THIS is the history of the division of the days of the law and of the testimony, of the events of the years, of their (year) weeks, of their Jubilees throughout all the years of the world, as the Lord spake to Moses on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the tables of the law and of the commandment, according to the voice of God as he said unto him, 'Go up to the top of the Mount.'
[Chapter 1]
1 And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the
children of Israel out of Egypt, in the third month, on the
sixteenth day of the month, [2450 Anno Mundi] that God spake
to Moses, saying: 'Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will
give thee two tables of stone of the law and of the
commandment, which
2 I have written, that thou mayst teach them.' And Moses
went up into the mount of God, and the
3 glory of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and a cloud
overshadowed it six days. And He called to Moses on the
seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the
appearance of the glory of the
4 Lord was like a flaming fire on the top of the mount.
And
Moses was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and God
taught him the earlier and the later history of the division
of all the days
5 of the law and of the testimony. And He said: 'Incline
thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on
this mount, and write them in a book in order that their
generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the
evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant
6 which I establish between Me and thee for their
generations this day on Mount Sinai. And thus it will come
to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognise that I am more righteous than they in all their
judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise
that
7 I have been truly with them. And do thou write for thyself
all these words which I declare unto, thee this day, for I
know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring
them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to
Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: ' Unto your seed
8 will I give a land flowing with milk and honey. And they
will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange
gods, to (gods) which cannot deliver them from aught of
their tribulation: and this witness shall be heard for a
witness against them. For they will forget all My
commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will
walk after the Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and
after their shame, and will serve their gods, and these will
10 prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an
affliction and a snare. And many will perish and they will
be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy,
because they have forsaken My ordinances and My
commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My
sabbaths, and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself
in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My sanctuary, which I
have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I
should set my name
11 upon it, and that it should dwell (there). And they will
make to themselves high places and groves and graven images,
and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to
go astray, and they
12 will sacrifice their children to demons, and to
all the works of the error of their hearts. And I will send
witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but
they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and
they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will
abrogate and change
13 everything so as to work evil before My eyes. And I will
hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the
hand of the Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for
devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the
land, and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles.
14 And they will forget all My law and all My commandments
and all My judgments, and will go
15 astray as to new moons, and sabbaths, and festivals, and
jubilees, and ordinances. And after this they will turn to
Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with
all their soul and with all their strength, and I will
gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will
seek me, so
16 that I shall be found of them, when they seek me with all
their heart and with all their soul. And I will disclose to
them abounding peace with righteousness, and I will remove
them the plant of uprightness, with all My heart and with
all My soul, and they shall be for a blessing and not for
17 a curse, and they shall be the head and not the tail. And
I will build My sanctuary in their midst, and I will dwell
with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My
people in truth and
18, 19 righteousness. And I will not forsake them nor fail
them; for I am the Lord their God.' And Moses fell on his
face and prayed and said, 'O Lord my God, do not forsake Thy
people and Thy inheritance, so that they should wander in
the error of their hearts, and do not deliver them into the
hands of their enemies, the Gentiles, lest they should rule
over them and cause them to sin against
20 Thee. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be
lifted up upon Thy people, and create in them an upright
spirit, and let not the spirit
of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to
ensnare them
21 from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may
perish from before Thy face. But they are Thy people and Thy
inheritance, which thou hast delivered with thy great power
from the hands of the Egyptians: create in them a clean
heart and a holy spirit, and let them not be ensnared in
22 their sins from henceforth until eternity.' And the Lord
said unto Moses: 'I know their contrariness and their
thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be
obedient till they confess
23 their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And after
this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all
(their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will
circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of
the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy
spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn
away from Me from that day unto eternity.
24 And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My
commandments, and they will fulfil My
25 commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall
be My children. And they all shall be
called children of the living God, and every angel and every
spirit shall know, yea, they shall know that these are My
children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and
righteousness, and that
26 I love them. And do thou write down for thyself
all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain,
the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the
divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in
the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend
and dwell
27 with them throughout eternity.' And He said to the angel of the presence:
Write for Moses from
28 the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been
built among them for all eternity. And the Lord will appear
to the eyes of all, and all shall know that I am the God of
Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King
on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem shall
29 be holy.' And the angel of the
presence who went before the camp of Israel took the
tables of the divisions of the years -from the time of the
creation- of the law and of the testimony of the weeks of
the jubilees, according to the individual years, according
to all the number of the jubilees [according, to the
individual years], from the day of the
[new] creation when the heavens and the earth shall be
renewed and all their creation according to the powers of
the heaven, and according to all the creation of the
earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in
Jerusalem on Mount Zion, and all the
luminaries be renewed for healing and for peace and
for blessing for all the elect of Israel, and that thus it
may be from that day and unto all the days of the earth.
[Chapter 2]
1 And the angel of the presence spake
to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying: Write
the complete history of the creation, how in six days the
Lord God finished all His works and all that He created, and
kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all
ages, and
2 appointed it as a sign for all His works. For on the first
day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and
the waters and all the spirits which serve before him -the
angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification,
and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the
spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the
clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar
frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and
of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and
of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of
summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in
the heavens and on the earth, (He created) the abysses and
the darkness, eventide (and night), and the light, dawn and
day, which He hath
3 prepared in the knowledge of his heart. And thereupon we
saw His works, and praised Him, and lauded before Him on
account of all His works; for seven great works did He
create on the first day.
4 And on the second day He created the firmament in the
midst of the waters, and the waters were divided on that day
-half of them went up above and half of them went down below
the firmament (that was) in the midst over the face of the
whole earth. And this was the only work (God) created
5 on the second day. And on the third day He commanded the
waters to pass from off the face of
6 the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to
appear. And the waters did so as He commanded them, and they
retired from off the face of the earth into one place
outside of this firmament,
7 and the dry land appeared. And on that day He created for
them all the seas according to their separate
gathering-places, and all the rivers, and the gatherings of
the waters in the mountains and on all the earth, and all
the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which
is sown, and all sprouting things, and fruit-bearing trees,
and trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden, in Eden
8 and all
9 light from the darkness. And God
appointed the sun to be a great sign on the earth for days
and
10 for sabbaths and for months and for feasts and for years
and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all
seasons of the years. And it divideth the light from
the darkness [and] for prosperity, that all things may
prosper which shoot and grow on the earth. These three kinds
He made on the fourth day. And on the fifth day He created
great sea monsters in the depths of the waters, for these
were the first things of flesh that were created by his
hands, the fish and everything that moves in the
12 waters, and everything that flies, the birds and all
their kind. And the sun rose above them to prosper (them),
and above everything that was on the earth, everything that
shoots out of the earth, and all
13 fruit-bearing trees, and all flesh. These three kinds He
created on the fifth day. And on the sixth day
14 He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle,
and everything that moves on the earth. And after all this
He created man, a man and a woman created He them, and gave
him dominion over all that is upon the earth, and in the
seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and
over cattle, and over everything that moves on the earth,
and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave
15 him dominion. And these four kinds He created on the
sixth day. And there were altogether
16 two and twenty kinds. And He finished all his work on the
sixth day -all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and
in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the
darkness, and in
17 everything. And He gave us a great
sign, the Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but
18 keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work. And all
the angels of the presence, and all the angels of
sanctification, these two great classes -He hath bidden us
to keep the Sabbath with Him
19 in heaven and on earth. And He said unto us: 'Behold, I
will separate unto Myself a people from among all the
peoples, and these shall keep the Sabbath day, and I will
sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them;
as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify (it)
unto
20 Myself, even so will I bless them, and they shall be My
people and I will be their God. And I have chosen the seed
of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written
him down as My first-born son, and have sanctified him unto
Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the
21 Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all
work.' And thus He created therein a sign in accordance with
which they should keep Sabbath with us on the seventh day,
to eat and to drink, and to bless Him who has created all
things as He has blessed and sanctified unto Himself
22 a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should
keep Sabbath together with us. And He caused His
commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him
all the days . . .
23 There (were) two and twenty heads of mankind from Adam to
Jacob, and two and twenty kinds of work were made until the
seventh day; this is blessed and holy; and the former also
is blessed and
24 holy; and this one serves with that one for
sanctification and blessing. And to this (Jacob and his
seed) it was granted that they should always be the blessed
and holy ones of the first testimony
25 and law, even as He had sanctified and blessed the
Sabbath day on the seventh day. He created heaven and earth
and everything that He created in six days, and God made the
seventh day holy, for all His works; therefore He commanded
on its behalf that, whoever does any work thereon
26 shall die, and that he who defiles it shall surely die.
Wherefore do thou command the children of Israel to observe
this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any
work, and not to
27 defile it, as it is holier than all other days. And
whoever profanes it shall surely die, and whoever does
thereon any work shall surely die eternally, that the
children of Israel may observe this day throughout their
generations, and not be rooted out of the land; for it is a
holy day and a blessed
28 day. And every one who observes it and keeps Sabbath
thereon from all his work, will be holy and
29 blessed throughout all days like unto us. Declare and say
to the children of Israel the law of this day both that they
should keep Sabbath thereon, and that they should not
forsake it in the error of their hearts; (and) that it is
not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly, to do
thereon their own pleasure, and that they should not prepare
thereon anything to be eaten or drunk, and (that it is not
lawful) to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon
through their gates any burden,
30 which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth
day in their dwellings. And they shall not bring in nor take
out from house to house on that day; for that day is more
holy and blessed than any jubilee day of the jubilees;
on
this we kept Sabbath in the heavens before it was made
31 known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth.
And the Creator of all things blessed it, but he did not
sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon,
but Israel alone: them
32 alone he permitted to eat and drink and to keep Sabbath
thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed
this day which He had created for blessing and holiness and
glory above all
33 days. This law and testimony was given to the children of
Israel as a law for ever unto their generations.
[Chapter 3]
1 And on the six days of the second week we brought, according to the word of
God, unto Adam all the beasts,
and all the cattle,
and all the birds, and everything that moves on the earth,
and everything that moves in the water, according to their
kinds, and according to their types: the beasts on the first
day; the cattle on the second day; the birds on the third
day; and all that which moves on the earth on the fourth
day; and that which moves in the water on the fifth day.
2 And Adam named them all by their respective names, and as
he called them, so was their name.
3 And on these five days Adam saw all
these, male and female, according to every kind that was on
4 the earth, but he was alone and found no helpmeet for him.
And the Lord said unto us: 'It is not
5 good that the man should be alone: let us make a helpmeet
for him.' And the Lord our God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon him, and he slept, and He took for the woman one rib
from amongst
6 his ribs, and this rib was the origin of the woman from
amongst his ribs, and He built up the flesh in its stead,
and built the woman. And He awaked Adam out of his sleep and
on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to
him, and he knew her, and said unto her: 'This is now bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
7 [my] wife; because she was taken from her husband.'
Therefore shall man and wife be one and therefore shall a
man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his
wife, and they shall be
8 one flesh. In the first week was Adam created, and the rib
-his wife: in the second week He showed her unto him: and
for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their
defilement,
9 for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days.
And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he
had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to
till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the
eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden
10 of Eden. And for this reason the commandment is written
on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth:
'if she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness
seven days according to the first week of days, and thirty
and three days shall she remain in the blood of her
purifying, and she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor
enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these
11 days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child.
But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her
uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two
weeks, and sixty-six days
12 in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all
eighty days.' And when she had completed these eighty days
we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier
than all the earth besides and
13 every tree that is planted in it is holy. Therefore,
there was ordained regarding her who bears a male or a
female child the statute of those days that she should touch
no hallowed thing, nor
14 enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or
female child are accomplished. This is the law and testimony
which was written down for Israel, in order that they should
observe (it) all the
15 days. And in the first week of the first jubilee, [1-7
A.M.] Adam and his wife were in the garden of Eden for seven
years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we
instructed him to do everything
16 that is suitable for tillage. And he tilled (the
garden), and was naked and knew it not, and was not ashamed,
and he protected the garden from the birds and beasts and
cattle, and gathered its fruit, and eat, and put aside the
residue for himself and for his wife [and put aside that
which was
17 being kept]. And after the completion of the seven years,
which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.]
and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the
month), the serpent came and approached the woman, and the
serpent said to the woman, 'Hath God commanded you,
18 saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'
And she said to it, 'Of all the fruit of the trees of the
garden God hath said unto us, Eat; but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said unto
us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall
not surely die: for God doth know that on the day ye shall
eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as
gods, and ye will know good and
20 evil. And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable
and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit
21 was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when
she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave
thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he
saw that he was
22 naked. And he took figleaves and sewed (them) together,
and made an apron for himself, and
23, 24 covered his shame. And God cursed the serpent, and
was wroth with it for ever . . . And He was wroth with the
woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and
did eat; and He said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy
sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
25 children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and
he will rule over thee.' And to Adam also he said, ' Because
thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou
shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake:
thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou
shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou
returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for
earth thou art, and unto earth shalt
26 thou return.' And He made for them coats of skin, and
clothed them, and sent them forth from
27 the Garden of Eden. And on that day on which Adam went
forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an
offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in
the morning with the
28 rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame.
And on that day was closed the mouth
of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever
walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer
speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip
and with one tongue.
29 And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was
in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according
to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places
which had been created
30 for them. And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal)
to cover his shame, of all the beasts and
31 cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly
tablets as touching all those who know the judgment of the
law, that they should cover their shame, and should not
uncover themselves as the
32 Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon
of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went
33 forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land
of Elda in the land of their creation. And
34 Adam called the name of his wife Eve. And they had no son
till the first jubilee, [8 A.M.] and after this he
35 knew her. Now he tilled the land as he had been
instructed in the Garden of Eden.
[Chapter 4]
1 And in the third week in the second
jubilee she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth she gave
birth to Abel, and in the fifth she gave birth to her
daughter Awan. And in the first (year) of the third
jubilee, Cain slew Abel because (God) accepted the sacrifice
of Abel, and did not accept
3 the offering of Cain. And he slew him in the field: and
his blood cried from the ground to heaven,
4 complaining because he had slain him. And the Lord
reproved Cain because of Abel, because he had slain him, and
he made him a fugitive on the earth because of the blood of
his brother, and he
5 cursed him upon the earth. And on this account it is
written on the heavenly tables,
'Cursed is ,he who smites his neighbour treacherously, and
let all who have seen and heard say, So be it; and
6 the man who has seen and not declared (it), let him be
accursed as the other.' And for this
reason we announce when we come before the Lord our God all
the sin which is committed in heaven and
7 on earth, and in light and in darkness, and everywhere.
And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four weeks of years,
[99-127 A.M] and in the fourth year of the fifth week [130
A.M.] they became joyful, and Adam knew his wife again, and
she bare him a son, and he called his name Seth; for he said
'GOD has
8 raised up a second seed unto us on the earth instead of
Abel; for Cain slew him.' And in the sixth
9 week [134-40 A.M.] he begat his daughter Azura.
And Cain took Awan his sister to be
his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth
jubilee. [190-196 A.M.] And in the first year of the
first week of the fifth jubilee, [197 A.M.] houses were
built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its
name after the name of
10, 11 his son Enoch. And Adam knew Eve his wife and she
bare yet nine sons. And in the fifth week of the fifth
jubilee [225-31 A.M.] Seth took Azura his sister to be his
wife, and in the fourth (year of the sixth
12,13 week) [235 A.M.] she bare him Enos. He began to call
on the name of the Lord on the earth. And in the seventh
jubilee in the third week [309-15 A.M.] Enos took Noam his
sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son
14 in the third year of the fifth week, and he called his
name Kenan. And at the close of the eighth jubilee [325,
386-3992 A.M.] Kenan took Mualeleth his sister to be his
wife, and she bare him a son in the ninth jubilee,
15 in the first week in the third year of this week, [395
A.M] and he called his name Mahalalel. And in the second
week of the tenth jubilee [449-55 A.M.] Mahalalel took unto
him to wife DinaH, the daughter of Barakiel the daughter of
his father's brother, and she bare him a son in the third
week in the sixth year, [461 A.M.] and
he called his name Jared, for in his days the angels of the
Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the
Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and
that they should do
16 judgment and uprightness on the earth. And in the
eleventh jubilee [512-18 A.M.] Jared took to himself a wife,
and her name was Baraka, the daughter of Rasujal, a daughter
of his father's brother, in the fourth week of this jubilee,
[522 A.M.] and she bare him a son in the fifth week, in the
fourth year of the jubilee, and
17 he called his name Enoch. And he
was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt
writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the
signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a
book, that men might know the seasons of the years according
to the order of
18 their separate months. And he was the first to write a
testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the
generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the
jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and
set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the
years
19 as we made (them), known to him. And what was and what
will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen
to the children of men throughout their generations until
the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and
wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for
all
20 the children of men and for their generations. And in the
twelfth jubilee, [582-88] in the seventh week thereof, he
took to himself a wife, and her name was Edna, the daughter
of Danel, the daughter of his father's brother, and in the
sixth year in this week [587 A.M.] she bare him a son and he
called his name
21 Methuselah. And he was moreover with the angels of God
these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything
which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun,
and he wrote down
22 everything. And he testified to the Watchers, who had
sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to
unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of
men, and Enoch
23 testified against (them) all. And he was taken from
amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the
Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he
writes down the con-
24 demnation and judgment of the world, and all the
wickedness of the children of men. And on account of
it (God) brought the waters of the flood upon all the land
of Eden; for there he was set as a sign and that he should
testify against all the children of men, that he should
recount all the
25 deeds of the generations until the day of condemnation.
And he burnt the incense of the sanctuary,
26 (even) sweet spices acceptable before the Lord on the
Mount. For the Lord has four places on the earth, the Garden
of Eden, and the Mount of the East, and this mountain on
which thou art this day, Mount Sinai, and Mount Zion (which)
will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification
of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from
all (its) guilt and its uncleanness through-
27 out the generations of the world. And in the fourteenth
jubilee [652 A.M.] Methuselah took unto himself a wife, Edna
the daughter of Azrial, the daughter of his father's
brother, in the third week, in the
28 first year of this week, [701-7 A.M.] and he begat a son
and called his name Lamech. And in the fifteenth jubilee in
the third week Lamech took to himself a wife, and her name
was Betenos the daughter of Baraki'il, the daughter of his
father's brother, and in this week she bare him a son and he
called his name Noah, saying, 'This one will comfort me for
my trouble and all my work, and for the ground
29 which the Lord hath cursed.' And at the close of the
nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year
[930 A.M.] thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him
in the land of his creation, and he
30 was the first to be buried in the earth. And he lacked
seventy years of one thousand years; for
one thousand years are as one day in
the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it
written concerning the tree of knowledge: 'On the day that
ye eat thereof ye shall die.' For this reason he
31 did not complete the years of this day; for he died
during it. At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed
after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and
he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its
stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone
was he killed in
32 righteous judgment. For this reason it was ordained on
the heavenly tablets: With the instrument with which a man
kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed; after
the manner that
33 he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him.'
And in the twenty-fifth [1205 A.M.] jubilee Noah took to
himself a wife, and her name was Emzara, the daughter of
Rake'el, the daughter of his father's brother, in the first
year in the fifth week [1207 A.M.]: and in the third year
thereof she bare him Shem, in the fifth year thereof [1209
A.M.] she bare him Ham, and in the first year in the sixth
week [1212 A.M.] she bare him Japheth.
[Chapter 5]
1 And it came to pass when the
children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth
and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God
saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were
beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of
all whom they
2 chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants.
And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh
corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds
and everything that walks on the earth -all of them
corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to
devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth
and every imagination of the thoughts of all men
3 (was) thus evil continually. And God looked upon
the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had
corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had
wrought all manner of evil
4 before His eyes. And He said that He would destroy man and
all flesh upon the face of the earth
5,6 which He had created. But Noah found grace before the
eyes of the Lord. And against the angels whom He had sent
upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave
commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He
bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and
7 behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept)
separate. And against their sons went forth a command from
before His face that they should be smitten with the sword,
and be removed
8 from under heaven. And He said 'My spirit shall not always
abide on man; for they also are flesh
9 and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'. And
He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his
neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all
fell by the sword
10 and were destroyed from the earth. And their fathers were
witnesses (of their destruction), and after this they were
bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of
the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all
those who have corrupted their ways and their works before
11 the Lord. And He destroyed all from their places, and
there was not left one of them whom
12 He judged not according to all their wickedness.
And he
made for all his works a new and righteous nature, so that
they should not sin in their whole nature for ever, but
should be all
13 righteous each in his kind alway. And the judgment of all
is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets in
righteousness -even (the judgment of) all who depart from
the path which is ordained for them to walk in; and if they
walk not therein, judgment is written down for every
creature and
14 for every kind. And there is nothing in heaven or on
earth, or in light or in darkness, or in Sheol or in the
depth, or in the place of darkness (which is not judged);
and all their judgments are
15 ordained and written and engraved. In regard to all He
will judge, the great according to his
16 greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and
each according to his way. And He is not one who will regard
the person (of any), nor is He one who will receive gifts,
if He says that He will execute judgment on each: if one
gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the
17 gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his
hands, for He is a righteous judge. [And of the children of
Israel it has been written and ordained: If they turn to him
in righteousness He will forgive all their transgressions
and pardon all their sins. It is written and ordained that
19 He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt
once each year.] And as for all those who corrupted their
ways and their thoughts before the flood, no man's person
was accepted save that of Noah alone; for his person was
accepted in behalf of his sons, whom (God) saved from the
waters of the flood on his account; for his heart was
righteous in all his ways, according as it was com-
20 manded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught
that was ordained for him. And the Lord said that he would
destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men and
cattle, and
21 beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on
the earth. And He commanded Noah to
22 make him an ark, that he might save himself from the
waters of the flood. And Noah made the ark in all respects
as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years,
in the fifth week
23 in the fifth year (on the new moon of the first month).
[1307 A.M.] And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof,
[1308 A.M.] in the second month, on the new moon of the
second month, till the sixteenth; and he entered, and all
that we brought to him, into the ark, and the Lord closed it
from without on the seventeenth evening.
24 And the Lord opened seven flood-gates of heaven,
And the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven
mouths in number.
25 And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the
heaven forty days and forty nights,
And the fountains of the deep also sent up waters, until the
whole world was full of water.
26 And the waters increased upon the earth: Fifteen cubits
did the waters rise above all the high mountains, And the
ark was lift up above the earth,
And it moved upon the face of the waters.
27 And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five
months -one hundred and fifty days.
28, 29 And the ark went and rested on the top of Lubar, one
of the mountains of Ararat. And (on the new moon) in the
fourth month the fountains of the great deep were closed and
the flood-gates of heaven were restrained; and on the new
moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses
30 of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend
into the deep below. And on the new moon of the tenth month
the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new moon of
the first 31 month the earth became visible. And the waters
disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the
seventh year [1309 A.M.] thereof, and on the seventeenth day
in the second month the earth was dry.
32 And on the twenty-seventh thereof he opened the ark, and
sent forth from it beasts, and cattle, and birds, and every
moving thing.
[Chapter 6]
1 And on the new moon of the third month he went forth from
the ark, and built an altar on
2 that mountain. And he made atonement for the earth, and
took a kid and made atonement by its blood for all the guilt
of the earth; for everything that had been on it had been
destroyed, save
3 those that were in the ark with Noah. And he placed the
fat thereof on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat, and
a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young
of a dove, and placed a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and
poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled
wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a
goodly savour to arise, acceptable before
4 the Lord. And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and He
made a covenant with him that there should not be any more a
flood to destroy the earth; that all the days of the earth
seed-time and harvest should never cease; cold and heat, and
summer and winter, and day and night should not
5 change their order, nor cease for ever. 'And you, increase
ye and multiply upon the earth, and become many upon it, and
be a blessing upon it. The fear of you and the dread of you
I will
6 inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea. And
behold I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged
things, and everything that moves on the earth, and the fish
in the waters, and all
7 things for food; as the green herbs, I have given you all
things to eat. But flesh, with the life thereof, with the
blood, ye shall not eat; for the life of all flesh is in the
blood, lest your blood of your lives be required. At the
hand of every man, at the hand of every (beast) will I
require the
8 blood of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his
blood be shed, for in the image of
9,10 God made He man. And you, increase ye, and multiply on
the earth.' And Noah and his sons swore that they would not
eat any blood that was in any flesh, and he made a covenant
before the
11 Lord God for ever throughout all the generations of the
earth in this month. On this account He spake to thee that
thou shouldst make a covenant with the children of Israel in
this month upon the mountain with an oath, and that thou
shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of all the words
12 of the covenant, which the Lord made with them for ever.
And this testimony is written concerning you that you should
observe it continually, so that you should not eat on any
day any blood of beasts or birds or cattle during all the
days of the earth, and the man who eats the blood of beast
or of cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth,
he and his seed shall be rooted out of the land.
13 And do thou command the children of Israel to eat no
blood, so that their names and their seed
14 may be before the Lord our God continually. And for this
law there is no limit of days, for it is for ever. They
shall observe it throughout their generations, so that they
may continue supplicating on your behalf with blood before
the altar; every day and at the time of morning and evening
they shall seek forgiveness on your behalf perpetually
before the Lord that they may keep
15 it and not be rooted out. And He gave to Noah and his
sons a sign that there should not again
16 be a flood on the earth. He set His bow in the cloud for
a sign of the eternal covenant that there
17 should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it
all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained
and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should
celebrate the feast of weeks in this
18 month once a year, to renew the covenant every year. And
this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of
creation till the days of Noah -twenty-six jubilees and five
weeks of years [1309-1659 A.M.]: and Noah and his sons
observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till
the day of Noah's death, and from the day of Noah's death
his sons did away with (it) until the days of Abraham, and
19 they eat blood. But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and
Jacob and his children observed it up to thy days, and in
thy days the children of Israel forgot it until ye
celebrated it anew on this mountain.
