A Prophecy of Esau and Jacob

Chapter XXI – Adam and Eve attempt suicide.

¹ Then Adam and Eve went in search of the garden.

² And the heat beat like a flame on their faces; and they sweated from the heat, and cried before the Lord.

³ But the place where they cried was close to a high mountain, facing the western gate of the garden.

⁴ Then Adam threw himself down from the top of that mountain; his face was torn and his flesh was ripped; he lost a lot of blood and was close to death.

⁵ Meanwhile Eve remained standing on the mountain crying over him, thus lying.

⁶ And she said, “I don’t wish to live after him; for all that he did to himself was through me.”

⁷ Then she threw herself after him; and was torn and ripped by stones; and remained lying as dead.

⁸ But the merciful God, who looks over His creatures, looked at Adam and Eve as they lay dead, and He sent His Word to them, and raised them.

⁹ And said to Adam, “O Adam, all this misery which you have brought on yourself, will have no affect against My rule, neither will it alter the covenant of the 5,500 years.”

Chapter XXII – Adam in a gracious mood.

¹ Then Adam said to God, “I dry up in the heat, I am faint from walking, and I don’t want to be in this world. And I don’t know when You will take me out of it to rest.”

² Then the Lord God said to him, “O Adam, it cannot be now, not until you have ended your days. Then shall I bring you out of this miserable land.”

³ And Adam said to God, “While I was in the garden I knew neither heat, nor languor, neither moving about, nor trembling, nor fear; but now since I came to this land, all this affliction has come over me.

⁴ Then God said to Adam, “So long as you were keeping My commandment, My light and My grace rested on you. But when you transgressed My commandment, sorrow and misery came to you in this land.”

⁵ And Adam cried and said, “O Lord, do not cut me off for this, neither punish me with heavy plagues, nor yet repay me according to my sin; for we, of our own will, transgressed Your commandment, and ignored Your law, and tried to become gods like you, when Satan the enemy deceived us.”

⁶ Then God said again to Adam, “Because you have endured fear and trembling in this land, languor and suffering, treading and walking about, going on this mountain, and dying from it, I will take all this on Myself in order to save you.”

Chapter XXIII – Adam and Eve strengthen themselves and make the first altar ever built.

¹ Then Adam cried more and said, “O God, have mercy on me, so far as to take on yourself, that which I will do.”

² But God withdrew His Word from Adam and Eve.

³ Then Adam and Eve stood on their feet; and Adam said to Eve, “Strengthen yourself, and I also will strengthen myself.” And she strengthened herself, as Adam told her.

⁴ Then Adam and Eve took stones and placed them in the shape of an altar; and they took leaves from the trees outside the garden, with which they wiped, from the face of the rock, the blood they had spilled.

⁵ But that which had dropped on the sand, they took together with the dust with which it was mingled and offered it on the altar as an offering to God.

⁶ Then Adam and Eve stood under the Altar and cried, thus praying to God, “Forgive us our trespass and our sin, and look at us with Thine eye of mercy. For when we were in the garden our praises and our hymns went up before you without ceasing.

⁷ But when we came into this strange land, pure praise was not longer ours, nor righteous prayer, nor understanding hearts, nor sweet thoughts, nor just counsels, nor long discernment, nor upright feelings, neither is our bright nature left us. But our body is changed from the likeness in which it was at first, when we were created.

⁸ Yet now look at our blood which is offered on these stones, and accept it at our hands, like the praise we used to sing to you at first, when in the garden.”

⁹ And Adam began to make more requests of God.

Chapter XXIV – A vivid prophecy of the life and death of the Word.

¹ Then the merciful God, good and lover of men, looked at Adam and Eve, and at their blood, which they had held up as an offering to Him; without an order from Him for so doing. But He wondered at them; and accepted their offerings.

² And God sent from His presence a bright fire, that consumed their offering.

³ He smelled the sweet savor of their offering, and showed them mercy.

⁴ Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, “O Adam, as you have shed your blood, so will I shed My own blood when I become flesh of your descendants; and as you died, O Adam, so also will I die. And as you built an altar, so also will I make for you an altar of the earth; and as you offered your blood on it, so also will I offer My blood on an altar on the earth.

⁵ And as you sued for forgiveness through that blood, so also will I make My blood forgiveness of sins, and erase transgressions in it.

⁶ And now, behold, I have accepted your offering, O Adam, but the days of the covenant in which I have bound you are not fulfilled. When they are fulfilled, then will I bring you back into the garden.

⁷ Now, therefore, strengthen your heart; and when sorrow comes over you, make Me an offering, and I will be favorable to you.”

Chapter XXV – God represented as merciful and loving. The establishing of worship.

¹ But God knew that Adam believed he should frequently kill himself and make an offering to Him of his blood.

² Therefore He said to him, “O Adam, don’t ever kill yourself like this again, by throwing yourself down from that mountain.”

³ But Adam said to God, “I was thinking to put an end to myself at once, for having transgressed Your commandments, and for my having come out of the beautiful garden; and for the bright light of which You have deprived me; and for the praises which poured forth from my mouth without ceasing, and for the light that covered me.

⁴ Yet of Your goodness, O God, do not get rid of me altogether; but be favorable to me every time I die, and bring me to life.

⁵ And thereby it will be made known that You are a merciful God, who does not want anyone to perish; who loves not that one should fall; and who does not condemn any one cruelly, badly, and by whole destruction.”

⁶ Then Adam remained silent.

⁷ And the Word of God came to him, and blessed him, and comforted him, and covenanted with him, that He would save him at the end of the days determined for him.

⁸ This, then, was the first offering Adam made to God; and so it became his custom to do.

Chapter XXVI – A beautiful prophecy of eternal life and joy (v 15). The fall of night.

¹ Then Adam took Eve, and they began to return to the Cave of Treasures where they lived. But when they got closer to it and saw it from a distance, heavy sorrow fell on Adam and Eve when they looked at it.

² Then Adam said to Eve, “When we were on the mountain we were comforted by the Word of God that conversed with us; and the light that came from the east shown over us.

³ But now the Word of God is hidden from us; and the light that shown over us is so changed as to disappear, and let darkness and sorrow come over us.

⁴ And we are forced to enter this cave which is like a prison, in which darkness covers us, so that we are separated from each other; and you can not see me, neither can I see you.”

⁵ When Adam had said these words, they cried and spread their hands before God; for they were full of sorrow.

⁶ And they prayed to God to bring the sun to them, to shine on them, so that darkness would not return to them, and that they wouldn’t have to go under this covering of rock. And they wished to die rather than see the darkness.

⁷ Then God looked at Adam and Eve and at their great sorrow, and at all they had done with a fervent heart, on account of all the trouble they were in, instead of their former well-being, and on account of all the misery that came over them in a strange land.

⁸ Therefore God was not angry with them; nor impatient with them; but he was patient and forbearing towards them, as towards the children He had created.

⁹ Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him, “Adam, as for the sun, if I were to take it and bring it to you, days, hours, years and months would all stop, and the covenant I have made with you, would never be fulfilled.

¹⁰ But then you would be deserted and stuck in a perpetual plague, and you would never be saved.

¹¹ Yes, rather, bear long and calm your soul while you live night and day; until the fulfillment of the days, and the time of My covenant is come.

¹² Then shall I come and save you, O Adam, for I do not wish that you be afflicted.

¹³ And when I look at all the good things in which you lived, and why you came out of them, then would I willingly show you mercy.

¹⁴ But I cannot alter the covenant that has gone out of My mouth; otherwise I would have brought you back into the garden.

¹⁵ When, however, the covenant is fulfilled, then shall I show you and your descendants mercy, and bring you into a land of gladness, where there is neither sorrow nor suffering; but abiding joy and gladness, and light that never fails, and praises that never cease; and a beautiful garden that shall never pass away.”

¹⁶ And God said again to Adam, “Be patient and enter the cave, for the darkness, of which you were afraid, shall only be twelve hours long; and when ended, light shall come up.”

¹⁷ Then when Adam heard these words from God, he and Eve worshipped before Him, and their hearts were comforted. They returned into the cave after their custom, while tears flowed from their eyes, sorrow and wailing came from their hearts, and they wished their soul would leave their body.

¹⁸ And Adam and Eve stood praying until the darkness of night came over them, and Adam was hid from Eve, and she from him.

¹⁹ And they remained standing in prayer.

Chapter XXVII – The second tempting of Adam and Eve. The devil takes on the form of a beguiling light.

¹ When Satan, the hater of all good, saw how they continued in prayer, and how God communed with them, and comforted them, and how He had accepted their offering—Satan made an apparition.

² He began with transforming his hosts; in his hands was a flashing fire, and they were in a great light.

³ He then placed his throne near the mouth of the cave because he could not enter into it by reason of their prayers. And he shed light into the cave, until the cave glistened over Adam and Eve; while his hosts began to sing praises.

⁴ And Satan did this, in order that when Adam saw the light, he should think within himself that it was a heavenly light, and that Satan’s hosts were angels; and that God had sent them to watch at the cave, and to give him light in the darkness.

⁵ So that when Adam came out of the cave and saw them, and Adam and Eve bowed to Satan, then he would overcome Adam thereby, and a second time humble him before God.

⁶ When, therefore, Adam and Eve saw the light, fancying it was real, they strengthened their hearts; yet, as they were trembling, Adam said to Eve:—

⁷ “Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at that host standing outside who won’t come into our cave. Why don’t they tell us what they want, where they are from, what the meaning of this light is, what those praises are, why they have been sent to this place, and why they won’t come in?

