who created thee and me. And Terah answered his son
Abram and said, Behold those who created us are all with us in the house.
20 And Abram said to his
father, My lord, shew them to me I pray thee; and Terah brought Abram into the
chamber of the inner court, and Abram saw, and behold the whole room was full
of gods of wood and stone, twelve great images and others less than they
without number.
21 And Terah said to his son,
Behold these are they which made all thou seest upon earth, and which created
me and thee, and all mankind.
22 And Terah bowed down to his
gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him.
23 And when Abram had gone from
them he went to his mother and sat before her, and he said to his mother,
Behold, my father has shown me those who made heaven and earth, and all the
sons of men.
24 Now, therefore, hasten and
fetch a kid from the flock, and make of it savory meat, that I may bring it to
my father’s gods as an offering for them to eat; perhaps I may thereby become
acceptable to them.
25 And his mother did so, and
she fetched a kid, and made savory meat thereof, and brought it to Abram, and
Abram took the savory meat from his mother and brought it before his father’s
gods, and he drew nigh to them that they might eat; and Terah his father, did
not know of it.
26 And Abram saw on the day
when he was sitting amongst them, that they had no voice, no hearing, no
motion, and not one of them could stretch forth his hand to eat.
27 And Abram mocked them, and
said, Surely the savory meat that I prepared has not pleased them, or perhaps
it was too little for them, and for that reason they would not eat; therefore
tomorrow I will prepare fresh
savory meat, better and more plentiful than this, in order that I may see the
result.
28 And it was on the next day
that Abram directed his mother concerning the savory meat, and his mother rose
and fetched three fine kids from the flock, and she made of them some excellent
savory meat, such as her son was fond of, and she gave it to her son Abram; and
Terah his father did not know of it.
29 And Abram took the savory
meat from his mother, and brought it before his father’s gods into the chamber;
and he came nigh unto them that they might eat, and he placed it before them,
and Abram sat before them all day, thinking perhaps they might eat.
30 And Abram viewed them, and
behold they had neither voice nor hearing, nor did one of them stretch forth
his hand to the meat to eat.
31 And in the evening of that
day in that house Abram was clothed with the spirit of God.
32 And he called out and said,
Wo unto my father and this wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined to
vanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone which can neither eat, smell,
hear nor speak, who have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears
without hearing, hands without feeling, and legs which cannot move; like them
are those that made them and that trust in them.
33 And when Abram saw all these
things his anger was kindled against his father, and he hastened and took a
hatchet in his hand, and came unto the chamber of the gods, and he broke all
his father’s gods.
34 And when he had done
breaking the images, he placed the hatchet in the hand of
the
great god which was there before them, and he went out; and Terah his father
came home, for he had heard at the door the sound of the striking of the
hatchet; so Terah came into the house to know what this was about.
35 And Terah, having heard the
noise of the hatchet in the room of images, ran to the room to the images, and
he met Abram going out.
36 And Terah entered the room
and found all the idols fallen down and broken, and the
hatchet
in the hand of the largest, which was not broken, and the savory meat which
Abram his son had made was still before them.
37 And when Terah saw this his
anger was greatly kindled, and he hastened and went from the room to Abram.
38 And he found Abram his son
still sitting in the house; and he said to him, What is this work thou hast
done to my gods?
39 And Abram answered Terah his
father and he said, Not so my lord, for I brought savory meat before them, and
when I came nigh to them with the meat that they might eat, they all at once
stretched forth their hands to eat before the great one had put forth his hand
to eat.
40 And the large one saw their works that they did before him, and his
anger was violently kindled against them, and he went and took the hatchet that
was in the house and came to them and broke them all, and behold the hatchet is
yet in his hand as thou seest.
41 And Terah’s anger was
kindled against his son Abram, when he spoke this; and Terah said to Abram his
son in his anger, What is this tale that thou hast told? Thou speakest lies to
me.
42 Is there in these gods
spirit, soul or power to do all thou hast told me? Are they not wood and stone,
and have I not myself made them, and canst thou speak such lies, saying that
the large god that was with them smote them? It is thou that didst place the
hatchet in his hands, and then sayest he smote them all.
43 And Abram answered his
father and said to him, And how canst thou then serve these idols in whom there
is no power to do any thing? Can those idols in which thou trustest deliver
thee? can they hear thy prayers when thou callest upon them? can they deliver
thee from the hands of thy enemies, or will they fight thy battles for thee
against thy enemies, that thou shouldst serve wood and stone which can neither
speak nor hear?
44 And now surely it is not
good for thee nor for the sons of men that are connected with thee, to do these
things; are you so silly, so foolish or so short of understanding that you will
serve wood and stone, and do after this manner?
45 And forget the Lord God who
made heaven and earth, and who created you in the earth, and thereby bring a
great evil upon your souls in this matter by serving stone and wood?
46 Did not our fathers in days
of old sin in this matter, and the Lord God of the universe brought the waters of the flood upon them and
destroyed the whole earth?
47 And how can you continue to
do this and serve gods of wood and stone, who cannot hear, or speak, or deliver
you from oppression, thereby bringing down the anger of the God of the universe
upon you?
48 Now therefore my father
refrain from this, and bring not evil upon thy soul and the souls of thy
household.
49 And Abram hastened and
sprang from before his father, and took the hatchet from his father’s largest
idol, with which Abram broke it and ran away.
50 And Terah, seeing all that
Abram had done, hastened to go from his house, and he went to the king and he
came before Nimrod and stood before him, and he bowed down to the king; and the
king said, What dost thou want?
51 And he said, I beseech thee
my lord, to hear me--Now fifty years back a child was born to me, and thus has
he done to my gods and thus has he spoken; and now therefore, my lord and king,
send for him that he may come before thee, and judge him according to the law,
that we may be delivered from his evil.
52 And the king sent three men
of his servants, and they went and brought Abram before the king. And Nimrod
and all his princes and servants were that day sitting before him, and Terah sat also before them.
53 And the king said to Abram, What is this
that thou hast done to thy father and to his gods? And Abram answered
the king in the words that he spoke to his father, and he said, The large god
that was with them in the house did to them what thou hast heard.
54
And the king said to Abram, Had they power to speak and eat and do as
thou hast said? And Abram answered the king, saying, And if there be no power
in them why dost thou serve them and cause the sons of men to err through thy
follies?
55
Dost thou imagine that they can deliver thee or do anything small or
great, that thou shouldst serve them? And why wilt thou not sense the God of
the whole universe, who created thee and in whose power it is to kill and keep
alive?
56
0 foolish, simple, and
ignorant king, woe unto thee forever.
57
I thought thou wouldst teach thy servants the upright way, but thou hast
not done this, but hast filled the whole earth with thy sins and the sins of
thy people who have followed thy ways.
58
Dost thou not know, or hast thou not heard, that this evil which thou
doest, our ancestors sinned therein in days of old, and the eternal God brought
the waters of the flood upon them and destroyed them all, and also destroyed
the whole earth on their account? And wilt thou and thy people rise up now and
do like unto this work, in order to bring down the anger of the Lord God of the
universe, and to bring evil upon thee and the whole earth?
59
Now therefore put away this evil deed which thou doest, and serve the
God of the universe, as thy soul is in his hands, and then it will be well with
thee.
60
And if thy wicked heart will not hearken to my words to cause thee to
forsake thy evil ways, and to serve the eternal God, then wilt thou die in
shame in the latter days, thou, thy people and all who are connected with thee,
hearing thy words or walking in thy evil ways.
61
And when Abram had ceased speaking before the king and princes, Abram
lifted up his eyes to the heavens, and he said, The Lord seeth all the wicked,
and he will judge them.
1
And when the king heard the words of Abram he ordered him to be put into
prison; and Abram was ten days in prison.
2
And at the end of those days the king ordered that all the kings,
princes and governors of different provinces and the sages should come before
him, and they sat before him, and Abram was still in the house of confinement.
3
And the king said to the princes and sages, Have you heard what Abram,
the son of Terah, has done to his father? Thus has he done to him, and I
ordered him to be brought before me, and thus has he spoken; his heart did not
misgive him, neither did he stir in my presence, and behold now he is confined
in the prison.
4
And therefore decide what judgment is due to this man who reviled the
king; who spoke and did all the things that you heard.
5
And they all answered the king saying, The man who revileth the king
should be hanged upon a tree; but having done all the things that he said, and
having despised our gods, he must therefore be burned to death, for this is the
law in this matter.
6
If it pleaseth the king to do this, let him order his servants to kindle
a fire both night and day in thy brick furnace, and then we will cast this man
into it. And
the king did so, and he commanded his servants that they should prepare a fire
for three days and three nights in the king’s furnace, that is in Casdim; and
the king ordered them to take Abram from prison and bring him out to be burned.
7 And all the king’s servants,
princes, lords, governors, and judges, and all the inhabitants of the land,
about nine hundred thousand men, stood opposite the furnace to see Abram.
8 And all the women and little
ones crowded upon the roofs and towers to see what was doing with Abram, and
they all stood together at a distance; and there was not a man left that did
not come on that day to behold the scene.
9 And when Abram was come, the
conjurors of the king and the sages saw Abram, and they cried out to the king,
saying, Our sovereign lord, surely this is the man whom we know to have been
the child at whose birth the great star swallowed the four stars, which we
declared to the king now fifty years since.
10 And behold now his father
has also transgressed thy commands, and mocked thee by bringing thee another
child, which thou didst kill.
11 And when the king heard
their words, he was exceedingly wroth, and he ordered Terah to be brought
before him.
12 And the king said, Hast thou
heard what the conjurors have spoken? Now tell me truly, how didst
thou; and if thou shalt speak truth thou shalt be acquitted.
13
And seeing that the king’s anger was so much kindled, Terah said to the
king, My lord and king, thou hast heard the truth, and what the sages have
spoken is right. And the king said, How couldst thou do this thing, to
transgress my orders and to give me a child that thou didst not beget, and to
take value for him?
14
And Terah answered the king, because my tender feelings were excited for
my son, at that time, and I took a son of my handmaid, and I brought him to the
king.
15
And the king said who advised thee to this? Tell me, do not hide aught from me, and then thou shalt not die.
16
And Terah was greatly terrified
in the king’s presence, and he
said to the
king, It was Haran my eldest son who advised me to this; and Haran was in those
days that Abram was born, two and thirty years old.
17 But Haran did not advise his
father to anything, for Terah said this to the king in order to deliver his
soul from the king, for he feared greatly; and the king said to Terah, Haran
thy son who advised thee to this shall die through fire with Abram; for the
sentence of death is upon him for having rebelled against the king’s desire in
doing this thing.
18 And Haran at that time felt
inclined to follow the ways of Abram, but he kept it within himself. 19 And Haran said in his heart, Behold
now the king has seized Abram on account of these things which Abram did, and
it shall come to pass, that if Abram prevail over the king I will follow him,
but if the king prevail I will go after the king.
20 And when Terah had spoken
this to the king concerning Haran his son, the king ordered Haran to be seized
with Abram.
21 And they brought them both,
Abram and Haran his brother, to cast them into the fire; and all the
inhabitants of the land and the king’s servants and princes and all the women
and little ones were there, standing that day over them.
22 And the king’s servants took
Abram and his brother, and they stripped them of all their clothes excepting
their lower garments which were upon them.
23 And they bound their hands
and feet with linen cords, and the servants of the king lifted them up and cast
them both into the furnace.
24 And the Lord loved Abram and
he had compassion over him, and the Lord came down and delivered Abram from the
fire and he was not burned.
25 But all the cords with which
they bound him were burned, while Abram remained and walked about in the fire.
26 And Haran died when they had
cast him into the fire, and he was burned to ashes, for his heart was not
perfect with the Lord; and those men who cast him into the fire, the flame of
the fire spread over them, and they were burned, and twelve men of them died.
27 And Abram walked in the
midst of the fire three days and three nights, and all the servants of the king
saw him walking in the fire, and they came and told the king, saying, Behold we
have seen Abram walking about in the midst of the fire, and even the lower
garments which are upon him are not burned, but the cord with which he was
bound is burned.
28 And when the king heard
their words his heart fainted and he would not believe them; so he sent other
faithful princes to see this matter, and they went and saw it and told it to
the king; and the king rose to go and see it, and he saw Abram walking to and
fro in the midst of the fire, and he saw Haran’s body burned, and the king wondered greatly.
29 And the king ordered Abram
to be taken out from the fire; and his servants approached to take him out and
they could not, for the fire was round about and the flame ascending toward
them from the furnace.
30 And the king’s servants fled
from it, and the king rebuked them, saying, Make haste and bring Abram out of the fire that you shall not die.
31 And the servants of the king
again approached to bring Abram out, and
the flames came upon them and burned their faces so that eight of them died.
32 And when the king saw that
his servants could not approach the fire lest they should be burned, the king
called to Abram, O servant of the God who is in heaven, go forth from amidst
the fire and come hither before me; and Abram hearkened to the voice of the
king, and he went forth from the fire and came and stood before the king.
33 And when Abram came out the king and all his servants saw
Abram coming before the king, with his lower garments upon him, for they were
not burned, but the cord with which he was bound was burned.
34 And the king said to Abram,
How is it that thou wast not burned in the fire?
35 And Abram said to the king,
The God of heaven and earth in whom I trust and who has all in his power, he
delivered me from the fire into which thou didst cast me.
36 And Haran the brother of
Abram was burned to ashes, and they sought for his body, and they found it
consumed.
37 And Haran was eighty-two
years old when he died in the fire of Casdim. And the king, princes, and
inhabitants of the land, seeing that Abram was delivered from the fire, they
came and bowed down to Abram.