20 And do thou command the children of Israel to observe
this festival in all their generations for a
21 commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month
they shall celebrate the festival. For it is the feast of
weeks and the feast of first fruits: this feast is twofold
and of a double nature:
22 according to what is written and engraven concerning it,
celebrate it. For I have written in the book of the first
law, in that which I have written for thee, that thou
shouldst celebrate it in its season, one day in the year,
and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of
Israel should remember and should celebrate it throughout
their generations in this month, one day in every year.
23 And on the new moon of the first month, and on the new
moon of the fourth month, and on the new moon of the seventh
month, and on the new moon of the tenth month are the days
of remembrance, and the days of the seasons in the four
divisions of the year. These are written and ordained
24 as a testimony for ever. And Noah ordained them for
himself as feasts for the generations for ever,
25 so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. And
on the new moon of the first month he was bidden to make for
himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and
he opened
26 (the ark) and saw the earth. And on the new moon of the
fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath
were closed. And on the new moon of the seventh month all
the mouths of
27 the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters
began to descend into them. And on the new
28 moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were
seen, and Noah was glad. And on this account he ordained
them for himself as feasts for a memorial for ever, and thus
are they ordained.
29 And they placed them on the heavenly tablets, each had
thirteen weeks; from one to another (passed) their memorial,
from the first to the second, and from the second to the
third, and from the
30 third to the fourth. And all the days of the commandment
will be two and fifty weeks of days, and (these will make)
the entire year complete. Thus it is engraven and ordained
on the heavenly
31 tablets. And there is no neglecting (this commandment)
for a single year or from year to year.
32 And command thou the children of Israel that they observe
the years according to this reckoning- three hundred and
sixty-four days, and (these) will constitute a complete
year, and they will not disturb its time from its days and
from its feasts; for everything will fall out in them
according to
33 their testimony, and they will not leave out any day nor
disturb any feasts. But if they do neglect and do not
observe them according to His commandment, then they will
disturb all their seasons and the years will be dislodged
from this (order), [and they will disturb the seasons and
the years
34 will be dislodged] and they will neglect their
ordinances. And all the children of Israel will forget and
will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new
moons, and seasons, and sabbaths
35 and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years.
For I know and from henceforth will I declare it unto thee,
and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lies)
written before me, and on the heavenly tablets the division
of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the
covenant
36 and walk according to the feasts of the Gentiles after
their error and after their ignorance. For there will be
those who will assuredly make observations of the moon -how
(it) disturbs the
37 seasons and comes in from year to year ten days too soon.
For this reason the years will come upon them when they will
disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of
testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will
confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the
unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the
months and sabbaths and feasts and
38 jubilees. For this reason I command and testify to thee
that thou mayst testify to them; for after thy death thy
children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the
year three hundred and sixty-four days only, and for this
reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons
and sabbaths and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of
blood with all kinds of flesh.
[Chapter 7]
1 And in the seventh week in the first year [1317 A.M.]
thereof, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain
on which the ark had rested, named Lubar, one of the Ararat
Mountains, and they produced fruit in the fourth year, [1320
A.M.] and he guarded their fruit, and gathered it in this
year in the
2 seventh month. And he made wine there from and put it into
a vessel, and kept it until the fifth
3 year, [1321 A.M.] until the first day, on the new moon of
the first month. And he celebrated with joy the day of this
feast, and he made a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord, one
young ox and one ram, and seven sheep, each a year old, and
a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby for
himself
4 and his sons. And he prepared the kid first, and placed
some of its blood on the flesh that was on the altar which
he had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he
made the burnt sacrifice,
5 and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and he laid all
their flesh upon the altar. And he placed all their
offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afterwards he
sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously made on
the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a
sweet savour to
6 ascend acceptable before the Lord his God. And he rejoiced
and drank of this wine, he and his
7 children with joy. And it was evening, and he went into
his tent, and being drunken he lay down
8 and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept. And
Ham saw Noah his father naked, and
9 went forth and told his two brethren without. And Shem
took his garment and arose, he and Japheth, and they placed
the garment on their shoulders and went backward and covered
the shame
10 of their father, and their faces were backward. And Noah
awoke from his sleep and knew all that his younger son had
done unto him, and he cursed his son and said: 'Cursed be
Canaan; an
11 enslaved servant shall he be unto his brethren.' And he
blessed Shem, and said: 'Blessed be the
12 Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God
shall enlarge Japheth, and God shall
13 dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his
servant.' And Ham knew that his father had cursed his
younger son, and he was displeased that he had cursed his
son. and he parted from
14 his father, he and his sons with him, Cush and Mizraim
and Put and Canaan. And he built for
15 himself a city and called its name after the name of his
wife Ne'elatama'uk. And Japheth saw it, and became envious
of his brother, and he too built for himself a city, and he
called its name after
16 the name of his wife 'Adataneses. And Shem dwelt with his
father Noah, and he built a city close to his father on the
mountain, and he too called its name after the name of his
wife Sedeqetelebab.
17 And behold these three cities are near Mount Lubar;
Sedeqetelebab fronting the mountain on its
18 east; and Na'eltama'uk on the south; 'Adatan'eses towards
the west. And these are the sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur,
and Arpachshad -this (son) was born two years after the
flood- and
19 Lud, and Aram. The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and
Madai and Javan, Tubal and
20 Meshech and Tiras: these are the sons of Noah. And in the
twenty-eighth jubilee [1324-1372 A.M.]
Noah began to enjoin upon his sons' sons the ordinances and
commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he
exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the
shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour
father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their
souls
21 from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. For
owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth,
namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers
against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the
daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which
they
22 chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness. And
they begat sons the Naphidim, and they were all unlike, and
they devoured one another: and the Giants slew the Naphil,
and the
23 Naphil slew the Eljo, and the Eljo mankind, and one man
another. And every one sold himself
24 to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth
was filled with iniquity. And after this they sinned against
the beasts and birds, and all that moves and walks on the
earth: and much blood was shed on the earth, and every
imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil
25 continually. And the Lord destroyed everything from off
the face of the earth; because of the wickedness of their
deeds, and because of the blood which they had shed in the
midst of the earth
26 He destroyed everything. 'And we were left, I and you, my
sons, and everything that entered with us into the ark, and
behold I see your works before me that ye do not walk in
righteousness: for in the path of destruction ye have begun
to walk, and ye are parting one from another, and are
envious one of another, and (so it comes) that ye are not in
harmony, my sons, each with his brother.
27 For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their)
seductions against you and against your children and now I
fear on your behalf, that after my death ye will shed the
blood of men upon the earth,
28 and that ye, too, will be destroyed from the face of the
earth. For whoso sheddeth man's blood, and whoso eateth the
blood of any flesh, shall all be destroyed from the earth.
29 And there shall not be left any man that eateth blood,
or that sheddeth the blood of man on the earth,
Nor shall there be left to him any seed or descendants
living under heaven;
For into Sheol shall they go, And into the place of
condemnation shall they descend,
And into the darkness of the deep shall they all be removed
by a violent death.
30 There shall be no blood seen upon you of all the blood
there shall be all the days in which ye have killed any
beasts or cattle or whatever flies upon the earth, and work
ye a good work to your
31 souls by covering that which has been shed on the face of
the earth. And ye shall not be like him who eats with blood,
but guard yourselves that none may eat blood before you:
cover the blood,
32 for thus have I been commanded to testify to you and your
children, together with all flesh. And suffer not the soul
to be eaten with the flesh, that your blood, which is your
life, may not be required
33 at the hand of any flesh that sheds (it) on the earth.
For the earth will not be clean from the blood which has
been shed upon it; for (only) through the blood of him that
shed it will the earth be
34 purified throughout all its generations. And now, my
children, harken: work judgment and righteousness that ye
maybe planted in righteousness over the face of the whole
earth, and your
35 glory lifted up before my God, who saved me from the
waters of the flood. And behold, ye will go and build for
yourselves cities, and plant in them all the plants that are
upon the earth, and moreover
36 all fruit-bearing trees. For three years the fruit of
everything that is eaten will not be gathered: and in the
fourth year its fruit will be accounted holy [and they will
offer the first-fruits], acceptable before the Most High
God, who created heaven and earth and all things. Let them
offer in abundance the first of the wine and oil (as)
first-fruits on the altar of the Lord, who receives it, and
37 what is left let the servants of the house of the Lord
eat before the altar which receives (it). And in the fifth
year
make ye the release so that ye release it in
righteousness and uprightness, and ye shall bc righteous,
38 and all that you plant shall prosper. For thus did Enoch,
the father of your father command Methuselah, his son, and
Methuselah his son Lamech, and Lamech commanded me all the
things
39 which his fathers commanded him. And I also will give you
commandment, my sons, as Enoch commanded his son in the
first jubilees: whilst still living, the seventh in his
generation, he commanded and testified to his son and to his
son's sons until the day of his death.'
[Chapter 8]
1 In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the
first week, [1373 A.M.] in the beginning thereof Arpachshad
took to himself a wife and her name was Rasu'eja, the
daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam, and she
2 bare him a son in the third year in this week, [1375 A.M.]
and he called his name Kainam. And the son grew, and his
father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a
place where he might seize for
3 himself a city. And he found a writing which former
(generations) had carved on the rock, and he read what was
thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it; for
it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with
which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and
4 stars in all the signs of heaven. And he wrote it down and
said nothing regarding it; for he was
5 afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should be angry
with him on account of it. And in the thirtieth
jubilee, [1429 A.M.] in the second week, in the first year
thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Melka,
the daughter of Madai, the son of Japheth, and in the fourth
year [1432 A.M.] he begat a son, and
6 called his name Shelah; for he said: 'Truly I have been
sent.' [And in the fourth year he was born], and Shelah grew
up and took to himself a wife, and her name was Mu'ak, the
daughter of Kesed, his father's brother, in the one and
thirtieth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year
[1499 A.M.]
7 thereof. And she bare him a son in the fifth year
[1503 A.M.] thereof, and he called his name Eber: and he
took unto himself a wife, and her name was 'Azurad, the
daughter of Nebrod, in the thirty-second
8 jubilee, in the seventh week, in the third year thereof.
[1564 A.M.] And in the sixth year
[1567 A.M.] thereof, she bare him son, and he called his
name Peleg; for in the days when he was born the children of
Noah began
9 to divide the earth amongst themselves: for this reason he
called his name Peleg. And they
10 divided (it) secretly amongst themselves, and told it to
Noah. And it came to pass in the beginning of the
thirty-third jubilee [1569 A.M.] that they divided the earth
into three parts, for Shem and Ham and Japheth, according to
the inheritance of each, in the first year in the first
week, when one of us
11 who had been sent, was with them. And he called his sons,
and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he
divided the earth into the lots, which his three sons were
to take in possession, and they reached forth their hands,
and took the writing out of the bosom of Noah, their father.
12 And there came forth on the writing as Shem's lot the
middle of the earth which he should take as an inheritance
for himself and for his sons for the generations of
eternity, from the middle of the mountain range of Rafa,
from the mouth of the water from the river Tina, and his
portion goes towards the west through the midst of this
river, and it extends till it reaches the water of the
abysses, out of which this river goes forth and pours its
waters into the sea Me'at, and this river flows into the
great sea. And all that is towards the north is Japheth's,
and all that is towards the
13 south belongs to Shem. And it extends till it reaches
Karaso: this is in the bosom of the tongue
14 which looks towards the south. And his portion extends
along the great sea, and it extends in a straight line till
it reaches the west of the tongue which looks towards the
south: for this sea is
15 named the tongue of the Egyptian Sea. And it turns from
here towards the south towards the mouth of the great sea on
the shore of (its) waters, and it extends to the west to 'Afra,
and it extends till it reaches the waters of the river Gihon,
and to the south of the waters of Gihon, to the
16 banks of this river. And it extends towards the east,
till it reaches the Garden of Eden, to the south thereof,
[to the south] and from the east of the whole land of Eden
and of the whole east, it turns to the east and proceeds
till it reaches the east of the mountain named Rafa, and it
descends
17 to the bank of the mouth of the river Tina. This portion
came forth by lot for Shem and his sons,
18 that they should possess it for ever unto his generations
for evermore. And Noah rejoiced that
this portion came forth for Shem and for his sons, and he
remembered all that he had spoken with his mouth in
prophecy; for he had said:
'Blessed be the Lord God of Shem
And may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shem.'
19 And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of
holies, and the dwelling of the Lord, and Mount Sinai the
centre of the desert, and Mount Zion -the centre of the
navel of the earth: these three
20 were created as holy places facing each other. And
he blessed the God of gods, who had put the
21 word of the Lord into his mouth, and the Lord for
evermore. And he knew that a blessed portion and a blessing
had come to Shem and his sons unto the generations for ever
-the whole land of Eden and the whole land of the Red Sea,
and the whole land of the east and India, and on the Red Sea
and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bashan, and
all the land of Lebanon and the islands of Kaftur, and all
the mountains of Sanir and 'Amana, and the mountains of
Asshur in the north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and
Babel, and Susan and Ma'edai, and all the mountains of
Ararat, and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond
the mountains of Asshur towards the
22 north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it
is very good. And for Ham came forth the second portion,
beyond the Gihon towards the south to the right of the
Garden, and it extends towards the south and it extends to
all the mountains of fire, and it extends towards the west
to the sea of 'Atel and it extends towards the west till it
reaches the sea of Ma'uk -that (sea) into which
23 everything which is not destroyed descends. And it goes
forth towards the north to the limits of Gadir, and it goes
forth to the coast of the waters of the sea to the waters of
the great sea till it draws near to the river Gihon, and
goes along the river Gihon till it reaches the right of the
Garden
24 of Eden. And this is the land which came forth for Ham as
the portion which he was to occupy
25 for ever for himself and his sons unto their generations
for ever. And for Japheth came forth the third portion
beyond the river Tina to the north of the outflow of its
waters, and it extends north-
26 easterly to the whole region of Gog, and to all the
country east thereof. And it extends northerly to the north,
and it extends to the mountains of Qelt towards the north,
and towards the sea of
27 Ma'uk, and it goes forth to the east of Gadir as far as
the region of the waters of the sea. And it extends until it
approaches the west of Fara and it returns towards 'Aferag,
and it extends easterly
28 to the waters of the sea of Me'at. And it extends to the
region of the river Tina in a north-easterly direction until
it approaches the boundary of its waters towards the
mountain Rafa, and it turns
29 round towards the north. This is the land which came
forth for Japheth and his sons as the portion of his
inheritance which he should possess for himself and his
sons, for their generations for ever;
30 five great islands, and a great land in the north. But it
is cold, and the land of Ham is hot, and the land of Shem is
neither hot nor cold, but it is of blended cold and heat.
[Chapter 9]
1 And Ham divided amongst his sons, and the first portion
came forth for Cush towards the east, and to the west of him
for Mizraim, and to the west of him for Put, and to the west
of him
2 [and to the west thereof] on the sea for Canaan. And Shem
also divided amongst his sons, and the first portion came
forth for Ham and his sons, to the east of the river Tigris
till it approachcs the east, the whole land of India, and on
the Red Sea on its coast, and the waters of Dedan, and all
the mountains of Mebri and Ela, and all the land of Susan
and all that is on the side of Pharnak
3 to the Red Sea and the river Tina. And for Asshur came
forth the second Portion, all the land of
4 Asshur and Nineveh and Shinar and to the border of India,
and it ascends and skirts the river. And for Arpachshad came
forth the third portion, all the land of the region of the
Chaldees to the east of the Euphrates, bordering on the Red
Sea, and all the waters of the desert close to the tongue of
the sea which looks towards Egypt, all the land of Lebanon
and Sanir and 'Amana to the border of the
5 Euphrates. And for Aram there came forth the fourth
portion, all the land of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and
the Euphrates to the north of the Chaldees to the border of
the mountains
6 of Asshur and the land of 'Arara. And there came forth for
Lud the fifth portion, the mountains of Asshur and all
appertaining to them till it reaches the Great Sea, and till
it reaches the east of
7, 8 Asshur his brother. And Japheth also divided the land
of his inheritance amongst his sons. And the first portion
came forth for Gomer to the east from the north side to the
river Tina; and in the north there came forth for Magog all
the inner portions of the north until it reaches to the sea
of
9 Me'at. And for Madai came forth as his portion that he
should posses from the west of his two
10 brothers to the islands, and to the coasts of the
islands. And for Javan came forth the fourth
11 portion every island and the islands which are towards
the border of Lud. And for Tubal there came forth the fifth
portion in the midst of the tongue which approaches towards
the border of the portion of Lud to the second tongue, to
the region beyond the second tongue unto the third tongue.
12 And for Meshech came forth the sixth portion, all the
region beyond the third tongue till it
13 approaches the east of Gadir. And for Tiras there came
forth the seventh portion, four great islands in the midst
of the sea, which reach to the portion of Ham [and the
islands of Kamaturi
14 came out by lot for the sons of Arpachshad as his
inheritance]. And thus the sons of
Noah divided unto their sons in the presence of Noah their
father, and he bound them all by an oath, imprecating
15 a curse on every one that sought to seize the portion
which had not fallen (to him) by his lot. And they all said,
'So be it; so be it ' for themselves and their sons for ever
throughout their generations till the day of judgment, on
which the Lord God shall judge them with a sword and with
fire for all the unclean wickedness of their errors,
wherewith they have filled the earth with transgression and
uncleanness and fornication and sin.
[Chapter 10]
1 And in the third week of this
jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray the children
of
2 the sons of Noah, and to make to err and destroy them. And
the sons of Noah came to Noah their father, and they told
him concerning the demons which were leading astray and
blinding and
3 slaying his sons' sons. And he prayed before the Lord his
God, and said:
'God of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto
me
And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood,
And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of
perdition;
For Thy grace has been great towards me,
And great has been Thy mercy to my soul;
Let Thy grace be lift up upon my sons,
And let not wicked spirits rule over them
Lest they should destroy them from the earth.
4 But do Thou bless me and my sons,
that we may increase and Multiply and replenish the earth.
5 And Thou knowest how Thy Watchers, the fathers of these
spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are
living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of
condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons
of thy servant, my God; for these are malignant, and
6 created in order to destroy. And let them not rule over
the spirits of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise
dominion over them. And let them not have power over the
sons of the righteous
7,8 from henceforth and for evermore.' And the Lord our God
bade us to bind all. And the chief of the spirits, Mastema,
came and said: 'Lord, Creator, let some of them remain
before me, and let them harken to my voice, and do all that
I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to
me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on
the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading
astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of
the sons of men.'
9 And He said: Let the tenth part of them remain before him,
and let nine parts descend into the
10 place of condemnation.' And one of us He commanded that
we should teach Noah all their
11 medicines; for He knew that they would not walk in
uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. And we did
according to all His words: all the malignant evil ones we
bound in the place of condemna-
12 tion and a tenth part of them we left that they might be
subject before Satan on the earth. And we explained to Noah
all the medicines of their diseases, together with their
seductions, how he
13 might heal them with herbs of the earth. And Noah wrote
down all things in a book as we instructed him concerning
every kind of medicine. Thus the evil spirits were precluded
from
14 (hurting) the sons of Noah. And he gave all that he had
written to Shem, his eldest son; for he
15 loved him exceedingly above all his sons. And Noah
slept with his fathers, and was buried on
16 Mount Lubar in the land of Ararat. Nine hundred and fifty
years he completed in his life, nineteen
17 jubilees and two weeks and five years. [1659 A.M.] And in
his life on earth he excelled the children of men save Enoch
because of the righteousness, wherein he was perfect. For
Enoch's office was ordained for a testimony to the
generations of the world, so that he should recount all the
deeds of generation
18 unto generation, till the day of judgment. And in the
three and thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second
week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lomna the
daughter of Sina'ar, and she bare him a son in the fourth
year of this week, and he called his name Reu; for he said:
'Behold the children of men have become evil through the
wicked purpose of building for themselves
19 a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.' For they
departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in
his days they built the city and the tower, saying, 'Go to,
let us ascend thereby into
20 heaven.' And they began to build, and in the fourth week
they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for
stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together
was asphalt which
21 comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water
in the land of Shinar. And they built it: forty and three
years [1645-1688 A.M.] were they building it; its breadth
was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) was the third of
one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and
(the extent of one wall
22 was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades).
And the Lord our God said unto us: Behold, they are one
people, and (this) they begin to do, and now nothing will be
withholden from them. Go to, let us go down and confound
their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech, and they may be dispersed into cities and nations,
and one purpose will no longer abide with
23 them till the day of judgment.' And the Lord descended,
and we descended with him to see the
24 city and the tower which the children of men had built.
And he confounded their language, and they no longer
understood one another's speech, and they ceased then to
build the city and the
25 tower. For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called
Babel, because the Lord did there confound all the language
of the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed
into their
26 cities, each according to his language and his nation.
And the Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and
overthrew it upon the earth, and behold it was between
Asshur and Babylon in the
27 land of Shinar, and they called its name 'Overthrow'. In
the fourth week in the first year [1688 A.M.] in the
beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth jubilee, were
they dispersed from the land of Shinar.
28 And Ham and his sons went into the land which he was to
occupy, which he acquired as his portion
29 in the land of the south. And Canaan saw the land of
Lebanon to the river of Egypt, that it was very good, and he
went not into the land of his inheritance to the west (that
is to) the sea, and he dwelt in the land of Lebanon,
eastward and westward from the border of Jordan and from the
border
30 of the sea. And Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim his
brothers said unto him: 'Thou hast settled in a land which
is not thine, and which did not fall to us by lot: do not do
so; for if thou dost do so, thou and thy sons will fall in
the land and (be) accursed through sedition; for by sedition
31 ye have settled, and by sedition will thy children fall,
and thou shalt be rooted out for ever. Dwell
32 not in the dwelling of Shem; for to Shem and to his sons
did it come by their lot. Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt
thou be beyond all the sons of Noah, by the curse by which
we bound our-
33 selves by an oath in the presence of the holy judge, and
in the presence of Noah our father.' But he did not harken
unto them, and dwelt in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to
the entering of
34,35 Egypt, he and his sons until this day. And for this
reason that land is named Canaan. And Japheth and his sons
went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion,
and Madai saw the land of the sea and it did not please him,
and he begged a (portion) from Ham and Asshur and Arpachshad,
his wife's brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near
to his wife's brother until
36 this day. And he called his dwelling-place, and the
dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the name of their
father Madai.
[Chapter 11]
1 And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the
first year [1681 A.M.] thereof, Reu took to himself a wife,
and her name was 'Ora, the daughter of 'Ur, the son of Kesed,
and she bare him a son, and
2 he called his name Seroh, in the seventh year of this week
in this jubilee. [1687 A.M.] And the sons of Noah began to
war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other,
and to shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood,
and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and
individuals (began) to exalt themselves above the nation,
and to found the beginnings of kingdoms, and to go to war
people against people, and nation against nation, and city
against city, and all (began) to do evil, and to acquire
arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture
cities, and to sell
3 male and female slaves. And 'Ur, the son of Kesed, built
the city of 'Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after
his own name and the name of his father. And they made for
themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol,
the molten image which they had made for themselves, and
they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and
malignant spirits
5 assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression
and uncleanness. And the prince
Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth
other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do
all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of
transgression, to corrupt and destroy,
6 and to shed blood upon the earth. For this reason he
called the name of Seroh, Serug, for every one
7 turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. And he
grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father
of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took
to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth
week, in the first year thereof, [1744 A.M.] and her name
was Melka, the daughter
8 of Kaber, the daughter of his father's brother. And she
bare him Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew
and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him
the researches of the
9 Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of
heaven. And in the thirty-seventh jubilee in the sixth week,
in the first year thereof, [1800 A.M.] he took to himself a
wife, and her name was 'Ijaska, the
10 daughter of Nestag of the Chaldees. And she bare him
Terah in the seventh year of this week. [1806 A.M.]
11 And the prince Mastema sent ravens and birds to
devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to
destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their
labours. Before they could plough
12 in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of
the ground. And for this reason he called his name Terah
because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution
and devoured their
13 seed. And the years began to be barren, owing to the
birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the
trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a
little of all the fruit of the
14 earth in their days. And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in
the second week in the first year, [1870 A.M.] Terah took to
himself a wife, and her name was 'Edna, the daughter of
'Abram, the daughter of his father's sister. And in the
seventh year of this week [1876 A.M.] she bare him a son,
and he called his name Abram,
15 by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died
before his daughter had conceived a son.
16 And the child began to understand the errors of the earth
that all went astray after graven images and after
uncleanness, and his father taught him writing, and he was
two weeks of years old, [1890 A.M.] and he
17 separated himself from his father, that he might not
worship idols with him. And he began to pray to the Creator
of all things that He might save him from the errors of the
children of men, and that
18 his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness
and vileness. And the seed time came for the sowing of seed
upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect
their seed against the
19 ravens, and Abram went forth with those that went, and
the child was a lad of fourteen years. And a cloud of ravens
came to devour the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before
they settled on the ground, and cried to them before they
settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said, '
Descend
20 not: return to the place whence ye came,' and they
proceeded to turn back. And he caused the clouds of ravens
to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens
throughout all the land
21 where Abram was there settled there not so much as one.