⁸ If they were from God, they would come into the cave with us, and would tell us why they were sent.”

⁹ Then Adam stood up and prayed to God with a burning heart, and said:—

¹⁰ “O Lord, is there in the world another god besides You, who created angels and filled them with light, and sent them to keep us, who would come with them?

¹¹ But, look, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave; they are in a great light; they sing loud praises. If they are of some other god than You, tell me; and if they are sent by you, inform me of the reason for which You have sent them.”

¹² No sooner had Adam said this, than an angel from God appeared to him in the cave, who said to him, “O Adam, fear not. This is Satan and his hosts; he wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first. For the first time, he was hidden in the serpent; but this time he is come to you in the likeness of an angel of light; in order that, when you worshipped him, he might enslave you, in the very presence of God.”

¹³ Then the angel went from Adam and seized Satan at the opening of the cave, and stripped him of the pretense he had assumed, and brought him in his own hideous form to Adam and Eve; who were afraid of him when they saw him.

¹⁴ And the angel said to Adam, “This hideous form has been his ever since God made him fall from heaven. He could not have come near you in it; he therefore transformed himself into an angel of light.”

¹⁵ Then the angel drove away Satan and his hosts from Adam and Eve, and said to them, “Fear not; God who created you, will strengthen you.”

¹⁶ And the angel left them.

¹⁷ But Adam and Eve remained standing in the cave; no consolation came to them; they divided in their thoughts.

¹⁸ And when it was morning they prayed; and then went out to seek the garden. For their hearts were towards it, and they could get no consolation for having left it.

Chapter XXVIII – The Devil pretends to lead Adam and Eve to the water to bathe.

¹ But when the crafty Satan saw them, that they were going to the garden, he gathered together his host, and came in appearance on a cloud, intent on deceiving them.

² But when Adam and Eve saw him thus in a vision, they thought they were angels of God come to comfort them about having left the garden, or to bring them back again into it.

³ And Adam spread his hands before God, beseeching Him to make him understand what they were.

⁴ Then Satan, the hater of all good, said to Adam, “O Adam, I am an angel of the great God; and, behold the hosts that surround me.

⁵ God has sent us to take you and bring you to the border of the garden northwards; to the shore of the clear sea, and bathe you and Eve in it, and raise you to your former gladness, that you return again to the garden.”

⁶ These words sank into the heart of Adam and Eve.

⁷ Yet God withheld His Word from Adam, and did not make him understand at once, but waited to see his strength; whether he would be overcome as Eve was when in the garden, or whether he would prevail.

⁸ Then Satan called to Adam and Eve, and said, “Behold, we go to the sea of water,” and they began to go.

⁹ And Adam and Eve followed them at some little distance.

¹⁰ But when they came to the mountain to the north of the garden, a very high mountain, without any steps to the top of it, the Devil drew near to Adam and Eve, and made them go up to the top in reality, and not in a vision; wishing, as he did, to throw them down and kill them, and to wipe off their name from the earth; so that this earth should remain to him and his hosts alone.

Chapter XXIX – God tells Adam of the Devil’s purpose (v 4).

¹ But when the merciful God saw that Satan wished to kill Adam with his many tricks, and saw that Adam was meek and without guile, God spoke to Satan in a loud voice, and cursed him.

² Then he and his hosts fled, and Adam and Eve remained standing on the top of the mountain, from there they saw below them the wide world, high above which they were. But they saw none of the host which time after time were by them.

³ They cried, both Adam and Eve, before God, and begged for forgiveness of Him.

⁴ Then came the Word from God to Adam, and said to him, “Know you and understand concerning this Satan, that he seeks to deceive you and your descendants after you.”

⁵ And Adam cried before the Lord God, and begged and prayed to Him to give him something from the garden, as a token to him, wherein to be comforted.

⁶ And God considered Adam’s thought, and sent the angel Michael as far as the sea that reaches India, to take from there golden rods and bring them to Adam.

⁷ This did God in His wisdom in order that these golden rods, being with Adam in the cave, should shine forth with light in the night around him, and put an end to his fear of the darkness.

⁸ Then the angel Michael went down by God’s order, took golden rods, as God had commanded him, and brought them to God.

Chapter XXX – Adam receives the first worldly goods.

¹ After these things, God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the garden, and say to the cherub who kept it, “Behold, God has commanded me to come into the garden, and to take from it sweet smelling incense, and give it to Adam.”

² Then the angel Gabriel went down by God’s order to the garden, and told the cherub as God had commanded him.

³ The cherub then said, “Well.” And Gabriel went in and took the incense.

⁴ Then God commanded his angel Raphael to go down to the garden, and speak to the cherub about some myrrh, to give to Adam.

⁵ And the angel Raphael went down and told the cherub as God had commanded him, and the cherub said, “Well.” Then Raphael went in and took the myrrh.

⁶ The golden rods were from the Indian sea, where there are precious stones. The incense was from the eastern border of the garden; and the myrrh from the western border, from where bitterness came over Adam.

⁷ And the angels brought these things to God, by the Tree of Life, in the garden.

⁸ Then God said to the angels, “Dip them in the spring of water; then take them and sprinkle their water over Adam and Eve, that they be a little comforted in their sorrow, and give them to Adam and Eve.

⁹ And the angels did as God had commanded them, and they gave all those things to Adam and Eve on the top of the mountain on which Satan had placed them, when he sought to make an end of them.

¹⁰ And when Adam saw the golden rods, the incense and the myrrh, he was rejoiced and cried because he thought that the gold was a token of the kingdom from where he had come, that the incense was a token of the bright light which had been taken from him, and that the myrrh was a token of the sorrow in which he was.

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Chapter XI – A recollection of the glorious days in the Garden.

¹ Then Adam and Eve felt themselves burning with thirst, and heat, and sorrow.

² And Adam said to Eve, “We shall not drink of this water, even if we were to die. O Eve, when this water comes into our inner parts, it will increase our punishments and that of our descendants.”

³ Both Adam and Eve then went away from the water, and drank none of it at all; but came and entered the Cave of Treasures.

⁴ But when in it Adam could not see Eve; he only heard the noise she made. Neither could she see Adam, but heard the noise he made.

⁵ Then Adam cried, in deep affliction, and beat his chest; and he got up and said to Eve, “Where are you?”

⁶ And she said to him, “Look, I am standing in this darkness.”

⁷ He then said to her, “Remember the bright nature in which we lived, when we lived in the garden!

⁸ O Eve! Remember the glory that rested on us in the garden. O Eve! Remember the trees that overshadowed us in the garden while we moved among them.

⁹ O Eve! Remember that while we were in the garden, we knew neither night nor day. Think of the Tree of Life, from below which flowed the water, and that shed lustre over us! Remember, O Eve, the garden land, and the brightness thereof!

¹⁰ Think, oh think of that garden in which was no darkness, while we lived in it.

¹¹ Whereas no sooner did we come into this Cave of Treasures than darkness surrounded us all around; until we can no longer see each other; and all the pleasure of this life has come to an end.”

Chapter XII – How darkness came between Adam and Eve.

¹ Then Adam beat his chest, he and Eve, and they mourned the whole night until the crack of dawn, and they sighed over the length of the night in Miyazia.

² And Adam beat himself, and threw himself on the ground in the cave, from bitter grief, and because of the darkness, and lay there as dead.

³ But Eve heard the noise he made in falling on the ground. And she felt about for him with her hands, and found him like a corpse.

⁴ Then she was afraid, speechless, and remained by him.

⁵ But the merciful Lord looked on the death of Adam, and on Eve’s silence from fear of the darkness.

⁶ And the Word of God came to Adam and raised him from his death, and opened Eve’s mouth that she might speak.

— again, this is a foretaste of what the Word, who is also the Son and Messiah, would do, to raise mankind in the resurrection; (the first time was in Chapter 10:3);

⁷ Then Adam stood up in the cave and said, “O God, why has light departed from us, and darkness covered us? Why did you leave us in this long darkness? Why do you plague us like this?

⁸ And this darkness, O Lord, where was it before it covered us? It is because of this that we cannot see each other.

⁹ For so long as we were in the garden, we neither saw nor even knew what darkness is. I was not hidden from Eve, neither was she hidden from me, until now that she cannot see me; and no darkness came over us to separate us from each other.

¹⁰ But she and I were both in one bright light. I saw her and she saw me. Yet now since we came into this cave, darkness has covered us, and separated us from each other, so that I do not see her, and she does not see me.

¹¹ O Lord, will You then plague us with this darkness?”

Chapter XIII – The fall of Adam. Why night and day were created.

¹ Then when God, who is merciful and full of pity, heard Adam’s voice, He said to him:—

² “O Adam, so long as the good angel was obedient to Me, a bright light rested on him and on his hosts.

³ But when he transgressed My commandment, I deprived him of that bright nature, and he became dark.

⁴ And when he was in the heavens, in the realms of light, he knew nothing of darkness.

⁵ But he transgressed, and I made him fall from the heaven onto the earth; and it was this darkness that came over him.

⁶ And on you, O Adam, while in My garden and obedient to Me, did that bright light rest also.

⁷ But when I heard of your transgression, I deprived you of that bright light. Yet, of My mercy, I did not turn you into darkness, but I made you your body of flesh, over which I spread this skin, in order that it may bear cold and heat.