38 And Abram said to them, Do
not bow down to me, but bow down to the God of the world who made you, and
serve him, and go in his ways for it is he who delivered me from out of this
fire, and it is he who created the souls and spirits of all men, and formed man
in his mother’s womb, and brought him forth into the world, and it is he who
will deliver those who trust in him from all pain.
39 And this thing seemed very
wonderful in the eyes of the king and
princes, that Abram was saved from the fire and that Haran was burned;
and the king gave Abram many presents and he gave him his two head servants
from the king’s house; the name of one was Oni and the name of the other was
Eliezer.
40 And all the kings, princes
and servants gave Abram many gifts of silver and gold and pearl, and the king
and his princes sent him away, and he went in peace.
41 And Abram went forth from
the king in peace, and many of the king’s servants followed him, and about
three hundred men joined him.
42 And Abram returned on that
day and went to his father’s house, he and the men that followed him, and Abram
served the Lord his God all the days of his life, and he walked in his ways and
followed his law.
43 And from that day forward
Abram inclined the hearts
of the sons of men to serve
the Lord. 44
And at that time Nahor and Abram
took unto themselves wives,
the daughters of their brother Haran; the wife of Nahor was Milca and the name
of Abram’s wife was Sarai. And Sarai, wife of Abram, was barren; she had no
offspring in those days.
45 And at the expiration of two
years from Abram’s going out of the fire, that is in the fifty-second year of
his life, behold king Nimrod sat in Babel upon the throne, and the king fell
asleep and dreamed that he was standing with his troops and hosts in a valley
opposite the king’s furnace.
46 And he lifted up his eyes
and saw a man in the likeness of Abram coming forth from the furnace, and that
he came and stood before the king with his drawn sword, and then sprang to the
king with his sword, when the king fled from the man, for he was afraid; and
while he was running, the man threw an egg upon the king’s head, and the egg
became a great river.
47 And the king dreamed that
all his troops sank in that river and died, and the king took flight with three
men who were before him and he escaped.
48 And the king looked at these
men and they were clothed in princely dresses as the garments of kings, and had
the appearance and majesty of kings.
49 And while they were running,
the river again turned to an egg before
the king, and there came forth from the egg a young bird which came before the
king, and flew at his head and plucked out the king’s eye.
50 And the king was grieved at
the sight, and he awoke out of his sleep and his spirit was agitated; and he
felt a great terror.
51 And in the morning the king
rose from his couch in fear, and he ordered all the wise men and magicians to
come before him, when the king related his dream to them.
52 And a wise servant of the
king, whose name was Anuki, answered the king, saying, This is nothing else but
the evil of Abram and his seed which will spring up against my Lord and king in
the latter days.
53 And behold the day will come
when Abram and his seed and the children of his household will war with my
king, and they will smite all the king’s hosts and his troops.
54 And as to what thou hast
said concerning three men which thou didst see like unto thyself, and which did
escape, this means that only thou wilt escape with three kings from the kings
of the earth who will be with thee in battle.
55 And that which thou sawest
of the river which turned to an egg as at first, and the young bird plucking
out thine eye, this means nothing else but the seed of Abram which will slay
the king in latter days.
56 This is my king’s dream, and
this is its interpretation, and the dream is true, and the interpretation which
thy servant has given thee is right.
57 Now therefore my king,
surely thou knowest that it is now fifty-two years since thy sages saw this at
the birth of Abram, and if my king will suffer Abram to live in the earth it
will be to the injury of my lord and king, for all the days that Abram liveth neither
thou nor thy kingdom will be established, for this was known formerly at his
birth; and why will not my king slay him, that his evil may be kept from thee
in latter days?
58 And Nimrod hearkened to the
voice of Anuki, and he sent some of his servants in secret to go and seize
Abram, and bring him before the king to suffer death.
59 And Eliezer, Abram’s servant
whom the king had given him, was at that time in the presence of the king, and
he heard what Anuki had advised the king, and what the king had said to cause
Abram’s death.
60 And Eliezer said to Abram,
Hasten, rise up and save thy soul, that thou mayest not die through the hands
of the king, for thus did he see in a dream concerning thee, and thus did Anuki
interpret it, and thus also did Anuki advise the king concerning thee.
61 And Abram hearkened to the
voice of Eliezer, and Abram hastened and ran for safety to the house of Noah
and his son Shem, and he concealed himself there and found a place of safety;
and the king’s servants came to Abram’s house to seek him, but they could not
find him, and they searched throughout the country and he was not to be found,
and they went and searched in every direction and he was not to be met with.
62 And when the king’s servants
could not find Abram they returned to the king, but the king’s anger against
Abram was stilled, as they did not find him, and the king drove from his mind
this matter concerning Abram.
63 And Abram was concealed in
Noah’s house for one month, until the king had forgotten this matter, but Abram
was still afraid of the king; and Terah came to see Abram his son secretly in
the house of Noah, and Terah was very great in the eyes of the king.
64 And Abram said to his
father, Dost thou not know that the king thinketh to slay me, and to annihilate
my name from the earth by the advice of his wicked counsellors? 65Now whom hast thou here and what hast
thou in this land? Arise, let us go together to the land of Canaan, that we may
be delivered from his hand, lest thou perish also through him in the latter
days.
66 Dost thou not know or hast
thou not heard, that it is not through love that Nimrod giveth thee all this
honor, but it is only for his benefit that he bestoweth all this good upon
thee?
67 And if he do unto thee greater
good than this, surely these are only vanities of the world, for wealth and
riches cannot avail in the day of wrath and anger.
68 Now therefore hearken to my
voice, and let us arise and go to the land of Canaan, out of the reach of
injury from Nimrod; and serve thou the Lord who created thee in the earth and
it will be well with thee; and cast away all the vain things which thou
pursuest.
69 And Abram ceased to speak, when Noah and his son Shem answered Terah, saying, True is the word which Abram
hath said unto thee.
70 And Terah hearkened to the
voice of his son Abram, and Terah did all that Abram said, for this was from the Lord, that the king
should not cause Abram’s death.
1 And Terah took his son Abram
and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife
of his son Abram, and all the souls of his household and went with them from Ur
Casdim to go to the land of Canaan. And when they came as far as the land of
Haran they remained there, for it was exceedingly good land for pasture, and of
sufficient extent for those who accompanied them.
2 And the people of the land
of Haran saw that Abram was good and upright with God and men, and that the
Lord his God was with him, and some of the people of the land of Haran came and
joined Abram, and he taught them the instruction of the Lord and his ways; and
these men remained with Abram in his house and they adhered to him.
3 And Abram remained in the
land three years, and at the expiration of three years the Lord appeared to
Abram and said to him; I am the Lord who brought thee forth from Ur Casdim, and
delivered thee from the hands of all thine enemies.
4 And now therefore if thou
wilt hearken to my voice and keep my commandments, my statutes and my laws,
then will I cause thy enemies to fall before thee, and I will multiply thy seed
like the stars of heaven, and I will send my blessing upon all the works of thy
hands, and thou shalt lack nothing.
5 Arise now, take thy wife and
all belonging to thee and go to the land of Canaan and remain there, and I will
there be unto thee for a God, and I will bless thee. And Abram rose and took
his wife and all belonging to him, and he went to the land of Canaan as the
Lord had told him; and Abram was fifty years old when he went from Haran.
6 And Abram came to the land
of Canaan and dwelt in the midst of the city, and he there pitched his tent
amongst the children of Canaan, inhabitants of the land.
7 And the Lord appeared to
Abram when he came to the land of Canaan, and said to him, This is the land
which I gave unto thee and to thy seed after thee forever, and I will make thy
seed like the stars of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed for an inheritance
all the lands which you see.
8 And Abram built an altar in
the place where God had spoken to him, and Abram there called upon the name of
the Lord.
9 At that time, at the end of
three years of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan, in that year Noah died,
which was the fifty-eighth year of the life of Abram; and all the days that
Noah lived were nine hundred and fifty years and he died.
10 And Abram dwelt in the land
of Canaan, he, his wife, and all belonging to him, and all those that
accompanied him, together with those that joined him from the people of the
land; but Nahor, Abram’s brother, and Terah his father, and Lot the son of
Haran and all belonging to them dwelt in Haran.
11 In the fifth year of Abram’s
dwelling in the land of Canaan the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the
cities of the plain revolted from the power of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; for
all the kings of the cities of the plain had served Chedorlaomer for twelve
years, and given him a yearly tax, but in those days in the thirteenth year,
they rebelled against him.
12 And in the tenth year of
Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan there was war between Nimrod king of
Shinar and Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Nimrod came to fight with
Chedorlaomer and to subdue him.
13 For Chedorlaomer was at that
time one of the princes of the hosts of Nimrod, and when all the people at the
tower were dispersed and those that remained were also scattered upon the face
of the earth, Chedorlaomer went to the land of Elam and reigned over it and
rebelled against his lord.
14 And in those days when
Nimrod saw that the cities of the plain had rebelled, he came with pride and
anger to war with Chedorlaomer, and Nimrod assembled all his princes and
subjects, about seven hundred thousand men, and went against Chedorlaomer, and
Chedorlaomer went out to meet him with five thousand men, and they prepared for
battle in the valley of Babel which is between Elam and Shinar.
15 And all those kings fought
there, and Nimrod and his people were smitten before the people of
Chedorlaomer, and there fell from Nimrod’s men about six hundred thousand, and
Mardon the king’s son fell amongst them.
16 And Nimrod fled and returned
in shame and disgrace to his land, and he was under subjection to Chedorlaomer
for a long time, and Chedorlaomer returned to his land and sent princes of his
host to the kings that dwelt around him, to Arioch king of Elasar, and to Tidal
king of Goyim, and made a covenant with them, and they were all obedient to his
commands.
17 And it was in the fifteenth
year of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan, which is the seventieth year of
the life of Abram, and the Lord appeared to Abram in that year and he said to
him, I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur Casdim to give thee this land
for an inheritance.
18 Now therefore walk before me and be perfect and keep my commands, for to thee and to thy seed I will give this land for an
inheritance, from the river Mitzraim unto the great river Euphrates.
19 And thou shalt come to thy
fathers in peace and in good age, and
the fourth generation shall return here in this land and shall inherit it
forever; and Abram built an altar, and he called upon the name of the Lord who
appeared to him, and he brought up sacrifices upon the altar to the Lord.
20 At that time Abram returned
and went to Haran to see his father and mother, and his father’s household, and Abram and his
wife and all belonging to him returned to Haran, and Abram dwelt in Haran five
years.
21 And many of the people of
Haran, about seventy-two men, followed Abram and Abram taught them the
instruction of the Lord and his ways, and he taught them to know the Lord.
22 In those days the Lord
appeared to Abram in Haran, and he said to him, Behold, I spoke unto thee these
twenty years back saying,
23 Go forth from thy land, from
thy birth-place and from thy father’s house, to the land which I have shown
thee to give it to thee and to thy children, for there in that land will I
bless thee, and make thee a great nation, and make thy name great, and in thee
shall the families of the earth be blessed.
24 Now therefore arise, go
forth from this place, thou, thy wife, and all belonging to thee, also every
one born in thy house and all the souls thou hast made in Haran, and bring them
out with thee from here, and rise to return to the land of Canaan.
25 And Abram arose and took his
wife Sarai and all belonging to him and all that were born to him in his house
and the souls which they had made in Haran, and they came out to go to the land
of Canaan.
26 And Abram went and returned
to the land of Canaan, according to the word of the Lord. And Lot the son of his
brother Haran went with him, and Abram was seventy-five years old when he went
forth from Haran to return to the land of Canaan.
27 And he came to the land of
Canaan according to the word of the Lord to Abram, and he pitched his tent and
he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, and with him was Lot his brother’s son, and all
belonging to him.
28 And the Lord again appeared
to Abram and said, To thy seed will I give this land; and he there built an
altar to the Lord who appeared to him, which is still to this day in the plains
of Mamre.
1 In those days there was in
the land of Shinar a wise man who had understanding in all wisdom, and of a
beautiful appearance, but he was poor and indigent; his name was Rikayon and he
was hard set to support himself.
2 And he resolved to go to
Egypt, to Oswiris the son of Anom king of Egypt, to show the king his wisdom;
for perhaps he might find grace in his sight, to raise him up and give him
maintenance; and Rikayon did so.
3 And when Rikayon came to
Egypt he asked the inhabitants of Egypt concerning the king, and the
inhabitants of Egypt told him the custom of the king of Egypt, for it was then
the custom of the king of Egypt that he went from his royal palace and was seen
abroad only one day in the year, and after that the king would return to his
palace to remain there.
4 And on the day when the king
went forth he passed judgment in the land, and every one having a suit came
before the king that day to obtain his request.
5 And when Rikayon heard of
the custom in Egypt and that he could not come into the presence of the king,
he grieved greatly and was very sorrowful.
6 And in the evening Rikayon
went out and found a house in ruins, formerly a bake house in Egypt, and he
abode there all night in bitterness of soul and pinched with hunger, and sleep
was removed from his eyes.
7 And Rikayon considered
within himself what he should do in the town until the king made his
appearance, and how he might maintain himself there.
8 And he rose in the morning
and walked about, and met in his way those who sold vegetables and various
sorts of seed with which they supplied the inhabitants.
9 And Rikayon wished to do the
same in order to get a maintenance in the city, but he was unacquainted with
the custom of the people, and he was like a blind man among them.
10 And he went and obtained
vegetables to sell them for his support, and the rabble assembled about him and
ridiculed him, and took his vegetables from him and left him nothing.