And all who were with him throughout all the land saw him
cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became
great in all the
22 land of the Chaldees. And there came to him this year all
those that wished to sow, and he went with them until the
time of sowing ceased: and they sowed their land, and that
year they brought
23 enough grain home and eat and were satisfied. And in the
first year of the fifth week [1891 A.M.] Abram taught those
who made implements for oxen, the artificers in wood, and
they made a vessel above the ground, facing the frame of the
plough, in order to put the seed thereon, and the seed fell
down therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden
in the earth, and they no longer feared the
24 ravens. And after this manner they made (vessels) above
the ground on all the frames of the ploughs, and they sowed
and tilled all the land, according as Abram commanded them,
and they no longer feared the birds.
[Chapter 12]
1 And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh year
thereof, [1904 A.M.] that Abram said to Terah his
2 father, saying, 'Father!' And he said, 'Behold, here am I,
my son.' And he said,
'What help and profit have we from those idols which thou
dost worship,
And before which thou dost bow thyself?
3 For there is no spirit in them,
For they are dumb forms, and a misleading of the heart.
Worship them not:
4 Worship the God of heaven,
Who causes the rain and the dew to descend on the earth
And does everything upon the earth,
And has created everything by His word,
And all life is from before His face.
5 Why do ye worship things that have no spirit in them?
For they are the work of (men's) hands,
And on your shoulders do ye bear them,
And ye have no help from them,
But they are a great cause of shame to those who make
them,
And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them:
Worship them not.'
6 And his father said unto him, I also know it, my son,
but what shall I do with a people who have
7 made me to serve before them? And if I tell them the
truth, they will slay me; for their soul cleaves to them to
worship them and honour them. Keep silent, my son, lest they
slay thee.' And
9 these words he spake to his two brothers, and they were
angry with him and he kept silent. And in the fortieth
jubilee, in the second week, in the seventh year thereof,
[1925 A.M.] Abram took to himself a wife,
10 and her name was Sarai, the daughter of his father, and
she became his wife. And Haran, his brother, took to himself
a wife in the third year of the third week, [1928 A.M.] and
she bare him a son in the
11 seventh year of this week, [1932 A.M.] and he called his
name Lot. And Nahor, his brother, took to himself
12 a wife. And in the sixtieth year of the life of Abram,
that is, in the fourth week, in the fourth year thereof,
[1936 A.M.] Abram arose by night, and burned the house of
the idols, and he burned all that was in the
13 house and no man knew it. And they arose in the night and
sought to save their gods from the
14 midst of the fire. And Haran hasted to save them, but the
fire flamed over him, and he was burnt in the fire, and he
died in Ur of the Chaldees before Terah his father, and they
buried him in Ur of
15 the Chaldees. And Terah went forth from Ur of the
Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon
and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of
Haran, and Abram dwelt with
16 Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years. And in the
sixth week, in the fifth year thereof, [1951 A.M.] Abram sat
up throughout the night on the new moon of the seventh month
to observe the stars from the evening to the morning, in
order to see what would be the character of the year with
regard
17 to the rains, and he was alone as he sat and observed.
And a word came into his heart and he said: All the signs of
the stars, and the signs of the moon and of the sun are all
in the hand of the Lord. Why do I search (them) out?
18 If He desires, He causes it to rain, morning and
evening;
And if He desires, He withholds it,
And all things are in his hand.'
19 And he prayed that night and said,
'My God, God Most High, Thou alone art my God,
And Thee and Thy dominion have I chosen.
And Thou hast created all things,
And all things that are the work of thy hands.
20 Deliver me from the hands of
evil spirits who have dominion over the thoughts of men's
hearts,
And let them not lead me astray from Thee, my God.
And stablish Thou me and my seed for ever
That we go not astray from henceforth and for evermore.'
21 And he said, 'Shall I return unto Ur of the Chaldees
who seek my face that I may return to them, am I to remain
here in this place? The right path before Thee prosper it in
the hands of Thy servant that he may fulfil (it) and that I
may not walk in the deceitfulness of my heart, O my God.'
22 And he made an end of speaking and praying, and behold
the word of the Lord was sent to him through me, saying:
'Get thee up from thy country, and from thy kindred and from
the house of thy father unto a land which I will show thee,
and I shall make thee a great and numerous nation.
23 And I will bless thee
And I will make thy name great,
And thou shalt be blessed in the earth,
And in Thee shall all families of the earth be blessed,
And I will bless them that bless thee,
And curse them that curse thee.
24 And I will be a God to thee and thy son, and to thy
son's son, and to all thy seed: fear not, from
25 henceforth and unto all generations of the earth I am thy
God.' And the Lord God said: 'Open his mouth and his ears,
that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with the language
which has been revealed'; for it had ceased from the mouths
of all the children of men from the day of the
26 overthrow (of Babel). And I opened his mouth, and his
ears and his lips, and I began to speak
27 with him in Hebrew in the tongue of the creation. And he
took the books of his fathers, and these were written in
Hebrew, and he transcribed them, and he began from
henceforth to study them, and I made known to him that which
he could not (understand), and he studied them during the
six
28 rainy months. And it came to pass in the seventh year of
the sixth week [1953 A.M.] that he spoke to his father and
informed him, that he would leave Haran to go into the land
of Canaan to see it and
29 return to him. And Terah his father said unto him; Go in
peace:
May the eternal God make thy path straight.
And the Lord [(be) with thee, and] protect thee from all
evil,
And grant unto thee grace, mercy and favour before those who
see thee,
And may none of the children of men have power over thee to
harm thee;
Go in peace.
30 And if thou seest a land pleasant to thy eyes to dwell
in, then arise and take me to thee and take
31 Lot with thee, the son of Haran thy brother as thine own
son: the Lord be with thee. And Nahor thy brother leave with
me till thou returnest in peace, and we go with thee all
together.'
[Chapter 13]
1 And Abram journeyed from Haran, and he took Sarai, his
wife, and Lot, his brother Haran's son, to the land of
Canaan, and he came into Asshur, and proceeded to Shechem,
and dwelt near
2 a lofty oak. And he saw, and, behold, the land was very
pleasant from the entering of Hamath to
3 the lofty oak. And the Lord said to him: 'To thee and to
thy seed will I give this land.' And
4 he built an altar there, and he offered thereon a burnt
sacrifice to the Lord, who had appeared to
5 him. And he removed from thence unto the mountain . . .
Bethel on the west and Ai on the
6 east, and pitched his tent there. And he saw and behold,
the land was very wide and good, and everything grew thereon
-vines and figs and pomegranates, oaks and ilexes, and
terebinths and oil trees, and cedars and cypresses and date
trees, and all trees of the field, and there was water on
the
7 mountains. And he blessed the Lord who had led him out of
Ur of the Chaldees, and had brought
8 him to this land. And it came to pass in the first year,
in the seventh week, on the new moon of the first month,
1954 A.M.] that he built an altar on this mountain, and
called on the name of the Lord: 'Thou,
9 the eternal God, art my God.' And he offered on the altar
a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord that He
10 should be with him and not forsake him all the days of
his life. And he removed from thence and went towards the
south, and he came to Hebron and Hebron was built at that
time, and he dwelt there two years, and he went (thence)
into the land of the south, to Bealoth, and there was a
famine
11 in the land. And Abram went into Egypt in the third year
of the week, and he dwelt in Egypt
12 five years before his wife was torn away from him. Now
Tanais in Egypt was at that time built-
13 seven years after Hebron. And it came to pass when
Pharaoh seized Sarai, the wife of Abram that the Lord
plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of
Sarai, Abram's wife.
14 And Abram was very glorious by reason of possessions in
sheep, and cattle, and asses, and horses, and camels, and
menservants, and maidservants, and in silver and gold
exceedingly. And Lot also
15 his brother's son, was wealthy. And Pharaoh gave back
Sarai, the wife of Abram, and he sent him out of the land of
Egypt, and he journeyed to the place where he had pitched
his tent at the beginning, to the place of the altar, with
Ai on the east, and Bethel on the west, and he blessed the
16 Lord his God who had brought him back in peace. And it
came to pass in the forty-first jubilee in the third year of
the first week, [1963 A.M.] that he returned to this place
and offered thereon a burnt sacrifice, and called on the
name of the Lord, and said: 'Thou, the most high God, art my
God for ever
17 and ever.' And in the fourth year of this week [1964
A.M.] Lot parted from him, and Lot dwelt in Sodom, and
18 the men of Sodom were sinners exceedingly. And it grieved
him in his heart that his brother's
19 son had parted from him; for he had no children. In that
year when Lot was taken captive, the Lord said unto Abram,
after that Lot had parted from him, in the fourth year of
this week: 'Lift up thine eyes from the place where thou art
dwelling, northward and southward, and westward and
20 eastward. For all the land which thou seest I will give
to thee and to thy seed for ever, and I will make thy seed
as the sand of the sea: though a man may number the dust of
the earth, yet
21 thy seed shall not be numbered. Arise, walk (through the
land) in the length of it and the breadth of it, and see it
all; for to thy seed will I give it.' And Abram went to
Hebron, and dwelt there.
22 And in this year came Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and
Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Sellasar, and
Tergal, king of nations, and slew the king of Gomorrah, and
the king of Sodom
23 fled, and many fell through wounds in the vale of Siddim,
by the Salt Sea. And they took captive Sodom and Adam and
Zeboim, and they took captive Lot also, the son of Abram's
brother, and
24 all his possessions, and they went to Dan. And one who
had escaped came and told Abram that
25 his brother's son had been taken captive and (Abram)
armed his household servants . . .
. . . . for Abram, and for his seed, a tenth of the first
fruits to the Lord, and the Lord ordained it as an ordinance
for ever that they should give it to the priests
26 who served before Him, that they should possess it for
ever. And to this law there is no limit of days; for He hath
ordained it for the generations for ever that they should
give to the Lord the tenth of everything, of the seed and of
the wine and of the oil and of the cattle and of the sheep.
27,28 And He gave (it) unto His priests to eat and to drink
with joy before Him. And the king of Sodom came to him and
bowed himself before him, and said: 'Our Lord Abram, give
unto us the
29 souls which thou hast rescued, but let the booty be
thine.' And Abram said unto him: 'I lift up my hands to the
Most High God, that from a thread to a shoe-latchet I shall
not take aught that is thine lest thou shouldst say, I have
made Abram rich; save only what the young men have eaten,
and the portion of the men who went with me -Aner, Eschol,
and Mamre. These shall take their portion.'
[Chapter 14]
1 After these things, in the fourth year of this week, on
the new moon of the third month, the word of the Lord came
to Abram in a dream, saying: 'Fear not, Abram; I am thy
defender, and
2 thy reward will be exceeding great.' And he said: 'Lord,
Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go hence childless,
and the son of Maseq, the son of my handmaid, is the
Dammasek Eliezer: he
3 will be my heir, and to me thou hast given no seed.' And
he said unto him: 'This (man) will not
4 be thy heir, but one that will come out of thine own
bowels; he will be thine heir.' And He brought him forth
abroad, and said unto him: 'Look toward heaven and number
the stars if thou
5 art able to number them.' And he looked toward heaven, and
beheld the stars. And He said
6 unto him: 'So shall thy seed be.' And he believed in the
Lord, and it was counted to him for
7 righteousness. And He said unto him: 'I am the Lord that
brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee the
land of the Canaanites to possess it for ever; and I will be
God unto thee and to
8 thy seed after thee.' And he said: 'Lord, Lord, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit (it)?'
9 And He said unto him: 'Take Me an heifer of three years,
and a goat of three years, and a sheep
10 of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a pigeon.' And he
took all these in the middle of the month
11 and he dwelt at the oak of Mamre, which is near Hebron.
And he built there an altar, and sacrificed all these; and
he poured their blood upon the altar, and divided them in
the midst, and
12 laid them over against each other; but the birds divided
he not. And birds came down upon the
13 pieces, and Abram drove them away, and did not suffer the
birds to touch them. And it came to pass, when the sun had
set, that an ecstasy fell upon Abram, and lo ! an horror of
great darkness fell upon him, and it was said unto Abram:
'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a
land (that is) not theirs, and they shall bring them into
bondage, and afflict them four hundred
14 years. And the nation also to whom they will be in
bondage will I judge, and after that they shall
15 come forth thence with much substance. And thou shalt go
to thy fathers in peace, and be buried
16 in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they
shall return hither; for the iniquity of the
17 Amorites is not yet full.' And he awoke from his sleep,
and he arose, and the sun had set; and there was a flame,
and behold ! a furnace was smoking, and a flame of fire
passed between the
18 pieces. And on that day the Lord made a covenant with
Abram, saying: 'To thy seed will I give this land, from the
river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates,
the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Perizzites,
and the Rephaim, the Phakorites, and the Hivites, and the
19 Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and
the Jebusites. And the day passed, and Abram offered the
pieces, and the birds, and their fruit offerings, and their
drink offerings, and
20 the fire devoured them. And on that day we made a
covenant with Abram, according as we had covenanted with
Noah in this month; and Abram renewed the festival and
ordinance for himself
21 for ever. And Abram rejoiced, and made all these things
known to Sarai his wife; and he believed
22 that he would have seed, but she did not bear. And Sarai
advised her husband Abram, and said unto him: 'Go in unto
Hagar, my Egyptian maid: it may be that I shall build up
seed unto thee
23 by her.' And Abram harkened unto the voice of Sarai his
wife, and said unto her, 'Do (so).' And Sarai took Hagar,
her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to Abram, her husband,
to be his
24 wife. And he went in unto her, and she conceived and bare
him a son, and he called his name Ishmael, in the fifth year
of this week [1965 A.M.]; and this was the eighty-sixth year
in the life of Abram.
[Chapter 15]
1 And in the fifth year of the fourth week of this jubilee,
[1979 A.M.] in the third month, in the middle of the
2 month, Abram celebrated the feast of the first-fruits of
the grain harvest. And he offered new offerings on the
altar, the first-fruits of the produce, unto the Lord, an
heifer and a goat and a sheep on the altar as a burnt
sacrifice unto the Lord; their fruit offerings and their
drink offerings he
3 offered upon the altar with frankincense. And the Lord
appeared to Abram, and said unto him:
4 'I am God Almighty; approve thyself before me and be thou
perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee,
and I will multiply thee exceedingly.' And Abram fell on his
face, and God talked with him, and said:
6 'Behold my ordinance is with thee,
And thou shalt be the father of many nations.
7 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram,
But thy name from henceforth, even for ever, shall be
Abraham.
For the father of many nations have I made thee.
And I will make thee very great,
And I will make thee into nations,
And kings shall come forth from thee.
9 And I shall establish My covenant between Me and thee,
and thy seed after thee, throughout their generations, for
an eternal covenant, so that I may be a God unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee.
10
11 the land of Canaan, that thou mayst possess it for ever,
and I will be their God.' And the Lord said unto Abraham:
'And as for thee, do thou keep my covenant, thou and thy
seed after thee: and circumcise ye every male among you, and
circumcise your foreskins, and it shall be a token of
12 an eternal covenant between Me and you. And the child on
the eighth day ye shall circumcise, every male throughout
your generations, him that is born in the house, or whom ye
have bought
13 with money from any stranger, whom ye have acquired who
is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house shall
surely be circumcised, and those whom thou hast bought with
money shall be circum-
14 cised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an
eternal ordinance. And the uncircumcised male who is not
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day,
that soul shall be cut off from
15 his people, for he has broken My covenant.' And God said
unto Abraham: 'As for Sarai thy wife,
16 her name shall no more be called Sarai, but Sarah shall
be her name. And I will bless her, and give thee a son by
her, and I will bless him, and he shall become a nation, and
kings of nations shall
17 proceed from him.' And Abraham fell on his face, and
rejoiced, and said in his heart: 'Shall a son be born to him
that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety
years old, bring forth?'
18,19 And Abraham said unto God: 'O that Ishmael might live
before thee!' And God said: 'Yea, and Sarah also shall bear
thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will
establish My
20 covenant with him, an everlasting covenant, and for his
seed after him. And as for Ishmael also have I heard thee,
and behold I will bless him, and make him great, and
multiply him exceedingly,
21 and he shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a
great nation. But My covenant will
22 I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to thee, in
these days, in the next year.' And He left
23 off speaking with him, and God went up from Abraham. And
Abraham did according as God had said unto him, and he took
Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and
whom he had
24 bought with his money, every male in his house, and
circumcised the flesh of their foreskin. And on the selfsame
day was Abraham circumcised, and all the men of his house,
25 circumcised with him. This law is for all the generations
for ever, and there is no circumcision of the days, and no
omission of one day out of the eight days; for it is an
eternal ordinance, ordained
26 and written on the heavenly tablets.
And every one that
is born, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised on
the eighth day, belongs not to the children of the covenant
which the Lord made with Abraham, but to the children of
destruction; nor is there, moreover, any sign on him that he
is the Lord's, but (he is destined) to be destroyed and
slain from the earth, and to be rooted out of
27 the earth, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord our
God. For all the angels of the presence and all the angels
of sanctification have been so created from the day of their
creation, and before the angels of the presence and the
angels of sanctification He hath sanctified Israel, that
they should
28 be with Him and with His holy angels. And do thou command
the children of Israel and let them observe the sign of this
covenant for their generations as an eternal ordinance, and
they will not be
29 rooted out of the land. For the command is ordained for a
covenant, that they should observe it
30 for ever among all the children of Israel. For Ishmael
and his sons and his brothers and Esau, the Lord did not
cause to approach Him, and he chose them not because they
are the children of
31 Abraham, because He knew them, but He chose Israel to be
His people. And He sanctified it, and gathered it from
amongst all the children of men; for there are many nations
and many peoples, and all are His, and over all hath He
placed spirits in authority to lead them astray from Him.
32 But over Israel He did not appoint any angel or spirit,
for He alone is their ruler, and He will preserve them and
require them at the hand of His angels and His spirits, and
at the hand of all His powers in order that He may preserve
them and bless them, and that they may be His and He
33 may be theirs from henceforth for ever. And now I
announce unto thee that the children of Israel will not keep
true to this ordinance, and they will not circumcise their
sons according to all this law; for in the flesh of their
circumcision they will omit this circumcision of their sons,
and all of them,
34 sons of Beliar, will leave their sons uncircumcised as
they were born. And there will be great wrath from the Lord
against the children of Israel. because they have forsaken
His covenant and turned aside from His word, and provoked
and blasphemed, inasmuch as they do not observe the
ordinance of this law; for they have treated their members
like the Gentiles, so that they may be removed and rooted
out of the land. And there will no more be pardon or
forgiveness unto them [so that there should be forgiveness
and pardon] for all the sin of this eternal error.
[Chapter 16]
1 And on the new moon of the fourth month we appeared unto
Abraham, at the oak of Mamre, and we talked with him, and we
announced to him that a son would be given to him by Sarah
his wife.
2 And Sarah laughed, for she heard that we had spoken these
words with Abraham, and we admonished
3 her, and she became afraid, and denied that she had
laughed on account of the words. And we told her the name of
her son, as his name is ordained and written in the heavenly
tablets (i.e.) Isaac,
4,5 And (that) when we returned to her at a set time, she
would have conceived a son. And in this month the Lord
executed his judgments on Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Zeboim,
and all the region of the Jordan, and He burned them with
fire and brimstone, and destroyed them until this day, even
as [lo] I have declared unto thee all their works, that they
are wicked and sinners exceedingly, and that they defile
themselves and commit fornication in their flesh, and work
uncleanness on the earth.
6 And, in like manner, God will execute judgment on the
places where they have done according to
7 the uncleanness of the Sodomites, like unto the judgment
of Sodom. But Lot we saved; for God
8 remembered Abraham, and sent him out from the midst of the
overthrow. And he and his daughters committed sin upon the
earth, such as had not been on the earth since the days of
Adam till his
9 time; for the man lay with his daughters. And, behold, it
was commanded and engraven concerning all his seed, on the
heavenly tablets, to remove them and root them out, and to
execute judgment upon them like the judgment of Sodom, and
to leave no seed of the man on earth on the day
10 of condemnation. And in this month Abraham moved from
Hebron, and departed and dwelt between
11 Kadesh and Shur in the mountains of Gerar. And in the
middle of the fifth month he moved from
12 thence, and dwelt at the Well of the Oath. And in the
middle of the sixth month the Lord visited
13 Sarah and did unto her as He had spoken and she
conceived. And she bare a son in the third month, and in the
middle of the month, at the time of which the Lord had
spoken to Abraham, on
14 the festival of the first fruits of the harvest, Isaac
was born. And Abraham circumcised his son on the eighth day:
he was the first that was circumcised according to the
covenant which is ordained
15 for ever. And in the sixth year of the fourth week we
came to Abraham, to the Well of the Oath, and we appeared
unto him [as we had told Sarah that we should return to her,
and she would have
16 conceived a son. And we returned in the seventh month,
and found Sarah with child before us] and we blessed him,
and we announced to him all the things which had been
decreed concerning him, that he should not die till he
should beget six sons more, and should see (them) before he
died; but
17 (that) in Isaac should his name and seed be called: And
(that) all the seed of his sons should be Gentiles, and be
reckoned with the Gentiles; but from the sons of Isaac one
should become a holy
18 seed, and should not be reckoned among the Gentiles. For
he should become the portion of the Most High, and all his
seed had fallen into the possession of God, that it should
be unto the Lord a people for (His) possession above all
nations and that it should become a kingdom and priests and
19 a holy nation. And we went our way, and we announced to
Sarah all that we had told him, and
20 they both rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And he built
there an altar to the Lord who had delivered him, and who
was making him rejoice in the land of his sojourning, and he
celebrated a festival of joy in this month seven days, near
the altar which he had built at the Well of the Oath.
21 And he built booths for himself and for his servants on
this festival, and he was the first to celebrate
22 the feast of tabernacles on the earth. And during these
seven days he brought each day to the altar a burnt offering
to the Lord, two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, one he-goat,
for a sin offering,
23 that he might atone thereby for himself and for his seed.
And, as a thank-offering, seven rams, seven kids, seven
sheep, and seven he-goats, and their fruit offerings and
their drink offerings; and he burnt all the fat thereof on
the altar, a chosen offering unto the Lord for a sweet
smelling savour.
24 And morning and evening he burnt fragrant substances,
frankincense and galbanum, and stackte, and nard, and myrrh,
and spice, and costum; all these seven he offered, crushed,
mixed together in
25 equal parts (and) pure. And he celebrated this feast
during seven days, rejoicing with all his heart and with all
his soul, he and all those who were in his house, and there
was no stranger with him,
26 nor any that was uncircumcised. And he blessed his
Creator who had created him in his generation, for He had
created him according to His good pleasure; for He knew and
perceived that from him would arise the plant of
righteousness for the eternal generations, and from him a
holy seed, so that it
27 should become like Him who had made all things. And he
blessed and rejoiced, and he called the
28 name of this festival the festival of the Lord, a joy
acceptable to the Most High God. And we blessed him for
ever, and all his seed after him throughout all the
generations of the earth, because
29 he celebrated this festival in its season, according to
the testimony of the heavenly tablets. For this reason it is
ordained on the heavenly tablets concerning Israel, that
they shall celebrate the feast of tabernacles seven days
with joy, in the seventh month, acceptable before the Lord
-a statute for
30 ever throughout their generations every year. And to this
there is no limit of days; for it is ordained for ever
regarding Israel that they should celebrate it and dwell in
booths, and set wreaths upon
31 their heads, and take leafy boughs, and willows from the
brook. And Abraham took branches of palm trees, and the
fruit of goodly trees, and every day going round the altar
with the branches seven times [a day] in the morning, he
praised and gave thanks to his God for all things in joy.
[Chapter 17]
1 And in the first year of the fifth week Isaac was weaned
in this jubilee, [1982 A.M.] and Abraham made
2 a great banquet in the third month, on the day his son
Isaac was weaned. And Ishmael, the son of Hagar, the
Egyptian, was before the face of Abraham, his father, in his
place, and Abraham rejoiced
3 and blessed God because he had seen his sons and had not
died childless. And he remembered the words which He had
spoken to him on the day on which Lot had parted from him,
and he rejoiced because the Lord had given him seed upon the
earth to inherit the earth, and he blessed with all his
4 mouth the Creator of all things. And Sarah saw Ishmael
playing and dancing, and Abraham rejoicing with great joy,
and she became jealous of Ishmael and said to Abraham, 'Cast
out this
5 bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman will
not be heir with my son, Isaac.' And the thing was grievous
in Abraham's sight, because of his maidservant and because
of his son,
6 that he should drive them from him. And God said to
Abraham 'Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the
child and because of the bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath
said unto thee,
7 harken to her words and do (them); for in Isaac shall thy
name and seed be called. But as for
8 the son of this bondwoman I will make him a great nation,
because he is of thy seed.' And Abraham rose up early in the
morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and placed
them on the shoulders
9 of Hagar and the child, and sent her away. And she
departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, and
the water in the bottle was spent, and the child thirsted,
and was not able to go on,
10 and fell down. And his mother took him and cast him under
an olive tree, and went and sat her down over against him,
at the distance of a bow-shot; for she said, 'Let me not see
the death of my
11 child,' and as she sat she wept. And an angel of God, one
of the holy ones, said unto her, 'Why weepest thou, Hagar?
Arise take the child, and hold him in thine hand; for God
hath heard thy
12 voice, and hath seen the child.' And she opened her eyes,
and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled her
bottle with water, and she gave her child to drink, and she
arose and went towards
13 the wilderness of Paran. And the child grew and became an
archer, and God was with him, and his
14 mother took him a wife from among the daughters of Egypt.
And she bare him a son, and he called
15 his name Nebaioth; for she said, 'The Lord was nigh to me
when I called upon him.' And it came to pass in the seventh
week, in the first year thereof, [2003 A.M.] in the first
month in this jubilee, on the twelfth of this month, there
were voices in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was
faithful in all that He
16 told him, and that he loved the Lord, and that in every
affliction he was faithful. And the prince Mastema came and
said before God, 'Behold, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and
he delights in him above all things else; bid him offer him
as a burnt-offering on the altar, and Thou wilt see if he
will do this command, and Thou wilt know if he is faithful
in everything wherein Thou dost try him.