⁸ If I had let My wrath fall heavily on you, I should have destroyed you; and had I turned you into darkness, it would have been as if I had killed you.

⁹ But in My mercy, I have made you as you are; when you transgressed My commandment, O Adam, I drove you from the garden, and made you come forth into this land; and commanded you to live in this cave; and darkness covered you, as it did over him who transgressed My commandment.

¹⁰ Thus, O Adam, has this night deceived you. It is not to last forever; but is only of twelve hours; when it is over, daylight will return.

¹¹ Sigh not, therefore, neither be moved; and say not in your heart that this darkness is long and drags on wearily; and say not in your heart that I plague you with it.

¹² Strengthen your heart, and be not afraid. This darkness is not a punishment. But, O Adam, I have made the day, and have placed the sun in it to give light; in order that you and your children should do your work.

¹³ For I knew you would sin and transgress, and come out into this land. Yet I wouldn’t force you, nor be heard over you, nor shut up; nor doom you through your fall; nor through your coming out from light into darkness; nor yet through your coming from the garden into this land.

¹⁴ For I made you of the light; and I willed to bring out children of light from you and like to you.

¹⁵ But you did not keep My commandment one day; until I had finished the creation and blessed everything in it.

¹⁶ Then, concerning the tree, I commanded you not to eat of it. Yet I knew that Satan, who deceived himself, would also deceive you.

¹⁷ So I made known to you by means of the tree, not to come near him. And I told you not to eat of the fruit thereof, nor to taste of it, nor yet to sit under it, nor to yield to it.

¹⁸ Had I not been and spoken to you, O Adam, concerning the tree, and had I left you without a commandment, and you had sinned—it would have been an offence on My part, for not having given you any order; you would turn around and blame Me for it.

¹⁹ But I commanded you, and warned you, and you fell. So that My creatures cannot blame Me; but the blame rests on them alone.

²⁰ And, O Adam, I have made the day so that you and your descendants can work and toil in it. And I have made the night for them to rest in it from their work; and for the beasts of the field to go forth by night and look for their food.

²¹ But little of darkness now remains, O Adam, and daylight will soon appear.”

Chapter XIV – The earliest prophesy of the coming of Christ.

¹ Then Adam said to God: “O Lord, take You my soul, and let me not see this gloom any more; or remove me to some place where there is no darkness.”

² But God the Lord said to Adam, “Indeed I say to you, this darkness will pass from you, every day I have determined for you, until the fulfillment of My covenant; when I will save you and bring you back again into the garden, into the house of light you long for, in which there is no darkness.* I will bring you to it—in the kingdom of heaven.”

³ Again said God to Adam, “All this misery that you have been made to take on yourself because of your transgression, will not free you from the hand of Satan, and will not save you.

⁴ But I will. When I shall come down from heaven, and shall become flesh of your descendants, and take on Myself the infirmity from which you suffer, then the darkness that covered you in this cave shall cover Me in the grave, when I am in the flesh of your descendants.

⁵ And I, who am without years, shall be subject to the reckoning of years, of times, of months, and of days, and I shall be reckoned as one of the sons of men, in order to save you.”

⁶ And God ceased to commune with Adam.

* Reference: John 12:46

Chapter XV – Adam and Eve grieve over the suffering of God to save them from their sins.

¹ Then Adam and Eve cried and sorrowed by reason of God’s word to them, that they should not return to the garden until the fulfillment of the days decreed on them; but mostly because God had told them that He should suffer for their salvation.

Chapter XVI – The first sunrise. Adam and Eve think it is a fire coming to burn them.

¹ After this, Adam and Eve continued to stand in the cave, praying and crying, until the morning dawned on them.

² And when they saw the light returned to them, they retrained from fear, and strengthened their hearts.

³ Then Adam began to come out of the cave. And when he came to the mouth of it, and stood and turned his face towards the east, and saw the sunrise in glowing rays, and felt the heat thereof on his body, he was afraid of it, and thought in his heart that this flame came forth to plague him.

⁴ He then cried and beat his chest, then he fell on the ground on his face and made his request, saying:—

⁵ “O Lord, plague me not, neither consume me, nor yet take away my life from the earth.”

⁶ For he thought the sun was God.

⁷ Because while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the sound He made in the garden, and feared Him, Adam never saw the brilliant light of the sun, neither did its flaming heat touch his body.

⁸ Therefore he was afraid of the sun when flaming rays of it reached him. He thought God meant to plague him therewith all the days He had decreed for him.

⁹ For Adam also said in his thoughts, as God did not plague us with darkness, behold, He has caused this sun to rise and to plague us with burning heat.

¹⁰ But while he was thinking like this in his heart, the Word of God came to him and said:—

¹¹ “O Adam, get up on your feet. This sun is not God; but it has been created to give light by day, of which I spoke to you in the cave saying, ‘that the dawn would come, and there would be light by day.’

¹² But I am God who comforted you in the night.”

— the Word of God is also God as stated clearly in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

¹³ And God ceased to commune with Adam.

Chapter XVII – The Chapter of the Serpent.

¹ The Adam and Eve came out at the mouth of the cave, and went towards the garden.

² But as they went near it, before the western gate, from which Satan came when he deceived Adam and Eve, they found the serpent that became Satan coming at the gate, and sorrowfully licking the dust, and wiggling on its breast on the ground, by reason of the curse that fell on it from God.

³ And whereas before the serpent was the most exalted of all beasts, now it was changed and become slippery, and the meanest of them all, and it crept on its breast and went on its belly.

⁴ And whereas it was the fairest of all beasts, it had been changed, and was become the ugliest of them all. Instead of feeding on the best food, now it turned to eat the dust. Instead of living, as before, in the best places, now it lived in the dust.

⁵ And, whereas it had been the most beautiful of all beasts, all of which stood dumb at its beauty, it was now abhorred of them.

⁶ And, again, whereas it lived in one beautiful home, to which all other animals came from elsewhere; and where it drank, they drank also of the same; now, after it had become venomous, by reason of God’s curse, all beasts fled from its home, and would not drink of the water it drank; but fled from it.

Chapter XVIII – The mortal combat with the serpent.

¹ When the accursed serpent saw Adam and Eve, it swelled its head, stood on its tail, and with eyes blood-red, acted like it would kill them.

² It made straight for Eve, and ran after her; while Adam standing by, cried because he had no stick in his hand with which to hit the serpent, and did not know how to put it to death.

³ But with a heart burning for Eve, Adam approached the serpent, and held it by the tail; when it turned towards him and said to him:—

⁴ “O Adam, because of you and of Eve, I am slippery, and go on my belly.” Then with its great strength, it threw down Adam and Eve and squeezed them, and tried to kill them.

⁵ But God sent an angel who threw the serpent away from them, and raised them up.

⁶ Then the Word of God came to the serpent, and said to it, “The first time I made you slick, and made you to go on your belly; but I did not deprive you of speech.

⁷ This time, however, you will be mute, and you and your race will speak no more; because, the first time My creatures were ruined because of you, and this time you tried to kill them.”

⁸ Then the serpent was struck mute, and was no longer able to speak.

⁹ And a wind blew down from heaven by the command of God and carried away the serpent from Adam and Eve, and threw it on the seashore where it landed in India.

— the snake, symbolised by Satan, was cast to india; maybe there are many snakes in India and many snake charmers there, too; as a result, Hinduism has long held serpents to be sacred; the animals are believed to be related to the Nagas, and many gods are pictured under the protection of the cobra;

— one of the biblical records of snake charming appears in Psalm 58:

The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,

which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charm they ever so wisely. Psalm 58:3–5

Chapter XIX – Beasts made subject to Adam.

¹ But Adam and Eve cried before God. And Adam said to Him:—

² “O Lord, when I was in the cave, I said this to you, my Lord, the beasts of the field would rise and devour me, and cut off my life from the earth.”

³ Then Adam, because of what had happened to him, beat his chest and fell on the ground like a corpse. Then the Word of God came to him, who raised him, and said to him,

⁴ “O Adam, not one of these beasts will be able to hurt you; because I have made the beasts and other moving things come to you in the cave. I did not let the serpent come with them because it might have risen against you and made you tremble; and the fear of it should fall into your hearts.

⁵ For I knew that the accursed one is wicked; therefore I would not let it come near you with the other beasts.

⁶ But now strengthen your heart and fear not. I am with you to the end of the days I have determined on you.”

Chapter XX – Adam wishes to protect Eve.

¹ Then Adam cried and said, “O God, take us away to some other place, where the serpent can not come near us again, and rise against us. For fear that it might find Your handmaid Eve alone and kill her; for its eyes are hideous and evil.”

² But God said to Adam and Eve, “From now on, don’t be afraid, I will not let it come near you; I have driven it away from you, from this mountain; neither will I leave in it the ability to hurt you.”

³ Then Adam and Eve worshipped before God and gave Him thanks, and praised Him for having delivered them from death.

Posted in Books of Ancients

The First Book of Adam and Eve by Rutherford Platt

Introduction

The First Book of Adam and Eve (also known as the Forgotten Books of Eden) is a 6th-century extracanonical work found in Ge’ez, translated from an Old Arabic original which is translated from a Syriac source, namely the Cave of Treasures.

It was first translated from the Ge’ez Ethiopic version into German by August Dillmann. It was first translated into English by S C Malan from the German of Ernest Trumpp. The first half of Malan’s translation is included as the “First Book of Adam and Eve” and the “Second Book of Adam and Eve” in The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden.