11 And he rose up from there in
bitterness of soul, and went sighing to the bake house in which he had remained
all the night before, and he slept there the second night.
12 And on that night again he
reasoned within himself how he could save himself from starvation, and he
devised a scheme how to act.
13 And he rose up in the
morning and acted ingeniously, and went and hired thirty strong men of the
rabble, carrying their war instruments in their hands, and he led them to the
top of the Egyptian sepulchre, and he placed them there.
14 And he commanded them,
saying, Thus saith the king, Strengthen yourselves and be valiant men, and let
no man be buried here until two hundred pieces of silver be given, and then he
may be buried; and those men did according to the order of Rikayon to the people of Egypt the whole of that year.
15 And in eight months
time Rikayon and his men gathered great riches of silver and
gold, and Rikayon took a great quantity of horses and other animals, and he
hired more men, and he gave them horses and they remained with him.
16 And when the year came
round, at the time the king went forth into the town, all the inhabitants of
Egypt assembled together to speak to him concerning the work of Rikayon and his
men.
17 And the king went forth on
the appointed day, and all the Egyptians came before him and cried unto him,
saying,
18 May the king live forever.
What is this thing thou doest in the town to thy servants, not to suffer a dead
body to be buried until so much silver and gold be given? Was there ever the
like unto this done in the whole earth, from the days of former kings yea even
from the days of Adam, unto this day, that the dead should not be buried only
for a set price?
19 We know it to be the custom
of kings to take a yearly tax from the living, but thou dost not only do this,
but from the dead also thou exactest a tax day by day.
20 Now, O king, we can no more
bear this, for the whole city is ruined on this account, and dost thou not know
it?
21 And when the king heard all
that they had spoken he was very wroth, and his anger burned within him at this
affair, for he had known nothing of it.
22 And the king said, Who and
where is he that dares to do this wicked thing in my land without my command?
Surely you will tell me.
23 And they told him all the
works of Rikayon and his men, and the king’s anger was aroused, and he ordered
Rikayon and his men to be brought before him.
24 And Rikayon took about a
thousand children, sons and daughters, and clothed them in silk and embroidery,
and he set them upon horses and sent them to the king by means of his men, and
he also took a great quantity of silver and gold and precious stones, and a
strong and beautiful horse, as a present for the king, with which he came
before the king and bowed down to the earth before him; and the king, his
servants and all the inhabitants of Egypt wondered at the work of Rikayon, and
they saw his riches and the present that he had brought to the king.
25 And it greatly pleased the
king and he wondered at it; and when Rikayon sat before him the king asked him
concerning all his works, and Rikayon spoke all his words wisely before the
king, his servants and all the inhabitants of Egypt.
26 And when the king heard the
words of Rikayon and his wisdom, Rikayon found grace in his sight, and he met
with grace and kindness from all the servants of the king and from all the
inhabitants of Egypt, on account of his wisdom and excellent speeches, and from
that time they loved him exceedingly.
27 And the king answered and
said to Rikayon, Thy name shall no more be called Rikayon but Pharaoh shall be
thy name, since thou didst exact a tax from the dead; and he called his name
Pharaoh.
28 And the king and his
subjects loved Rikayon for his wisdom, and they consulted with all the
inhabitants of Egypt to make him prefect under the king.
29 And all the inhabitants of
Egypt and its wise men did so, and it was made a law in Egypt.
30 And they made Rikayon
Pharaoh prefect under Oswiris king of Egypt, and Rikayon Pharaoh governed over
Egypt, daily administering justice to the whole city, but Oswiris the king
would judge the people of the land one day in the year, when he went out to
make his appearance.
31 And Rikayon Pharaoh
cunningly usurped the government of Egypt, and he exacted a tax from all the
inhabitants of Egypt.
32 And all the inhabitants of
Egypt greatly loved Rikayon Pharaoh, and they made a decree to call every king
that should reign over them and their seed in Egypt, Pharaoh.
33 Therefore all the kings that
reigned in Egypt from that time forward were called Pharaoh unto this day.
1 And in that year there was a
heavy famine throughout the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants of the land
could not remain on account of the famine for it was very grievous.
2 And Abram and all belonging
to him rose and went down to Egypt on account of the famine, and when they were
at the brook Mitzraim they remained there some time to rest from the fatigue of
the road.
3 And Abram and Sarai were
walking at the border of the brook Mitzraim, and Abram beheld his wife Sarai
that she was very beautiful.
4 And Abram said to his wife
Sarai, Since God has created thee with
such a beautiful countenance, I am afraid of the Egyptians lest they should
slay me and take thee away, for the fear of God is not in these places.
5 Surely then thou shalt do
this, Say thou art my sister to all that
may ask thee, in order that it may be well with me, and that we may live and
not be put to death.
6 And Abram commanded the same
to all those that came with him to Egypt on account of the famine; also his nephew Lot he commanded, saying, If
the Egyptians ask thee concerning Sarai say she is the sister of Abram.
7 And yet with all these
orders Abram did not put confidence in them, but he took Sarai and placed
her in
a chest and concealed it amongst their vessels, for Abram was greatly concerned
about Sarai on account of the
wickedness of the Egyptians.
8 And Abram and all belonging
to him rose up from the brook Mitzraim and came to Egypt; and they had scarcely
entered the gates of the city when the guards stood up to them saying, Give
tithe to the king from what you have, and then you may come into the town; and
Abram and those that were with him did so.
9 And Abram with the people
that were with him came to Egypt, and when they came they brought the chest in
which Sarai was concealed and the Egyptians saw the chest.
10 And the king’s servants
approached Abram, saying, What hast thou here in this chest which we have not
seen? Now open thou the chest and give tithe to the king of all that it
contains.
11 And Abram said, This chest I
will not open, but all you demand upon it I will give. And Pharaoh’s officers
answered Abram, saying, It is a chest of precious stones, give us the tenth
thereof.
12 Abram said, All that you
desire I will give, but you must not open the chest.
13 And the king’s officers
pressed Abram, and they reached the chest and opened it with force, and they
saw, and behold a beautiful woman was in the chest.
14 And when the officers of the
king beheld Sarai they were struck with admiration at her beauty, and all the
princes and servants of Pharaoh assembled to see Sarai, for she was very
beautiful. And the king’s officers ran and told Pharaoh all that they had seen,
and they praised Sarai to the king; and Pharaoh ordered her to be brought, and
the woman came before the king.
15 And Pharaoh beheld Sarai and
she pleased him exceedingly, and he was struck with her beauty, and the king
rejoiced greatly on her account, and made presents to those who brought him the
tidings concerning her.
16 And the woman was then
brought to Pharaoh’s house, and Abram grieved on account of his wife, and he
prayed to the Lord to deliver her from the hands of Pharaoh.
17 And Sarai also prayed at
that time and said, O Lord God thou didst tell my Lord Abram to go from his
land and from his father’s house to the land of Canaan, and thou didst promise
to do well with him if he would perform thy commands; now behold we have done
that which thou didst command us, and we left our land and our families, and we
went to a strange land and to a people whom we have not known before.
18 And we came to this land to avoid the famine, and this evil
accident has befallen me; now therefore, O Lord God, deliver us and save us
from the hand of this oppressor, and do well with me for the sake of thy mercy.
1
9 And the Lord hearkened to
the voice of Sarai, and the Lord sent an angel to deliver Sarai from the power
of Pharaoh.
20 And the king came and sat
before Sarai and behold an angel of the Lord was standing over them, and he
appeared to Sarai and said to her, Do not fear, for the Lord has heard thy
prayer. 21 And the king approached
Sarai and said to her, What is that man to thee who brought thee hither? and
she said, He is my brother.
22 And the king said, It is
incumbent upon us to make him great, to elevate him and to do unto him all the
good which thou shalt command us; and at that time the king sent to Abram
silver and gold and precious stones in abundance, together with cattle, men
servants and maid servants; and the king ordered Abram to be brought, and he sat
in the court of the king’s house, and the king greatly exalted Abram on that
night.
23 And the king approached to
speak to Sarai, and he reached out his hand to touch her, when the angel smote
him heavily, and he was terrified and he refrained from reaching to her.
24 And when the king came near
to Sarai, the angel smote him to the ground, and acted thus to him the whole
night, and the king was terrified.
25 And the angel on that night
smote heavily all the servants of the king, and his whole household, on account
of Sarai, and there was a great lamentation that night amongst the people of
Pharaoh’s house.
26 And Pharaoh, seeing the evil
that befell him, said, Surely on account of this woman has this thing happened
to me, and he removed himself at some distance from her and spoke pleasing
words to her.
27 And the king said to Sarai,
Tell me I pray thee concerning the man with whom thou camest here; and Sarai
said, This man is my husband, and I said to thee that he was my brother for I
was afraid, lest thou shouldst put him to death through wickedness.
28 And the king kept away from
Sarai, and the plagues of the angel of the Lord ceased from him and his
household; and Pharaoh knew that he was smitten on account of Sarai, and the
king was greatly astonished at this.
29 And in the morning the king
called for Abram and said to him, What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst
thou say, She is my sister, owing to which I took her unto me for a wife, and
this heavy plague has therefore come upon me and my household.
30 Now therefore here is thy
wife, take her and go from our land lest we all die on her account. And Pharaoh
took more cattle, men servants and maid servants, and silver and gold, to give
to Abram, and he returned unto him Sarai his wife.
31 And the king took a maiden
whom he begat by his concubines, and he gave her to Sarai for a handmaid.
32 And the king said to his
daughter, It is better for thee my daughter to be a handmaid in this man’s
house than to be mistress in my house, after we have beheld the evil that
befell us on account of this woman.
33 And Abram arose, and he and
all belonging to him went away from Egypt; and Pharaoh ordered some of his men
to accompany him and all that went with him.
34 And Abram returned to the
land of Canaan, to the place where he had made the altar, where he at first had pitched his tent.
35 And Lot the son of Haran,
Abram’s brother, had a heavy stock of cattle, flocks and herds and tents, for
the Lord was bountiful to them on account of Abram.
36 And when Abram was dwelling
in the land the herdsmen of Lot quarreled with the herdsmen of Abram, for their
property was too great for them to remain together in the land, and the land
could not bear them on account of their cattle.
37 And when Abram’s herdsmen
went to feed their flock they would not go into the fields of the people of the
land, but the cattle of Lot’s herdsmen did otherwise, for they were suffered to
feed in the fields of the people of the land.
38 And the people of the land
saw this occurrence daily, and they came to Abram and quarrelled with him on
account of Lot’s herdsmen.
39 And Abram said to Lot, What
is this thou art doing to me, to make me despicable to the inhabitants of the
land, that thou orderest thy herdsman to feed thy cattle in the fields of other
people? Dost thou not know that I am a stranger in this land amongst the
children of Canaan, and why wilt thou do this unto me?
40 And Abram quarrelled daily
with Lot on account of this, but Lot would not listen to Abram, and he
continued to do the same and the inhabitants of the land came and told Abram.
41 And Abram said unto Lot, How
long wilt thou be to me for a stumbling block with the inhabitants of the land?
Now I beseech thee let there be no more quarrelling between us, for we are
kinsmen.
42 But I pray thee separate
from me, go and choose a place where thou mayest dwell with thy cattle and all
belonging to thee, but Keep thyself at a distance from me, thou and thy
household.
43 And be not afraid in going
from me, for if any one do an injury to thee, let me know and I will avenge thy
cause from him, only remove from me.
44 And when Abram had spoken
all these words to Lot, then Lot arose and lifted up his eyes toward the plain
of Jordan.
45 And he saw that the whole of
this place was well watered, and good for man as well as affording pasture for
the cattle.
46 And Lot went from Abram to
that place, and he there pitched his tent and he dwelt in Sodom, and they were
separated from each other.
47 And Abram dwelt in the plain
of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and he pitched his tent there, and Abram remained
in that place many years.
1 At that time Chedorlaomer
king of Elam sent to all the neighboring kings, to Nimrod, king of Shinar who
was then under his power, and to Tidal, king of Goyim, and to Arioch, king of
Elasar, with whom he made a covenant, saying, Come up to me and assist me, that
we may smite all the towns of Sodom and its inhabitants, for they have rebelled
against me these thirteen years.
2 And these four kings went up
with all their camps, about eight
hundred thousand men, and they went as they were, and smote every man
they found in their road.
3 And the five kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, Shinab king
of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, Bera king of Sodom, Bersha king of
Gomorrah, and Bela king of Zoar, went out to meet them, and they all joined
together in the valley of Siddim.
4 And these nine kings made
war in the valley of Siddim; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were smitten
before the kings of Elam.
5 And the valley of Siddim was
full of lime pits and the kings of Elam pursued the kings of Sodom, and the
kings of Sodom with their camps fled and fell into the lime pits, and all that
remained went to the mountain for safety, and the five kings of Elam came after
them and pursued them to the gates of Sodom, and they took all that there was
in Sodom.
6 And they plundered all the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son,
and his property, and they seized all the goods of the cities of Sodom, and
they went away; and Unic, Abram’s servant, who was in the battle, saw this, and
told Abram all that the kings had done to the cities of Sodom, and that Lot was
taken captive by them.
7 And Abram heard this, and he
rose up with about three hundred and eighteen men that were with him, and he
that night pursued these kings and smote them, and they all fell before Abram
and his men, and there was none remaining but the four kings who fled, and they
went each his own road.
8 And Abram recovered all the
property of Sodom, and he also
recovered Lot and his property, his wives and little ones and all belonging to
him, so that Lot lacked nothing.