17 And the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in all his
afflictions; for He had tried him through his country and
with famine, and had tried him with the wealth of kings, and
had tried him again through his wife, when she was torn
(from him), and with circumcision; and had tried him through
18 Ishmael and Hagar, his maid-servant, when he sent them
away. And in everything wherein He had tried him, he was
found faithful, and his soul was not impatient, and he was
not slow to act; for he was faithful and a lover of the
Lord.
[Chapter 18]
1,2 And God said to him, 'Abraham, Abraham'; and he said,
Behold, (here) am I.' And he said, Take thy beloved son whom
thou lovest, (even) Isaac, and go unto the high country, and
offer him
3 on one of the mountains which I will point out unto thee.'
And he rose early in the morning and saddled his ass, and
took his two young men with him, and Isaac his son, and
clave the wood of the
4 burnt offering, and he went to the place on the third day,
and he saw the place afar off. And he came to a well of
water, and he said to his young men, 'Abide ye here with the
ass, and I and the
5 lad shall go (yonder), and when we have worshipped we
shall come again to you.' And he took the wood of the
burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in
his hand the fire and the
6 knife, and they went both of them together to that place.
And Isaac said to his father, 'Father;' and he said, 'Here
am I, my son.' And he said unto him, 'Behold the fire, and
the knife, and the
7 wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt-offering,
father?' And he said, 'God will provide for himself a sheep
for a burnt-offering, my son.' And he drew near to the place
of the mount of
8 God. And he built an altar, and he placed the wood on the
altar, and bound Isaac his son, and placed him on the wood
which was upon the altar, and stretched forth his hand to
take the knife
9 to slay Isaac his son. And I stood before him, and before
the prince Mastema, and the Lord said, 'Bid him not to lay
his hand on the lad, nor to do anything to him, for I have
shown that he fears
10 the Lord.' And I called to him from heaven, and said unto
him: 'Abraham, Abraham;' and he
11 was terrified and said: 'Behold, (here) am I.' And I said
unto him: 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou
anything to him; for now I have shown that thou fearest the
Lord, and hast
12 not withheld thy son, thy first-born son, from me.' And
the prince Mastema was put to shame; and Abraham lifted up
his eyes and looked, and, behold a ram caught . . . by his
horns, and Abraham
13 went and took the ram and offered it for a burnt-offering
in the stead of his son. And Abraham called that place 'The
Lord hath seen', so that it is said
14 Mount Sion. And the Lord called Abraham by his name a
second time from heaven, as he caused
15 us to appear to speak to him in the name of the Lord.
And
he said: 'By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord,
Because thou hast done this thing,
And hast not withheld thy son, thy beloved son, from Me,
That in blessing I will bless thee,
And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
As the stars of heaven, And as the sand which is on the
seashore.
And thy seed shall inherit the cities of its enemies,
16 And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be
blessed;
Because thou hast obeyed My voice,
And I have shown to all that thou art faithful unto Me in
all that I have said unto thee:
Go in peace.'
17 And Abraham went to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham [2010 A.M.]
18 dwelt by the Well of the Oath. And he celebrated this
festival every year, seven days with joy, and he called it
the festival of the Lord according to the seven days during
which he went and
19 returned in peace. And accordingly has it been ordained
and written on the heavenly tablets regarding Israel and its
seed that they should observe this festival seven days with
the joy of festival.
[Chapter 19]
1 And in the first year of the first week in the
forty-second jubilee, Abraham returned and dwelt
2 opposite Hebron, that is Kirjath Arba, two weeks of years.
And in the first year of the third week
3 of this jubilee the days of the life of Sarah were
accomplished, and she died in Hebron. And Abraham went to
mourn over her and bury her, and we tried him [to see] if
his spirit were patient and he were not indignant in the
words of his mouth; and he was found patient in this, and
was not
4 disturbed. For in patience of spirit he conversed with the
children of Heth, to the intent that they
5 should give him a place in which to bury his dead. And the
Lord gave him grace before all who saw him, and he besought
in gentleness the sons of Heth, and they gave him the land
of the double
6 cave over against Mamre, that is Hebron, for four hundred
pieces of silver. And they besought him saying, We shall
give it to thee for nothing; but he would not take it from
their hands for nothing, for he gave the price of the place,
the money in full, and he bowed down before them twice, and
after
7 this he buried his dead in the double cave. And all the
days of the life of Sarah were one hundred and twenty-seven
years, that is, two jubilees and four weeks and one year:
these are the days of the
8 years of the life of Sarah. This is the tenth trial
wherewith Abraham was tried, and he was found
9 faithful, patient in spirit. And he said not a single word
regarding the rumour in the land how that God had said that
He would give it to him and to his seed after him, and he
begged a place there to bury his dead; for he was found
faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the
friend of
10 God. And in the fourth year thereof he took a wife for
his son Isaac and her name was Rebecca [2020 A.M.] [the
daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, the brother of
Abraham] the sister of Laban and daughter of Bethuel; and
Bethuel was the son of Melca, who was the wife of Nahor, the
brother of Abraham.
11 And Abraham took to himself a third wife, and her name
was Keturah, from among the daughters of his household
servants, for Hagar had died before Sarah. And she bare him
six sons, Zimram,
12 and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and
Shuah, in the two weeks of years. And in
13 the sixth week, in the second year thereof, Rebecca bare
to Isaac two sons, Jacob and Esau, and [2046 A.M.] Jacob was
a smooth and upright man, and Esau was fierce, a man of the
field, and hairy, and Jacob
14 dwelt in tents. And the youths grew, and Jacob learned to
write; but Esau did not learn, for he
15 was a man of the field and a hunter, and he learnt war,
and all his deeds were fierce. And Abraham
16 loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau. And Abraham saw the
deeds of Esau, and he knew that in Jacob should his name and
seed be called; and he called Rebecca and gave commandment
regarding
17 Jacob, for he knew that she (too) loved Jacob much more
than Esau. And he said unto her:
My daughter, watch over my son Jacob,
For he shall be in my stead on the earth,
And for a blessing in the midst of the children of men,
And for the glory of the whole seed of Shem.
18 For I know that the Lord will choose him to be a
people for possession unto Himself, above all
19 peoples that are upon the face of the earth. And behold,
Isaac my son loves Esau more than Jacob, but I see that thou
truly lovest Jacob.
20 Add still further to thy kindness to him,
And let thine eyes be upon him in love;
For he shall be a blessing unto us on the earth from
henceforth unto all generations of the earth.
21 Let thy hands be strong
And let thy heart rejoice in thy son Jacob;
For I have loved him far beyond all my sons.
He shall be blessed for ever,
And his seed shall fill the whole earth.
22 If a man can number the sand of the earth,
His seed also shall be numbered.
23 And all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed
me and my seed shall belong to Jacob and
24 his seed alway. And in his seed shall my name be blessed,
and the name of my fathers, Shem, and
25 Noab, and Enoch, and Mahalalel, and Enos, and Seth, and
Adam. And these shall serve
To lay the foundations of the heaven,
And to strengthen the earth,
And to renew all the luminaries which are in the firmament.
26 And he called Jacob before the eyes of Rebecca his
mother, and kissed him, and blessed him, and
27 said: 'Jacob, my beloved son, whom my soul loveth, may
God bless thee from above the firmament, and may He give
thee all the blessings wherewith He blessed Adam, and Enoch,
and Noah, and Shem; and all the things of which He told me,
and all the things which He promised to give me, may he
cause to cleave to thee and to thy seed for ever, according
to the days of heaven above the
28 earth. And the Spirits of Mastema shall not rule over
thee or over thy seed to turn thee from the
29 Lord, who is thy God from henceforth for ever. And may
the Lord God be a father to thee and
30 thou the first-born son, and to the people alway. Go in
peace, my son.' And they both went forth
31 together from Abraham. And Rebecca loved Jacob, with all
her heart and with all her soul, very much more than Esau;
but Isaac loved Esau much more than Jacob.
[Chapter 20]
1 And in the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of the
seventh week, Abraham called Ishmael, [2052 (2045?) A.M.]
2 and his twelve sons, and Isaac and his two sons, and
the six sons of Keturah, and their sons. And he commanded
them that they should observe the way of the Lord; that they
should work righteousness, and love each his neighbour, and
act on this manner amongst all men; that they should each
3 so walk with regard to them as to do judgment and
righteousness on the earth. That they should circumcise
their sons, according to the covenant which He had made with
them, and not deviate to the right hand or the left of all
the paths which the Lord had commanded us; and that we
should keep ourselves from all fornication and uncleanness,
[and renounce from amongst us all fornication and
4 uncleanness]. And if any woman or maid commit fornication
amongst you, burn her with fire and let them not commit
fornication with her after their eyes and their heart; and
let them not take to themselves wives from the daughters of
Canaan; for the seed of Canaan will be rooted out of
5 the land. And he told them of the judgment of the giants,
and the judgment of the Sodomites, how they had been judged
on account of their wickedness, and had died on account of
their fornication, and uncleanness, and mutual corruption
through fornication.
6 'And guard yourselves from all fornication and
uncleanness,
And from all pollution of sin,
Lest ye make our name a curse,
And your whole life a hissing,
And all your sons to be destroyed by the sword,
And ye become accursed like Sodom,
And all your remnant as the sons of Gomorrah.
7 I implore you, my sons, love the God of heaven
And cleave ye to all His commandments.
And walk not after their idols, and after their
uncleannesses,
8 And make not for yourselves molten or graven gods;
For they are vanity,
And there is no spirit in them;
For they are work of (men's) hands,
And all who trust in them, trust in nothing.
9 Serve them not, nor worship them,
But serve ye the most high God, and worship Him continually:
And hope for His countenance always,
And work uprightness and righteousness before Him,
That He may have pleasure in you and grant you His mercy,
And send rain upon you morning and evening,
And bless all your works which ye have wrought upon the
earth,
And bless thy bread and thy water,
And bless the fruit of thy womb and the fruit of thy
land,
And the herds of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep.
10 And ye will be for a blessing on the earth,
And all nations of the earth will desire you,
And bless your sons in my name,
That they may be blessed as I am.
11 And he gave to Ishmael and to his sons, and to the
sons of Keturah, gifts, and sent them away
12 from Isaac his son, and he gave everything to Isaac his
son. And Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and
their sons, went together and dwelt from Paran to the
entering in of Babylon in
13 all the land which is towards the East facing the desert.
And these mingled with each other, and their name was called
Arabs, and Ishmaelites.
[Chapter 21]
1 And in the sixth year of the seventh week of this jubilee
Abraham called Isaac his son, and [2057 (2050?) A.M.]
commanded him: saying, 'I am become old, and know not the
day of my death, and am full of my
2 days. And behold, I am one hundred and seventy-five years
old, and throughout all the days of my life I have
remembered the Lord, and sought with all my heart to do His
will, and to walk uprightly
3 in all His ways. My soul has hated idols,
4 given my heart and spirit> that I might observe to do the
will of Him who created me. For He is the living God, and He
is holy and faithful, and He is righteous beyond all, and
there is with Him no accepting of (men's) persons and no
accepting of gifts; for God is righteous, and executeth
judg-
5 ment on all those who transgress His commandments and
despise His covenant. And do thou, my son, observe His
commandments and His ordinances and His judgments, and walk
not after the
6 abominations and after the graven images and after the
molten images. And eat no blood at all of
7 animals or cattle, or of any bird which flies in the
heaven. And if thou dost slay a victim as an acceptable
peace offering, slay ye it, and pour out its blood upon the
altar, and all the fat of the offering offer on the altar
with fine flour and the meat offering mingled with oil, with
its drink offering -offer them all together on the altar of
burnt offering; it is a sweet savour before the Lord.
8 And thou wilt offer the fat of the sacrifice of thank
offerings on the fire which is upon the altar, and the fat
which is on the belly, and all the fat on the inwards and
the two kidneys, and all the fat that
9 is upon them, and upon the loins and liver thou shalt
remove, together with the kidneys. And offer all these for a
sweet savour acceptable before the Lord, with its
meat-offering and with its drink-
10 offering, for a sweet savour, the bread of the offering
unto the Lord. And eat its meat on that day and on the
second day, and let not the sun on the second day go down
upon it till it is eaten, and let nothing be left over for
the third day; for it is not acceptable [for it is not
approved] and let it no longer be eaten, and all who eat
thereof will bring sin upon themselves; for thus I have
found it written in the books of my forefathers, and in the
words of Enoch, and in the words of Noah.
11 And on all thy oblations thou shalt strew salt, and let
not the salt of the covenant be lacking in all
12 thy oblations before the Lord. And as regards the wood of
the sacrifices, beware lest thou bring (other) wood for the
altar in addition to these: cypress, bay, almond, fir, pine,
cedar, savin, fig, olive,
13 myrrh, laurel, aspalathus. And of these kinds of wood lay
upon the altar under the sacrifice, such as have been tested
as to their appearance, and do not lay (thereon) any split
or dark wood, (but) hard and clean, without fault, a sound
and new growth; and do not lay (thereon) old wood, [for its
14 fragrance is gone] for there is no longer fragrance in it
as before. Besides these kinds of wood there is none other
that thou shalt place (on the altar), for the fragrance is
dispersed, and the smell of its
15 fragrance goes not up to heaven. Observe this commandment
and do it, my son, that thou mayst
16 be upright in all thy deeds. And at all times be clean in
thy body, and wash thyself with water before thou
approachest to offer on the altar, and wash thy hands and
thy feet before thou drawest
17 near to the altar; and when thou art done sacrificing,
wash again thy hands and thy feet. And let no blood appear
upon you nor upon your clothes; be on thy guard, my son,
against blood, be on thy
18 guard exceedingly; cover it with dust. And do not eat any
blood for it is the soul; eat no blood whatever. And take no
gifts for the blood of man, lest it be shed with impunity,
without judgment; for it is the blood that is shed that
causes the earth to sin, and the earth cannot be cleansed
from the
20 blood of man save by the blood of him who shed it. And
take no present or gift for the blood of man: blood for
blood, that thou mayest be accepted before the Lord, the
Most High God; for He is the defence of the good: and that
thou mayest be preserved from all evil, and that He may save
thee from every kind of death.
21 I see, my son,
That all the works of the children of men are sin and
wickedness,
And all their deeds are uncleanness and an abomination and a
pollution,
And there is no righteousness with them.
22 Beware, lest thou shouldest walk in their ways
And tread in their paths,
And sin a sin unto death before the Most High God.
Else He will [hide His face from thee
And] give thee back into the hands of thy transgression,
And root thee out of the land, and thy seed likewise from
under heaven,
And thy name and thy seed shall perish from the whole earth.
23 Turn away from all their deeds and all their
uncleanness,
And observe the ordinance of the Most High God,
And do His will and be upright in all things.
24 And He will bless thee in all thy deeds,
And will raise up from thee a plant of righteousness through
all the earth, throughout all generations of the earth,
And my name and thy name shall not be forgotten under heaven
for ever.
25 Go, my son in peace.
May the Most High God, my God and thy God, strengthen thee
to do His will,
And may He bless all thy seed and the residue of thy seed
for the generations for ever, with all righteous blessings,
That thou mayest be a blessing on all the earth.'
26 And he went out from him rejoicing.
[Chapter 22]
1 And it came to pass in the first week in the forty-fourth
jubilee, in the second year, that is, the year in which
Abraham died, that Isaac and Ishmael came from the Well of
the Oath to celebrate the feast of weeks -that is, the feast
of the first fruits of the harvest-to Abraham, their
2 father, and Abraham rejoiced because his two sons had
come. For Isaac had many possessions in
3 Beersheba, and Isaac was wont to go and see his
possessions and to return to his father. And in those days
Ishmael came to see his father, and they both came together,
and Isaac offered a sacrifice
4 for a burnt offering, and presented it on the altar of his
father which he had made in Hebron. And he offered a thank
offering and made a feast of joy before Ishmael, his
brother: and Rebecca made new cakes from the new grain, and
gave them to Jacob, her son, to take them to Abraham, his
father, from the first fruits of the land, that he might eat
and bless the Creator of all things before he died.
5 And Isaac, too, sent by the hand of Jacob to Abraham a
best thank offering, that he might eat and
6 drink. And he eat and drank, and blessed the Most High
God,
Who hath created heaven and earth,
Who hath made all the fat things of the earth,
And given them to the children of men
That they might eat and drink and bless their Creator.
7 'And now I give thanks unto Thee, my God, because thou
hast caused me to see this day: behold, I am one hundred
three score and fifteen years, an old man and full of days,
and all my days have
8 been unto me peace. The sword of the adversary has not
overcome me in all that Thou hast given
9 me and my children all the days of my life until this day.
My God, may Thy mercy and Thy peace be upon Thy servant, and
upon the seed of his sons, that they may be to Thee a chosen
nation and an inheritance from amongst all the nations of
the earth from henceforth unto all the days of the
10 generations of the earth, unto all the ages.' And he
called Jacob and said: 'My son Jacob, may the God of all
bless thee and strengthen thee to do righteousness, and His
will before Him, and may He choose thee and thy seed that ye
may become a people for His inheritance according to His
will
11 alway. And do thou, my son, Jacob, draw near and kiss
me.' And he drew near and kissed him, and he said:
'Blessed be my son Jacob
And all the sons of God Most High, unto all the ages:
May God give unto thee a seed of righteousness;
And some of thy sons may He sanctify in the midst of the
whole earth;
May nations serve thee,
And all the nations bow themselves before thy seed.
12 Be strong in the presence of men,
And exercise authority over all the seed of Seth.
Then thy ways and the ways of thy sons will be justified,
So that they shall become a holy nation.
13 May the Most High God give thee all the blessings
Wherewith He has blessed me
And wherewith He blessed Noah and Adam;
May they rest on the sacred head of thy seed from generation
to generation for ever.
14 And may He cleanse thee from all unrighteousness and
impurity,
That thou mayest be forgiven all the transgressions; which
thou hast committed ignorantly.
And may He strengthen thee,
And bless thee.
And mayest thou inherit the whole earth,
15 And may He renew His covenant with thee.
That thou mayest be to Him a nation for His inheritance for
all the ages,
And that He may be to thee and to thy seed a God in truth
and righteousness throughout all the days of the earth.
16 And do thou, my son Jacob, remember my words,
And observe the commandments of Abraham, thy father:
Separate thyself from the nations,
And eat not with them:
And do not according to their works,
And become not their associate;
For their works are unclean,
And all their ways are a Pollution and an abomination and
uncleanness.
17 They offer their sacrifices to the dead
And they worship evil spirits,
And they eat over the graves,
And all their works are vanity and nothingness.
18 They have no heart to understand
And their eyes do not see what their works are,
And how they err in saying to a piece of wood: 'Thou art
my God,'
And to a stone: 'Thou art my Lord and thou art my
deliverer.'
[And they have no heart.]
19 And as for thee, my son Jacob,
May the Most High God help thee
And the God of heaven bless thee
And remove thee from their uncleanness and from all their
error.
20 Be thou ware, my son Jacob, of taking a wife from any
seed of the daughters of Canaan;
For all his seed is to be rooted out of the earth.
21 For, owing to the transgression of Ham, Canaan erred,
And all his seed shall be destroyed from off the earth and
all the residue thereof,
And none springing from him shall be saved on the day of
judgment.
22 And as for all the worshippers of idols and the
profane
(b) There shall be no hope for them in the land of the
living;
(c) And there shall be no remembrance of them on the earth;
(c) For they shall descend into Sheol,
(d) And into the place of condemnation shall they go,
As the children of Sodom were taken away from the earth
So will all those who worship idols be taken away.
23 Fear not, my son Jacob,
And be not dismayed, O son of Abraham:
May the Most High God preserve thee from destruction,
And from all the paths of error may he deliver thee.
24 This house have I built for myself that I might put my
name upon it in the earth: [it is given to thee and to thy
seed for ever], and it will be named the house of Abraham;
it is given to thee and to thy seed for ever; for thou wilt
build my house and establish my name before God for ever:
thy seed and thy name will stand throughout all generations
of the earth.'
25,26 And he ceased commanding him and blessing him. And the
two lay together on one bed, and Jacob slept in the bosom of
Abraham, his father's father and he kissed him seven times,
and his
27 affection and his heart rejoiced over him. And he blessed
him with all his heart and said: 'The Most High God, the God
of all, and Creator of all, who brought me forth from Ur of
the Chaldees that he might give me this land to inherit it
for ever, and that I might establish a holy seed-blessed
28 be the Most High for ever.' And he blessed Jacob and
said: 'My son, over whom with all my heart and my affection
I rejoice, may Thy grace and Thy mercy be lift up upon him
and upon his seed
29 alway. And do not forsake him, nor set him at nought from
henceforth unto the days of eternity, and may Thine eyes be
opened upon him and upon his seed, that Thou mayst preserve
him, and
30 bless him, and mayest sanctify him as a nation for Thine
inheritance; And bless him with all Thy blessings from
henceforth unto all the days of eternity, and renew Thy
covenant and Thy grace with him and with his seed according
to all Thy good pleasure unto all the generations of the
earth.'
[Chapter 23]
1 And he placed two fingers of Jacob on his eyes, and he
blessed the God of gods, and he covered his face and
stretched out his feet and slept the sleep of eternity, and
was gathered to his fathers.
2 And notwithstanding all this Jacob was lying in his bosom,
and knew not that Abraham, his father's
3 father, was dead. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and
behold Abraham was cold as ice, and he
4 said 'Father, father'; but there was none that spake, and
he knew that he was dead. And he arose from his bosom and
ran and told Rebecca, his mother; and Rebecca went to Isaac
in the night, and told him; and they went together, and
Jacob with them, and a lamp was in his hand, and
5 when they had gone in they found Abraham lying dead. And
Isaac fell on the face of his father
6 and wept and kissed him. And the voices were heard in the
house of Abraham, and Ishmael his son arose, and went to
Abraham his father, and wept over Abraham his father, he and
all the house
7 of Abraham, and they wept with a great weeping. And his
sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave, near
Sarah his wife, and they wept for him forty days, all the
men of his house, and Isaac and Ishmael, and all their sons,
and all the sons of Keturah in their places; and the days of
8 weeping for Abraham were ended. And he lived three
jubilees and four weeks of years, one hundred
9 and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his
life, being old and full of days. For the days of the
forefathers, of their life, were nineteen jubilees; and
after the Flood they began to grow less than nineteen
jubilees, and to decrease in jubilees, and to grow old
quickly, and to be full of their days by reason of manifold
tribulation and the wickedness of their ways, with the
exception of
10 Abraham. For Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with
the Lord, and well-pleasing in righteousness all the days of
his life; and behold, he did not complete four jubilees in
his life, when he had
11 grown old by reason of the wickedness, and was full of
his days. And all the generations which shall arise from
this time until the day of the great judgment shall grow old
quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and their
knowledge shall forsake them by reason of their old age Land
all their know-
12 ledge shall vanish away]. And in those days, if a man
live a jubilee and a-half of years, they shall say regarding
him: 'He has lived long, and the greater part of his days
are pain and sorrow and
13 tribulation, and there is no peace: For calamity follows
on calamity, and wound on wound, and tribulation on
tribulation, and evil tidings on evil tidings, and illness
on illness, and all evil judgments such as these, one with
another, illness and overthrow, and snow and frost and ice,
and fever, and chills, and torpor, and famine, and death,
and sword, and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and
14 pains.' And all these shall come on an evil generation,
which transgresses on the earth: their works
15 are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and
abominations. Then they shall say: 'The days of the
forefathers were many (even), unto a thousand years, and
were good; but behold, the days of our life, if a man has
lived many, are three score years and ten, and, if he is
strong, four score years,
16 and those evil, and there is no peace in the days of this
evil generation.' And in that generation the sons shall
convict their fathers and their elders of sin and
unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the
great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning
their forsaking the covenant which the Lord made between
them and Him, that they should observe and do all His
commandments and His ordinances and all His laws, without
departing either to the right hand or the left.
17 For all have done evil, and every mouth speaks iniquity
and all their works are an uncleanness and
18 an abomination, and all their ways are pollution,
uncleanness and destruction. Behold the earth shall be
destroyed on account of all their works, and there shall be
no seed of the vine, and no oil; for their works are
altogether faithless, and they shall all perish together,
beasts and cattle and birds, and
19 all the fish of the sea, on account of the children of
men. And they shall strive one with another, the young with
the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich,
the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince, on
account of the law and the covenant; for they have forgotten
commandment, and covenant, and feasts, and months, and
Sabbaths, and jubilees, and all judgments.
20 And they shall stand
21 not return until much blood has been shed on the earth,
one by another. And those who have escaped shall not return
from their wickedness to the way of righteousness, but they
shall all exalt themselves to deceit and wealth, that they
may each take all that is his neighbour's, and they shall
name the great name, but not in truth and not in
righteousness, and they shall defile the holy of
22 holies with their uncleanness and the corruption of their
pollution. And a great punishment shall befall the deeds of
this generation from the Lord, and He will give them over to
the sword and to
23 judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and
devoured. And He will wake up against them the sinners of
the Gentiles, who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who
shall respect the person of none, neither old nor young, nor
any one, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than
all the children of men.
And they shall use violence against Israel and
transgression against Jacob,
And much blood shall be shed upon the earth,
And there shall be none to gather and none to bury.
24 In those days they shall cry aloud,
And call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of
the sinners, the Gentiles;
But none shall be saved.
25 And the heads of the children shall be white with grey
hair,
And a child of three weeks shall appear old like a man of
one hundred years,
And their stature shall be destroyed by tribulation and
oppression.
26 And in those days the children shall begin to study
the laws,
And to seek the commandments,
And to return to the path of righteousness.