The Book details the life and times of Adam and Eve after they were expelled from the garden to the time that Cain kills his brother Abel. It tells of Adam and Eve’s first dwelling—the Cave of Treasures; their trials and temptations; Satan’s many apparitions to them; the birth of Cain, Abel, and their twin sisters; and Cain’s love for his beautiful twin sister, Luluwa, whom Adam and Eve wished to join to Abel.

This book is simply a version of an account handed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation, linking the time that the first human life was created to the time when someone finally decided to write it down. The lack of historical allusion makes it difficult to precisely date the writing, however, but some believe it was probably written a few hundred years before the birth of Christ.

Parts of this version are found in the Jewish Talmud and the Islamic Koran, showing what a vital role it played in the original literature of human wisdom. The original Egyptian authors might have written in Arabic, but later translations were found written in Ethiopic. The present English translation was translated in the late 1800’s by Dr S C Malan and Dr E Trumpp.

They translated into King James English from both the Arabic version and the Ethiopic version which was then published in The Forgotten Books of Eden in 1927 by The World Publishing Company. In 1995, the text was extracted from a copy of The Forgotten Books of Eden and converted to electronic form by Dennis Hawkins. It was then translated into more modern English by simply exchanging ‘Thou’s for ‘You’s, ‘Art’s for ‘Are’s, and so forth. The text was then carefully re-read to ensure its integrity.

Chapter I – The crystal sea, God commands Adam, expelled from Eden, to live in the Cave of Treasures.

¹ On the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on the border of the world eastward, beyond which, towards the sun-rising, one finds nothing but water, that encompasses the whole world, and reaches to the borders of heaven.

² And to the north of the garden there is a sea of water, clear and pure to the taste, unlike anything else; so that, through the clearness thereof, one may look into the depths of the earth.

³ And when a man washes himself in it, he becomes clean of the cleanness thereof, and white of its whiteness—even if he were dark.

⁴ And God created that sea of his own good pleasure, for He knew what would come of the man He would make; so that after he had left the garden, on account of his transgression, men should be born in the earth. Among them are righteous ones who will die, whose souls God would raise at the last day; when all of them will return to their flesh, bathe in the water of that sea, and repent of their sins.

⁵ But when God made Adam go out of the garden, He did not place him on the border of it northward. This was so that he and Eve would not be able to go near to the sea of water where they could wash themselves in it, be cleansed from their sins, erase the transgression they had committed, and be no longer reminded of it in the thought of their punishment.

⁶ As to the southern side of the garden, God did not want Adam to live there either; because, when the wind blew from the north, it would bring him, on that southern side, the delicious smell of the trees of the garden.

⁷ Wherefore God did not put Adam there. This was so that he would not be able to smell the sweet smell of those trees, forget his transgression, and find consolation for what he had done by taking delight in the smell of the trees and yet not be cleansed from his transgression.

⁸ Again, also, because God is merciful and of great pity, and governs all things in a way that He alone knows—He made our father Adam live in the western border of the garden, because on that side the earth is very broad.

⁹ And God commanded him to live there in a cave in a rock—the Cave of Treasures below the garden.

Chapter II – Adam and Eve faint when they leave the Garden. God sends His Word to encourage them.

¹ But when our father, Adam and Eve, went out of the garden, they walked the ground on their feet, not knowing they were walking.

² And when they came to the opening of the gate of the garden, and saw the broad earth spread before them, covered with stones large and small, and with sand, they feared and trembled, and fell on their faces, from the fear that came over them; and they were as dead.

³ Because—whereas until this time they had been in the garden, land beautifully planted with all manner of trees—they now saw themselves, in a strange land, which they knew not, and had never seen.

⁴ And because, when they were in the garden they were filled with the grace of a bright nature, and they had not hearts turned toward earthly things.

⁵ Therefore God had pity on them; and when He saw them fallen before the gate of the garden, He sent His Word to our father, Adam and Eve, and raised them from their fallen state.

— the Word of God would reappeared in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Chapter III – Concerning the promise of the great five and a half days.

¹ God said to Adam, “I have ordained on this earth days and years, and you and your descendants shall live and walk in them, until the days and years are fulfilled; when I shall send the Word that created you, and against which you have transgressed, the Word that made you come out of the garden, and that raised you when you were fallen.

— the Word that created you; this is reaffirmed in John 1:3 “All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

² Yes, the Word that will again save you when the five and a half days are fulfilled.”

— the Word, or the Messiah, or Christ would save Adam (and humanity) when the time is fulfilled;

³ But when Adam heard these words from God, and of the great five and a half days, he did not understand the meaning of them.

⁴ For Adam was thinking there would be only five and a half days for him until the end of the world.

⁵ And Adam cried, and prayed to God to explain it to him.

⁶ Then God in his mercy for Adam who was made after His own image and likeness, explained to him, that these were 5,000 and 500 years; and how One would then come and save him and his descendants.

⁷ But before that, God had made this covenant with our father, Adam, in the same terms, before he came out of the garden, when he was by the tree where Eve took of the fruit and gave it to him to eat.

⁸ Because, when our father Adam came out of the garden, he passed by that tree, and saw how God had changed the appearance of it into another form, and how it shriveled.

⁹ And as Adam went to it he feared, trembled and fell down; but God in His mercy lifted him up, and then made this covenant with him.

¹⁰ And again, when Adam was by the gate of the garden, and saw the cherub with a sword of flashing fire in his hand, and the cherub grew angry and frowned at him, both Adam and Eve became afraid of him, and thought he meant to put them to death. So they fell on their faces, trembled with fear.

¹¹ But he had pity on them, and showed them mercy; and turning from them went up to heaven, and prayed to the Lord, and said;—

— the narrator “he” seems to have changed to the cherub;

¹² “Lord, You sent me to watch at the gate of the garden, with a sword of fire.

¹³ But when Your servants, Adam and Eve, saw me, they fell on their faces, and were as dead. O my Lord, what shall we do to Your servants?”

¹⁴ Then God had pity on them, and showed them mercy, and sent His Angel to keep the garden.

¹⁵ And the Word of the Lord came to Adam and Eve, and raised them up.

— here, the Word of the Lord came to raise Adam and Eve could be a foretaste; a preamble of what is to come in the resurrection; (repeated in 10:3)

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Adam, “I told you that at the end of the five and a half days, I will send my Word and save you.

¹⁷ Strengthen your heart, therefore, and stay in the Cave of Treasures, of which I have before spoken to you.”

¹⁸ And when Adam heard this Word from God, he was comforted with that which God had told him. For He had told him how He would save him.

Chapter IV – Adam mourns over the changed conditions. Adam and Eve enter the Cave of Treasures.

¹ But Adam and Eve cried for having come out of the garden, their first home.

² And indeed, when Adam looked at his flesh, that was altered, he cried bitterly, he and Eve, over what they had done. And they walked and went gently down into the Cave of Treasures.

³ And as they came to it, Adam cried over himself and said to Eve, “Look at this cave that is to be our prison in this world, and a place of punishment!

⁴ What is it compared with the garden? What is its narrowness compared with the space of the other?

⁵ What is this rock, by the side of those groves? What is the gloom of this cavern, compared with the light of the garden?

⁶ What is this overhanging ledge of rock to shelter us, compared with the mercy of the Lord that overshadowed us?

⁷ What is the soil of this cave compared with the garden land? This earth, strewed with stones; and that, planted with delicious fruit trees?”

⁸ And Adam said to Eve, “Look at your eyes, and at mine, which before beheld angels praising in heaven; and they too, without ceasing.

⁹ But now we do not see as we did; our eyes have become of flesh; they cannot see like they used to see before.”

¹⁰ Adam said again to Eve, “What is our body today, compared to what it was in former days, when we lived in the garden?”

¹¹ After this, Adam did not want to enter the cave, under the overhanging rock; nor would he ever want to enter it.

¹² But he bowed to God’s orders; and said to himself, “Unless I enter the cave, I shall again be a transgressor.”

Chapter V – Eve makes a noble and emotional intercession, taking the blame on herself.

¹ Then Adam and Eve entered the cave, and stood praying, in their own tongue, unknown to us, but which they knew well.

² And as they prayed, Adam raised his eyes and saw the rock and the roof of the cave that covered him overhead. This prevented him from seeing either heaven or God’s creatures. So he cried and beat his chest hard, until he dropped, and was as dead.

³ And Eve sat crying; for she believed he was dead.

⁴ Then she got up, spread her hands toward God, appealing to Him for mercy and pity, and said, “O God, forgive me my sin, the sin which I committed, and don’t remember it against me.

⁵ For I alone caused Your servant to fall from the garden into this condemned land; from light into this darkness; and from the house of joy into this prison.

⁶ O God, look at this Your servant fallen in this manner, and bring him back to life, that he may cry and repent of his transgression which he committed through me.

⁷ Don’t take away his soul right now; but let him live that he may stand after the measure of his repentance, and do Your will, as before his death.

⁸ But if You do not bring him back to life, then, O God, take away my own soul, that I be like him, and leave me not in this dungeon, one and alone; for I could not stand alone in this world, but with him only.

⁹ For You, O God, caused him to fall asleep, and took a bone from his side, and restored the flesh in the place of it, by Your divine power.

¹⁰ And You took me, the bone, and make me a woman, bright like him, with heart, reason, and speech; and in flesh, like to his own; and You made me after the likeness of his looks, by Your mercy and power.