9 And when he returned from
smiting these kings, he and his men passed the valley of Siddim where the kings
had made war together.
10 And Bera king of Sodom, and
the rest of his men that were with him, went out from the lime pits into which
they had fallen, to meet Abram and his men.
11 And Adonizedek king of
Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his
people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of
Melech. 12 And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from
all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek
was a priest before God.
13
And all
the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah who were there, with their servants, approached
Abram and begged of him to return them their servants whom he had made captive,
and to take unto himself all the property.
14 And Abram answered the kings
of Sodom, saying, As the Lord liveth who created heaven and earth, and who
redeemed my soul from all affliction, and who delivered me this day from my
enemies, and gave them into my hand, I will not take anything belonging to you,
that you may not boast tomorrow, saying, Abram became rich from our property
that he saved.
15 For the Lord my God in whom
I trust said unto me, Thou shalt lack nothing, for I will bless thee in all the
works of thy hands.
16 And now therefore behold,
here is all belonging to you, take it and go; as the Lord liveth I will not
take from you from a living soul down to a shoetie or thread, excepting the
expense of the food of those who went out with me to battle, as also the
portions of the men who went with me, Anar, Ashcol, and Mamre, they and their
men, as well as those also who had remained to watch the baggage, they shall
take their portion of the spoil.
17 And the kings of Sodom gave
Abram according to all that he had said, and they pressed him to take of
whatever he chose, but he would not.
18 And he sent away the kings
of Sodom and the remainder of their men, and he gave them orders about Lot, and
they went to their respective places.
19 And Lot, his brother’s son,
he also sent away with his property, and he went with them, and Lot returned to
his home, to Sodom, and Abram and his people returned to their home to the
plains of Mamre, which is in Hebron.
20 At that time the Lord again
appeared to Abram in Hebron, and he said to him, Do not fear, thy reward is
very great before me, for I will not leave thee, until I shall have multiplied
thee, and blessed thee and made thy seed like the stars in heaven, which cannot
be measured nor numbered.
21 And I will give unto thy
seed all these lands that thou seest with thine eyes, to them will I give them
for an inheritance forever, only be strong and do not fear, walk before me and
be perfect. 22 And in the seventy-eighth
year of the life of Abram, in that year died Reu, the son of Peleg, and all the
days of Reu were two hundred and thirty-nine years, and he died.
23 And Sarai, the daughter of
Haran, Abram’s wife, was still barren in those days; she did not bear to Abram
either son or daughter.
24 And when she saw that she
bare no children she took her handmaid Hagar, whom Pharaoh had given her, and
she gave her to Abram her husband for a wife.
25 For Hagar learned all the
ways of Sarai as Sarai taught her, she was not in any way deficient in
following her good ways.
26 And Sarai said to Abram,
Behold here is my handmaid Hagar, go to her that she may bring forth upon my
knees, that I may also obtain children through her.
27 And at the end of ten years
of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan, which is the eighty-fifth year of
Abram’s life, Sarai gave Hagar unto him.
28 And Abram hearkened to the
voice of his wife Sarai, and he took his handmaid Hagar and Abram came to her and
she conceived.
29 And when Hagar saw that she
had conceived she rejoiced greatly, and her mistress was despised in her eyes,
and she said within herself, This can only be that I am better before God than
Sarai my mistress, for all the days that my mistress has been with my lord, she
did not conceive, but me the Lord has caused in so short a time to conceive by
him.
30 And when Sarai saw that
Hagar had conceived by Abram, Sarai was jealous of her handmaid, and Sarai said
within herself, This is surely nothing else but that she must be better than I
am. 31
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee, for at that time when
thou didst pray before the Lord for children why didst thou not pray on my
account, that the Lord should give me seed from thee?
32 And when I speak to Hagar in
thy presence, she despiseth my words, because she has conceived, and thou wilt
say nothing to her; may the Lord judge between me and thee for what thou hast
done to me.
33 And Abram said to Sarai,
Behold thy handmaid is in thy hand, do unto her as it may seem good in thy
eyes; and Sarai afflicted her, and Hagar fled from her to the wilderness.
34 And an angel of the Lord
found her in the place where she had fled, by a well, and he said to her, Do
not fear, for I will multiply thy seed, for thou shalt bear a son and thou
shalt call his name Ishmael; now then return to Sarai thy mistress, and submit
thyself under her hands.
35 And Hagar called the place
of that well Beer-lahai-roi, it is between Kadesh and the wilderness of Bered.
36 And Hagar at that time
returned to her master’s house, and at the end of days Hagar bare a son to
Abram, and Abram called his name Ishmael; and Abram was eighty-six years old
when he was begotten.
1 And in those days, in the
ninety-first year of the life of Abram, the children of Chittim made war with
the children of Tubal, for when the Lord had scattered the sons of men upon the
face of the earth, the children of Chittim went and embodied
themselves in the plain of Canopia, and they built themselves cities there and
dwelt by the river Tibreu.
2
And the children of Tubal dwelt in Tuscanah, and their boundaries
reached the river Tibreu, and the children of Tubal built a city in Tuscanan,
and they called the name Sabinah, after the name of Sabinah son of Tubal their
father, and they dwelt there unto this day.
3
And it was at that time the children of Chittim made war with the children
of Tubal, and the children of Tubal were smitten before the children of
Chittim, and the children of Chittim caused three hundred and seventy men to
fall from the children of Tubal.
4
And at that time the children of Tubal swore to the children of Chittim,
saying, You shall not intermarry amongst us, and no man shall give his daughter
to any of the sons of Chittim.
5
For all the daughters of Tubal were in those days fair, for no women
were then found in the whole earth so fair as the daughters of Tubal.
6
And all who delighted in the beauty of women went to the daughters of
Tubal and took wives from them, and the sons of men, kings and princes, who
greatly delighted in the beauty of women, took wives in those days from the
daughters of Tubal.
7
And at the end of three years after the children of Tubal had sworn to
the children of Chittim not to give them their daughters for wives, about
twenty men of the children of Chittim went to take some of the daughters of
Tubal, but they found none.
8
For the children of Tubal kept their oaths not to intermarry with them,
and they would not break their oaths.
9
And in the days of harvest the children of Tubal went into their fields
to get in their harvest, when the young men of Chittim assembled and went to
the city of Sabinah, and each man took a young woman from the daughters of
Tubal, and they came to their cities.
10
And the children of Tubal heard of it and they went to make war with
them, and they could not prevail over them, for the mountain was exceedingly
high from them, and when they saw they could not prevail over them they
returned to their land.
11
And at the revolution of the year the children of Tubal went and hired
about ten thousand men from those cities that were near them, and they went to
war with the children of Chittim.
12
And the children of Tubal went to war with the children of Chittim, to
destroy their land and to distress them, and in this engagement the children of
Tubal prevailed over the children of Chittim, and the children of Chittim,
seeing that they were greatly distressed, lifted up the children which they had
had by the daughters of Tubal, upon the wall which had been built, to be before
the eyes of the children of Tubal.
13
And the children of Chittim said to them, Have you come to make war with
your own sons and daughters, and have we not been considered your flesh and
bones from that time till now?
14
And when the children of Tubal heard this they ceased to make war with
the children of Chittim, and they went away.
15
And they returned to their cities, and the children of Chittim at that
time assembled and built two cities by the sea, and they called one Purtu and
the other Ariza.
16
And Abram the son of Terah was then ninety-nine years old.
17
At that time the Lord appeared to
him and he said to him, I will make my
covenant between me and thee, and I will greatly multiply thy seed, and this is
the covenant which I make between me and thee, that every male child be
circumcised, thou and thy seed after thee.
18
At eight days old shall it be circumcised, and this covenant shall be in
your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
19
And now therefore thy name shall no more be called Abram but Abraham,
and thy wife shall no more be called Sarai but Sarah.
20
For I will bless you both, and I will multiply your seed after you that
you shall become a great nation, and kings shall come forth from you.
1
And Abraham rose and did all that God had ordered him, and he took the
men of his household and those bought with his money, and he circumcised them
as the Lord had commanded him.
2
And there was not one left whom he did not circumcise, and Abraham and
his son Ishmael were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin; thirteen years
old was Ishmael when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
3
And in the third day Abraham went out of his tent and sat at the door to
enjoy the heat of the sun, during the pain of his flesh.
4
And the Lord appeared to him in the plain of Mamre, and sent three of
his ministering angels to visit him, and he was sitting at the door of the
tent, and he lifted his eyes and saw, and lo three men were coming from a
distance, and he rose up and ran to meet them, and he bowed down to them and
brought them into his house.
5
And he said to them, If now I have found favor in your sight, turn in
and eat a morsel of bread; and he pressed them, and they turned in and he gave
them water and they washed their feet, and he placed them under a tree at the
door of the tent.
6
And Abraham ran and took a calf, tender and good, and he hastened
to kill it, and gave it to his servant Eliezer to dress.
7 And Abraham came to Sarah
into the tent, and he said to her, Make ready quickly three measures of fine
meal, knead it and make cakes to cover the pot containing the meat, and she did
so.
8 And Abraham hastened and
brought before them butter and milk, beef and mutton, and gave it before them
to eat before the flesh of the calf was sufficiently done, and they did eat.
9 And when they had done
eating one of them said to him, I will return to thee according to the time of
life, and Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
10 And the men afterward
departed and went their ways, to the places to which they were sent. 11 In those days all the people of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the whole five cities, were exceedingly wicked and
sinful against the Lord and they provoked the Lord with their abominations, and
they strengthened in aging abominably and scornfully before the Lord, and their
wickedness and crimes were in those days great before the Lord.
12 And they had in their land a very extensive
valley, about half a day’s walk, and in it there were fountains of water and a
great deal of herbage surrounding the water.
13 And all the people of Sodom
and Gomorrah went there four times in the year, with their wives and children
and all belonging to them, and they rejoiced there with timbrels and dances.
14 And in the time of rejoicing
they would all rise and lay hold of their neighbor’s wives, and some, the
virgin daughters of their neighbors, and they enjoyed them, and each man saw
his wife and daughter in the hands of his neighbor and did not say a word.
15 And they did so from morning
to night, and they afterward returned home each man to his house and each woman
to her tent; so they always did four times in the year.
16 Also when a stranger came
into their cities and brought goods which he had purchased with a view to
dispose of there, the people of these cities would assemble, men, women and
children, young and old, and go to the man and take his goods by force, giving
a little to each man until there was an end to all the goods of the owner which
he had brought into the land.
17 And if the owner of the
goods quarreled with them, saying, What is this work which you have done to me, then they would
approach to him one by one, and each would show him the little which he took
and taunt him, saying, I only took that little which thou didst give me; and
when he heard this from them all, he would arise and go from them in sorrow and
bitterness of soul, when they would all arise and go after him, and drive him
out of the city with great noise and tumult.
18 And there was a man from the
country of Elam who was leisurely going on the road, seated upon his ass, which
carried a fine mantle of divers colors, and the mantle was bound with a cord
upon the ass.
19 And the man was on his
journey passing through the street of Sodom when the sun set in the evening,
and he remained there in order to abide during the night, but no one would let
him into his house; and at that time there was in Sodom a wicked and
mischievous man, one skillful to do evil, and his name was Hedad.
20 And he lifted up his eyes
and saw the traveler in the street of the city, and he came to him and said, Whence comest thou
and whither dost thou go?
21 And the man said to him, I
am traveling from Hebron to Elam where I belong, and as I passed the sun set
and no one would suffer me to enter his house, though I had bread and water and
also straw and provender for my ass, and am short of nothing.
22 And Hedad answered and said
to him, All that thou shalt want shall be supplied by me, but in the street
thou shalt not abide all night.
23 And Hedad brought him to his
house, and he took off the mantle from the ass with the cord, and brought them
to his house, and he gave the ass straw and provender whilst the traveler ate
and drank in Hedad’s house, and he abode there that night.
24 And in the morning the
traveler rose up early to continue his journey, when Hedad said to him, Wait,
comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread and then go, and the man did so; and
he remained with him, and they both ate and drank together during the day, when
the man rose up to go.
25 And Hedad said to him,
Behold now the day is declining, thou hadst better remain all night that thy
heart may be comforted; and he pressed him so that he tarried there all night,
and on the second day he rose up early to go away, when Hedad pressed him,
saying, Comfort thy heart with a morsel of bread and then go, and he remained
and ate with him also the second day, and then the man rose up to continue his
journey.
26 And Hedad said to him,
Behold now the day is declining, remain with me to comfort thy heart and in the
morning rise up early and go thy way.
27 And the man would not
remain, but rose and saddled his ass, and whilst he was saddling his ass the
wife of Hedad said to her husband, Behold this man has remained with us for two
days eating and drinking and he has given us nothing, and now shall he go away
from us without giving anything? and Hedad said to her, Be silent.
28 And the man saddled his ass
to go, and he asked Hedad to give him the cord and mantle to tie it upon the
ass.
29 And Hedad said to him, What
sayest thou? And he said to him, That thou my lord shalt give me the cord and
the mantle made with divers colors which thou didst conceal with thee in thy
house to take care of it.
30 And Hedad answered the man,
saying, This is the interpretation of thy dream, the cord which thou didst see,
means that thy life will be lengthened
out like a cord, and having seen the mantle colored with all sorts of colors,means that thou shalt have a
vineyard in which thou wilt plant trees of all fruits.
31 And the traveler answered,
saying, Not so my lord, for I was awake when I gave thee the cord and also a
mantle woven with different colors, which thou didst take off the ass to put
them by for me; and Hedad answered and said, Surely I have told thee the interpretation
of thy dream and it is a good dream, and this is the interpretation thereof.