27 And the days shall begin to grow many and increase
amongst those children of men
Till their days draw nigh to one thousand years.
And to a greater number of years than (before) was the
number of the days.
28 And there shall be no old man
Nor one who is
For all shall be (as) children and youths.
29 And all their days they shall complete and live in
peace and in joy,
And there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer;
For all their days shall be days of blessing and healing.
30 And at that time the Lord will heal His servants,
And they shall rise up and see great peace,
And drive out their adversaries.
And the righteous shall see and be thankful,
And rejoice with joy for ever and ever,
And shall see all their judgments and all their curses on
their enemies.
31 And their bones shall rest in the earth,
And their spirits shall have much joy,
And they shall know that it is the Lord who executes
judgment,
And shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that
love Him
32 And do thou, Moses, write down these words; for thus are they written, and they record (them) on the heavenly tablets for a testimony for the generations for ever.
[Chapter 24]
1 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that the
Lord blessed Isaac his son, and he arose from Hebron and
went and dwelt at the Well of the Vision in the first year
of the third week [2073 A.M.]
2 of this jubilee, seven years. And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in the land, [2080 A.M.]
3 besides the first famine, which had been in the days
of Abraham. And Jacob sod lentil pottage, and Esau came from
the field hungry. And he said to Jacob his brother: 'Give me
of this red pottage.' And Jacob said to him: 'Sell to me thy
[primogeniture, this] birthright and I will give
4 thee bread, and also some of this lentil pottage.' And
Esau said in his heart: 'I shall die; of
5 what profit to me is this birthright? 'And he said to
Jacob: 'I give it to thee.' And Jacob said:
6 'Swear to me, this day,' and he sware unto him. And Jacob
gave his brother Esau bread and pottage, and he eat till he
was satisfied, and Esau despised his birthright; for this
reason was Esau's name
7 called Edom, on account of the red pottage which Jacob
gave him for his birthright. And Jacob became
8 the elder, and Esau was brought down from his dignity. And
the famine was over the land, and Isaac departed to go down
into Egypt in the second year of this week, and went to the
king of the Philis-
9 tines to Gerar, unto Abimelech. And the Lord appeared unto
him and said unto him: 'Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the
land that I shall tell thee of, and sojourn in this land,
and I will
10 be with thee and bless thee. For to thee and to thy seed
will I give all this land, and I will establish My oath
which I sware unto Abraham thy father, and I will multiply
thy seed as the
11 stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all this
land. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, because thy father obeyed My voice, and kept My
charge and My commandments, and My laws, and My ordinances,
and My covenant; and now obey My voice and dwell in
12,13 this land.' And he dwelt in Gelar three weeks of
years. And Abimelech charged concerning him, [2080-2101
A.M.] and concerning all that was his, saying: 'Any man that
shall touch him or aught that is his shall
14 surely die.' And Isaac waxed strong among the
Philistines, and he got many possessions, oxen
15 and sheep and camels and asses and a great household. And
he sowed in the land of the Philistines and brought in a
hundred-fold, and Isaac became exceedingly great, and the
Philistines envied him.
16 Now all the wells which the servants of Abraham had dug
during the life of Abraham, the Philistines
17 had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and filled
them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac: 'Go from us,
for thou art much mightier than we', and Isaac departed
thence in
18 the first year of the seventh week, and sojourned in the
valleys of Gerar. And they digged again the wells of water
which the servants of Abraham, his father, had digged, and
which the Philistines had closed after the death of Abraham
his father, and he called their names as Abraham his father
19 had named them. And the servants of Isaac dug a well in
the valley, and found living water, and the shepherds of
Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac, saying: 'The water
is ours'; and Isaac
20 called the name of the well 'Perversity', because they
had been perverse with us. And they dug a second well, and
they strove for that also, and he called its name 'Enmity'.
And he arose from thence and they digged another well, and
for that they strove not, and he called the name of it
'Room', and Isaac said: 'Now the Lord hath made room for us,
and we have increased in the
21 land.' And he went up from thence to the Well of the Oath
in the first year of the first week in the [2108 A.M.]
22 forty-fourth jubilee. And the Lord appeared to him
that night, on the new moon of the first month, and said
unto him: 'I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for
I am with thee, and shall bless thee and shall surely
multiply thy seed as the sand of the earth, for the sake of
Abraham my
23 servant.' And he built an altar there, which Abraham his
father had first built, and he called upon
24 the name of the Lord, and he offered sacrifice to the God
of Abraham his father. And they digged
25 a well and they found living water. And the servants of
Isaac digged another well and did not find water, and they
went and told Isaac that they had not found water, and Isaac
said: 'I have sworn
26 this day to the Philistines and this thing has been
announced to us.' And he called the name of that place the
Well of the Oath; for there he had sworn to Abimelech and
Ahuzzath his friend and
27 Phicol the prefect Or his host. And Isaac knew that day
that under constraint he had sworn to them
28 to make peace with them. And Isaac on that day cursed the
Philistines and said: 'Cursed be the Philistines unto the
day of wrath and indignation from the midst of all nations;
may God make them a derision and a curse and an object of
wrath and indignation in the hands of the sinners the
29 Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. And whoever
escapes the sword of the enemy and the Kittim, may the
righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven; for
they shall be the enemies and foes of my children throughout
their generations upon the earth.
30 And no remnant shall be left to them,
Nor one that shall be saved on the day of the wrath of
judgment;
For destruction and rooting out and expulsion from the earth
is the whole seed of the Philistines (reserved),
And there shall no longer be left for these Caphtorim a name
or a seed on the earth.
31 For though he ascend unto heaven,
Thence shall he be brought down,
And though he make himself strong on earth,
Thence shall he be dragged forth,
And though he hide himself amongst the nations,
Even from thence shall he be rooted out;
And though he descend into Sheol,
There also shall his condemnation be great,
And there also he shall have no peace.
32 And if he go into captivity,
By the hands of those that seek his life shall they slay him
on the way,
And neither name nor seed shall be left to him on all the
earth;
For into eternal malediction shall he depart.'
33 And thus is it written and engraved concerning him on the heavenly tablets, to do unto him on the day of judgment, so that he may be rooted out of the earth.
[Chapter 25]
1 And in the second year of this week in this jubilee,
Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spake unto [2109 A.M.]
him, saying: 'My son, do not take thee a wife of the
daughters of Canaan, as Esau, thy brother, who took him two
wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they have embittered
my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds
are fornication and lust, and there is no righteousness with
them,
2 for (their deeds) are evil. And I, my son, love thee
exceedingly, and my heart and my affection
3 bless thee every hour of the day and watch of the night.
And now, my son, hearken to my voice, and do the will of thy
mother, and do not take thee a wife of the daughters of this
land, but only of the house of my father, and of my father's
kindred. Thou shalt take thee a wife of the house of my
father, and the Most High God will bless thee, and thy
children shall be a righteous generation and
4 a holy seed.' And then spake Jacob to Rebecca, his mother,
and said unto her: 'Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years
old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor
have I betrothed
5 myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the
daughters of Canaan. For I remember, mother, the words of
Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife
of the daughters
6 of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my
father's house and from my kindred. I have heard before that
daughters have been born to Laban, thy brother, and I have
set my heart on them
7 to take a wife from amongst them. And for this reason I
have guarded myself in my spirit against sinning or being
corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life;
for with regard to lust
8 and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many
commands. And, despite all that he has commanded me, these
two and twenty years my brother has striven with me, and
spoken frequently to me and said: 'My brother, take to wife
a sister of my two wives'; but I refuse to do as he has
done.
9 I swear before thee, mother, that all the days of my life
I will not take me a wife from the daughters
10 of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my
brother has done. Fear not, mother; be
11 assured that I shall do thy will and walk in uprightness,
and not corrupt my ways for ever.' And thereupon she lifted
up her face to heaven and extended the fingers of her hands,
and opened her mouth and blessed the Most High God, who had
created the heaven and the earth, and she gave Him
12 thanks and praise. And she said: 'Blessed be the Lord
God, and may His holy name be blessed for ever and ever, who
has given me Jacob as a pure son and a holy seed; for he is
Thine, and Thine
13 shall his seed be continually and throughout all the
generations for evermore. Bless him, O Lord,
14 and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that
I may bless him.' And at that hour, when the spirit of
righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her
hands on the head of Jacob, and said:
15 Blessed art thou, Lord of righteousness and God of the
ages
And may He bless thee beyond all the generations of men.
May He give thee, my Son, the path of righteousness,
And reveal righteousness to thy seed.
16 And may He make thy sons many during thy life,
And may they arise according to the number of the months of
the year.
And may their sons become many and great beyond the stars of
heaven,
And their numbers be more than the sand of the sea.
17 And may He give them this goodly land -as He said He
would give it to Abraham and to his seed after him alway-
And may they hold it as a possession for ever.
18 And may I see (born) unto thee, my son, blessed
children during my life,
And a blessed and holy seed may all thy seed be.
19 And as thou hast refreshed thy mother's spirit during
her life,
The womb of her that bare thee blesses thee thus,
[My affection] and my breasts bless thee
And my mouth and my tongue praise thee greatly.
20 Increase and spread over the earth,
And may thy seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth
for ever;
And may thy seed rejoice,
And on the great day of peace may it have peace.
21 And may thy name and thy seed endure to all the ages,
And may the Most High God be their God,
And may the God of righteousness dwell with them,
And by them may His sanctuary be built unto all the ages.
22 Blessed be he that blesseth thee,
And all flesh that curseth thee falsely, may it be cursed.'
23 And she kissed him, and said to him;
'May the Lord of the world love thee
As the heart of thy mother and her affection rejoice in thee
and bless thee.'
And she ceased from blessing.
[Chapter 26]
1 And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Esau,
his elder Son, and said unto him: ' I am [2114 A.M.]
2 old, my son, and behold my eyes are dim in seeing, and
I know not the day of my death. And now take thy hunting
weapons thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and
hunt and catch me (venison), my son, and make me savoury
meat, such as my soul loveth, and bring it to me that I may
3 eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die.' But
Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau.
4,5 And Esau went forth early to the field to hunt and catch
and bring home to his father. And Rebecca called Jacob, her
son, and said unto him: 'Behold, I heard Isaac, thy father,
speak unto Esau, thy brother, saying: "Hunt for me, and make
me savoury meat, and bring (it) to me that
6 I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before I die."
And now, my son, obey my voice in that which I command thee:
Go to thy flock and fetch me two good kids of the goats, and
I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he
loves, and thou shalt bring (it) to thy father that he
7 may eat and bless thee before the Lord before he die, and
that thou mayst be blessed.' And Jacob said to Rebecca his
mother: 'Mother, I shall not withhold anything which my
father would eat, and which would please him: only I fear,
my mother, that he will recognise my voice and wish to touch
8 me. And thou knowest that I am smooth, and Esau, my
brother, is hairy, and I shall appear before his eyes as an
evildoer, and shall do a deed which he had not commanded me,
and he will be
9 wroth with me, and I shall bring upon myself a curse, and
not a blessing.' And Rebecca, his
10 mother, said unto him: 'Upon me be thy curse, my son,
only obey my voice.' And Jacob obeyed the voice of Rebecca,
his mother, and went and fetched two good and fat kids of
the goats, and
11 brought them to his mother, and his mother made them
~savoury meat~ such as he loved. And Rebecca took the goodly
rainment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the
house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them),
and she put the skins of the kids upon his hands and on
12 the exposed parts of his neck. And she gave the meat and
the bread which she had prepared into
13 the hand of her son Jacob. And Jacob went in to his
father and said: 'I am thy son: I have done according as
thou badest me: arise and sit and eat of that which I have
caught, father, that thy soul
14,15 may bless me.' And Isaac said to his son: 'How hast
thou found so quickly, my son? 'And Jacob
16 said: 'Because (the Lord thy God caused me to find.' And
Isaac said unto him: Come near, that
17 I may feel thee, my son, if thou art my son Esau or not.'
And Jacob went near to Isaac, his father,
18 and he felt him and said: 'The voice is Jacob's voice,
but the hands are the hands of Esau,' and he discerned him
not, because it was a dispensation from heaven to remove his
power of perception and
19 Isaac discerned not, for his hands were hairy as his
brother Esau's, so that he blessed him. And he said: 'Art
thou my son Esau? ' and he said: 'I am thy son': and he
said, 'Bring near to me that
20 I may eat of that which thou hast caught, my son, that my
soul may bless thee.' And he brought
21 near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine and
he drank. And Isaac, his father, said unto
22 him: 'Come near and kiss me, my son. And he came near and
kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his raiment, and he
blessed him and said: 'Behold, the smell of my son is as the
smell of a (full) field which the Lord hath blessed.
23 And may the Lord give thee of the dew of heaven
And of the dew of the earth, and plenty of corn and oil:
Let nations serve thee,
And peoples bow down to thee.
24 Be lord over thy brethren,
And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee;
And may all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed
me and blessed Abraham, my father;
Be imparted to thee and to thy seed for ever:
Cursed be he that curseth thee,
And blessed be he that blesseth thee.'
25 And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end
of blessing his son Jacob, and Jacob had gone
26 forth from Isaac his father he hid himself and Esau, his
brother, came in from his hunting. And he also made savoury
meat, and brought (it) to his father, and said unto his
father: 'Let my father
27 arise, and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me.'
And Isaac, his father, said unto him: 'Who art thou? 'And he
said unto him: 'I am thy first born, thy son Esau: I have
done as thou hast
28 commanded me.' And Isaac was very greatly astonished, and
said: 'Who is he that hath hunted and caught and brought
(it) to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and
have blessed him:
29 (and) he shall be blessed, and all his seed for ever.'
And it came to pass when Esau heard the words of his father
Isaac that he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry,
and said unto his father:
30 'Bless me, (even) me also, father.' And he said unto him:
'Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy
blessing.' And he said: 'Now I know why his name is named
Jacob: behold, he hath supplanted me these two times: he
took away my birth-right, and now he hath taken away
31 my blessing.' And he said: 'Hast thou not reserved a
blessing for me, father?' and Isaac answered and said unto
Esau:
31 'Behold, I have made him thy lord,
And all his brethren have I given to him for servants,
And with plenty of corn and wine and oil have I strengthened
him:
And what now shall I do for thee, my son?'
32 And Esau said to Isaac, his father:
'Hast thou but one blessing, O father?
Bless me, (even) me also, father: '
33 And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
And Isaac answered and said unto him:
'Behold, far from the dew of the earth shall be thy
dwelling,
And far from the dew of heaven from above.
34 And by thy sword wilt thou live,
And thou wilt serve thy brother.
And it shall come to pass when thou becomest great,
And dost shake his yoke from off thy neck,
Thou shalt sin a complete sin unto death,
And thy seed shall be rooted out from under heaven.'
35 And Esau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him, and he: said in his heart: 'May the days of mourning for my father now come, so that I may slay my brother Jacob.'
[Chapter 27]
1 And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebecca
in a dream, and Rebecca sent and
2 called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: 'Behold
Esau thy brother will take vengeance on
3 thee so as to kill thee. Now, therefore, my son, obey my
voice, and arise and flee thou to Laban, my brother, to
Haran, and tarry with him a few days until thy brother's
anger turns away, and he remove his anger from thee, and
forget all that thou hast done; then I will send and fetch
thee from
4,5 thence.' And Jacob said: 'I am not afraid; if he wishes
to kill me, I will kill him.' But she said
6 unto him: 'Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one
day.' And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: 'Behold, thou
knowest that my father has become old, and does not see
because his eyes are dull, and if I leave him it will be
evil in his eyes, because I leave him and go away from you,
and my father will be angry, and will curse me. I will not
go; when he sends me, then only will I go.'
7,8 And Rebecca said to Jacob: 'I will go in and speak to
him, and he will send thee away.' And Rebecca went in and
said to Isaac: 'I loathe my life because of the two
daughters of Heth, whom Esau has taken him as wives; and if
Jacob take a wife from among the daughters of the land such
9 as these, for what purpose do I further live, for the
daughters of Canaan are evil.' And Isaac called
10 Jacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said unto
him: 'Do not take thee a wife of any of the daughters of
Canaan; arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of
Bethuel, thy mother's father,
11 and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of
Laban, thy mother's brother. And God Almighty bless thee and
increase and multiply thee that thou mayest become a company
of nations, and give thee the blessings of my father
Abraham, to thee and to thy seed after thee, that thou
mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings and all the land
which God gave to Abraham: go, my
12 son, in peace.' And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to
Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of
13 Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob's
mother. And it came to pass after Jacob had
14 arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca
was grieved after her son, and she wept. And Isaac said to
Rebecca: 'My sister, weep not on account of Jacob, my son;
for he goeth in peace, and
15 in peace will he return. The Most High God will preserve
him from all evil, and will be with him;
16 for He will not forsake him all his days; For I know that
his ways will be prospered in all things
17 wherever he goes, until he return in peace to us, and we
see him in peace. Fear not on his account, my sister, for he
is on the upright path and he is a perfect man: and he is
faithful and will not perish.
18,19 Weep not.' And Isaac comforted Rebecca on account of
her son Jacob, and blessed him. And Jacob went from the Well
of the Oath to go to Haran on the first year of the second
week in the forty-fourth jubilee, and he came to Luz on the
mountains, that is, Bethel, on the new moon of the first
month of this week, [2115 A.M.] and he came to the place at
even and turned from the way to the west of the
20 road that night: and he slept there; for the sun had set.
And he took one of the stones of that
21 place and laid
22 And he spake to Jacob and said: 'I am the Lord God of
Abraham, thy father, and the God of
23 Isaac; the land whereon thou art sleeping, to thee will I
give it, and to thy seed after thee. And thy seed shall be
as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt increase to the
west and to the east, to the
24 north and the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall
all the families of the nations be blessed. And behold, I
will be with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou
goest, and I will bring thee again into this land in peace;
for I will not leave thee until I do everything that I told
thee of.'
25 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, 'Truly this
place is the house of the Lord, and I knew it not.' And he
was afraid and said: 'Dreadful is this place which is none
other than the house of
26 God, and this is the gate of heaven.' And Jacob arose
early in the morning, and took the stone which he had put
under his head and set it up as a pillar for a sign, and he
poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of
that place Bethel; but the name of the place was Luz at the
first.
27 And Jacob vowed a vow unto the Lord, saying: 'If the Lord
will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and
give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come
again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be
my God, and this stone which I have set up as a pillar for a
sign in this place, shall be the Lord's house, and of all
that thou givest me, I shall give the tenth to thee, my
God.'
[Chapter 28]
1 And he went on his journey, and came to the land of the
east, to Laban, the brother of Rebecca,
2 and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his
daughter one week. And in the first year of the third week
[2122 A.M.] he said unto him: 'Give me my wife, for whom I
have served thee seven years '; and
3 Laban said unto Jacob: 'I will give thee thy wife.' And
Laban made a feast, and took Leah his elder daughter, and
gave (her) to Jacob as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his
handmaid for an hand-
4 maid; and Jacob did not know, for he thought that she was
Rachel. And he went in unto her, and behold, she was Leah;
and Jacob was angry with Laban, and said unto him: 'Why hast
thou dealt thus with me? Did not I serve thee for Rachel and
not for Leah? Why hast thou wronged me?
5 Take thy daughter, and I will go; for thou hast done evil
to me.' For Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah; for Leah's
eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome; but Rachel
had beautiful
6 eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form. And Laban
said to Jacob: 'It is not so done in our country, to give
the younger before the elder.' And it is not right to do
this; for thus it is ordained and written in the heavenly
tablets, that no one should give his younger daughter before
the elder; but the elder, one gives first and after her the
younger -and the man who does so, they set down guilt
against him in heaven, and none is righteous that does this
thing, for this deed is evil before the
7 Lord. And command thou the children of Israel that they do
not this thing; let them neither take
8 nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for
it is very wicked. And Laban said to Jacob: 'Let the seven
days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give thee
Rachel, that thou mayst serve me another seven years, that
thou mayst pasture my sheep as thou didst in the former
week.' And on the day when the seven days of the feast of
Leah had passed, Laban gave Rachel to Jacob, that he might
serve him another seven years, and he gave to Rachel Bilhah,
the sister of
10 Zilpah, as a handmaid. And he served yet other seven
years for Rachel, for Leah had been given
11 to him for nothing. And the Lord opened the womb of Leah,
and she conceived and bare Jacob a son, and he called his
name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in
the first year of
12 the third week. [2122 A.M.] But the womb of Rachel was
closed, for the Lord saw that Leah was hated and
13 Rachel loved. And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and she
conceived, and bare Jacob a second son, and he called his
name Simeon, on the twenty-first of the tenth month, and in
the third year of this
14 week. [2124 A.M.] And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and
she conceived, and bare him a third son, and he
15 called his name Levi, in the new moon of the first month
in the sixth year of this week. [2127 A.M.] And again Jacob
went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a fourth
son, and he called his name Judah,
16 on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of
the fourth week. [2129 A.M.] And on account of all this
Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to
Jacob: 'Give me children'; and Jacob
17 said: 'Have I withheld from thee the fruits of thy womb?
Have I forsaken thee?' And when Rachel saw that Leah had
borne four sons to Jacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and
Judah, she said unto
18 him: 'Go in unto Bilhah my handmaid, and she will
conceive, and bear a son unto me.' (And she gave (him)
Bilhah her handmaid to wife). And he went in unto her, and
she conceived, and bare him a son, and he called his name
Dan, on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth year of
the
19 third week. [2127 A.M.] And Jacob went in again unto
Bilhah a second time, and she conceived, and bare Jacob
another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the
fifth of the seventh month, in the
20 second year of the fourth week. [2130 A.M.] And when Leah
saw that she had become sterile and did not bear, she envied
Rachel, and she also gave her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob to
wife, and she conceived, and bare a son, and Leah called his
name Gad, on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third
year of
21 the fourth week. [2131 A.M.] And he went in again unto
her, and she conceived, and bare him a second son, and Leah
called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month,
in the fifth year of the fourth
22 week. [2133 A.M.] And Jacob went in unto Leah, and she
conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Issachar,
on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the
fourth week,[2132 A.M.] and she gave him
23 to a nurse. And Jacob went in again unto her, and she
conceived, and bare two (children), a son and a daughter,
and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name of
the daughter Dinah,
24 in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of
the fourth week. [2134 A.M.] And the Lord was gracious to
Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bare a
son, and she called his
25 name Joseph, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the
sixth year in this fourth week. [2134 A.M.] And in the days
when Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: 'Give me my wives
and sons, and let me go to my father Isaac, and let me make
me an house; for I have completed the years in which I
26 have served thee for thy two daughters, and I will go to
the house of my father.' And Laban said to Jacob: 'Tarry
with me for thy wages, and pasture my flock for me again,
and take thy wages.'
27 And they agreed with one another that he should give him
as his wages those of the lambs and kids
28 which were born black and spotted and white, (these) were
to be his wages. And all the sheep brought forth spotted and
speckled and black, variously marked, and they brought forth
again lambs like themselves, and all that were spotted were
Jacob's and those which were not were
29 Laban's. And Jacob's possessions multiplied exceedingly,
and he possessed oxen and sheep and
30 asses and camels, and menservants and maid-servants. And
Laban and his sons envied Jacob, and Laban took back his
sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.
[Chapter 29]
1 And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that
Laban went to shear his sheep; for they
2 were distant from him a three days' journey. And Jacob saw
that Laban was going to shear his sheep, and Jacob called
Leah and Rachel, and spake kindly unto them that they should
come with
3 him to the land of Canaan. For he told them how he had
seen everything in a dream, even all that He had spoken unto
him that he should return to his father's house, and they
said: 'To every place
4 whither thou goest we will go with thee.' And Jacob
blessed the God of Isaac his father, and the God of Abraham
his father's father, and he arose and mounted his wives and
his children, and took all his possessions and crossed the
river, and came to the land of Gilead, and Jacob hid his
intention
5 from Laban and told him not. And in the seventh year of
the fourth week Jacob turned (his face) toward Gilead in the
first month, on the twenty-first thereof. [2135 A.M.] And
Laban pursued after him and
6 overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third
month, on the thirteenth thereof. And the Lord did not
suffer him to injure Jacob; for he appeared to him in a
dream by night. And Laban
7 spake to Jacob. And on the fifteenth of those days Jacob
made a feast for Laban, and for all who came with him, and
Jacob sware to Laban that day, and Laban also to Jacob, that
neither should
8 cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil
purpose. And he made there a heap for
9 a witness; wherefore the name of that place is called:
'The Heap of Witness,' after this heap. But before they used
to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rephaim; for it
was the land of the Rephaim, and the Rephaim were born
(there), giants whose height was ten, nine, eight down to
10 seven cubits. And their habitation was from the land of
the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon,
11 and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and
Ashtaroth, and Edrei, and Misur, and Beon. And the Lord
destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds; for they
were very malignant, and the Amorites dwelt in their stead,
wicked and sinful, and there is no people to-day which has
wrought
12 to the full all their sins, and they have no longer
length of life on the earth. And Jacob sent away Laban, and
he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and
Jacob returned to the land of
13 Gilead. And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth month,
on the eleventh thereof. And on that day Esau, his brother,
came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed from
him unto
14 the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents. And in the
first year of the fifth week in this jubilee [2136 A.M.] he
crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he
pastured his sheep from the sea of the
15 heap unto Bethshan, and unto Dothan and unto the forest
of Akrabbim. And he sent to his father Isaac of all his
substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and
milk, and butter, and
16 cheese, and some dates of the valley. And to his mother
Rebecca also four times a year, between the times of the
months, between ploughing and reaping, and between autumn
and the rain (season)
17 and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham.