¹¹ O Lord, I and he are one, and You, O God, are our Creator, You are He who made us both in one day.

¹² Therefore, O God, give him life, that he may be with me in this strange land, while we live in it on account of our transgression.

¹³ But if You will not give him life, then take me, even me, like him; that we both may die the same day.”

¹⁴ And Eve cried bitterly, and fell on our father Adam; from her great sorrow.

Chapter VI – God’s reprimand to Adam and Eve in which he points out how and why they sinned.

¹ But God looked at them; for they had killed themselves through great grief.

² But He decided to raise them and comfort them.

³ He, therefore, sent His Word to them; that they should stand and be raised immediately.

⁴ And the Lord said to Adam and Eve, “You transgressed of your own free will, until you came out of the garden in which I had placed you.

⁵ Of your own free will have you transgressed through your desire for divinity, greatness, and an exalted state, such as I have; so that I deprived you of the bright nature in which you then were, and I made you come out of the garden to this land, rough and full of trouble.

⁶ If only you had not transgressed My commandment and had kept My law, and had not eaten of the fruit of the tree which I told you not to come near! And there were fruit trees in the garden better than that one.

⁷ But the wicked Satan did not keep his faith and had no good intent towards Me, that although I had created him, he considered Me to be useless, and sought the Godhead for himself; for this I hurled him down from heaven so that he could not remain in his first estate—it was he who made the tree appear pleasant in your eyes, until you ate of it, by believing his words.

— driven by pride of beauty and vanity, Satan wanted himself to be God; not just to be part of the Godhead, but considered God as useless and wanted for himself the seat of the Most High; as a result, Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10:18

— “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations!” Isaiah 14:12; for his punishment, Satan was hurled down from heaven but he was not bound, unlike Azazel, who sinned greatly by perverting mankind and taking human as their wives, who is bound (Book of Enoch);

⁸ Thus have you transgressed My commandment, and therefore I have brought on you all these sorrows.

⁹ For I am God the Creator, who, when I created My creatures, did not intend to destroy them. But after they had sorely roused My anger, I punished them with grievous plagues, until they repent.

¹⁰ But, if on the contrary, they still continue hardened in their transgression, they shall be under a curse forever.”

Chapter VII – The beasts are appeased.

¹ When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they cried and sobbed yet more; but they strengthened their hearts in God, because they now felt that the Lord was to them like a father and a mother; and for this very reason, they cried before Him, and sought mercy from Him.

² Then God had pity on them, and said: “O Adam, I have made My covenant with you, and I will not turn from it; neither will I let you return to the garden, until My covenant of the great five and a half days is fulfilled.”

³ Then Adam said to God, “O Lord, You created us, and made us fit to be in the garden; and before I transgressed, You made all beasts come to me, that I should name them.

⁴ Your grace was then on me; and I named every one according to Your mind; and you made them all subject to me.

⁵ But now, O Lord God, that I have transgressed Your commandment, all beasts will rise against me and will devour me, and Eve Your handmaid; and will cut off our life from the face of the earth.

⁶ I therefore beg you, O God, that since You have made us come out of the garden, and have made us be in a strange land, You will not let the beasts hurt us.”

⁷ When the Lord heard these words from Adam, He had pity on him, and felt that he had truly said that the beasts of the field would rise and devour him and Eve, because He, the Lord, was angry with the two of them on account of their transgressions.

⁸ Then God commanded the beasts, and the birds, and all that moves on the earth, to come to Adam and to be familiar with him, and not to trouble him and Eve; nor yet any of the good and righteous among their offspring.

⁹ Then all the beasts paid homage to Adam, according to the commandment of God; except the serpent, against which God was angry. It did not come to Adam, with the beasts.

Chapter VIII – The “Bright Nature” of man is taken away.

¹ Then Adam cried and said, “O God, when we lived in the garden, and our hearts were lifted up, we saw the angels that sang praises in heaven, but now we can’t see like we used to; no, when we entered the cave, all creation became hidden from us.”

² Then God the Lord said to Adam, “When you were under subjection to Me, you had a bright nature within you, and for that reason you could see things far away. But after your transgression your bright nature was withdrawn from you; and it was not left to you to see things far away, but only near at hand; after the ability of the flesh; for it is brutish.”

³ When Adam and Eve had heard these words from God, they went their way; praising and worshipping Him with a sorrowful heart.

⁴ And God ceased to commune with them.

Chapter IX – Water from the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve near drowning.

¹ Then Adam and Eve came out of the Cave of Treasures, and went near to the garden gate, and there they stood to look at it, and cried for having come away from it.

² And Adam and Eve went from before the gate of the garden to the southern side of it, and found there the water that watered the garden, from the root of the Tree of Life, and that split itself from there into four rivers over the earth.

³ Then they came and went near to that water, and looked at it; and saw that it was the water that came forth from under the root of the Tree of Life in the garden.

⁴ And Adam cried and wailed, and beat his chest, for being severed from the garden; and said to Eve:—

⁵ “Why have you brought on me, on yourself, and on our descendants, so many of these plagues and punishments?”

⁶ And Eve said to him, “What is it you have seen that has caused you to cry and to speak to me in this manner?”

⁷ And he said to Eve, “Do you not see this water that was with us in the garden, that watered the trees of the garden, and flowed out from there?

⁸ And we, when we were in the garden, did not care about it; but since we came to this strange land, we love it, and turn it to use for our body.”

⁹ But when Eve heard these words from him, she cried; and from the soreness of their crying, they fell into that water; and would have put an end to themselves in it, so as never again to return and behold the creation; for when they looked at the work of creation, they felt they must put an end to themselves.

Chapter X – Their bodies need water after they leave the garden.

¹ Then God, merciful and gracious, looked at them thus lying in the water, and close to death, and sent an angel, who brought them out of the water, and laid them on the seashore as dead.

² Then the angel went up to God, was welcome, and said, “O God, Your creatures have breathed their last.”

³ Then God sent His Word to Adam and Eve, who raised them from their death.

— this is a foretaste of what the Word, who is also the Son and Messiah, would do, to raise mankind in the resurrection; but they have to wait some 5 to 6 thousand years later; (repeated in 3:15)

⁴ And Adam said, after he was raised, “O God, while we were in the garden we did not require, or care for this water; but since we came to this land we cannot do without it.”

⁵ Then God said to Adam, “While you were under My command and were a bright angel, you knew not this water.

⁶ But now that you have transgressed My commandment, you can not do without water, wherein to wash your body and make it grow; for it is now like that of beasts, and is in want of water.”

⁷ When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they cried a bitter cry; and Adam entreated God to let him return into the garden, and look at it a second time.

⁸ But God said to Adam, “I have made you a promise; when that promise is fulfilled, I will bring you back into the garden, you and your righteous descendants.”

⁹ And God ceased to commune with Adam.