32 Now the sons of men give me
four pieces of silver, which is my charge for interpreting dreams, and of thee
only I require three pieces of silver.
33 And the man was provoked at
the words of Hedad, and he cried bitterly, and he brought Hedad to Serak judge
of Sodom.
34 And the man laid his cause
before Serak the judge, when Hedad replied, saying, It is not so, but thus the
matter stands; and the judge said to the traveler, This man Hedad telleth thee
truth, for he is famed in the cities for the accurate interpretation of dreams.
35 And the man cried at the
word of the judge, and he said, Not so
my Lord, for it was in the day that I gave him the cord and mantle which was
upon the ass, in order to put them by in his house; and they both disputed
before the judge, the one saying, Thus the matter was, and the other declaring
otherwise.
36 And Hedad said to the man,
Give me four pieces of silver that I charge for my interpretations of dreams; I
will not make any allowance; and give me the expense of the four meals that
thou didst eat in my house.
37 And the man said to Hedad,
Truly I will pay thee for what I ate in thy house, only give me the cord and
mantle which thou didst conceal in thy house.
38 And Hedad replied before the
judge and said to the man, Did I not tell thee the interpretation of thy dream?
the cord means that thy days shall be prolonged like a cord, and the mantle,
that thou wilt have a vineyard in which thou wilt plant all kinds of fruit
trees.
39 This is the proper
interpretation of thy dream, now give me the four pieces of silver that I
require as a compensation, for I will make thee no allowance.
40 And the man cried at the
words of Hedad and they both quarreled before the judge, and the judge gave
orders to his servants, who drove them rashly from the house.
41 And they went away
quarreling from the judge, when the people of Sodom heard them, and they
gathered about them and they exclaimed against the stranger, and they drove him
rashly from the city.
42 And the man continued his
journey upon his ass with bitterness of soul, lamenting and weeping.
43 And whilst he was going
along he wept at what had happened to him in the corrupt city of Sodom.
1 And the cities of Sodom had
four judges to four cities, and these were their names, Serak in the city of Sodom,
Sharkad in Gomorrah, Zabnac in Admah, and Menon in Zeboyim.
2 And Eliezer Abraham’s
servant applied to them different names, and he converted Serak to Shakra,
Sharkad to Shakrura, Zebnac to Kezobim, and Menon to Matzlodin.
3 And by desire of their four
judges the people of Sodom and Gomorrah had beds erected in the streets of the
cities, and if a man came to these places they laid hold of him and brought him
to one of their beds, and by force made him to lie in them.
4 And as he lay down, three men
would stand at his head and three at his feet, and measure him by the length of
the bed, and if the man was less than the bed these six men would stretch him
at each end, and when he cried out to them they would not answer him.
5 And if he was longer than
the bed they would draw together the two sides of the bed at each end, until
the man had reached the gates of death.
6 And if he continued to cry
out to them, they would answer him, saying, Thus shall it be done to a man that
cometh into our land.
7 And when men heard all these
things that the people of the cities of Sodom did, they refrained from coming
there.
8 And when a poor man came to
their land they would give him silver and gold, and cause a proclamation in the
whole city not to give him a morsel of bread to eat, and if the stranger should
remain there some days, and die from hunger, not having been able to obtain a
morsel of bread, then at his death all the people of the city would come and
take their silver and gold which they had given to him.
9 And those that could
recognize the silver or gold which they had given him took it back, and at his
death they also stripped him of his garments, and they would fight about them,
and he that prevailed over his neighbor took them.
10 They would after that carry
him and bury him under some of the shrubs in the deserts; so they did all the
days to any one that came to them and died in their land.
11 And in the course of time
Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare.
12 And Eliezer went to Sodom,
and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of
all his clothes and went away.
13 And this poor man cried to
Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the man of Sodom had done
to him.
14 And he said to him, Why dost thou act thus to the poor man who came to thy land? 15And the man of Sodom answered
Eliezer, saying, Is this man thy brother, or have the people of Sodom
made thee a judge this day, that thou speakest about this man?
16 And Eliezer strove with the
man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer approached to recover
the poor man’s clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened and with a stone
smote Eliezer in the forehead.
17 And the blood flowed
copiously from Eliezer’s forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught
hold of Eliezer, saying, Give me my hire for having rid thee of this bad blood
that was in thy forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.
18 And Eliezer said to him,
Thou hast wounded me and now require me to pay thee thy hire; and Eliezer would
not hearken to the words of the man of Sodom.
19 And the man laid hold of
Eliezer and brought him to Shakra the judge of Sodom for judgment. 20 And the man spoke to the judge,
saying, I beseech thee my lord, thus has this man done, for I smote him with a
stone that the blood flowed from his forehead, and he is unwilling to give me
my hire.
21 And the judge said to Eliezer,
This man speaketh truth to thee, give him his hire, for this is the custom in
our land; and Eliezer heard the words of the judge, and he lifted up a stone
and smote the judge, and the stone struck on his forehead, and the blood flowed
copiously from the forehead of the judge, and Eliezer said, If this then is the
custom in your land give thou unto this man what I should have given him, for
this has been thy decision, thou didst decree it.
22 And Eliezer left the man of
Sodom with the judge, and he went away.
23 And when the kings of Elam
had made war with the kings of Sodom, the kings of Elam captured all the
property of Sodom, and they took Lot captive, with his property, and when it
was told to Abraham he went and made war with the kings of Elam, and he
recovered from their hands all the property of Lot as well as the property of
Sodom.
24 At that time the wife of Lot
bare him a daughter, and he called her name Paltith, saying, Because God had delivered
him and his whole household from the kings of Elam; and Paltith daughter of Lot
grew up, and one of the men of Sodom took her for a wife.
25 And a poor man came into the
city to seek a maintenance, and he remained in the city some days, and all the
people of Sodom caused a proclamation of their custom not to give this man a
morsel of bread to eat, until he dropped dead upon the earth, and they did so.
26 And Paltith the daughter of
Lot saw this man lying in the streets starved with hunger, and no one would
give him anything to keep him alive, and he was just upon the point of death.
27 And her soul was filled with
pity on account of the man, and she fed him secretly with bread for many days,
and the soul of this man was revived.
28 For when she went forth to
fetch water she would put the bread in the water pitcher, and when she came to
the place where the poor man was, she took the bread from the pitcher and gave
it him to eat; so she did many days.
29 And all the people of Sodom
and Gomorrah wondered how this man could bear starvation for so many days.
30 And they said to each other,
This can only be that he eats and drinks, for no man can bear starvation for so
many days or live as this man has, without even his countenance changing; and
three men concealed themselves in a place where the poor man was stationed, to
know who it was that brought him bread to eat.
31 And Paltith daughter of Lot
went forth that day to fetch water, and she put bread into her pitcher of
water, and she went to draw water by the poor man’s place, and she took out the
bread from the pitcher and gave it to the poor man and he ate it.
32 And the three men saw what
Paltith did to the poor man, and they said to her, It is thou then who hast supported him, and
therefore has he not starved, nor changed in appearance nor died like the rest.
33 And the three men went out
of the place in which they were concealed, and they seized Paltith and the
bread which was in the poor man’s hand.
34 And they took Paltith and
brought her before their judges, and they said to them, Thus did she do, and it
is she who supplied the poor man with bread, therefore did he not die all this
time; now therefore declare to us the punishment due to this woman for having
transgressed our law.
35 And the people of Sodom and
Gomorrah assembled and kindled a fire in the street of the city, and they took
the woman and cast her into the fire and she was burned to ashes.
36 And in the city of Admah
there was a woman to whom they did the like.
37 For a traveler came into the
city of Admah to abide there all night, with the intention of going home in the
morning, and he sat opposite the door of the house of the young woman’s father,
to remain there, as the sun had set when he had reached that place; and the young
woman saw him sitting by the door of the house.
38 And he asked her for a drink
of water and she said to him, Who art thou? and he said to her, I was this day
going on the road, and reached here when the sun set, so I will abide here all
night, and in the morning I will arise early and continue my journey.
39 And the young woman went
into the house and fetched the man bread
and water to eat and drink.
40 And this affair became known
to the people of Admah, and they assembled and brought the young woman before
the judges, that they should judge her for this act.
41 And the judge said, The
judgment of death must pass upon this woman because she transgressed our law,
and this therefore is the decision concerning her.
42 And the people of those cities
assembled and brought out the young woman, and anointed her with honey from head to foot, as the judge had decreed, and
they placed her before a swarm of bees which were then in their hives, and the
bees flew upon her and stung her that her whole body was swelled.
43 And the young woman cried
out on account of the bees, but no one took notice of her or pitied her, and
her cries ascended to heaven.
44 And the Lord was provoked at
this and at all the works of the cities of Sodom, for they had abundance of
food, and had tranquility amongst them, and still would not sustain the poor
and the needy, and in those days their evil doings and sins became great before
the Lord.
45 And the Lord sent for two of
the angel that had come to Abraham’s house, to destroy Sodom and its cities.
46 And the angels rose up from
the door of Abraham’s tent, after they had eaten and drunk, and they reached
Sodom in the evening, and Lot was then sitting in the gate of Sodom, and when
he saw them he rose to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground.
47 And he pressed them greatly
and brought them into his house, and he gave them victuals which they ate, and
they abode all night in his house.
48 And the angels said to Lot,
Arise, go forth from this place, thou and all belonging to thee, lest thou be
consumed in the iniquity of this city, for the Lord will destroy this
place.
49 And the angels laid hold
upon the hand of Lot and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his
children, and all belonging to him, and they brought him forth and set him
without the cities.
50 And they said to Lot, Escape
for thy life, and he fled and all belonging to him.
51 Then the Lord rained upon
Sodom and upon Gomorrah and upon all these cities brimstone and fire from the
Lord out of heaven.
52 And he overthrew these
cities, all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which
grew upon the ground; and Ado the wife of Lot looked back to see the
destruction of the cities, for her compassion was moved on account of her
daughters who remained in Sodom, for they did not go with her.
53 And when she looked back she
became a pillar of salt, and it is yet in that place unto this day.
54 And the oxen which stood in
that place daily licked up the salt to the extremities of their feet, and in
the morning it would spring forth afresh, and they again licked it up unto this
day.
55 And Lot and two of his
daughters that remained with him fled and escaped to the cave of Adullam, and
they remained there for some time.
56 And Abraham rose up early in
the morning to see what had been done to the cities of Sodom; and he looked and
beheld the smoke of the cities going up like the smoke of a furnace.
57 And Lot and his two
daughters remained in the cave, and they made their father drink wine, and they
lay with him, for they said there was no man upon earth that could raise up
seed from them, for they thought that the whole earth was destroyed.
58 And they both lay with their
father, and they conceived and bare sons, and the first born called the name of
her son Moab, saying, From my father did I conceive him; he is the father of
the Moabites unto this day.
59 And the younger also called
her son Benami; he is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
60 And after this Lot and his
two daughters went away from there, and he dwelt on the other side of the
Jordan with his two daughters and their sons, and the sons of Lot grew up, and
they went and took themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they begat
children and they were fruitful and multiplied.
CHAPTER 20
1 And at that time Abraham
journeyed from the plain of Mamre, and he went to the land of the Philistines,
and he dwelt in Gerar; it was in the twenty-fifth year of Abraham’s being in
the land of Canaan, and the hundredth year of the life of Abraham, that he came
to Gerar in the land of the Philistines.
2 And when they entered the
land he said to Sarah his wife, Say thou art my sister, to any one that shall
ask thee, in order that we may escape the evil of the inhabitants of the land.
3 And as Abraham was dwelling
in the land of the Philistines, the servants of Abimelech, king of the
Philistines, saw that Sarah was exceedingly beautiful, and they asked Abraham
concerning her, and he said, She is my sister.
4 And the servants of
Abimelech went to Abimelech, saying, A man from the land of Canaan is come to dwell
in the land, and he has a sister that is exceeding fair.
5 And Abimelech heard the
words of his servants who praised Sarah to him, and Abimelech sent his
officers, and they brought Sarah to the king.
6 And Sarah came to the house
of Abimelech, and the king saw that Sarah was beautiful, and she pleased him
exceedingly.
7 And he approached her and
said to her, What is that man to thee with whom thou didst come to our land?
and Sarah answered and said He is my brother, and we came from the land of Canaan
to dwell wherever we could find a place.
8 And Abimelech said to Sarah,
Behold my land is before thee, place thy brother in any part of this land that
pleases thee, and it will be our duty to exalt and elevate him above all the
people of the land since he is thy brother.
9And Abimelech sent for
Abraham, and Abraham came to Abimelech.
10And Abimelech said to
Abraham, Behold I have given orders that thou shalt be honored as thou desirest
on account of thy sister Sarah.
11 And Abraham went forth from
the king, and the king’s present followed him.
12 As at evening time, before
men lie down to rest, the king was sitting upon his throne, and a deep sleep
fell upon him, and he lay upon the throne and slept till morning.
13 And he dreamed that an angel
of the Lord came to him with a drawn sword in his hand, and the angel stood
over Abimelech, and wished to slay him with the sword, and the king was
terrified in his dream, and said to the angel, In what have I sinned against
thee that thou comest to slay me with thy sword?
14 And the angel answered and
said to Abimelech, Behold thou diest on account of the woman which thou didst
yesternight bring to thy house, for she is a married woman, the wife of Abraham
who came to thy house; now therefore return that man his wife, for she is his
wife; and shouldst thou not return her, know that thou wilt surely die, thou
and all belonging to thee.