For Isaac had returned from the Well of the Oath and gone up
to the tower of his father Abraham, and he dwelt there apart
from his son
18 Esau. For in the days when Jacob went to Mesopotamia,
Esau took to himself a wife Mahalath, the daughter of
Ishmael, and he gathered together all the flocks of his
father and his wives, and went
19 Up and dwelt on Mount Seir, and left Isaac his father at
the Well of the Oath alone. And Isaac went up from the Well
of the Oath and dwelt in the tower of Abraham his father on
the mountains
20 of Hebron, And thither Jacob sent all that he did send to
his father and his mother from time to time, all they
needed, and they blessed Jacob with all their heart and with
all their soul.
[Chapter 30]
1 And in the first year of the sixth week [2143 A.M.] he
went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace, in
2 the fourth month. And there they carried off Dinah, the
daughter of Jacob, into the house of Shechem, the son of
Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with
her and defiled her,
3 and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years. And he
besought his father and her brothers that she might be given
to him to wife. And Jacob and his sons were wroth because of
the men of Shechem; for they had defiled Dinah, their
sister, and they spake to them with evil intent and dealt
4 deceitfully with them and beguiled them. And Simeon and
Levi came unexpectedly to Shechem and executed judgment on
all the men of Shechem, and slew all the men whom they found
in it, and left not a single one remaining in it: they slew
all in torments because they had dishonoured
5 their sister Dinah. And thus let it not again be done from
henceforth that a daughter of Israel be defiled; for
judgment is ordained in heaven against them that they should
destroy with the sword
6 all the men of the Shechemites because they had wrought
shame in Israel. And the Lord delivered them into the hands
of the sons of Jacob that they might exterminate them with
the sword and execute judgment upon them, and that it might
not thus again be done in Israel that a virgin of
7 Israel should be defiled. And if there is any man who
wishes in Israel to give his daughter or his sister to any
man who is of the seed of the Gentiles he shall surely die,
and they shall stone him with stones; for he hath wrought
shame in Israel; and they shall burn the woman with fire,
because
8 she has dishonoured the name of the house of her father,
and she shall be rooted out of Israel. And let not an
adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout
all the days of the generations of the earth; for Israel is
holy unto the Lord, and every man who has defiled (it) shall
surely die:
9 they shall stone him with stones. For thus has it been
ordained and written in the heavenly tablets regarding all
the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) shall surely die,
and he shall be stoned with
10 stones. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no
remission, nor any atonement: but the man who has defiled
his daughter shall be rooted out in the midst of all Israel,
because he has given
11 of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to
defile it. And do thou, Moses, command the children of
Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the
Gentiles, and not to take for
12 their sons any of the daughters of the Gentiles, for this
is abominable before the Lord. For this reason I have
written for thee in the words of the Law all the deeds of
the Shechemites, which they wrought against Dinah, and how
the sons of Jacob spake, saying: 'We will not give our
daughter
13 to a man who is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach
unto us.' And it is a reproach to Israel, to those who live,
and to those that take the daughters of the Gentiles; for
this is unclean and
14 abominable to Israel. And Israel will not be free from
this uncleanness if it has a wife of the daughters of the
Gentiles, or has given any of its daughters to a man who is
of any of the Gentiles.
15 For there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon
curse, and every judgment and plague and curse will come
16 whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness
and profanation of this man. And there will be no respect of
persons [and no consideration of persons] and no receiving
at his hands of fruits and offerings and burnt-offerings and
fat, nor the fragrance of sweet savour, so as to accept it:
and
17 so fare every man or woman in Israel who defiles the
sanctuary.
18 was (reckoned) unto them for righteousness, and it is
written down to them for righteousness. And the seed of Levi
was chosen for the priesthood, and to be Levites, that they
might minister before the Lord, as we, continually, and that
Levi and his sons may be blessed for ever; for he was
zealous
19 to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on
all those who arose against Israel. And so they inscribe as
a testimony in his favour on the heavenly tablets blessing
and righteousness before
20 the God of all: And we remember the righteousness which
the man fulfilled during his life, at all periods of the
year; until a thousand generations they will record it, and
it will come to him and to his descendants after him, and he
has been recorded on the heavenly tablets as a friend and a
righteous
21 man. All this account I have written for thee, and have
commanded thee to say to the children of Israel, that they
should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor
break the covenant which
22 has been ordained for them, (but) that they should fulfil
it and be recorded as friends. But if they transgress and
work uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the
heavenly tablets as adversaries, and they will be destroyed
out of the book of life, and they will be recorded in the
book of
23 those who will be destroyed and with those who will be
rooted out of the earth. And on the day when the sons of
Jacob slew Shechem a writing was recorded in their favour in
heaven that they had executed righteousness and uprightness
and vengeance on the sinners, and it was written for a
blessing.
24 And they brought Dinah, their sister, out of the house of
Shechem, and they took captive everything that was in
Shechem, their sheep and their oxen and their asses, and all
their wealth, and all their
25 flocks, and brought them all to Jacob their father. And
he reproached them because they had put the city to the
sword for he feared those who dwelt in the land, the
Canaanites and the Perizzites.
26 And the dread of the Lord was upon all the cities which
are around about Shechem, and they did not rise to pursue
after the sons of Jacob; for terror had fallen upon them.
[Chapter 31]
1 And on the new moon of the month Jacob spake to all the
people of his house. saying: 'Purify yourselves and change
your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where I
vowed a vow to Him on the day when I fled from the face of
Esau my brother, because he has been with me and
2 brought me into this land in peace, and put ye away the
strange gods that arc among you.' And they gave up the
strange gods and that which was in their ears and which was
on their necks and the idols which Rachel stole from Laban
her father she gave wholly to Jacob. And he burnt and brake
them to pieces and destroyed them, and hid them under an oak
which is in the land of
3 Shechem. And he went up on the new moon of the seventh
month to Bethel. And he built an altar at the place where he
had slept, and he set up a pillar there, and he sent word to
his father
4 Isaac to come to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother
Rebecca. And Isaac said: 'Let my son
5 Jacob come, and let me see him before I die.' And Jacob
went to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca, to the
house of his father Abraham, and he took two of his sons
with him, Levi and Judah, and he came to his father Isaac
and to his mother Rebecca.
6 And Rebecca came forth from the tower to the front of it
to kiss Jacob and embrace him; for her spirit had revived
when she heard: 'Behold Jacob thy son has come'; and she
kissed
7 him. And she saw his two sons, and she recognised them,
and said unto him: 'Are these thy sons, my son?' and she
embraced them and kissed them, and blessed them, saying: 'In
you shall the
8 seed of Abraham become illustrious, and ye shall prove a
blessing on the earth.' And Jacob went in to Isaac his
father, to the chamber where he lay, and his two sons were
with him, and he took the hand of his father, and stooping
down he kissed him, and Isaac clung to the neck of Jacob his
son,
9 and wept upon his neck. And the darkness left the eyes of
Isaac, and he saw the two sons of Jacob,
10 Levi, and Judah, and he said: 'Are these thy sons, my
son? for they are like thee.' And he said unto him that they
were truly his sons: 'And thou hast truly seen that they are
truly my sons'.
11 And they came near to him, and he turned and kissed them
and embraced them both together.
12 And the spirit of prophecy came down into his mouth, and
he took Levi by his right hand and
13 Judah by his left. And he turned to Levi first, and began
to bless him first, and said unto him:
May the God of all, the very Lord of all the ages, bless
thee and thy children throughout all the
14 ages. And may the Lord give to thee and to thy seed
greatness and great glory, and cause thee and thy seed, from
among all flesh, to approach Him to serve in His sanctuary
as the angels of the presence and as the holy ones. (Even)
as they, shall the seed of thy sons be for glory and
greatness
15 and holiness, and may He make them great unto all the
ages. And they shall be judges and princes, and chiefs of
all the seed of the sons of Jacob;
They shall speak the word of the Lord in righteousness,
And they shall judge all His judgments in righteousness.
And they shall declare My ways to Jacob
And My paths to Israel.
The blessing of the Lord shall be given in their mouths
To bless all the seed of the beloved.
16 Thy mother has called thy name Levi,
And justly has she called thy name;
Thou shalt be joined to the Lord
And be the companion of all the sons of Jacob;
Let His table be thine,
And do thou and thy sons eat thereof;
And may thy table be full unto all generations,
And thy food fail not unto all the ages.
17 And let all who hate thee fall down before thee,
And let all thy adversaries be rooted out and perish;
And blessed be he that blesses thee,
And cursed be every nation that curses thee.'
18 And to Judah he said:
'May the Lord give thee strength and power
To tread down all that hate thee;
A prince shalt thou be, thou and one of thy sons, over the
sons of Jacob;
May thy name and the name of thy sons go forth and
traverse every land and region.
Then shall the Gentiles fear before thy face,
And all the nations shall quake
[And all the peoples shall quake].
In thee shall be the help of Jacob,
And in thee be found the salvation of Israel.
20 And when thou sittest on the throne of honour of thy
righteousness
There shall be great peace for all the seed of the sons of
the beloved;
Blessed be he that blesseth thee,
And all that hate thee and afflict thee and curse thee
Shall be rooted out and destroyed from the earth and be
accursed.'
21 And turning he kissed him again and embraced him, and
rejoiced greatly; for he had seen the
22 sons of Jacob his son in very truth. And he went forth
from between his feet and fell down and bowed down to him,
and he blessed them and rested there with Isaac his father
that night, and they
23 eat and drank with joy. And he made the two sons of Jacob
sleep, the one on his right hand and the
24 other on his left, and it was counted to him for
righteousness. And Jacob told his father everything during
the night, how the Lord had shown him great mercy, and how
he had prospered (him in) all
25 his ways, and protected him from all evil. And Isaac
blessed the God of his father Abraham, who
26 had not withdrawn his mercy and his righteousness from
the sons of his servant Isaac. And in the morning Jacob told
his father Isaac the vow which he had vowed to the Lord, and
the vision which he had seen, and that he had built an
altar, and that everything was ready for the sacrifice to be
27 made before the Lord as he had vowed, and that he had
come to set him on an ass. And Isaac said unto Jacob his
son: 'I am not able to go with thee; for I am old and not
able to bear the way: go, my son, in peace; for I am one
hundred and sixty-five years this day; I am no longer able
to
28 journey; set thy mother (on an ass) and let her go with
thee. And I know, my son, that thou hast come on my account,
and may this day be blessed on which thou hast seen me
alive, and I also have
29 seen thee, my son. Mayest thou prosper and fulfil the vow
which thou hast vowed; and put not off thy vow; for thou
shalt be called to account as touching the vow; now
therefore make haste to perform it, and may He be pleased
who has made all things, to whom thou hast vowed the vow.'
30 And he said to Rebecca: 'Go with Jacob thy son'; and
Rebecca went with Jacob her son, and
31 Deborah with her, and they came to Bethel. And Jacob
remembered the prayer with which his father had blessed him
and his two sons, Levi and Judah, and he rejoiced and
blessed the God of his
32 fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And he said: 'Now I know that
I have an eternal hope, and my sons also, before the God of
all'; and thus is it ordained concerning the two; and they
record it as an eternal testimony unto them on the heavenly
tablets how Isaac blessed them.
[Chapter 32]
1 And he abode that night at Bethel, and Levi dreamed that
they had ordained and made him the priest of the Most High
God, him and his sons for ever; and he awoke from his sleep
and blessed
2 the Lord. And Jacob rose early in the morning, on the
fourteenth of this month, and he gave a tithe of all that
came with him, both of men and cattle, both of gold and
every vessel and garment,
3 yea, he gave tithes of all. And in those days Rachel
became pregnant with her son Benjamin. And Jacob counted his
sons from him upwards and Levi fell to the portion of the
Lord, and his
4 father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and
filled his hands. And on the fifteenth of this month, he
brought to the altar fourteen oxen from amongst the cattle,
and twenty-eight rams, and forty-nine sheep, and seven
lambs, and twenty-one kids of the goats as a burnt-offering
on the
5 altar of sacrifice, well pleasing for a sweet savour
before God. This was his offering, in consequence of the vow
which he had vowed that he would give a tenth, with their
fruit-offerings and their drink-
6 offerings. And when the fire had consumed it, he burnt
incense on the fire over the fire, and for a thank-offering
two oxen and four rams and four sheep, four he-goats, and
two sheep of a year old,
7 and two kids of the goats; and thus he did daily for seven
days. And he and all his sons and his men were eating (this)
with joy there during seven days and blessing and thanking
the Lord, who
8 had delivered him out of all his tribulation and had given
him his vow. And he tithed all the clean animals, and made a
burnt sacrifice, but the unclean animals he gave (not) to
Levi his son, and he
9 gave him all the souls of the men And Levi discharged the
priestly office at Bethel before Jacob his father in
preference to his ten brothers, and he was a priest there,
and Jacob gave his vow: thus
10 he tithed again the tithe to the Lord and sanctified it,
and it became holy unto Him. And for this reason it is
ordained on the heavenly tablets as a law for the tithing
again the tithe to eat before the Lord from year to year, in
the place where it is chosen that His name should dwell, and
to this law
11 there is no limit of days for ever. This ordinance is
written that it may be fulfilled from year to year in eating
the second tithe before the Lord in the place where it has
been chosen, and nothing
12 shall remain over from it from this year to the year
following. For in its year shall the seed be eaten till the
days of the gathering of the seed of the year, and the wine
till the days of the wine,
13 and the oil till the days of its season. And all that is
left thereof and becomes old, let it be regarded
14 as polluted: let it be burnt with fire, for it is
unclean. And thus let them eat it together in the
15 sanctuary, and let them not suffer it to become old. And
all the tithes of the oxen and sheep shall be holy unto the
Lord, and shall belong to his priests, which they will eat
before Him from year to
16 year; for thus is it ordained and engraven regarding the
tithe on the heavenly tablets. And on the following night,
on the twenty-second day of this month, Jacob resolved to
build that place, and to surround the court with a wall, and
to sanctify it and make it holy for ever, for himself and
his children
17 after him. And the Lord appeared to him by night and
blessed him and said unto him: 'Thy name
18 shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall they name thy
name.' And He said unto him again: 'I am the Lord who
created the heaven and the earth, and I will increase thee
and multiply thee exceedingly, and kings shall come forth
from thee, and they shall judge everywhere wherever the foot
19 of the sons of men has trodden. And I will give to thy
seed all the earth which is under heaven, and they shall
judge all the nations according to their desires, and after
that they shall get possession
20 of the whole earth and inherit it for ever.' And He
finished speaking with him, and He went up
21 from him. and Jacob looked till He had ascended into
heaven. And he saw in a vision of the night, and behold an
angel descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands,
and he gave them to Jacob, and he read them and knew all
that was written therein which would befall him and his sons
21 throughout all the ages. And he showed him all that was
written on the tablets, and said unto him: 'Do not build
this place, and do not make it an eternal sanctuary, and do
not dwell here; for this is not the place. Go to the house
of Abraham thy father and dwell with Isaac thy father until
the day
23 of the death of thy father. For in Egypt thou shalt die
in peace, and in this land thou shalt be buried
24 with honour in the sepulchre of thy fathers, with Abraham
and Isaac. Fear not, for as thou hast seen and read it, thus
shall it all be; and do thou write down everything as thou
hast seen and read.'
25 And Jacob said: 'Lord, how can I remember all that I have
read and seen? 'And he said unto
26 him: 'I will bring all things to thy remembrance.' And he
went up from him, and he awoke from his sleep, and he
remembered everything which he had read and seen, and he
wrote down all the
27 words which he had read and seen. And he celebrated there
yet another day, and he sacrificed thereon according to all
that he sacrificed on the former days, and called its name
'Addition,' for
28 this day was added and the former days he called 'The
Feast '. And thus it was manifested that it should be, and
it is written on the heavenly tablets: wherefore it was
revealed to him that he should
29 celebrate it, and add it to the seven days of the feast.
And its name was called 'Addition,' because that it was
recorded amongst the days of the feast days, according to
the number of
30 the days of the year. And in the night, on the
twenty-third of this month, Deborah Rebecca's nurse died,
and they buried her beneath the city under the oak of the
river, and he called the name of this
31 place, 'The river of Deborah,' and the oak, 'The oak of
the mourning of Deborah.' And Rebecca went and returned to
her house to his father Isaac, and Jacob sent by her hand
rams and sheep and
32 he-goats that she should prepare a meal for his father
such as he desired. And he went after his
33 mother till he came to the land of Kabratan, and he dwelt
there. And Rachel bare a son in the night, and called his
name 'Son of my sorrow '; for she suffered in giving him
birth: but his father called his name Benjamin, on the
eleventh of the eighth month in the first of the sixth week
of this
34 jubilee. [2143 A.M.] And Rachel died there and she was
buried in the land of Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem, and
Jacob built a pillar on the grave of Rachel, on the road
above her grave.
[Chapter 33]
1 And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra'ef.
And he went to his father Isaac, he
2 and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. And
Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel's maid,
3 the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret
place, and he loved her. And he hid himself at night, and he
entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her
sleeping alone on a bed in
4 her house. And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and
behold Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she
uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and
cried out, and discovered
5 that it was Reuben. And she was ashamed because of him,
and released her hand from him, and he
6,7 fled. And she lamented because of this thing
exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one. And when Jacob
returned and sought her, she said unto him: 'I am not clean
for thee, for I have been defiled as regards thee; for
Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night,
and I was
8 asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt
and slept with me.' And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with
Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had
uncovered his
9 father's skirt. And Jacob did not approach her again
because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who
uncovers his father's skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly,
for he is abominable before
10 the Lord. For this reason it is written and ordained on
the heavenly tablets that a man should not lie with his
father's wife, and should not uncover his father's skirt,
for this is unclean: they shall surely die together, the man
who lies with his father's wife and the woman also, for they
have
11 wrought uncleanness on the earth. And there shall be
nothing unclean before our God in the nation
12 which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. And
again, it is written a second time: 'Cursed be he who lieth
with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his
father's shame'; and all the
13 holy ones of the Lord said 'So be it; so be it.' And do
thou, Moses, command the children of Israel that they
observe this word; for it (entails) a punishment of death;
and it is unclean, and there is no atonement for ever to
atone for the man who has committed this, but he is to be
put to death and slain, and stoned with stones, and rooted
out from the midst of the people of our God.
14 For to no man who does so in Israel is it permitted to
remain alive a single day on the earth, for he
15 is abominable and unclean. And let them not say: to
Reuben was granted life and forgiveness after he had lain
with his father's concubine, and to her also though she had
a husband, and her husband
16 Jacob, his father, was still alive. For until that time
there had not been revealed the ordinance and judgment and
law in its completeness for all, but in thy days (it has
been revealed) as a law of
17 seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the
everlasting generations. And for this law there is no
consummation of days, and no atonement for it, but they must
both be rooted out in the midst
18 of the nation: on the day whereon they committed it they
shall slay them. And do thou, Moses, write (it) down for
Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these
words, and not commit a sin unto death; for the Lord our God
is judge, who respects not persons and accepts not gifts.
And tell them these words of the covenant, that they may
hear and observe, and be on their guard with respect to
them, and not be destroyed and rooted out of the land; for
an uncleanness, and an abomination, and a contamination, and
a pollution are all they who commit it on the earth before
20 our God. And there is no greater sin than the fornication
which they commit on earth; for Israel is a holy nation unto
the Lord its God, and a nation of inheritance, and a
priestly and royal nation and for (His own) possession; and
there shall no such uncleanness appear in the midst of the
holy
21 nation. And in the third year of this sixth week [2145
A.M.] Jacob and all his sons went and dwelt in the house
22 of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebecca his mother.
And these were the names of the sons of Jacob: the
first-born Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon,
the sons of Leah; and the sons of Rachel, Joseph and
Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali; and the
sons of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the daughter of
Leah, the only daughter of Jacob. And they
23 came and bowed themselves to Isaac and Rebecca, and when
they saw them they blessed Jacob and all his sons, and Isaac
rejoiced exceedingly, for he saw the sons of Jacob, his
younger son and he blessed them.
[Chapter 34]
1 And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth
jubilee [2148 A.M.] Jacob sent his sons to pasture their
2 sheep, and his servants with them to the pastures of
Shechem. And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled
themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding
themselves under the trees, and
3 to take their cattle as a prey. And Jacob and Levi and
Judah and Joseph were in the house with Isaac their father;
for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him:
and Benjamin was
4 the youngest, and for this reason remained with his
father. And there came the king[s] of Taphu and the king[s]
of 'Aresa, and the king[s] of Seragan, and the king[s] of
Selo, and the king[s] of Ga'as, and the king of Bethoron,
and the king of Ma'anisakir, and all those who dwell in
these
5 mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of
Canaan. And they announced this to Jacob saying: 'Behold,
the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and
plundered their herds.'
6 And he arose from his house, he and his three sons and all
the servants of his father, and his own
7 servants, and he went against them with six thousand men,
who carried swords. And he slew them in the pastures of
Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with
the edge of the sword, and he slew 'Aresa and Taphu and
Saregan and Selo and 'Amani-
8 sakir and Ga[ga]'as, and he recovered his herds. And he
prevailed over them, and imposed tribute on them that they
should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land,
and he built Robel
9 and Tamnatares. And he returned in peace, and made peace
with them, and they became his
10 servants, until the day that he and his sons went down
into Egypt. And in the seventh year of this week [2149 A.M.]
he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers
from his house to the land of Shechem,
11 and he found them in the land of Dothan. And they dealt
treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to
slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to
Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt,
and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the
12 chief of the cooks, priest of the city of 'Elew. And the
sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of
Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on
the tenth of the seventh month.
13 And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to
him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for
his death, and he said: 'An evil beast hath devoured
Joseph'; and all the members of his house [mourned with him
that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with
14 him all that day. And his sons and his daughter rose up
to comfort him, but he refused to be
15 comforted for his son. And on that day Bilhah heard that
Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was
living in Qafratef, and Dinah also, his daughter, died after
Joseph had
16 perished. And there came these three mournings upon
Israel in one month. And they buried
17 Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also.
his daughter, they buried there. And he mourned for Joseph
one year, and did not cease, for he said 'Let me go down to
the grave mourning
18 for my son'. For this reason it is ordained for the
children of Israel that they should afflict themselves on
the tenth of the seventh month -on the day that the news
which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father-
that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with
a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year,
for their sins; for they had grieved the
19 affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. And
this day has been ordained that they should grieve thereon
for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all
their errors, so that they
20 might cleanse themselves on that day once a year. And
after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob took unto
themselves wives. The name of Reuben's wife is 'Ada; and the
name of Simeon's wife is 'Adlba'a, a Canaanite; and the name
of Levi's wife is Melka, of the daughters of Aram, of the
seed of the sons of Terah; and the name of Judah's wife,
Betasu'el, a Canaanite; and the name of Issachar's wife,
Hezaqa: and the name of Zabulon's wife, Ni'iman; and the
name of Dan's wife, 'Egla; and the name of Naphtali's wife,
Rasu'u, of Mesopotamia; and the name of Gad's wife, Maka;
and the name of Asher's wife, 'Ijona; and the name of
Joseph's wife, Asenath, the Egyptian; and the name
21 of Benjamin's wife, 'Ijasaka. And Simeon repented, and
took a second wife from Mesopotamia as his brothers.
[Chapter 35]
1 And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth
jubilee [2157 A.M.] Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and
commanded him regarding his father and regarding his
brother, that he should honour them all the
2 days of his life. And Jacob said: 'I will do everything as
thou hast commanded me; for this thing will be honour and
greatness to me, and righteousness before the Lord, that I
should honour them.
3 And thou too, mother, knowest from the time I was born
until this day, all my deeds and all that is in
4 my heart, that I always think good concerning all. And how
should I not do this thing which thou
5 hast commanded me, that I should honour my father and my
brother! Tell me, mother, what
6 perversity hast thou seen in me and I shall turn away from
it, and mercy will be upon me.' And she said unto him: 'My
son, I have not seen in thee all my days any perverse but
(only) upright deeds. And yet I will tell thee the truth, my
son: I shall die this year, and I shall not survive this
year in my life; for I have seen in a dream the day of my
death, that I should not live beyond a hundred and
fifty-five years: and behold I have completed all the days
of my life which I am to
7 live.' And Jacob laughed at the words of his mother.
because his mother had said unto him that she should die;
and she was sitting opposite to him in possession of her
strength, and she was not infirm in her strength; for she
went in and out and saw, and her teeth were strong, and no
ailment
8 had touched her all the days of her life. And Jacob said
unto her: 'Blessed am I, mother, if my days approach the
days of thy life, and my strength remain with me thus as thy
strength: and thou
9 wilt not die, for thou art jesting idly with me regarding
thy death.' And she went in to Isaac and said unto him: 'One
petition I make unto thee: make Esau swear that he will not
injure Jacob, nor pursue him with enmity; for thou knowest
Esau's thoughts that they are perverse from his youth,
10 and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after thy
death to kill him. And thou knowest all that he has done
since the day Jacob his brother went to Haran until this
day: how he has forsaken us with his whole heart, and has
done evil to us; thy flocks he has taken to himself, and
carried off
11 all thy possessions from before thy face. And when we
implored and besought him for what was
12 our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us. And
he is bitter against thee because thou didst bless Jacob thy
perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only
goodness in him, and since he came from Haran unto this day
he has not robbed us of aught, for he brings us everything
in its season always, and rejoices with all his heart when
we take at his hands and he blesses us, and has not parted
from us since he came from Haran until this day, and he
remains with us continually
13 at home honouring us.' And Isaac said unto her: 'I, too,
know and see the deeds of Jacob who is with us, how that
with all his heart he honours us; but I loved Esau formerly
more than Jacob, because he was the firstborn; but now I
love Jacob more than Esau, for he has done manifold evil
deeds, and there is no righteousness in him, for all his
ways are unrighteousness and violence, [and
14 there is no righteousness around him.] And now my heart
is troubled because of all his deeds, and neither he nor his
seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be
destroyed from the earth and who will be rooted out from
under heaven, for he has forsaken the God of Abraham and
gone
15 after his wives and after their uncleanness and after
their error, he and his children. And thou dost bid me make
him swear that he will not slay Jacob his brother; even if
he swear he will not abide
16 by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only. But
if he desires to slay Jacob, his brother, into Jacob's hands
will he be given, and he will not escape from his hands,
[for he will descend into his
17 hands.] And fear thou not on account of Jacob; for the
guardian of Jacob is great and powerful
18 and honoured, and praised more than the guardian of
Esau.' And Rebecca sent and called Esau and he came to her,
and she said unto him: 'I have a petition, my son, to make
unto thee, and do
19 thou promise to do it, my son.' And he said: 'I will do
everything that thou sayest unto me, and
20 I will not refuse thy petition.' And she said unto him:
'I ask you that the day I die, thou wilt take me in and bury
me near Sarah, thy father's mother, and that thou and Jacob
will love each other and that neither will desire evil
against the other, but mutual love only, and (so) ye will
prosper, my sons, and be honoured in the midst of the land,
and no enemy will rejoice over you, and ye will be
21 a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love
you.' And he said: 'I will do all that thou hast told me,
and I shall bury thee on the day thou diest near Sarah, my
father's mother, as
22 thou hast desired that her bones may be near thy bones.