Posted in Books of Ancients

~~~

The Book of Jubilees, or “the little Genesis” as it is sometimes called, purports to be a revelation given by God to Moses through the medium of an angel, “the Angel of the Presence,” which seems like a generic title and not a name. But he appears later to be the prince or chief of the spirits, “Mastema” in chapters 10:8; 18:9; and was “put to shame” (18:12); and, he, the prince Mastema, stood up against Moses (48:9)!

No complete Hebrew, Aramic, Greek or Latin version is known to have survived, but the Ethiopian Geʽez version has a more complete text of the numerous fragments in thee original Hebrew, numbered around fifteen that were found between 1947 and 1956 among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Apart from the Ethiopian Jewish community, the book is not considered canonical within any of the denominations of Judaism.

Who wrote the Book of Jubliees remains a mystery, but it points with strong evidence that the text was being revered and utilized by the Qumran community, who promoted living in isolated communities around the Dead Sea and the Jordan region. These Qumran communities seem to had been started by a Levitical Jews of a priestly background who grew dissatisfied with those operating in the main center of Jerusalem.

Jubilees was written with a history, divided up into jubilee-periods of forty-nine years, from the creation to the time of Moses. It covers much of the same ground as Genesis, but often with additional detail, and addressing Moses in the second person as the entire history of creation, and of Israel up to that point, is recounted in divisions of 49 years each, or “Jubilees” which contradicts a jubilee of fifty years in Leviticus 25:

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:10

Noah’s life of 950 year in chapter 10:16 was described as “nineteen jubilees and two weeks and five years.” In such calculation, a Jubilee is only 49 years; as 19 x 49 + 14 + 5 = 950 year. Of others: Sarah 127 years (17:7); Abraham 175 (23:8); Rebecca 155 (35:27); Jacob 147 years (45:13);

The elapsed time from the creation, up to Moses receiving the scriptures upon Sinai during the Exodus, is calculated as fifty Jubilees, less the 40 years still to be spent wandering in the desert before entering Canaan – or 2,410 years.

Of interest was the land divided after Noah’s flood: to Ham was given land towards the south; first portion for Cush towards the east, the west for Mizraim; the west of him for Put, and to the west of him for Canaan (9:1).

To Shem was given the middle portion; Elam, from the river Tigris till it approaches the east, and whole of India; Asshur came Nineveh and Shinar; for Arpachshad, east of the Euphrates down to the Red Sea; for Aram, the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates; for Lud the fifth portion, of Asshur till it reaches the Great Sea (9:2-6).

To Japheth, for Gomer to the east from the north side; for Magog and others all the inner portions of the north (9:7-13). Japheth’s land is cold, that of Ham is hot, Shem’s is neither cold nor hot.

But Canaan looked from the land at Lebanon all the way to Egypt, and westward from the Jordan (10:29), coverted it and settled there; drawing rebukes from Ham, his father; Cush and Mizraim; hence were accursed (verses 30-33); hence that land was named Canaan; and today, a land with endless hideous conflicts.

Of another great value of the Book of Jubilees is its elaboration of the rivary between Jacob and Esau, which has a significant implication of understanding the enormous impact of the development of world’s nations, both the events of the Old World and even more so, the events of the New World.

“And Esau harbored hatred in his heart against Jacob, his brother, because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him.

“And Esau said in his heart, ‘I will not do as Cain did, who killed Abel during their father’s lifetime and then their father had another son, Seth.

“Rather, I will wait until the days of mourning for my father have passed, and then I will kill Jacob my brother, and I will be the sole heir.’” Genesis 27:41 Jonathan

Understanding the above complex prophecy is one of the many endeavours of this site.

The feast of the firstfruits, was particularly emphazised to be observed on “in the third month, in the middle of the month” (15:1; 16:13); which appears to promote or gave rise to the Essenes Calendar; and was radically different from that calendar which was used by the Pharisees as Sivan 6, or fifty days from the morrow after the Sabbath, the first high day of Unleavened Bread.

The Calendar promoted in the Book of Jubilees is similar to the Essenes Calendar. It advocates a year of 52 weeks of strictly 364 days, in chapter 6:29-32, 38; and the new moons of the first month, the fourth month, the seventh month, and of the tenth month as days of remembrance, in 6:23.

And the Book of Jubilees was critical of the Jewish Calendar from year to year as “ten days too soon” (v36); and claim of their calendar to be “engraven and ordained on the heavenly tablets” (v30) for authenticity and authorization; but which were not supported by the Masoretic Text.

The Jewish Calendar had been empowered with the following mandates:

Deuteronomy 16:18 “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with just judgement.

¹⁹ Thou shalt not distort judgement; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 17:11 According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee and according to the judgement which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do. Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand nor to the left.

¹² And the man who will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest who standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.

The Sadducees, however, used the same Calendar as the Pharisees, but they count the feast of firstfruits from the morrow after the weekly Sabbath. Both the Essenes and the Sadducees went the way of Sodom and Gomorrah and couldn’t survive the inferno of Judea and Jerusalem around AD 70.

Posted in Books of Ancients

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

— in the first month of the exodus, God spoke to Moses
— and I will give you two tables of the law and commandment
— the glory of the Lord was like a flaming fire
— a prophecy that they will forget all My commandments
— they will abrogate and change everything before My eyes
— and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles
— go astray as to new moons, sabbaths, festivals, and jubilees
— the angel of the presence: “Write for Moses”

Chapter 2

— the angel of the presence spoke to Moses
— according to the word of the Lord
— on the first day He created the heavens and the earth
— on the second day He created the firmament of the waters
— on the third day He commanded the waters and the seas
— on the fourth day He created the sun, moon and the stars
— on the fifth He created sea monsters and fish in the oceans
— on the sixth day He created all the animals and mankind
— the Creator sanctify Israel who keeps the Sabbath thereon

Chapter 3

— and Adam named all the creation by their respective names
— and the Lord made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs
— and the Lord brought Adam and Eve into the Garden of Eden
— after seven years the serpent came and approached Eve
— she gave Adam and he eat, and both their eyes were opened
— and God made for them coats of skin, and clothed them
— sent out of the Garden all flesh from the Garden of Eden

Chapter 4

— Eve gave birth to Cain and then gave birth to Abel
— Cain slew Abel because God accepted the sacrifice of Abel
— but did not accept the offering of Cain
— and God cursed Cain and made him a fugitive on the earth 
— and Enoch who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom
— the first to write a testimony to them the endtimes
— til the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything
— Edna, bore him a son and he called his name Methuselah
— Enoch was with the angels on earth and in the heavens

A Study of Chapters 1 to 4 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 5

— the children of men began to multiply on earth
— the angels of God saw they were beautiful to look upon
— and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose
— and they bore to them sons and they were giants
— and lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh
— corrupted its way, men and cattle and beasts alike
— and God looked upon the earth, and it was evil
— said that He would destroy man and all flesh
— He sent His sword into their middle and were destroyed
— judgment is written down for every creature of every kind
— Noah built an ark and saved mankind from extinction
— save those that were in the ark with Noah

Chapter 6

— Noah built an altar on that mountain where the ark rested
— all beasts, winged creatures, and everything that moves
— and the fish in the waters, I have given you all things to eat
— only flesh, with the life of it, the blood, you shall not eat
— it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets
— they should celebrate the feast of weeks on the third month
— first of first, fourth, seventh, tenth month are sacred days
— Calendar promoted here is similar to the Essenes Calendar

Chapter 7

— Noah planted vines on one of the Ararat Mountains
— until the first day, on the new moon of the first month
— he rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and his children 
— he lay down and slept, drunken and was uncovered
— Ham saw Noah naked, and went and told his brethren
— Shem and Japheth took his garment and covered him
— Noah awoke from his sleep and cursed his son, Canaan
— Ham to the South, Japheth to the West; Shem to the East
— Naphidim, the Giants, the Naphil, the Eljo, and mankind

Chapter 8

— Kainam, the son of Arpachshad, where he seized a city
— he begat a son, Shelah, Eber, then Peleg
— the children of Noah decided to divide the land themselves
— into three parts: for Shem and Ham and Japheth
— as for Shem’s lot it was the holy land and middle of the earth
— for Ham came forth beyond the Gihon towards the south
— for Japheth came forth the third portion towards the north
— Japheth’s land is cold, that of Ham is hot, Shem’s is neither

A Study of Chapters 5 to 8 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 9

— and Ham divided amongst his sons, towards the south
— first portion for Cush towards the east, the west for Mizraim
— the west of him for Put, and to the west of him for Canaan
— and Shem also divided amongst his sons, “Elam and his sons”
— the river Tigris till it approaches the east, and whole of India
— Asshur came forth second, of Asshur, Nineveh and Shinar 
— for Arpachshad, east of the Euphrates down to the Red Sea
— for Aram, the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates
— for Lud the fifth portion, of Asshur till it reaches the Great Sea
— Japheth also divide his inheritance amongst his sons
— for Gomer to the east from the north side to the river Tina
— for Magog all the inner portions of the north
— for Madai, from the west of his two brothers  to the islands
— for Javan, every island and islands towards the border of Lud
— Tubal came forth the fifth portion in the middle of the tongue
— for Meshech, all the region till it approaches the east of Gadir
— for Tiras, four great islands in the middle of the sea
— thus the sons of Noah divided the land, bound by an oath
— imprecating a curse on anyone that sought to seize other’s lot
— they all said, ‘So be it; so be it‘ for them and their posterity

Chapter 10

— unclean demons to lead the children of the sons of Noah astray
— these are malignant, and created in order to destroy
— and Mastema, came and said: ‘Lord, Creator, let some of them
— God replied: ‘Let the tenth part of them remain before him’
— Mastema speaks, and he helps in binding his fellow demons