15 And on that night there was
a great outcry in the land of the Philistines, and the inhabitants of the land
saw the figure of a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand, and he smote
the inhabitants of the land with the sword, yea he continued to smite them.
16 And the angel of the Lord
smote the whole land of the Philistines on that night, and there was a great
confusion on that night and on the following morning.
17 And every womb was closed,
and all their issues, and the hand of the Lord was upon them on account of
Sarah, wife of Abraham, whom Abimelech had taken.
18 And in the morning Abimelech
rose with terror and confusion and with a great dread, and he sent and had his
servants called in, and he related his dream to them, and the people were
greatly afraid.
19 And one man standing amongst
the servants of the king answered the king, saying, O sovereign king, restore
this woman to her husband, for he is her husband, for the like happened to the
king of Egypt when this man came to Egypt.
20 And he said concerning his
wife, She is my sister, for such is his manner of doing when he cometh to dwell
in the land in which he is a stranger.
21 And Pharaoh sent and took
this woman for a wife and the Lord brought upon him grievous plagues until he
returned the woman to her husband.
22 Now therefore, O sovereign
king, know what happened yesternight to the whole land, for there was a very
great consternation and great pain and lamentation, and we know that it was on
account of the woman which thou didst take.
23 Now, therefore, restore this
woman to her husband, lest it should befall us as it did to Pharaoh king of
Egypt and his subjects, and that we may not die; and Abimelech hastened and
called and had Sarah called for, and she came before him, and he had Abraham
called for, and he came before him.
24 And Abimelech said to them,
What is this work you have been doing in saying you are brother and sister, and
I took this woman for a wife?
25 And Abraham said, Because I
thought I should suffer death on account of my wife; and Abimelech took flocks
and herds, and men servants and maid servants, and a thousand pieces of silver,
and he gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah to him.
26 And Abimelech said to
Abraham, Behold the whole land is before thee, dwell in it wherever thou shalt
choose.
27 And Abraham and Sarah, his
wife, went forth from the king’s presence with honor and respect, and they
dwelt in the land, even in Gerar.
28 And all the inhabitants of
the land of the Philistines and the king’s servants were still in pain, through
the plague which the angel had inflicted upon them the whole night on account
of Sarah. 29 And Abimelech sent for
Abraham, saying, Pray now for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that he may put
away this mortality from amongst us.
30 And Abraham prayed on
account of Abimelech and his subjects, and the Lord heard the prayer of
Abraham, and he healed Abimelech and all his
subjects.
1 And it was at that time at
the end of a year and four months of Abraham’s dwelling in the land of the
Philistines in Gerar, that God visited Sarah, and the Lord remembered her, and
she conceived and bare a son to Abraham.
2 And Abraham called the name
of the son which was born to him, which Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
3 And Abraham circumcised his
son Isaac at eight days old, as God had commanded Abraham to do unto his seed
after him; and Abraham was one hundred, and Sarah ninety years old, when Isaac
was born to them.
4 And the child grew up and he
was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast upon the day that Isaac was weaned.
5 And Shem and Eber and all
the great people of the land, and Abimelech king of the Philistines, and his
servants, and Phicol, the captain of his host, came to eat and drink and
rejoice at the feast which Abraham made upon the day of his son Isaac’s being
weaned.
6 Also Terah, the father of
Abraham, and Nahor his brother, came from Haran, they and all belonging to them, for they greatly
rejoiced on hearing that a son had been born to Sarah.
7 And they came to Abraham, and they ate and drank at the
feast which Abraham made upon the day of Isaac’s being weaned.
8 And Terah and Nahor rejoiced
with Abraham, and they remained with him many days in the land of the
Philistines.
9 At that time Serug the son
of Reu died, in the first year of the birth of Isaac son of Abraham.
10 And all the days of Serug
were two hundred and thirty-nine years, and he died.
11 And Ishmael the son of
Abraham was grown up in those days; he was fourteen years old when Sarah bare
Isaac to Abraham.
12 And God was with Ishmael the
son of Abraham, and he grew up, and he learned to use the bow and became an
archer.
13 And when Isaac was five
years old he was sitting with Ishmael at the door of the tent.
14 And Ishmael came to Isaac
and seated himself opposite to him, and he took the bow and drew it and put the
arrow in it, and intended to slay Isaac.
15 And Sarah saw the act which
Ishmael desired to do to her son Isaac, and it grieved her exceedingly on
account of her son, and she sent for Abraham, and said to him, Cast out this
bondwoman and her son, for her son shall not be heir with my son, for thus did
he seek to do unto him this day.
16 And Abraham hearkened to the
voice of Sarah, and he rose up early in the morning, and he took twelve loaves
and a bottle of water which he gave to Hagar, and sent her away with her son,
and Hagar went with her son to the wilderness, and they dwelt in the wilderness
of Paran with the inhabitants of the wilderness, and Ishmael was an archer, and
he dwelt in the wilderness a long time.
17 And he and his mother
afterward went to the land of Egypt, and they dwelt there, and Hagar took a
wife for her son from Egypt, and her name was Meribah.
18 And the wife of Ishmael
conceived and bare four sons and two daughters, and Ishmael and his mother and
his wife and children afterward went and returned to the wilderness.
19 And they made themselves
tents in the wilderness, in which they dwelt, and they continued to travel and
then to rest monthly and yearly.
20 And God gave Ishmael flocks
and herds and tents on account of Abraham his father, and the man increased in
cattle.
21 And Ishmael dwelt in deserts
and in tents, traveling and resting for a long time, and he did not see the
face of his father.
22 And in some time after,
Abraham said to Sarah his wife, I will go and see my son Ishmael, for I have a
desire to see him, for I have not seen him for a long time.
23 And Abraham rode upon one of
his camels to the wilderness to seek his son Ishmael, for he heard that he was
dwelling in a tent in the wilderness with all belonging to him.
24 And Abraham went to the
wilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon, and he asked after
Ishmael, and he found the wife of Ishmael sitting in the tent with her
children, and Ishmael her husband and his mother were not with them.
25 And Abraham asked the wife
of Ishmael, saying, Where has Ishmael gone? and she said, He has gone to the
field to hunt, and Abraham was still mounted upon the camel, for he would not
get off to the ground as he had sworn to his wife Sarah that he would not get
off from the camel. 26 And Abraham
said to Ishmael’s wife, My daughter, give me a little water that I may drink,
for I am fatigued from the journey.
27 And Ishmael’s wife answered
and said to Abraham, We have neither water nor bread, and she continued sitting
in the tent and did not notice Abraham, neither did she ask him who he was. 28 But she was beating her children in
the tent, and she was cursing them, and she also cursed her husband Ishmael and
reproached him, and Abraham heard the words of Ishmael’s wife to her children,
and he was very angry and displeased.
29 And Abraham called to the
woman to come out to him from the tent, and the woman came and stood opposite
to Abraham, for Abraham was still mounted upon the camel.
30 And Abraham said to
Ishmael’s wife, When thy husband Ishmael returneth home say these words to him,
31 A very old man from the land
of the Philistines came hither to seek thee,
and thus was his appearance and
figure; I did not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not here he spoke
unto me and said, When Ishmael thy husband returneth tell him thus did this man
say, When thou comest home put away this nail of the tent which thou hast
placed here, and place another nail in its stead.
32 And Abraham finished his
instructions to the woman, and he turned and went off on the camel homeward.
33 And after that Ishmael came
from the chase he and his mother, and returned to the tent, and his wife spoke
these words to him,
34 A very old man from the land
of the Philistines came to seek thee, and thus was his appearance and figure; I
did not ask him who he was, and seeing thou wast not at home he said to me,
When thy husband cometh home tell him, thus saith the old man, Put away the
nail of the tent which thou hast placed here and place another nail in its
stead.
35 And Ishmael heard the words
of his wife, and he knew that it was his father, and that his wife did not
honor him.
36 And Ishmael understood his
father’s words that he had spoken to his wife, and Ishmael hearkened to the
voice of his father, and Ishmael cast off that woman and she went away.
37 And Ishmael afterward went
to the land of Canaan, and he took another wife and he brought her to his tent
to the place where he then dwelt.
38 And at the end of three
years Abraham said, I will go again and see Ishmael my son, for I have not seen
him for a long time.
39 And he rode upon his camel and went to the wilderness, and he reached the tent of Ishmael about noon.
40 And he asked after Ishmael,
and his wife came out of the tent and she said, He is not here my lord, for he
has gone to hunt in the fields, and to feed the camels, and the woman said to
Abraham, Turn in my lord into the tent, and eat a morsel of bread, for thy soul
must be wearied on account of the journey.
41 And Abraham said to her, I
will not stop for I am in haste to continue my journey, but give me a little
water to drink, for I have thirst; and the woman hastened and ran into the tent
and she brought out water and bread to Abraham, which she placed before him and
she urged him to eat, and he ate and drank and his heart was comforted and he
blessed his son Ishmael.
42 And he finished his meal and
he blessed the Lord, and he said to Ishmael’s wife, When Ishmael cometh home
say these words to him,
43 A very old man from the land
of the Philistines came hither and asked after thee, and thou wast not here;
and I brought him out bread and water and he ate and drank and his heart was
comforted.
44 And he spoke these words to
me: When Ishmael thy husband cometh home, say unto him, The nail of the tent
which thou hast is very good, do not put it away from the tent.
45 And Abraham finished
commanding the woman, and he rode off to his home to the land of the Philistines;
and when Ishmael came to his tent his wife went forth to meet him with joy and
a cheerful heart.
46 And she said to him, An old
man came here from the land of the Philistines and thus was his appearance, and
he asked after thee and thou wast not here, so I brought out bread and water,
and he ate and drank and his heart was comforted.
47 And he spoke these words to
me, When Ishmael thy husband cometh home say to him, The nail of the tent which
thou hast is very good, do not put it away from the tent.
48 And Ishmael knew that it was
his father, and that his wife had honored him, and the Lord blessed Ishmael.
1 And Ishmael then rose up and
took his wife and his children and his cattle and all belonging to him, and he
journeyed from there and he went to his father in the land of the Philistines.
2 And Abraham related to
Ishmael his son the transaction with the first wife that Ishmael took,
according to what she did.
3 And Ishmael and his children
dwelt with Abraham many days in that land, and Abraham dwelt in the land of the
Philistines a long time.
4 And the days increased and
reached twenty six years, and after that Abraham with his servants and all
belonging to him went from the land of the Philistines and removed to a great
distance, and they came near to Hebron, and they remained there, and the
servants of Abraham dug wells of water, and Abraham and all belonging to him
dwelt by the water, and the servants of Abimelech king of the Philistines heard
the report that Abraham’s servants had dug wells of water in the borders of the
land.
5 And they came and quarreled
with the servants of Abraham, and they robbed them of the great well which they
had dug.
6 And Abimelech king of the
Philistines heard of this affair, and he with Phicol the captain of his host
and twenty of his men came to Abraham, and Abimelech spoke to Abraham
concerning his servants, and Abraham rebuked Abimelech concerning the well of
which his servants had robbed him.
7 And Abimelech said to
Abraham, As the Lord liveth who created the whole earth, I did not hear of the
act which my servants did unto thy servants until this day.
8 And Abraham took seven ewe
lambs and gave them to Abimelech, saying, Take these, I pray thee, from my
hands that it may be a testimony for me that I dug this well.
9 And Abimelech took the seven
ewe lambs which Abraham had given to him, for he had also given him cattle and
herds in abundance, and Abimelech swore to Abraham concerning the well,
therefore he called that well Beersheba, for there they both swore concerning
it.
10 And they both made a
covenant in Beersheba, and Abimelech rose up with Phicol the captain of his
host and all his men, and they returned to the land of the Philistines, and
Abraham and all belonging to him dwelt in Beersheba and he was in that land a
long time.
11 And Abraham planted a large
grove in Beersheba, and he made to it four gates facing the four sides of the earth, and he planted a
vineyard in it, so that if a traveler came to Abraham he entered any gate which
was in his road, and remained there and ate and drank and satisfied himself and
then departed.
12 For the house of Abraham was
always open to the sons of men that passed and repassed, who came daily to eat
and drink in the house of Abraham.
13 And any man who had hunger
and came to Abraham’s house, Abraham would give him bread that he might eat and
drink and be satisfied, and any one that came naked to his house he would
clothe with garments as he might choose, and give him silver and gold and make
known to him the Lord who had created him in the earth; this did Abraham all
his life.
14 And Abraham and his children
and all belonging to him dwelt in Beersheba, and he pitched his tent as far as
Hebron.
15 And Abraham’s brother Nahor and his father and all belonging to
them dwelt in Haran, for they did not come with Abraham to the land of Canaan.
16 And children were born to
Nahor which Milca the daughter of Haran, and sister to Sarah, Abraham’s wife,
bare to him.
17 And these are the names of
those that were born to him, Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Kesed, Chazo, Pildash, Tidlaf,
and Bethuel, being eight sons, these are the children of Milca which she bare
to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
18 And Nahor had a concubine
and her name was Reumah, and she also bare to Nahor, Zebach, Gachash, Tachash
and Maacha, being four sons.
19 And the children that were
born to Nahor were twelve sons besides his daughters, and they also had
children born to them in Haran.
20 And the children of Uz the
first born of Nahor were Abi, Cheref, Gadin, Melus, and Deborah their sister.
21 And the sons of Buz were
Berachel, Naamath, Sheva, and Madonu.
22 And the sons of Kemuel were
Aram and Rechob.