And Jacob, my brother, also, I shall love above all flesh;
for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only: and
this is no great merit for me if I love him; for he is my
brother, and we were sown together in thy body, and together
came
23 we forth from thy womb, and if I do not love my brother,
whom shall I love? And I, myself, beg thee to exhort Jacob
concerning me and concerning my sons, for I know that he
will assuredly be king over me and my sons, for on the day
my father blessed him he made him the higher and me
24 the lower. And I swear unto thee that I shall love him,
and not desire evil against him all the
25 days of my life but good only.' And he sware unto her
regarding all this matter. And she called Jacob before the
eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the
words which
26 she had spoken to Esau. And he said: 'I shall do thy
pleasure; believe me that no evil will proceed from me or
from my sons against Esau, and I shall be first in naught
save in love only.'
27 And they eat and drank, she and her sons that night, and
she died, three jubilees and one week and one year old, on
that night, and her two sons, Esau and Jacob, buried her in
the double cave near Sarah, their father's mother.
[Chapter 36]
1 And in the sixth year of this week [2162 A.M.] Isaac
called his two sons Esau and Jacob, and they came to him,
and he said unto them: 'My sons, I am going the way of my
fathers, to the eternal house
2 where my fathers are. Wherefore bury me near Abraham my
father, in the double cave in the field of Ephron the
Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulchre to bury in; in
the sepulchre which
3 I digged for myself, there bury me. And this I command
you, my sons, that ye practise righteousness and uprightness
on the earth, so that the Lord may bring upon you all that
the Lord said that
4 he would do to Abraham and to his seed. And love one
another, my sons, your brothers as a man who loves his own
soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother,
and act together on the earth; and let them love each other
as their own souls. And concerning the question of idols, I
command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and
love them not, for they are full
6 of deception for those that worship them and for those
that bow down to them. Remember ye, my sons, the Lord God of
Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served
Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you
and increase your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude,
and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness
which will not be rooted
7 out unto all the generations for ever. And now I shall
make you swear a great oath -for there is no oath which is
greater than it by the name glorious and honoured and great
and splendid and wonderful and mighty, which created the
heavens and the earth and all things together- that ye will
8 fear Him and worship Him. And that each will love his
brother with affection and righteousness, and that neither
will desire evil against his brother from henceforth for
ever all the days of your life
9 so that ye may prosper in all your deeds and not be
destroyed. And if either of you devises evil against his
brother, know that from henceforth everyone that devises
evil against his brother shall fall into his hand, and shall
be rooted out of the land of the living, and his seed shall
be destroyed from
10 under heaven. But on the day of turbulence and execration
and indignation and anger, with flaming devouring fire as He
burnt Sodom, so likewise will He burn his land and his city
and all that is his, and he shall be blotted out of the book
of the discipline of the children of men, and not be
recorded in the book of life, but in that which is appointed
to destruction, and he shall depart into eternal execration;
so that their condemnation may be always renewed in hate and
in execration and in wrath and in torment and in indignation
and in plagues and in disease for ever. I say and testify to
you, my sons, according to the judgment which shall come
upon the man who wishes to
12 injure his brother. And he divided all his possessions
between the two on that day and he gave the larger portion
to him that was the first-born, and the tower and all that
was about it, and all that
13 Abraham possessed at the Well of the Oath. And he said:
'This larger portion I will give to the
14 firstborn.' And Esau said, 'I have sold to Jacob and
given my birthright to Jacob; to him let it be
15 given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it,
for it is his.' And Isaac said, May a blessing rest upon
you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for ye have given
me rest, and my heart is not
16 pained concerning the birthright, lest thou shouldest
work wickedness on account of it. May the
17 Most High God bless the man that worketh righteousness,
him and his seed for ever.' And he ended commanding them and
blessing them, and they eat and drank together before him,
and he rejoiced because there was one mind between them, and
they went forth from him and rested that day and
18 slept. And Isaac slept on his bed that day rejoicing; and
he slept the eternal sleep, and died one hundred and eighty
years old. He completed twenty-five weeks and five years;
and his two sons
19 Esau and Jacob buried him. And Esau went to the land of
Edom, to the mountains of Seir, and
20 dwelt there. And Jacob dwelt in the mountains of Hebron,
in the tower of the land of the sojournings of his father
Abraham, and he worshipped the Lord with all his heart and
according to the visible
21 commands according as He had divided the days of his
generations. And Leah his wife died in the fourth year of
the second week of the forty-fifth jubilee, [2167 A.M.] and
he buried her in the double cave
23 near Rebecca his mother to the left of the grave of
Sarah, his father's mother and all her sons and his sons
came to mourn over Leah his wife with him and to comfort him
regarding her, for he
24 was lamenting her for he loved her exceedingly after
Rachel her sister died; for she was perfect and upright in
all her ways and honoured Jacob,and all the days that she
lived with him he did not hear from her mouth a harsh word,
for she was gentle and peaceable and upright and honourable
24 And he remembered all her deeds which she had done during
her life and he lamented her exceedingly; for he loved her
with all his heart and with all his soul.
[Chapter 37]
1 And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau
died, [2162 A.M.] the sons of Esau heard that Isaac
2 had given the portion of the elder to his younger son
Jacob and they were very angry. And they strove with their
father, saying 'Why has thy father given Jacob the portion
of the elder and passed
3 over thee, although thou art the elder and Jacob the
younger?' And he said unto them 'Because I sold my
birthright to Jacob for a small mess of lentils, and on the
day my father sent me to hunt and catch and bring him
something that he should eat and bless me, he came with
guile and brought
4 my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and
put me under his hand. And now our father has caused us to
swear, me and him, that we shall not mutually devise evil,
either against his brother, and that we shall continue in
love and in peace each with his brother and not make our
ways
5 corrupt.' And they said unto him, 'We shall not hearken
unto thee to make peace with him; for our strength is
greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he;
we shall go against him and slay him, and destroy him and
his sons. And if thou wilt not go with us, we shall do hurt
6 to thee also. And now hearken unto us: Let us send to Aram
and Philistia and Moab and Ammon, and let us choose for
ourselves chosen men who are ardent for battle, and let us
go against him and do battle with him, and let us
exterminate him from the earth before he grows strong.'
7 And their father said unto them, 'Do not go and do not
make war with him lest ye fall before him.'
8 And they said unto him, 'This too, is exactly thy mode of
action from thy youth until this day, and
9 thou art putting thy neck under his yoke. We shall not
hearken to these words.' And they sent to Aram, and to
'Aduram to the friend of their father, and they hired along
with them one thousand
10 fighting men, chosen men of war. And there came to them
from Moab and from the children of Ammon, those who were
hired, one thousand chosen men, and from Philistia, one
thousand chosen men of war, and from Edom and from the
Horites one thousand chosen fighting men, and from the
11 Kittim mighty men of war. And they said unto their
father: Go forth with them and lead them,
12 else we shall slay thee.' And he was filled with wrath
and indignation on seeing that his sons were forcing him to
go before (them) to lead them against Jacob his brother. But
afterward he remem-
13 bered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against
Jacob his brother; and he remembered not the oath which he
had sworn to his father and to his mother that he would
devise no evil all his days
14 against Jacob his brother. And notwithstanding all this,
Jacob knew not that they were coming against him to battle,
and he was mourning for Leah, his wife, until they
approached very near to the
15 tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war
And the men of Hebron sent to him saying, 'Behold thy
brother has come against thee, to fight thee, with four
thousand girt with the sword, and they carry shields and
weapons'; for they loved Jacob more than Esau. So they told
him; for
16 Jacob was a more liberal and merciful man than Esau. But
Jacob would not believe until they came
17 very near to the tower. And he closed the gates of the
tower; and he stood on the battlements and spake to his
brother Esau and said, 'Noble is the comfort wherewith thou
hast come to comfort me for my wife who has died. Is this
the oath that thou didst swear to thy father and again to
thy mother before they died? Thou hast broken the oath, and
on the moment that thou didst swear to
18 thy father wast thou condemned.' And then Esau answered
and said unto him, 'Neither the children of men nor the
beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in
swearing they have sworn (an oath valid) for ever; but every
day they devise evil one against another, and how each
19 may slay his adversary and foe. And thou dost hate me and
my children for ever. And there is
20 no observing the tie of brotherhood with thee. Hear these
words which I declare unto thee,
If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as
soft as wool,
Or if it can cause horns to sprout forth on its head like
the horns of a stag or of a sheep,
Then will I observe the tie of brotherhood with thee
And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother,
for thou hast not been a brother to me.
21 And if the wolves make peace with the lambs so as not to
devour or do them violence,
And if their hearts are towards them for good,
Then there shall be peace in my heart towards thee
22 And if the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes
peace with him
And if he is bound under one yoke with him and ploughs with
him,
Then will I make peace with thee.
23 And when the raven becomes white as the raza,
Then know that I have loved thee
And shall make peace with thee
Thou shalt be rooted out,
And thy sons shall be rooted out,
And there shall be no peace for thee'
24 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) evilly disposed
towards him with his heart, and with all his soul as to slay
him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which
comes upon
25 the spear that pierces and kills it, and recoils not from
it; then he spake to his own and to his servants that they
should attack him and all his companions.
[Chapter 38]
1 And after that Judah spake to Jacob, his father, and said
unto him: 'Bend thy bow, father, and send forth thy arrows
and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and mayst
thou have the power, for we shall not slay thy brother, for
he is such as thou, and he is like thee let us give him
2 (this) honour.' Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the
arrow and struck Esau, his brother (on
3 his right breast) and slew him. And again he sent forth an
arrow and struck 'Adoran the Aramaean,
4 on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him
And then went forth the sons of Jacob,
5 they and their servants, dividing themselves into
companies on the four sides of the tower. And Judah went
forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty
servants with him on the south side of the tower, and they
slew all they found before them, and not one individual of
them escaped.
6 And Levi and Dan and Asher went forth on the east side of
the tower, and fifty (men) with them,
7 and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. And
Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went forth on the north side
of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the
fighting men of the
8 Philistines. And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben's
son, went forth on the west side of the tower, and fifty
(men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites
four hundred men, stout warriors; and six hundred fled, and
four of the sons of Esau fled with them, and left their
father
9 lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in
'Aduram. And the sons of Jacob pursued after them to the
mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill
which is in 'Aduram, and
10 he returned to his house. And the sons of Jacob pressed
hard upon the sons of Esau in the moun-
11 tains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became
servants of the sons of Jacob. And they
12 sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should
make peace with them or slay them. And Jacob sent word to
his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace
with them, and placed the
13 yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to
Jacob and to his sons always. And they
14 continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he
went down into Egypt. And the sons of Edom have not got quit
of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had
imposed on
15 them until this day. And these are the kings that reigned
in Edom before there reigned any king
16 over the children of Israel [until this day] in the land
of Edom. And Balaq, the son of Beor, reigned
17 in Edom, and the name of his city was Danaba. And Balaq
died, and Jobab, the son of Zara of
18 Boser, reigned in his stead. And Jobab died, and 'Asam,
of the land of Teman, reigned in his stead.
19 And 'Asam died, and 'Adath, the son of Barad, who slew
Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his
20 stead, and the name of his city was Avith. And 'Adath
died, and Salman, from 'Amaseqa, reigned
21,22 in his stead. And Salman died,and Saul of Ra'aboth (by
the) river, reigned in his stead. And Saul
23 died, and Ba'elunan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his
stead. And Ba'elunan, the son of Achbor died, and 'Adath
reigned in his stead, and the name of his wife was
Maitabith, the daughter of
25 Matarat, the daughter of Metabedza'ab. These are the
kings who reigned in the land of Edom.
[Chapter 39]
1,2 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings
in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob.
And Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down
into
3 the land of Egypt, and Potiphar, an eunuch of Pharaoh, the
chief cook bought him. And he set Joseph over all his house
and the blessing of the Lord came upon the house of the
Egyptian on
4 account of Joseph, and the Lord prospered him in all that
he did. And the Egyptian committed everything into the hands
of Joseph; for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that
the
5 Lord prospered him in all that he did. And Joseph's
appearance was comely [and very beautiful was his
appearance], and his master's wife lifted up her eyes and
saw Joseph, and she loved him
6 and besought him to lie with her. But he did not surrender
his soul, and he remembered the Lord and the words which
Jacob, his father, used to read from amongst the words of
Abraham, that no man should commit fornication with a woman
who has a husband; that for him the punishment of death has
been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God, and
the sin
7 will be recorded against him in the eternal books
continually before the Lord. And Joseph
8 remembered these words and refused to lie with her. And
she besought him for a year, but he
9 refused and would not listen. But she embraced him and
held him fast in the house in order to force him to lie with
her, and closed the doors of the house and held him fast;
but he left
10 his garment in her hands and broke through the door and
fled without from her presence. And the woman saw that he
would not lie with her, and she calumniated him in the
presence of his lord, saying 'Thy Hebrew servant, whom thou
lovest, sought to force me so that he might lie with me; and
it came to pass when I lifted up my voice that he fled and
left his garment in
11 my hands when I held him, and he brake through the door.'
And the Egyptian saw the garment of Joseph and the broken
door, and heard the words of his wife, and cast Joseph into
12 prison into the place where the prisoners were kept whom
the king imprisoned. And he was there in the prison; and the
Lord gave Joseph favour in the sight of the chief of the
prison guards and compassion before him, for he saw that the
Lord was with him, and that the Lord
13 made all that he did to prosper. And he committed all
things into his hands, and the chief of the prison guards
knew of nothing that was with him, for Joseph did every
thing, and the
14 Lord perfected it. And he remained there two years. And
in those days Pharaoh, king of Egypt was wroth against his
two eunuchs, against the chief butler, and against the chief
baker, and he put
15 them in ward in the house of the chief cook, in the
prison where Joseph was kept. And the chief of
16 the prison guards appointed Joseph to serve them; and he
served before them. And they both
17 dreamed a dream, the chief butler and the chief baker,
and they told it to Joseph. And as he interpreted to them so
it befell them, and Pharaoh restored the chief butler to his
office and the
18 (chief) baker he slew, as Joseph had interpreted to them.
But the chief butler forgot Joseph in the prison, although
he had informed him what would befall him, and did not
remember to inform Pharaoh how Joseph had told him, for he
forgot.
[Chapter 40]
1 And in those days Pharaoh dreamed two dreams in one night
concerning a famine which was to be in all the land, and he
awoke from his sleep and called all the interpreters of
dreams that were in Egypt, and magicians, and told them his
two dreams, and they were not able to declare (them).
2 And then the chief butler remembered Joseph and spake of
him to the king, and he brought him
3 forth from the prison, and he to]d his two dreams before
him. And he said before Pharaoh that his two dreams were
one, and he said unto him: 'Seven years shall come (in which
there shall be) plenty over all the land of Egypt, and after
that seven years of famine, such a famine as has not been in
all
4 the land. And now let Pharaoh appoint overseers in all the
land of Egypt, and let them store up food in every city
throughout the days of the years of plenty, and there will
be food for the seven
5 years of famine, and the land will not perish through the
famine, for it will be very severe.' And the Lord gave
Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh
said unto his servants. We shall not find such a wise and
discreet man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with
6 him.' And he appointed him the second in all his kingdom
and gave him authority over all
7 Egypt, and caused him to ride in the second chariot of
Pharaoh. And he clothed him with byssus garments, and he put
a gold chain upon his neck, and (a herald) proclaimed before
him ' 'El 'El wa 'Abirer,' and placed a ring on his hand and
made him ruler over all his house, and magnified him, and
8 said unto him. 'Only on the throne shall I be greater than
thou.' And Joseph ruled over all the land of Egypt, and all
the princes of Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all who
did the king's business loved him, for he walked in
uprightness, for he was without pride and arrogance, and he
had no respect of persons, and did not accept gifts, but he
judged in uprightness all the people of the land.
9 And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because
of Joseph, for the Lord was with him, and gave him favour
and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew
him and those who heard concerning him, and Pharaoh's
kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil
10 person (therein). And the king called Joseph's name
Sephantiphans, and gave Joseph to wife the
11 daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of
Heliopolis, the chief cook. And on the day that
12 Joseph stood before Pharaoh he was thirty years old [when
he stood before Pharaoh]. And in that year Isaac died. And
it came to pass as Joseph had said in the interpretation of
his two dreams, according as he had said it, there were
seven years of plenty over all the land of Egypt, and the
13 land of Egypt abundantly produced, one measure
(producing) eighteen hundred measures. And Joseph gathered
food into every city until they were full of corn until they
could no longer count and measure it for its multitude.
[Chapter 41]
1 And in the forty-fifth jubilee, in the second week, (and)
in the second year, [2165 A.M.] Judah took for his
2 first-born Er, a wife from the daughters of Aram, named
Tamar. But he hated, and did not lie with her, because his
mother was of the daughters of Canaan, and he wished to take
him a wife of the
3 kinsfolk of his mother, but Judah, his father, would not
permit him. And this Er, the first-born of Judah,
4 was wicked, and the Lord slew him. And Judah said unto
Onan, his brother 'Go in unto thy brother's wife and perform
the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed
unto thy brother.' And
5 Onan knew that the seed would not be his, (but) his
brother's only, and he went into the house of his brother's
wife, and spilt the seed on the ground, and he was wicked in
the eyes of the Lord, and He slew
6 him. And Judah said unto Tamar, his daughter-in-law:
'Remain in thy father's house as a widow till
7 Shelah my son be grown up, and I shall give thee to him to
wife.' And he grew up; but Bedsu'el, the wife of Judah, did
not permit her son Shelah to marry. And Bedsu'el, the wife
of Judah, died [2168 A.M.]
8 in the fifth year of this week. And in the sixth year Judah went up to shear his sheep at Timnah. [2169 A.M.]
9 And they told Tamar: 'Behold thy father-in-law goeth
up to Timnah to shear his sheep.' And she put off her
widow's clothes, and put on a veil, and adorned herself, and
sat in the gate adjoining the
10 way to Timnah. And as Judah was going along he found her,
and thought her to be an harlot, and he said unto her: 'Let
me come in unto thee'; and she said unto him Come in,' and
he went
11 in. And she said unto him: 'Give me my hire'; and he said
unto her: 'I have nothing in my
12 hand save my ring that is on my finger, and my necklace,
and my staff which is in my hand.' And she said unto him
'Give them to me until thou dost send me my hire', and he
said unto her: 'I will send unto thee a kid of the goats';
and he gave them to her,
13,14 she conceived by him. And Judah went unto his sheep,
and she went to her father's house. And Judah sent a kid of
the goats by the hand of his shepherd, an Adullamite, and he
found her not; and he asked the people of the place, saying:
'Where is the harlot who was here?' And they said
15 unto him; 'There is no harlot here with us.' And he
returned and informed him, and said unto him that he had not
found her: 'I asked the people of the place, and they said
unto me: "There
16 is no harlot here." ' And he said: 'Let her keep (them)
lest we become a cause of derision.' And when she had
completed three months, it was manifest that she was with
child, and they told Judah,
17 saying: 'Behold Tamar, thy daughter-in-law, is with child
by whoredom.' And Judah went to the house of her father, and
said unto her father and her brothers: 'Bring her forth, and
let them burn
18 her, for she hath wrought uncleanness in Israel.' And it
came to pass when they brought her forth to burn her that
she sent to her father-in-law the ring and the necklace, and
the staff, saying:
19 'Discern whose are these, for by him am I with child.'
And Judah acknowledged, and said: 'Tamar
20 is more righteous than I am. And therefore let them burn
her not' And for that reason she was
21 not given to Shelah, and he did not again approach her
And after that she bare two sons, Perez [2170 A.M.]
22 and Zerah, in the seventh year of this second week.
And thereupon the seven years of fruitfulness
23 were accomplished, of which Joseph spake to Pharaoh. And
Judah acknowledged that the deed which he had done was evil,
for he had lain with his daughter-in-law, and he esteemed it
hateful in his eyes, and he acknowledged that he had
transgressed and gone astray, for he had uncovered the skirt
of his son, and he began to lament and to supplicate before
the Lord because of his transgression.
24 And we told him in a dream that it was forgiven him
because he supplicated earnestly, and lamented,
25 and did not again commit it. And he received forgiveness
because he turned from his sin and from his ignorance, for
he transgressed greatly before our God; and every one that
acts thus, every one who lies with his mother-in-law, let
them burn him with fire that he may burn therein, for there
is
26 uncleanness and pollution upon them, with fire let them
burn them. And do thou command the children of Israel that
there be no uncleanness amongst them, for every one who lies
with his daughter-in-law or with his mother-in-law hath
wrought uncleanness; with fire let them burn the man who has
lain with her, and likewise the woman, and He will turn away
wrath and punishment
27 from Israel. And unto Judah we said that his two sons had
not lain with her, and for this reason
28 his seed was stablished for a second generation, and
would not be rooted out. For in singleness of eye he had
gone and sought for punishment, namely, according to the
judgment of Abraham, which he had commanded his sons, Judah
had sought to burn her with fire.
[Chapter 42]
1 And in the first year of the third week of the forty-fifth
jubilee the famine began to come into the [2171 A.M.]
2 land, and the rain refused to be given to the earth,
for none whatever fell. And the earth grew barren, but in
the land of Egypt there was food, for Joseph had gathered
the seed of the land in the
3 seven years of plenty and had preserved it. And the
Egyptians came to Joseph that he might give them food, and
he opened the store-houses where was the grain of the first
year, and he sold it to
4 the people of the land for gold.
5 that went (there). And Joseph recognised them, but they
did not recognise him, and he spake unto them and questioned
them, and he said unto them; 'Are ye not spies and have ye
not come to
6 explore the approaches of the land? 'And he put them in
ward. And after that he set them free
7 again, and detained Simeon alone and sent off his nine
brothers. And he filled their sacks with corn,
8 and he put their gold in their sacks, and they did not
know. And he commanded them to bring
9 their younger brother, for they had told him their father
was living and their younger brother. And they went up from
the land of Egypt and they came to the land of Canaan; and
they told their father all that had befallen them, and how
the lord of the country had spoken roughly to them, and
10 had seized Simeon till they should bring Benjamin. And
Jacob said: 'Me have ye bereaved of my children! Joseph is
not and Simeon also is not, and ye will take Benjamin away.
On me has your
11 wickedness come. 'And he said: 'My son will not go down
with you lest perchance he fall sick; for their mother gave
birth to two sons, and one has perished, and this one also
ye will take from me. If perchance he took a fever on the
road, ye would bring down my old age with sorrow unto
death.'
12 For he saw that their money had been returned to every
man in his sack, and for this reason he
13 feared to send him. And the famine increased and became
sore in the land of Canaan, and in all lands save in the
land of Egypt, for many of the children of the Egyptians had
stored up their seed for food from the time when they saw
Joseph gathering seed together and putting it in storehouses
14 and preserving it for the years of famine. And the people
of Egypt fed themselves thereon during
15 the first year of their famine But when Israel saw that
the famine was very sore in the land, and that there was no
deliverance, he said unto his sons: 'Go again, and procure
food for us that we die
16 not.' And they said: 'We shall not go; unless our
youngest brother go with us, we shall not go.'
17 And Israel saw that if he did not send him with them,
they should all perish by reason of the famine
18 And Reuben said: 'Give him into my hand, and if I do not
bring him back to thee, slay my two
19 sons instead of his soul.' And he said unto him: 'He
shall not go with thee.' And Judah came near and said: 'Send
him with me, and if I do not bring him back to thee, let me
bear the blame before
20 thee all the days of my life.' And he sent him with them
in the second year of this week on the [2172 A.m.] first day
of the month, and they came to the land of Egypt with all
those who went, and (they had)
21 presents in their hands, stacte and almonds and terebinth
nuts and pure honey. And they went and stood before Joseph,
and he saw Benjamin his brother, and he knew him, and said
unto them: Is this your youngest brother?' And they said
unto him: 'It is he.' And he said The Lord be
22 gracious to thee, my son!' And he sent him into his house
and he brought forth Simeon unto them and he made a feast
for them, and they presented to him the gift which they had
brought in their
23 hands. And they eat before him and he gave them all a
portion, but the portion of Benjamin was
24 seven times larger than that of any of theirs. And they
eat and drank and arose and remained with
25 their asses. And Joseph devised a plan whereby he might
learn their thoughts as to whether thoughts of peace
prevailed amongst them, and he said to the steward who was
over his house: 'Fill all their sacks with food, and return
their money unto them into their vessels, and my cup, the
silver cup out of which I drink, put it in the sack of the
youngest, and send them away.'