— he refers to Satan as a third person, left with the tenth part
— ‘and we explained to Noah all the medicines of their diseases’
— and Noah wrote down all things in a book, and gave it to Shem
— then towards Shinar, they said, ‘Let us ascend into heaven’
— the Lord said: ‘Let us go down and confound their language’
— Canaan took the land of Lebanon and dwelt there
— drawing rebukes from Ham, his father; Cush and Mizraim
— ‘You have settled in a land which is not yours . . accursed

Chapter 11

— sons of Noah began to take captive and to slay each other
— and nation against nation, and do evil, and to acquire arms
— the prince Mastema sent forth other spirits to exert himself
— to do all manner of evils, to corrupt and destroy
— a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, thus sowing failed
— Abram, when he was two weeks of years old, began to pray
— they brought enough grain home and eat and were satisfied
— and his name became great in all the land of the Chaldees

Chapter 12

— Abram said to Terah and he replied, ‘Behold, here I am’
— ‘What profit have we from those idols which you worship?’
— Abram spoke to his brothers, but they were angry with him
— and Abram arose by night, and burned the house of the idols
— Haran hasted to save them, but was burnt in the flame of fire
— and Terah went out from Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons
— into the land of Lebanon and the land of Canaan for 14 years
— God blessed Abram: in you shall all the families be blessed

A Study of Chapters 9 to 12 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 13

— from Haran, Abram took Sarai and Lot his nephew to Canaan
— the Lord said: ‘To you and to your seed will I give this land’
— he came to Hebron but and there was a famine in the land
— Abram went to Egypt; after five years Pharaoh seized Sarai
— the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues
— Abram returned with Sarai and Lot out of the land of Egypt
— Lot parted from Abram; he dwelt in Sodom, a city of sinners
— the Lord said: ‘Lift up your eyes from the place where you
— are dwelling; northward and southward, and westward
— and eastward: to you and to your seed will I give this land’
— then Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, Amraphel, king of Shinar
— and Arioch, king of Sellasar, and Tergal, king of nations
— they slew the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Sodom fled
— for Abram, his seed, a tenth of the first fruits to the Lord

Chapter 14

— ‘Look toward heaven; number the stars if you are able’
— ‘Know of a surety your seed shall be stranger in a land not theirs
— shall bring them into bondage, afflict them four hundred years
— but in the fourth generation they shall return hither’
— ‘To your seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the
— Euphrates: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Perizzites, Rephaim
— Phakorites, Hivites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, Jebusites
— Sarai advised Abram: ‘Go in to Hagar, my Egyptian maid:
— it may be that I shall build up seed to you by her’

Chapter 15

— Essenes: ‘in the third month, in the middle of the month
— Abram celebrated the feast of the first-fruits of grain harvest’
— ‘I am God Almighty; and I will multiply you exceedingly
— and you shall be the father of many nations’
— Sarah also shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac
— Esau and Jacob had morphed into Catholic and Protestant nations
— while from Ishmael arose Islam and its sread to many countries
— “every one born, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised
— on the eighth day, belongs not to the children of the covenant”
— observe this sign so that they will not be rooted out of the land
— over Israel He alone is their ruler and that they may be His
— but a prophecy that the Israelites will deviate from this covenant
— and there will be great wrath from the Lord against them

Chapter 16

— oak of Mamre, angels of the presence appeared unto Abraham
— Sarah laughed when she overheard a son would be born to them
— then the Lord executed his judgments on Sodom and Gomorrah
— and He burned and destroyed them with fire and brimstone
— Lot was saved; but he and daughters committed sin upon the earth
— Essenes Calendar: in the middle of the third month, Isaac was born
— Isaac was the first to be circumcised on the eighth day
— that all the other seed of his sons by Keturah should be Gentiles
— because they celebrated this festival of tabernacles “in its season”

A Study of Chapters 13 to 16 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 17

— with Isaac weaned Sarah became envious and jealous of Ishmael
— and said to Abraham, ‘Cast out this bondwoman and her son
— for the son of this bondwoman will not be heir with my son, Isaac
— and God said to Abraham, listen to her words and do (them)
— for in Isaac shall your name and seed be called
— Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and water
— placed on the shoulders of Hagar and Ishmael; sent them away
— the child grew and became an archer, and God was with him
— his mother took him a wife from among the daughters of Egypt
— and the prince Mastema came and tempt before God
— bid him offer him a burnt-offering on the altar, and see if he obey
— in everything wherein He had tried Abraham, he was faithful

Chapter 18

— ”Take your beloved son whom you lovest, (even) Isaac, and go to
— offer him on one of the mountains which I will point out to you’’
— ‘Behold the fire, the knife and the wood; but where is the sheep?’
— ‘God will provide for himself a sheep for a burnt-offering, my son’
— prince Mastema acted like Satan before Job and God where Job
— refused to succum to his scheme as Abraham was again faithful
— Abraham celebrated this festival every year, seven days with joy
— called ‘the festival of the Lord’ – but not in the Masoretic Text

Chapter 19

— Sarah died in Hebron and Abraham bought the land against Mamr
— of the double cave for burial for four hundred pieces of silver
— Abraham sought a wife for his son Isaac and her name was Rebecca
— Abraham took for himself a third wife, and her name was Keturah
— they have six sons: Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah
— Rebecca bore to Isaac two sons, Esau and Jacob
— Jacob was a smooth, dwelt in tents and learned to write
— but Esau was fierce and hairy, and learnt the art of war in the field
— Abraham and Rebecca loved Jacob, but Isaac loved Esau
— the Spirits of Mastema shall not rule over you or over your seed

Chapter 20

— Abraham commanded Ishmael and his sons; Isaac and his sons
— the sons of Keturah, and their sons, to observe the way of the Lord
— that they should circumcise their sons, according to the covenant
— else destroyed by the sword, or accursed like Sodom and Gomorrah
— to Ishmael and sons, sons of Keturah, he sent them away with gifts
— but to Isaac his son, and he gave everything to him
— and Ishmael and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons
— together they dwelt from Paran to Babylon: land facing the desert
— they mingled together and they are the Arabs and Ishmaelites

A Study of Chapters 17 to 20 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 21

— Abraham called Isaac; instructs him to hate idols
— for He is the living God, is holy, and righteous beyond all
— observe His commandments, His ordinances, His judgments
— eat no blood of any animals, or bird which flies in the heaven
— do not eat any blood for it is the soul; eat no blood whatever
— man cannot be cleansed from sins save by one who shed it
— as wood for sacrifices: do not lay any split or dark wood
— but hard, clean, without fault, of new growth: for its fragrance
— and do not lay old wood, for there is no longer fragrance in it
— clean by washing your body before making an offering
— wash your hands and feet before you draw near at the altar

Chapter 22

— Essenes: the feast of weeks, Abraham rejoicing over his sons
— Abraham, who then was 175 years before he died
— he called Jacob and said: ‘My son Jacob, may the God bless you
— your sons may He sanctify in the middle of the whole earth
— may all nations bow themselves and serve before your seed
— separate yourself from the nations, and eat not with them
— and do not according to their works, nor become their associate
— beware of taking a wife from any of the daughters of Canaan

Chapter 23

— Abraham placed Jacob’s fingers over his eyes and blessed God
— but Jacob did not know that his father’s father, was dead
— and they, Rebecca, Isaac, Ishmael, wept with a great weeping
— Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave, near Sarah
— Abraham lived 3 jubilees and 28 years (175); a jubilee as 49 years
— all these shall come an evil generation; and lives become shorter
— man then lived three score years and ten; or if strong, four scores
— they have forgotten God’s commandment, covenant and feasts
— and months, and Sabbaths, and jubilees, and all judgments
— a great punishment shall befall this generation from the Lord
— and He will give them over to judgment, the sword and captivity
— to be plundered and devoured; and Gentile shall use violence
— and transgression against Jacob, and much blood shall be shed
— and you, Moses, write these words; on the heavenly tablets

Chapter 24

— from Hebron Isaac arose and dwelt at the Well of the Vision
— Jacob made lentil pottage, Esau came from the field hungry
— and Esau said to Jacob, ‘Give me of this red pottage’
— Jacob said: ‘Sell your birthright and I will give this lentil pottage’
— ‘I shall die; of what profit to me is this birthright?’
— and Jacob became the elder, as Esau brought down his dignity
— Isaac became exceedingly great and the Philistines envied him
— the wells Abraham had dug the Philistines filled them with earth
— but wherever Isaac dug a well they found living water
— and Isaac on that day cursed the Philistines to the day of wrath
— on the day of judgment that he may be rooted out of the earth

A Study of Chapters 21 to 24 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 25

— Rebecca said to Jacob: ‘Do not take a wife of Canaan as Esau
— who took for himself two wives of the daughters of Canaan
— but only of the house of my father, or of my father’s kindred
— Esau to Jacob: ‘Brother, take a wife from a sister of my wives’
— Jacob: ‘I swear before you, mother, that all the days of my life
— I will not take me a wife from the daughters of the seed
— of Canaan and I will not act wickedly as my brother has done’
— Rebecca placed both her hands on the head of Jacob
— ‘Blessed be the Lord God, who has given me Jacob a pure son
— and a holy seed; bless him beyond the stars of heaven, O Lord

Chapter 26

— Isaac to Esau: ‘I am old, my son, Go out and hunt for me venison
— and make me savoury meat, such as my soul loves, and bring it
— to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die’
— but Rebecca said to Jacob: ‘Behold, I heard Isaac speak to Esau
— my son, obey my voice in that I command you: Go to your flock
— upon me be your curse, my son, only obey my voice’
— and Rebecca took the goodly rainment of Esau
— and she clothed Jacob, and the skins of the kids upon his hands
— Isaac to his son: ‘How have you found meat so quickly, my son?
— Esau to Isaac: ‘Hast you not reserved any blessing for me, father?’
— ‘Behold, far from the dew of the earth shall be your dwelling
— and far from the dew of heaven from above
— by your sword must you live, but you must serve your brother
— Esau said in his heart: ‘May the days of mourning for my father
— now come, so that I may slay my brother Jacob’

Chapter 27

— the words of Esau were told to Rebecca in a dream
— Rebecca sent and called Jacob and said to him
— my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee to Laban
— Jacob: ‘I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him’
— Rebecca: ‘Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day’