23 And the sons of Kesed were
Anamlech, Meshai, Benon and Yifi; and the sons of Chazo were Pildash, Mechi and
Opher.
24 And the sons of Pildash were
Arud, Chamum, Mered and Moloch.
25 And the sons of Tidlaf were
Mushan, Cushan and Mutzi.
26 And the children of Bethuel
were Sechar, Laban and their sister Rebecca.
27 These are the families of the children of Nahor, that
were born to them in Haran; and Aram the son of Kemuel and Rechob his brother
went away from Haran, and they found a valley in the land by the river
Euphrates.
28 And they built a city there,
and they called the name of the city after the name of Pethor the son of Aram,
that is Aram Naherayim unto this day.
29 And the children of Kesed
also went to dwell where they could find a place, and they went and they found
a valley opposite to the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
30 And they there built
themselves a city, and they called the name at the city Kesed after the name of
their father, that is the land Kasdim unto this day, and the Kasdim dwelt in
that land and they were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.
31 And Terah, father of Nahor
and Abraham, went and took another wife in his old age, and her name was
Pelilah, and she conceived and bare him a son and he called his name Zoba.
32 And Terah lived twenty-five
years after he begat Zoba.
33 And Terah died in that year,
that is in the thirty-fifth year of the birth of Isaac son of Abraham. 34 And
the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and he was buried in Haran.
35 And Zoba the son of Terah
lived thirty years and he begat Aram, Achlis and Merik.
36 And Aram son of Zoba son of
Terah, had three wives and he begat twelve sons and three daughters; and the
Lord gave to Aram the son of Zoba, riches and possessions, and abundance of
cattle, and flocks and herds, and the man increased greatly.
37 And Aram the son of Zoba and
his brother and all his household journeyed from Haran, and they went to dwell
where they should find a place, for their property was too great to remain in
Haran; for they could not stop in Haran together with their brethren the
children of Nahor.
38 And Aram the son of Zoba
went with his brethren, and they found a valley at a distance toward the
eastern country and they dwelt there.
39 And they also built a city
there, and they called the name thereof Aram, after the name of their eldest
brother; that is Aram Zoba to this day.
40 And Isaac the son of Abraham
was growing up in those days, and Abraham his father taught him the way of the
Lord to know the Lord, and the Lord was with him.
41 And when Isaac was
thirty-seven years old, Ishmael his brother was going about with him in the
tent.
42 And Ishmael boasted of
himself to Isaac, saying, I was thirteen years
old when the Lord spoke to my father to circumcise us, and I did
according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to my father, and I gave my
soul unto the Lord, and I did not transgress his word which he commanded my
father.
43 And Isaac answered Ishmael,
saying, Why dost thou boast to me about this, about a little bit of thy flesh which thou didst take from thy body,
concerning which the Lord commanded thee? 44
As the Lord liveth, the God of my father Abraham, if the Lord should say
unto my father, Take now thy son Isaac and bring him up an offering before me,
I would not refrain but I would joyfully accede to it.
45 And the Lord heard the word
that Isaac spoke to Ishmael, and it seemed good in the sight of the Lord, and
he thought to try Abraham in this matter.
46 And the day arrived when the
sons of God came and placed themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came
with the sons of God before the Lord.
47 And the Lord said unto
Satan, Whence comest thou? and Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to
and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
48 And the Lord said to Satan,
What is thy word to me concerning all the children of the earth? and Satan
answered the Lord and said, I have seen all the children of the earth who serve
thee and remember thee when they require anything from thee.
49 And when thou givest them
the thing which they require from thee, they sit at their ease, and forsake
thee and they remember thee no more.
50 Hast thou seen Abraham the
son of Terah, who at first had no children, and he served thee and erected
altars to thee wherever he came, and he brought up offerings upon them, and he
proclaimed thy name continually to all the children of the earth.
51 And now that his son Isaac
is born to him, he has forsaken thee, he has made a great feast for all the inhabitants of the land,
and the Lord he has forgotten.
52 For amidst all that he has
done he brought thee no offering; neither burnt offering nor peace offering,
neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was
weaned.
53 Even from the time of his
son’s birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before thee,
nor brought any offering to thee, for he saw that thou didst give what he
requested before thee, and he therefore forsook thee.
54 And the Lord said to Satan,
Hast thou thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like him upon
earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that feareth God and avoideth
evil; as I live, were I to say unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before me, he
would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a burnt
offering before me from his flock or herds.
55 And Satan answered the Lord
and said, Speak then now unto Abraham as
thou hast said, and thou wilt see whether he will not this day transgress and
cast aside thy words.
1 At that time the word of the
Lord came to Abraham, and he said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am.
2 And he said to him, Take now
thy son, thine only son whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and go to the land of
Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
which shall be shown to thee, for there wilt thou see a cloud and the glory of
the Lord.
3 And Abraham said within
himself, How shall I separate my son Isaac from Sarah his mother, in order to
bring him up for a burnt offering before the Lord?
4 And Abraham came into the
tent, and he sat before Sarah his wife, and he spoke these words to her,
5 My son Isaac is grown up and
he has not for some time studied the service of his God, now tomorrow I will go
and bring him to Shem, and Eber his son, and there he will learn the ways of
the Lord, for they will teach him to know the Lord as well as to know that when
he prayeth continually before the Lord, he will answer him, therefore there he
will know the way of serving the Lord his God.
6 And Sarah said, Thou hast
spoken well, go my lord and do unto him as thou hast said, but remove him not at a great distance
from me, neither let him remain there too long, for my soul is bound within his
soul.
7 And Abraham said unto Sarah,
My daughter, let us pray to the Lord our God that he may do good with us.
8 And Sarah took her son Isaac
and he abode all that night with her, and she kissed and embraced him, and gave
him instructions till morning.
9 And she said to him, O my
son, how can my soul separate itself from thee? And she still kissed him and
embraced him, and she gave Abraham instructions concerning him.
10 And Sarah said to Abraham, O
my lord, I pray thee take heed of thy son, and place thine eyes over him, for I
have no other son nor daughter but him.
11 O forsake him not. If he be
hungry give him bread, and if he be thirsty
give him water to drink; do not let him go on foot, neither let him sit
in the sun.
12 Neither let him go by
himself in the road, neither force him from whatever he may desire, but do unto
him as he may say to thee.
13 And Sarah wept bitterly the
whole night on account of Isaac, and she gave him instructions till morning.
14 And in the morning Sarah
selected a very fine and beautiful garment from those garments which she had in
the house, that Abimelech had given to her.
15 And she dressed Isaac her
son therewith, and she put a turban upon his head, and she enclosed a precious
stone in the top of the turban, and she gave them provision for the road, and
they went forth, and Isaac went with his father Abraham, and some of their
servants accompanied them to see them off the road.
16 And Sarah went out with
them, and she accompanied them upon the road to see them off, and they said to
her, Return to the tent.
17 And when Sarah heard the
words of her son Isaac she wept bitterly, and Abraham her husband wept with her,
and their son wept with them a great weeping; also those who went with them
wept greatly.
18 And Sarah caught hold of her
son Isaac, and she held him in her arms, and she embraced him and continued to
weep with him, and Sarah said, Who knoweth if after this day I shall ever see
thee again?
19 And they still wept
together, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac, and all those that accompanied them on the
road wept with them, and Sarah afterward turned away from her son, weeping
bitterly, and all her men servants and maid servants returned with her to the
tent.
20 And Abraham went with Isaac
his son to bring him up as an offering before the Lord, as He had commanded
him.
21 And Abraham took two of his
young men with him, Ishmael the son of Hagar and Eliezer his servant, and they
went together with them, and whilst they were walking in the road the young men
spoke these words to themselves,
22 And Ishmael said to Eliezer,
Now my father Abraham is going with Isaac to bring him up for a burnt offering
to the Lord, as He commanded him.
23 Now when he returneth he
will give unto me all that he possesses, to inherit after him, for I am his
first born.
24 And Eliezer answered Ishmael and said, Surely Abraham did cast thee away with thy mother, and swear that thou shouldst not inherit
any thing of all he possesses, and to whom will he give all that he has, with
all his treasures, but unto me his servant, who has been faithful in his house,
who has served him night and day, and has done all that he desired me? to me
will he bequeath at his death all that he possesses.
25 And whilst Abraham was
proceeding with his son Isaac along the
road, Satan came and appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man,
humble and of contrite spirit, and he approached Abraham and said to him, Art
thou silly or brutish, that thou goest to do this thing this day to thine only
son?
26 For God gave thee a son in
thy latter days, in thy old age, and wilt thou go and slaughter him this day because he
committed no violence, and wilt thou cause the soul of thine only son to perish
from the earth?
27 Dost thou not know and
understand that this thing cannot be from the Lord? for the Lord cannot do unto man such evil upon earth
to say to him, Go slaughter thy child.
28 And Abraham heard this and
knew that it was the word of Satan who endeavored to draw him aside from the
way of the Lord, but Abraham would not hearken to the voice of Satan, and
Abraham rebuked him so that he went away.
29 And Satan returned and came
to Isaac; and he appeared unto Isaac in the figure of a young man comely and
well favored.
30 And he approached Isaac and
said unto him, Dost thou not know and understand that thy old silly father
bringeth thee to the slaughter this day for naught?
31 Now therefore, my son, do
not listen nor attend to him, for he is a silly old man, and let not thy
precious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth.
32 And Isaac heard this, and
said unto Abraham, Hast thou heard, my father, that which this man has spoken?
even thus has he spoken.
33 And Abraham answered his son
Isaac and said to him, Take heed of him and do not listen to his words, nor
attend to him, for he is Satan, endeavoring to draw us aside this day from the
commands of God.
34 And Abraham still rebuked
Satan, and Satan went from them, and seeing he could not prevail over them he
hid himself from them, and he went and passed before them in the road; and he
transformed himself to a large brook of water in the road, and Abraham and
Isaac and his two young men reached that place, and they saw a brook large and
powerful as the mighty waters. 35 And
they entered the brook and passed through it, and the waters at first reached
their legs. 36 And they went deeper
in the brook and the waters reached up to their necks, and they were all
terrified on account of the water; and whilst they were going over the brook
Abraham recognized that place, and he knew that there was no water there
before.
37 And Abraham said to his son
Isaac, I know this place in which there was no brook nor water, now therefore
it is this Satan who does all this to us, to draw us aside this day from the commands
of God.
38 And Abraham rebuked him and
said unto him, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, begone from us for we go by the
commands of God.
39 And Satan was terrified at
the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them, and the place again became
dry land as it was at first.
40 And Abraham went with Isaac
toward the place that God had told him.
41 And on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place at a distance which God had told him of.
42 And a pillar of fire
appeared to him that reached from the earth to heaven, and a cloud of glory
upon the mountain, and the glory of the Lord was seen in the cloud.
43 And Abraham said to Isaac,
My son, dost thou see in that mountain, which we perceive at a distance, that
which I see upon it?
44 And Isaac answered and said
unto his father, I see and lo a pillar of fire and a cloud, and the glory of
the Lord is seen upon the cloud.
45 And Abraham knew that his
son Isaac was accepted before the Lord for a burnt offering.
46 And Abraham said unto Eliezer
and unto Ishmael his son, Do you also see that which we see upon the mountain
which is at a distance?
47 And they answered and said,
We see nothing more than like the other mountains of the earth. And Abraham
knew that they were not accepted before the Lord to go with them, and Abraham
said to them, Abide ye here with the ass whilst I and Isaac my son will go to
yonder mount and worship there before the Lord and then return to you.
48 And Eliezer and Ishmael
remained in that place, as Abraham had commanded.
49 And Abraham took wood for a
burnt offering and placed it upon his son Isaac, and he took the fire and the knife, and they
both went to that place.
50 And when they were going
along Isaac said to his father, Behold, I see here the fire and wood, and where
then is the lamb that is to be the burnt offering before the Lord?
51 And Abraham answered his son
Isaac, saying, The Lord has made choice of thee my son, to be a perfect burnt
offering instead of the lamb.
52 And Isaac said unto his
father, I will do all that the Lord spoke to thee with joy and cheerfulness of
heart.
53 And Abraham again said unto
Isaac his son, Is there in thy heart any thought or counsel concerning this,
which is not proper? tell me my son, I pray thee, O my son conceal it not from
me.
54 And Isaac answered his
father Abraham and said unto him, O my father, as the Lord liveth and as thy
soul liveth, there is nothing in my heart to cause me to deviate either to the
right or to the left from the word that he has spoken to thee.
55 Neither limb nor muscle has
moved or stirred at this, nor is there in my heart any thought or evil counsel
concerning this.
56 But I am of joyful and
cheerful heart in this matter, and I say, Blessed
is the Lord who has this day chosen me to be a burnt offering before Him.
57 And Abraham greatly rejoiced
at the words of Isaac, and they went on and came together to that place that
the Lord had spoken of.
58 And Abraham approached to
build the altar in that place, and Abraham was weeping, and Isaac took stones
and mortar until they had finished building the altar.
59 And Abraham took the wood
and placed it in order upon the altar which he had built.
60 And he took his son Isaac
and bound him in order to place him upon the wood which was upon the altar, to
slay him for a burnt offering before the Lord.
61 And Isaac said to his
father, Bind me securely and then place me upon the altar lest I should turn
and move, and break loose from the force of the knife upon my flesh and thereof
profane the burnt offering; and Abraham did so.
62 And Isaac still said to his
father, O my father, when thou shalt have slain me and burnt me for an
offering, take with thee that which shall remain of my ashes to bring to Sarah
my mother, and say to her, This is the sweet smelling savor of Isaac; but do
not tell her this if she should sit near a well or upon any high place, lest
she should cast her soul after me and die.