[Chapter 43]
1 And he did as Joseph had told him, and filled all their
sacks for them with food and put their
2 money in their sacks, and put the cup in Benjamin's sack.
Aud early in the morning they departed, and it came to pass
that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said unto the
steward of his house: 'Pursue them, run and seize them,
saying, "For good ye have requited me with evil; you have
stolen from me the silver cup out of which my lord drinks."
And bring back to me their
3 youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go
forth to my seat of judgment.' And he ran
4 after them and said unto them according to these words.
And they said unto him: 'God forbid that thy servants should
do this thing, and steal from the house of thy lord any
utensil, and the money also which we found in our sacks the
first time, we thy servants brought back from the land of
5 Canaan. How then should we steal any utensil? Behold here
are we and our sacks search, and wherever thou findest the
cup in the sack of any man amongst us, let him be slain, and
we and our
6 asses will serve thy lord.' And he said unto them: 'Not
so, the man with whom I find, him only
7 shall I take as a servant, and ye shall return in peace
unto your house.' And as he was searching in their vessels,
beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, it
was found in Benjamin's
8 sack. And they rent their garments, and laded their asses,
and returned to the city and came to the
9 house of Joseph, and they all bowed themselves on their
faces to the ground before him. And Joseph said unto them:
'Ye have done evil.' And they said: 'What shall we say and
how shall we defend ourselves? Our lord hath discovered the
transgression of his servants; behold we are the
10 servants of our lord, and our asses also. 'And Joseph
said unto them: 'I too fear the Lord; as for you, go ye to
your homes and let your brother be my servant, for ye have
done evil. Know ye not
11 that a man delights in his cup as I with this cup? And
yet ye have stolen it from me.' And Judah said: 'O my lord,
let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ear
two brothers did thy servant's mother bear to our father:
one went away and was lost, and hath not been found, and he
alone is left of his mother, and thy servant our father
loves him, and his life also is bound up with
12 the life of this (lad). And it will come to pass, when we
go to thy servant our father, and the lad is
13 not with us, that he will die, and we shall bring down
our father with sorrow unto death. Now rather let me, thy
servant, abide instead of the boy as a bondsman unto my
lord, and let the lad go with his brethren, for I became
surety for him at the hand of thy servant our father, and if
I do not
14 bring him back, thy servant will hear the blame to our
father for ever.' And Joseph saw that they were all
accordant in goodness one with another, and he could not
refrain himself, and he told them
15 that he was Joseph. And he conversed with them in the
Hebrew tongue and fell on their neck and
16 wept. But they knew him not and they began to weep. And
he said unto them: 'Weep not over me, but hasten and bring
my father to me; and ye see that it is my mouth that
speaketh and the
17 eyes of my brother Benjamin see. For behold this is the
second year of the famine, and there are
18 still five years without harvest or fruit of trees or
ploughing. Come down quickly ye and your households, so that
ye perish not through the famine, and do not be grieved for
your possessions, for
19 the Lord sent me before you to set things in order that
many people might live. And tell my father that I am still
alive, and ye, behold, ye see that the Lord has made me as a
father to Pharaoh,
20 and ruler over his house and over all the land of Egypt.
And tell my father of all my glory, and
21 all the riches and glory that the Lord hath given me.'
And by the command of the mouth of Pharaoh he gave them
chariots and provisions for the way, and he gave them all
many-coloured
21 raiment and silver. And to their father he sent raiment
and silver and ten asses which carried corn,
23 and he sent them away. And they went up and told their
father that Joseph was alive, and was measuring out corn to
all the nations of the earth, and that he was ruler over all
the land of Egypt.
24 And their father did not believe it, for he was beside
himself in his mind; but when he saw the wagons which Joseph
had sent, the life of his spirit revived, and he said: 'It
is enough for me if Joseph lives; I will go down and see him
before I die.'
[Chapter 44]
1 And Israel took his journey from Haran from his house on
the new moon of the third month, and he went on the way of
the Well of the Oath, and he offered a sacrifice to the God
of his
2 father Isaac on the seventh of this month. And Jacob
remembered the dream that he had seen
3 at Bethel, and he feared to go down into Egypt. And while
he was thinking of sending word to Joseph to come to him,
and that he would not go down, he remained there seven days,
if
4 perchance he could see a vision as to whether he should
remain or go down. And he celebrated the harvest festival of
the first-fruits with old grain, for in all the land of
Canaan there was not a handful of seed [in the land], for
the famine was over all the beasts and cattle and
5 birds, and also over man. And on the sixteenth the Lord
appeared unto him, and said unto him, 'Jacob, Jacob'; and he
said, 'Here am I.' And He said unto him: 'I am the God of
thy fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac; fear not to go
down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee
6 a great nation I will go down with thee, and I will bring
thee up (again), and in this land shalt thou be buried, and
Joseph shall put his hands upon thy eyes. Fear not; go down
into Egypt.'
7 And his sons rose up, and his sons' sons, and they placed
their father and their possessions upon
8 wagons. And Israel rose up from the Well of the Oath on
the sixteenth of this third month, and he
9 went to the land of Egypt. And Israel sent Judah before
him to his son Joseph to examine the Land of Goshen, for
Joseph had told his brothers that they should come and dwell
there that they
10 might be near him. And this was the goodliest (land) in
the land of Egypt, and near to him, for all
11 (of them) and also for the cattle. And these are the
names of the sons of Jacob who went into
12 Egypt with Jacob their father Reuben, the First-born of
Israel; and these are the names of his
13 sons Enoch, and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi-five. Simeon
and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Jemuel,
and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the
son
14 of the Zephathite woman-seven. Levi and his sons; and
these are the names of his sons: Gershon, and Kohath, and
Merari-four. Judah and his sons; and these are the names of
his sons:
15 Shela, and Perez, and Zerah-four. Issachar and his sons;
and these are the names of his sons:
17 Tola, and Phua, and Jasub, and Shimron-five. Zebulon and
his sons; and these are the names of
18 his sons: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel-four. And these
are the sons of Jacob and their sons whom Leah bore to Jacob
in Mesopotamia, six, and their one sister, Dinah and all the
souls of the sons of Leah, and their sons, who went with
Jacob their father into Egypt, were twenty-nine, and Jacob
their
19 father being with them, they were thirty. And the sons of
Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, the wife of
20 Jacob, who bore unto Jacob Gad and Ashur. And there are
the names of their sons who went with him into Egypt. The
sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, and Shuni, and Ezbon, (and
Eri, and Areli,
21 and Arodi-eight. And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and
Ishvah, (and Ishvi), and Beriah, and Serah,
22,23 their one sister-six. All the souls were fourteen, and
all those of Leah were forty-four. And the
24 sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin.
And there were born to Joseph in Egypt before his father
came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar
priest of Heliopolis
25 bare unto him, Manasseh, and Ephraim-three. And the sons
of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman,
and Ehi, and Rosh, and Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard-eleven.
26,27 And all the souls of Rachel were fourteen. And the
sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, the
28 wife of Jacob, whom she bare to Jacob, were Dan and
Naphtali. And these are the names of their sons who went
with them into Egypt. And the sons of Dan were Hushim, and
Samon, and Asudi.
29 and 'Ijaka, and Salomon-six. And they died the year in
which they entered into Egypt, and there
30 was left to Dan Hushim alone. And these are the names of
the sons of Naphtali Jahziel, and Guni
31 and Jezer, and Shallum, and 'Iv. And 'Iv, who was born
after the years of famine, died in Egypt.
32,33 And all the souls of Rachel were twenty-six. And all
the souls of Jacob which went into Egypt were seventy souls.
These are his children and his children's children, in all
seventy, but five died
34 in Egypt before Joseph, and had no children. And in the
land of Canaan two sons of Judah died, Er and Onan, and they
had no children, and the children of Israel buried those who
perished, and they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile
nations.
[Chapter 45]
1 And Israel went into the country of Egypt, into the land
of Goshen, on the new moon of the fourth [2172 A.M].
2 month, in the second year of the third week of the
forty-fifth jubilee. And Joseph went to meet his
3 father Jacob, to the land of Goshen, and he fell on his
father's neck and wept. And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Now
let me die since I have seen thee, and now may the Lord God
of Israel be blessed the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac
who hath not withheld His mercy and His grace from
4 His servant Jacob. It is enough for me that I have seen
thy face whilst I am yet alive; yea, true is the vision
which I saw at Bethel. Blessed be the Lord my God for ever
and ever, and blessed be
5 His name.' And Joseph and his brothers eat bread before
their father and drank wine, and Jacob rejoiced with
exceeding great joy because he saw Joseph eating with his
brothers and drinking before him, and he blessed the Creator
of all things who had preserved him, and had preserved for
him his
6 twelve sons. And Joseph had given to his father and to his
brothers as a gift the right of dwelling in the land of
Goshen and in Rameses and all the region round about, which
he ruled over before Pharaoh. And Israel and his sons dwelt
in the land of Goshen, the best part of the land of Egypt
7 and Israel was one hundred and thirty years old when he
came into Egypt. And Joseph nourished his father and his
brethren and also their possessions with bread as much as
sufficed them for the
8 seven years of the famine. And the land of Egypt suffered
by reason of the famine, and Joseph acquired all the land of
Egypt for Pharaoh in return for food, and he got possession
of the people
9 and their cattle and everything for Pharaoh. And the years
of the famine were accomplished, and Joseph gave to the
people in the land seed and food that they might sow (the
land) in the eighth
10 year, for the river had overflowed all the land of Egypt.
For in the seven years of the famine it had (not) overflowed
and had irrigated only a few places on the banks of the
river, but now it overflowed
11 and the Egyptians sowed the land, and it bore much corn
that year. And this was the first year of [2178 A.M.]
12 the fourth week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And
Joseph took of the corn of the harvest the fifth part for
the king and left four parts for them for food and for seed,
and Joseph made it an ordinance for
13 the land of Egypt until this day. And Israel lived in the
land of Egypt seventeen years, and all the days which he
lived were three jubilees, one hundred and forty-seven
years, and he died in the fourth [2188 A.M.]
14 year of the fifth week of the forty-fifth jubilee.
And Israel blessed his sons before he died and told them
everything that would befall them in the land of Egypt; and
he made known to them what would come upon them in the last
days, and blessed them and gave to Joseph two portions in
15 the land. And he slept with his fathers, and he was
buried in the double cave in the land of Canaan, near
Abraham his father in the grave which he dug for himself in
the double cave in
16 the land of Hebron. And he gave all his books and the
books of his fathers to Levi his son that he might preserve
them and renew them for his children until this day.
[Chapter 46]
1 And it came to pass that after Jacob died the children of
Israel multiplied in the land of Egypt, and they became a
great nation, and they were of one accord in heart, so that
brother loved brother and every man helped his brother, and
they increased abundantly and multiplied exceedingly, ten
[2242 A.M.]
2 weeks of years, all the days of the life of Joseph And
there was no Satan nor any evil all the days of the life of
Joseph which he lived after his father Jacob, for all the
Egyptians honoured the children
3 of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph. And Joseph
died being a hundred and ten years old; seventeen years he
lived in the land of Canaan, and ten years he was a servant,
and three years in
4 prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all
the land of Egypt. And he died and all
5 his brethren and all that generation. And he commanded the
children of Israel before he died that
6 they should carry his bones with them when they went forth
from the land of Egypt. And he made them swear regarding his
bones, for he knew that the Egyptians would not again bring
forth and bury him in the land of Canaan, for Makamaron,
king of Canaan, while dwelling in the land of Assyria,
fought in the valley with the king of Egypt and slew him
there, and pursued after the
7 Egyptians to the gates of 'Ermon. But he was not able to
enter, for another, a new king, had become king of Egypt,
and he was stronger than he, and he returned to the land of
Canaan, and the gates of
8 Egypt were closed, and none went out and none came into
Egypt. And Joseph died in the forty-sixth jubilee, in the
sixth week, in the second year, and they buried him in the
land of Egypt, and [2242 A.M.]
9 all his brethren died after him. And the king of Egypt
went forth to war with the king of Canaan [2263 A.M.] in the
forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the second
year, and the children of Israel brought forth all the bones
of the children of Jacob save the bones of Joseph, and they
buried them in the
10 field in the double cave in the mountain. And the most
(of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of
11 them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram thy
father remained with them. And the
12 king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and
he closed the gates of Egypt. And he devised an evil device
against the children of Israel of afflicting them and he
said unto the people of
13 Egypt: 'Behold the people of the children of Israel have
increased and multiplied more than we. Come and let us deal
wisely with them before they become too many, and let us
afflict them with slavery before war come upon us and before
they too fight against us; else they will join themselves
unto our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their
hearts and faces are towards the land
14 of Canaan.' And he set over them taskmasters to afflict
them with slavery; and they built strong cities for Pharaoh,
Pithom, and Raamses and they built all the walls and all the
fortifications which
15 had fallen in the cities of Egypt. And they made them
serve with rigour, and the more they dealt evilly with them,
the more they increased and multiplied. And the people of
Egypt abominated the children of Israel
[Chapter 47]
1 And in the seventh week, in the seventh year, in the
forty-seventh jubilee, thy father went forth [2303 A.M.]
from the land of Canaan, and thou wast born in the fourth
week, in the sixth year thereof, in the [2330 A.M.]
2 forty-eighth jubilee; this was the time of tribulation
on the children of Israel. And Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
issued a command regarding them that they should cast all
their male children which were
3 born into the river. And they cast them in for seven
months until the day that thou wast born
4 And thy mother hid thee for three months, and they told
regarding her. And she made an ark for thee, and covered it
with pitch and asphalt, and placed it in the flags on the
bank of the river, and she placed thee in it seven days, and
thy mother came by night and suckled thee, and by day
5 Miriam, thy sister, guarded thee from the birds. And in
those days Tharmuth, the daughter of Pharaoh, came to bathe
in the river, and she heard thy voice crying, and she told
her maidens to
6 bring thee forth, and they brought thee unto her. And she
took thee out of the ark, and she had
7 compassion on thee. And thy sister said unto her: 'Shall I
go and call unto thee one of the
8 Hebrew women to nurse and suckle this babe for thee?' And
she said (unto her): 'Go.' And she
9 went and called thy mother Jochebed, and she gave her
wages, and she nursed thee. And afterwards, when thou wast
grown up, they brought thee unto the daughter of Pharaoh,
and thou didst become her son, and Amram thy father taught
thee writing, and after thou hadst completed three weeks
10 they brought thee into the royal court. And thou wast
three weeks of years at court until the time [2351-] when
thou didst go forth from the royal court and didst see an
Egyptian smiting thy friend who was [2372 A.M.]
11 of the children of Israel, and thou didst slay him
and hide him in the sand. And on the second day thou didst
and two of the children of Israel striving together, and
thou didst say to him who was
12 doing the wrong: 'Why dost thou smite thy brother?' And
he was angry and indignant, and said: 'Who made thee a
prince and a judge over us? Thinkest thou to kill me as thou
killedst the Egyptian yesterday?' And thou didst fear and
flee on account of these words.
[Chapter 48]
1 And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth
jubilee thou didst depart and dwell (in [2372 A.M.] the land
of Midian, five weeks and one year. And thou didst return
into Egypt in the second week
2 in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee. And thou
thyself knowest what He spake unto thee on [2410 A.M.] Mount
Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with thee when
thou wast returning into Egypt
3
4 judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians? And I delivered
thee out of his hand, and thou didst perform the signs and
wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against
Pharaoh, and
5 against all his house, and against his servants and his
people.
6 men and animals, and on all their idols the Lord took
vengeance and burned them with fire And everything was sent
through thy hand, that thou shouldst declare (these things)
before they were done, and thou didst speak with the king of
Egypt before all his servants and before his people
7 And everything took place according to thy words; ten
great and terrible judgments came on the
8 land of Egypt that thou mightest execute vengeance on it
for Israel. And the Lord did everything for Israel's sake,
and according to His covenant, which he had ordained with
Abraham that He
9 would take vengeance on them as they had brought them by
force into bondage. And the prince Mastema stood up against
thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands of Pharaoh, and
he helped
10 the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought
before thee the evils indeed we permitted
11 them to work, but the remedies we did not allow to be
wrought by their hands. And the Lord smote them with
malignant ulcers, and they were not able to stand, for we
destroyed them so that
12 they could not perform a single sign. And notwithstanding
all (these) signs and wonders the prince Mastema was not put
to shame because he took courage and cried to the Egyptians
to pursue after thee with all the powers of the Egyptians,
with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the
13 hosts of the peoples of Egypt. And I stood between the
Egyptians and Israel, and we delivered Israel out of his
hand, and out of the hand of his people, and the Lord
brought them through the
14 midst of the sea as if it were dry land. And all the
peoples whom he brought to pursue after Israel, the Lord our
God cast them into the midst of the sea, into the depths of
the abyss beneath the children of Israel, even as the people
of Egypt had cast their children into the river He took
vengeance on 1,000,000 of them, and one thousand strong and
energetic men were destroyed on
15 account of one suckling of the children of thy people
which they had thrown into the river. And on the fourteenth
day and on the fifteenth and on the sixteenth and on the
seventeenth and on the eighteenth the prince Mastema was
bound and imprisoned behind the children of Israel that he
16 might not accuse them. And on the nineteenth we let them
loose that they might help the
17 Egyptians and pursue the children of Israel. And he
hardened their hearts and made them stubborn, and the device
was devised by the Lord our God that He might smite the
Egyptians and
18 cast them into the sea. And on the fourteenth we bound
him that he might not accuse the children of Israel on the
day when they asked the Egyptians for vessels and garments,
vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of
bronze, in order to despoil the Egyptians in return for the
bondage in
19 which they had forced them to serve. And we did not lead
forth the children of Israel from Egypt empty handed.
[Chapter 49]
1 Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded thee
concerning the passover, that thou shouldst celebrate it in
its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou
shouldst kill it before it is evening, and that they should
eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the
2 time of the setting of the sun. For on this night -the
beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy- ye
were eating the passover in Egypt, when all the powers of
Mastema had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the
land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the
first-born
3 of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the
cattle. And this is the sign which the Lord gave them: Into
every house on the lintels of which they saw the blood of a
lamb of the first year, into (that) house they should not
enter to slay, but should pass by (it), that all those
should be saved that
4 were in the house because the sign of the blood was on its
lintels. And the powers of the Lord did everything according
as the Lord commanded them, and they passed by all the
children of Israel, and the plague came not upon them to
destroy from amongst them any soul either of cattle, or
5 man, or dog. And the plague was very grievous in Egypt,
and there was no house in Egypt
6 where there was not one dead, and weeping and lamentation.
And all Israel was eating the flesh of the paschal lamb, and
drinking the wine, and was lauding, and blessing, and giving
thanks to the Lord God of their fathers, and was ready to go
forth from under the yoke of Egypt, and from
7 the evil bondage. And remember thou this day all the days
of thy life, and observe it from year to year all the days
of thy life, once a year, on its day, according to all the
law thereof, and do not
8 adjourn (it) from day to day, or from month to month. For
it is an eternal ordinance, and engraven on the heavenly
tablets regarding all the children of Israel that they
should observe it every year on its day once a year,
throughout all their generations; and there is no limit of
days, for this is ordained
9 for ever. And the man who is free from uncleanness, and
does not come to observe it on occasion of its day, so as to
bring an acceptable offering before the Lord, and to eat and
to drink before the Lord on the day of its festival, that
man who is clean and close at hand shall be cut off: because
he offered not the oblation of the Lord in its appointed
season, he shall take the guilt upon himself.
10 Let the children of Israel come and observe the passover
on the day of its fixed time, on the fourteenth day of the
first month, between the evenings, from the third part of
the day to the third part of
1 the night, for two portions of the day are given to the
light, and a third part to the evening. This
12 is that which the Lord commanded thee that thou shouldst
observe it between the evenings. And it is not permissible
to slay it during any period of the light, but during the
period bordering on the evening, and let them eat it at the
time of the evening, until the third part of the night, and
whatever is left over of all its flesh from the third part
of the night and onwards, let them burn
13 it with fire. And they shall not cook it with water, nor
shall they eat it raw, but roast on the fire: they shall eat
it with diligence, its head with the inwards thereof and its
feet they shall roast with fire, and not break any bone
thereof; for of the children of Israel no bone shall be
crushed.
14 For this reason the Lord commanded the children of Israel
to observe the passover on the day of its fixed time, and
they shall not break a bone thereof; for it is a festival
day, and a day commanded, and there may be no passing over
from day to day, and month to month, but on the day of its
15 festival let it be observed. And do thou command the
children of Israel to observe the passover throughout their
days, every year, once a year on the day of its fixed time,
and it shall come for a memorial well pleasing before the
Lord, and no plague shall come upon them to slay or to smite
in that year in which they celebrate the passover in its
season in every respect according to His
16 command. And they shall not eat it outside the sanctuary
of the Lord, but before the sanctuary of the Lord, and all
the people of the congregation of Israel shall celebrate it
in its appointed season.
17 And every man who has come upon its day shall eat it in
the sanctuary of your God before the Lord from twenty years
old and upward; for thus is it written and ordained that
they should eat it
18 in the sanctuary of the Lord. And when the children of
Israel come into the land which they are to possess, into
the land of Canaan, and set up the tabernacle of the Lord in
the midst of the land in one of their tribes until the
sanctuary of the Lord has been built in the land, let them
come and celebrate the passover in the midst of the
tabernacle of the Lord, and let them slay it
19 before the Lord from year to year. And in the days when
the house has been built in the name of the Lord in the land
of their inheritance, they shall go there and slay the
passover in the evening, at
20 sunset, at the third part of the day. And they shall
offer its blood on the threshold of the altar, and shall
place its fat on the fire which is upon the altar, and they
shall eat its flesh roasted
21 with fire in the court of the house which has been
sanctified in the name of the Lord. And they may not
celebrate the passover in their cities, nor in any place
save before the tabernacle of the Lord, or before His house
where His name hath dwelt; and they shall not go astray from
the Lord.
22 And do thou, Moses, command the children of Israel to
observe the ordinances of the passover, as it was commanded
unto thee; declare thou unto them every year and the day of
its days, and the festival of unleavened bread, that they
should eat unleavened bread seven days, (and) that they
should observe its festival, and that they bring an oblation
every day during those seven days of
23 joy before the Lord on the altar of your God. For ye
celebrated this festival with haste when ye went forth from
Egypt till ye entered into the wilderness of Shur; for on
the shore of the sea ye completed it.
[Chapter 50]
1 And after this law I made known to thee the days of the
Sabbaths in the desert of Sin[ai], which
2 is between Elim and Sinai. And I told thee of the Sabbaths
of the land on Mount Sinai, and I told thee of the jubilee
years in the sabbaths of years: but the year thereof have I
not told thee till ye
3 enter the land which ye are to possess. And the land also
shall keep its sabbaths while they dwell
4 upon it, and they shall know the jubilee year. Wherefore I
have ordained for thee the year-weeks and the years and the
jubilees: there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of
Adam until this day, [2410 A.M.] and one week and two years:
and there are yet forty years to come (lit. 'distant') for
learning the [2450 A.M.] commandments of the Lord, until
they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan
to the
5 west. And the jubilees shall pass by, until Israel is
cleansed from all guilt of fornication, and uncleanness, and
pollution, and sin, and error, and dwells with confidence in
all the land, and there shall be no more a Satan or any evil
one, and the land shall be clean from that time for
evermore.
6 And behold the commandment regarding the Sabbaths -I have
written (them) down for thee-
7 and all the judgments of its laws. Six days shalt thou
labour, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
your God. In it ye shall do no manner of work, ye and your
sons, and your men-
8 servants and your maid-servants, and all your cattle and
the sojourner also who is with you. And the man that does
any work on it shall die: whoever desecrates that day,
whoever lies with (his) wife, or whoever says he will do
something on it, that he will set out on a journey thereon
in regard to any buying or selling: and whoever draws water
thereon which he had not prepared for himself on the sixth
day, and whoever takes up any burden to carry it out of his
tent or out of his house
9 shall die. Ye shall do no work whatever on the Sabbath day
save what ye have prepared for yourselves on the sixth day,
so as to eat, and drink, and rest, and keep Sabbath from all
work on that day, and to bless the Lord your God, who has
given you a day of festival and a holy day: and
10 a day of the holy kingdom for all Israel is this day
among their days for ever. For great is the honour which the
Lord has given to Israel that they should eat and drink and
be satisfied on this festival day, and rest thereon from all
labour which belongs to the labour of the children of men
save burning frankincense and bringing oblations and
sacrifices before the Lord for days and for
11 Sabbaths. This work alone shall be done on the
Sabbath-days in the sanctuary of the Lord your God; that
they may atone for Israel with sacrifice continually from
day to day for a memorial well-pleasing before the Lord, and
that He may receive them always from day to day according as
thou
12 hast been commanded. And every man who does any work
thereon, or goes a journey, or tills (his) farm, whether in
his house or any other place, and whoever lights a fire, or
rides on any beast, or travels by ship on the sea, and
whoever strikes or kills anything, or slaughters a beast or
a bird, or
13 whoever catches an animal or a bird or a fish, or whoever
fasts or makes war on the Sabbaths: The man who does any of
these things on the Sabbath shall die, so that the children
of Israel shall observe the Sabbaths according to the
commandments regarding the Sabbaths of the land, as it is
written in the tablets, which He gave into my hands that I
should write out for thee the laws of the seasons, and the
seasons according to the division of their days.
Herewith is completed the account of the division of the
days.