63 And Abraham heard the words
of Isaac, and he lifted up his voice and wept when Isaac spake these words; and
Abraham’s tears gushed down upon Isaac his son, and Isaac wept bitterly, and he
said to his father, Hasten thou, O my father, and do with me the will of the
Lord our God as He has commanded thee.
64 And the hearts of Abraham
and Isaac rejoiced at this thing which the Lord had commanded them; but the eye
wept bitterly whilst the heart rejoiced.
65 And Abraham bound his son
Isaac, and placed him on the altar upon the wood, and Isaac stretched forth his
neck upon the altar before his father, and Abraham stretched forth his hand to
take the knife to slay his son as a burnt offering before the Lord.
66 At that time the angels of
mercy came before the Lord and spake to him concerning Isaac, saying,
67 O Lord, thou art a merciful
and compassionate King over all that thou hast created in heaven and in earth,
and thou supportest them all; give therefore ransom and redemption instead of
thy servant Isaac, and pity and have compassion upon Abraham and Isaac his son,
who are this day performing thy commands.
68 Hast thou seen, O Lord, how
Isaac the son of Abraham thy servant is bound down to the slaughter like an
animal? now therefore let thy pity be roused for them, O Lord.
69 At that time the Lord
appeared unto Abraham, and called to him, from heaven, and said unto him, Lay
not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him, for now I know
that thou fearest God in performing this act, and in not withholding thy son,
thine only son, from me.
70 And Abraham lifted up his
eyes and saw, and behold, a ram was caught in a thicket by his horns; that was
the ram which the Lord God had created in the earth in the day that he made
earth and heaven.
71 For the Lord had prepared
this ram from that day, to be a burnt offering instead of Isaac.
72 And this ram was advancing
to Abraham when Satan caught hold of him and entangled his horns in the
thicket, that he might not advance to Abraham, in order that Abraham might slay
his son.
73 And Abraham, seeing the ram
advancing to him and Satan withholding him, fetched him and brought him before
the altar, and he loosened his son Isaac from his binding, and he put the ram
in his stead, and Abraham killed the ram upon the altar, and brought it up as
an offering in the place of his son Isaac.
74 And Abraham sprinkled some
of the blood of the ram upon the altar, and he exclaimed and said, This is in
the place of my son, and may this be considered this day as the blood of my son
before the Lord.
75 And all that Abraham did on
this occasion by the altar, he would exclaim and say, This is in the room of my
son, and may it this day be considered before the Lord in the place of my son;
and Abraham finished the whole of the service by the altar, and the service was
accepted before the Lord, and was accounted as if it had been Isaac; and the
Lord blessed Abraham and his seed on that day.
76 And Satan went to Sarah, and
he appeared to her in the figure of an old man very humble and meek, and
Abraham was yet engaged in the burnt offering before the Lord.
77 And he said unto her, Dost
thou not know all the work that Abraham has made with thine only son this day?
for he took Isaac and built an altar, and killed him, and brought him up as a
sacrifice upon the altar, and Isaac cried and wept before his father, but he
looked not at him, neither did he have compassion over him.
78 And Satan repeated these
words, and he went away from her, and Sarah heard all the words of Satan, and
she imagined him to be an old man from amongst the sons of men who had been
with her son, and had come and told her these things.
79 And Sarah lifted up her
voice and wept and cried out bitterly on account of her son; and she threw
herself upon the ground and she cast dust upon her head, and she said, O my
son, Isaac my son, O that I had this day died instead of thee. And she
continued to weep and said, It grieves me for thee, O my son, my son Isaac, O
that I had died this day in thy stead.
80 And she still continued to
weep, and said, It grieves me for thee after that I have reared thee and have
brought thee up; now my joy is turned into mourning over thee, I that had a longing for thee, and cried and prayed to God till I bare thee at ninety years old; and now hast thou served this day for the knife
and the fire, to be made an offering.
81
But I console myself with thee, my son, in its being the word of the
Lord, for thou didst perform the command of thy God; for who can transgress the
word of our God, in whose hands is the soul of every living creature?
82
Thou art just, O Lord our God, for all thy works are good and righteous;
for I also am rejoiced with thy word which thou didst command, and whilst mine
eye weepeth bitterly my heart rejoiceth.
83
And Sarah laid her head upon the bosom of one of her handmaids, and she
became as still as a stone.
84
She afterward rose up and went about making inquiries till she came to
Hebron, and she inquired of all those whom she met walking in the road, and no
one could tell her what had happened to her son.
85
And she came with her maid servants and men servants to Kireath-arba,
which is Hebron, and she asked concerning her Son, and she remained there while
she sent some of her servants to seek where Abraham had gone with Isaac; they
went to seek him in the house of Shem and Eber, and they could not find him,
and they sought throughout the land and he was not there.
86
And behold, Satan came to Sarah in the shape of an old man, and he came and stood before her, and
he said unto her, I spoke falsely unto thee, for Abraham did not kill his son
and he is not dead; and when she heard the word her joy was so exceedingly
violent on account of her son, that her soul went out through joy; she died and
was gathered to her people.
87
And when Abraham had finished his service he returned with his son Isaac
to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba, and they
came home.
88
And Abraham sought for Sarah, and could not find her, and he made
inquiries concerning her, and they said unto him, She went as far as Hebron to
seek you both where you had gone, for thus was she informed.
89
And Abraham and Isaac went to her to Hebron, and when they found that
she was dead they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly over her; and Isaac
fell upon his mother’s face and wept over her, and he said, O my mother, my
mother, how hast thou left me, and where hast thou gone? O how, how hast thou
left me!
90
And Abraham and Isaac wept greatly and all their servants wept with them
on account of Sarah, and they mourned over her a great and heavy mourning.
1
And the life of Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years, and Sarah
died; and Abraham rose up from before his dead to seek a burial place to bury
his wife Sarah; and he went and spoke to the children of Heth, the inhabitants
of the land, saying,
2
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you in your land; give me a
possession of a burial place in your land, that I may bury my dead from before
me.
3And
the children of Heth said unto Abraham, behold the land is before thee, in the
choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead, for no man shall withhold thee from
burying thy dead.
4
And Abraham said unto them, If you are agreeable to this go and entreat
for me to Ephron, the son of Zochar, requesting that he may give me the cave of
Machpelah, which is in the end of his field, and I will purchase it of him for
whatever he desire for it.
5
And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth, and they went and called
for him, and he came before Abraham, and Ephron said unto Abraham, Behold all
thou requirest thy servant will do; and Abraham said, No, but I will buy the
cave and the field which thou hast for value, In order that it may be for a
possession of a burial place for ever.
6
And Ephron answered and said, Behold the field and the cave are before
thee, give whatever thou desirest; and Abraham said, Only at full value will I
buy it from thy hand, and from the hands of those that go in at the gate of thy
city, and from the hand of thy seed forever.
7
And Ephron and all his brethren heard this, and Abraham weighed to Ephron
four hundred shekels of silver in the hands of Ephron and in the hands of all
his brethren; and Abraham wrote this transaction, and he wrote it and testified
it with four witnesses.
8
And these are the names of the witnesses, Amigal son of Abishna the
Hittite, Adichorom son of Ashunach the Hivite, Abdon son of Achiram the
Gomerite, Bakdil the son of Abudish the Zidonite. 9 And Abraham took the book of the purchase, and placed it in his
treasures, and these are the words that Abraham wrote in the book, namely:
10
That the cave and the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite, and
from his seed, and from those that go out of his city, and from their seed forever,
are to be a purchase to Abraham and to his seed and to those that go forth from
his loins, for a possession of a burial place for ever; and he put a signet to
it and testified it with witnesses.
11
And the field and the cave that was in it and all that place were made sure unto Abraham
and unto his seed after him, from the children of Heth; behold it is before
Mamre in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan.
12
And after this Abraham buried his wife Sarah there, and that place and all its boundary became to Abraham and unto his seed for a possession of a burial place.
13 And Abraham buried Sarah
with pomp as observed at the interment of kings, and she was buried in very
fine and beautiful garments.
14 And at her bier was Shem,
his sons Eber and Abimelech, together with Anar, Ashcol and Mamre, and all the
grandees of the land followed her bier.
15 And the days of Sarah were
one hundred and twenty-seven years and she died, and Abraham made a great and
heavy mourning, and he performed the rites of mourning for seven days.
16 And all the inhabitants of
the land comforted Abraham and Isaac his son on account of Sarah.
17 And when the days of their mourning passed by Abraham sent away his son Isaac, and he went to the house of Shem and Eber, to learn the ways of the Lord and his instructions, and Abraham remained there three years.
17 And when the days of their mourning passed by Abraham sent away his son Isaac, and he went to the house of Shem and Eber, to learn the ways of the Lord and his instructions, and Abraham remained there three years.
18 At that time Abraham rose up
with all his servants, and they went and returned homeward to Beersheba, and
Abraham and all his servants remained in Beersheba.
19 And at the revolution of the
year Abimelech king of the Philistines died in that year; he was one hundred
and ninety-three years old at his death; and Abraham went with his people to
the land of the Philistines, and they comforted the whole household and all his
servants, and he then turned and went home.
20 And it was after the death
of Abimelech that the people of Gerar took Benmalich his son, and he was only
twelve years old, and they made him lying in the place of his father.
21 And they called his name
Abimelech after the name of his father, for thus was it their custom to do in
Gerar, and Abimelech reigned instead of Abimelech his father, and he sat upon
his throne.
22 And Lot the son of Haran
also died in those days, in the thirty-ninth year of the life of Isaac, and all
the days that Lot lived were one hundred and forty years and he died.
23 And these are the children of
Lot, that were born to him by his daughters, the name of the first born was
Moab, and the name of the second was Benami.
24 And the two sons of Lot went
and took themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they bare children to
them, and the children of Moab were Ed, Mayon, Tarsus, and Kanvil, four sons,
these are fathers to the children of Moab unto this day.
25 And all the families of the
children of Lot went to dwell wherever they should light upon, for they were
fruitful and increased abundantly.
26 And they went and built
themselves cities in the land where they dwelt, and they called the names of
the cities which they built after their own names.
27 And Nahor the son of Terah,
brother to Abraham, died in those days in the fortieth year of the life of
Isaac, and all the days of Nahor were one hundred and seventy-two years and he
died and was buried in Haran.
28 And when Abraham heard that
his brother was dead he grieved sadly, and he mourned over his brother many
days.
29 And Abraham called for
Eliezer his head servant, to give him orders concerning his house, and he came
and stood before him.
30 And Abraham said to him,
Behold I am old, I do not know the day of my death; for I am advanced in days;
now therefore rise up, go forth and do not take a wife for my son from this
place and from this land, from the daughters of the Canaanites amongst whom we
dwell.
31 But go to my land and to my
birthplace, and take from thence a wife for my son, and the Lord God of Heaven and earth who took
me from my father’s house and brought me to this place, and said unto me, To
thy seed will I give this land for an inheritance for ever, he will send his
angel before thee and prosper thy way, that thou mayest obtain a wife for my
son from my family and from my father’s house.
32 And the servant answered his
master Abraham and said, Behold I go to thy birthplace and to thy father’s
house, and take a wife for thy son from there; but if the woman be not willing
to follow me to this land, shall I take thy son back to the land of thy
birthplace?
33 And Abraham said unto him,
Take heed that thou bring not my son hither again, for the Lord before whom I
have walked he will send his angel before thee and prosper thy way.
34 And Eliezer did as Abraham
ordered him, and Eliezer swore unto Abraham his master upon this matter; and
Eliezer rose up and took ten camels of the camels of his master, and ten men
from his master’s servants with him, and they rose up and went to Haran, the
city of Abraham and Nahor, in order to fetch a wife for Isaac the son of
Abraham; and whilst they were gone Abraham sent to the house of Shem and Eber,
and they brought from thence his son Isaac.
35 And Isaac came home to his
father’s house to Beersheba, whilst Eliezer and his men came to Haran; and they
stopped in the city by the watering place, and he made his camels to kneel down
by the water and they remained there.
36 And Eliezer, Abraham’s
servant, prayed and said, O God of Abraham my master; send me I pray thee good
speed this day and show kindness unto my master, that thou shalt appoint this
day a wife for my master’s son from his family.
37 And the Lord hearkened to
the voice of Eliezer, for the sake of his servant Abraham, and he happened to
meet with the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor,
brother to Abraham, and Eliezer came to her house.
38 And Eliezer related to them all
his concerns, and that he was Abraham’s servant, and they greatly rejoiced at
him.
39 And they all blessed the
Lord who brought this thing about, and they gave him Rebecca, the daughter of
Bethuel, for a wife for Isaac.
40 And the young woman was of very comely appearance, she was a virgin, and Rebecca was ten years old in those days.
41 And Bethuel and Laban and
his children made a feast on that night, and Eliezer and his men came and ate
and drank and rejoiced there on that night.
42 And Eliezer rose up in the
morning, he and the men that were with him, and he called to the whole household of Bethuel, saying, Send
me away that I may go to my master; and they rose up and sent away Rebecca and
her nurse Deborah, the daughter of Uz, and they gave her silver and gold, men
servants and maid servants, and they blessed her.
43 And they sent Eliezer away
with his men; and the servants took Rebecca, and he went and returned to his
master to the land of Canaan.
44 And Isaac took Rebecca and
she became his wife, and he brought her into the tent.
45 And Isaac was forty years
old when he took Rebecca, the daughter of
his uncle Bethuel, for a wife.
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