— Isaac called Jacob and admonished: ‘Do not take you a wife
— of the daughters of Canaan; but go to the house of Bethuel
— and Jacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone
— put under his head as a pillar, and he poured oil over

Chapter 28

— and Jacob came to Laban and to serve for Rachel one week
— Leah was given; Jacob was asked to serve another seven years
— the Lord opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived Reuben
— then Simeon, Levi, Judah, on the fifteenth of the third month
— Rachel said to Jacob: ‘Give me children;’ and Jacob replied her
— ‘Have I withheld the fruits of your womb? Have I forsaken you?’
— Rachel: ‘Go in to Bilhah, she will conceive, and bear a son to me’
— she conceived, bore him a son named Dan, and then Napthali
— Leah also gave Zilpah to wife, and she bore Gad and Asher
— and Leah bore two sons: Issachar, Zabulon; and daughter Dinah
— and the Lord was gracious to Rachel, and she bore Joseph

A Study of Chapters 25 to 28 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 29

— after Rachel borne Joseph, Jacob schemed to return to Canaan
— as Laban went to shear his sheep, Jacob sais to Leah and Rachel
— they said: ‘To every place wherever you go we will go with you’
— Laban pursued and overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead
— the Rephaim: giants of ten, nine, eight to seven cubits in height
— and the Lord destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds
— and on that day Esau came to him, and he was reconciled to him
— departed from him to the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents
— Jacob sent to Isaac all his substance: food and clothings
— Isaac returned from Well of the Oath to the mountains of Hebron
— Esau went and dwelt on Mount Seir, away from his father Isaac

Chapter 30

— Jacob went to dwell to the east of Shechem but the inhabitants
— carried off Dinah into the house of Shechem, a Hivite
— Shechem defiled her, and she was only a child of twelve years
— Simeon and Levi went and executed judgment on all of Shechem
— Israel will be unclean if any has a wife of the daughters of Gentiles
— for there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon curse
— seed of Levi was chosen as Levites and as priests before the Lord
— if they transgress they will be recorded on the heavenly tablets
— the dread of the Lord fell upon all the cities around Shechem

Chapter 31

— Jacob to household: ‘Purify yourselves, change your garments
— they gave up strange gods that was in their ears and necks
— the idols Rachel stole from Laban her father she gave to Jacob
— Jacob brake them to pieces and buried them under an oak
— Isaac saw the two sons of Jacob, Levi, and Judah, and asked
— ‘Are these your sons, my son? for they are like you.’
— Isaac took Levi by his right, Judah by his left, a prophecy came
— they shall be judges, princes, chiefs over the seed of Jacob
— Judah: prince shall you and one of your sons, over sons of Jacob
— before you shall all the nations quake; and be found salvation

Chapter 32

— Jacob abode that night at Bethel gave a tithe that came to him
— Levi dreamed being ordained and made priest of the Most High
— Rachel pregnant with Benjamin; counting upwards, Levi was tenth
— Jacob and his sons with joy during seven days where it is chosen
— that it may be fulfilled in eating the second tithe before the Lord
— Levi discharged his office at Bethel before Jacob and brothers
— Jacob celebrated there yet another day, called its name ‘Addition’
— Rachel gave birth to Benjamin; she died that night in Bethlehem

A Study of Chapters 29 to 32 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 33

— as Jacob went to his father Isaac, Reuben eyed Bilhah
— Bilhah cried out, being ashamed because of him, and he fled
— for any man who uncovers his father’s skirt is abomination
— for it is written: ‘Cursed be he who lieth with the wife of his father
— and all the holy ones of the Lord said ‘So be it; so be it.’
— and there is no atonement, but he is to be put to death and slain
— for Israel is to be a holy nation, a priestly and royal nation
— sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon
— sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; of Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali
— of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob

Chapter 34

— Jacob sent his sons and servants to the pastures of Shechem
— but seven Amorites kings hid under the tree, conspiring to slay them
— Jacob and his three sons went against them with six thousand men
— they slew them in the pastures of Shechem with edge of the sword
— imposed upon any survival they should pay him and his sons tribute
— and became his servants, until he and his sons went down into Egypt
— years later Jacob sent Joseph to injure the welfare of his brothers
— to the land of Shechem but they dealt treacherously with him, 
— ultimately selling him to Ishmaelite merchants travelling into Egypt
— and they, in turn, sold Joseph to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh
— Jacob and all mourned for Joseph; Bilhah and Dinah died mourning
— Reuben’s wife is ‘Ada; and of Simeon’s wife is ‘Adiba’a, a Canaanite;
— Levi’s wife is Melka, a daughter of Aram, of the seed of Terah;
— and Judah’s wife, Betasu’el, a Canaanite; Issachar’s wife, Hezaqa:
— Zabulon’s wife, Ni’iman; of Gad’s wife, Maka; of Asher’s wife, ‘Ijona;
— Joseph’s wife, Asenath, an Egyptian; of Benjamin’s wife, ‘Ijasaka;
— of Dan’s wife, ‘Egla;’ of Naphtali’s wife, Rasu’u, of Mesopotamia

Chapter 35

— Rebecca called Jacob: I shall die this year, not live beyond 155 years
— Rebecca pressured Isaac: ‘Make Esau swear he will not injure Jacob
— nor pursue him; for Esau’s thoughts are perverse from his youth
— there is no goodness in him; for he desires after your death to kill him’
— Isaac: the guardian of Jacob more powerful than the guardian of Esau
— and Rebecca called Esau to love Jacob, his brother, above all flesh
— and Esau swore to love Jacob and no desire evil against him all his life
— Jacob swore not to do evil against Esau; and they eat and rejoiced

Chapter 36

— Isaac called Esau and Jacob to bury him in the double cave
— to practise righteousness on the earth; love one another
— to inherit Abraham’s blessings as the stars of heaven in multitude
— both to swear an oath that neither will desire evil against the other
— else he shall be rooted out of the land of the living, seed destroyed
— Isaac divided his possessions giving the larger portion to the firstborn
— Esau acknowledged: ‘I have sold and given my birthright to Jacob’
— then Isaac slept that night; at 180 years he slept the eternal sleep
— Esau went and dwelt to the mountains of Seir; but Jacob to Hebron

A Study of Chapters 33 to 36 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 37

— on Isaac death, sons of Esau heard that the birthright given to Jacob
— they were wrath; recruited allies from Aram, Philistia, Moab, Ammon
— pleading, ‘let us exterminate him and before he grows strong’
— Esau forgot the oath he had sworn of no evil against Jacob
— Jacob: ‘You have broken the oath and you be condemned’
— If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool
— or it can cause horns to sprout on its head like the horns of a sheep
— if the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes peace with him
— Jacob saw that Esau was so evilly disposed towards him

Chapter 38

— Judah to Jacob: ‘Bend your bow and send your arrows to slay Esau’
— then Jacob bent his bow and the arrow struck Esau and slew him
— and Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in ‘Aduram
— led by Judah, other sons of Jacob slew four sons of Esau
— after winning, Jacob placed a yoke of servitude on sons of Esau
— they paid tribute to Jacob and sons until they went into Egypt

Chapter 39

— Joseph was seventeen when they sold him into the land of Egypt
— Potiphar, the chief cook for the Pharaoh, set Joseph over all his house 
— his master’s wife lifted her eyes and besought Joseph to lie with her
— but he did not surrender his soul, and he refused and would not listen
— but she embraced and held him fast in the house in order to force him
— they cast Joseph into prison where other prisoners were imprisoned
— until Pharaoh was angry against the chief butler and the chief baker
— both dreamed, and they told it to Joseph to unveil the meaning
— Pharaoh restored the chief butler but the chief baker he slew

Chapter 40

— Pharaoh had two dreams concerning a famine which was widespread
— awoke, he demanded from his wisemen and magicians what they mean
— they were unable, but the butler remembered and spoke to Pharaoh
— ‘Seven years shall come in which there shall be plenty over all of Egypt
— after that seven years of famine, such a famine as had not been before
— Pharaoh appointed Joseph as second giving him authority over all Egypt
— called Joseph’s Sephantiphans, and the daughter of Potiphar to wife

A Study of Chapters 37 to 40 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 41

— Judah gave his firstborn Er, Tamar, a wife from daughters of Aram
— but Er resented Tamar, so the Lord, seeing it as wickedness, slew him
— Judah then said to Onan, his brother ‘Go in to your brother’s wife
— perform the duty of a husband’s brother, and raise up seed for him’
— in wickedness Onan spilt the seed on the ground so the Lord slew him
— Bedsu’el, the wife of Judah, did not permit their son Shelah to marry
— so Tamar lay in wait as Judah went thru the city looking for an harlot
— and consequently Tamar bore Judah two sons, Perez and Zerah

Chapter 42

— and rain refused to be given to the earth, so famine began to spread
— the earth grew barren, but in Egypt there was an abundance of food
— Joseph gathered the harvest in the years of plenty and stored them
— Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt, and he sent his ten sons
— that they should procure food for them all in Egypt
— they arrived, Joseph recognised them, but they didn’t recognise him
— and Joseph charged them as spies and have come to explore the land
— and after he set them free, he detained Simeon but sent off the others
— they told their father all that had befallen them; and to bring Benjamin
— when Israel saw that the famine was real: ‘Go again, and procure food
— but they said: ‘We shall not go; unless our youngest brother go with us
— reluctantly Jacob allowed Benjamin to go with them into Egypt

Chapter 43

— Joseph said to the steward: ‘Pursue them, run and seize them,
— they returned into Egypt and Joseph said to them: ‘You have done evil’
— Judah said: ‘Let me be your servant, instead of the boy as a bondsman
— Joseph saw that they were all accordant in goodness one with another
— he revealed to them that he was Joseph and fell on their neck and wept
— tell my father that I am still alive; now a ruler over all the land of Egypt
— but Jacob did not believe when they told him what happened
— ‘It is enough if Joseph lives; I will go down and see him before I die’

Chapter 44

— Jacob took a trip to the Well of the Oath to inquire from God
— God said: I am the God of your fathers: fear not to go into Egypt
— Jacob sent Judah before him to Egypt to examine the Land of Goshen
— these the names of the sons of Jacob who went into Egypt with him
— Reuben and sons: Enoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; Simeon and sons:
— Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, Shaul; Levi and his sons: Gershon,
— Kohas, Merari; Judah and sons: Shela, Perez, Zerah; Issachar and sons:
— Tola, Phua, Jasub, Shimron; Zebulon and his sons: Sered, Elon, Jahleel;
— of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Areli, Arodi; of Asher: Imnah,
— Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, Serah; of Benjamin and his sons: Bela, Becher,
— Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, Ard;
— of Joseph already in Egypt: Ephraim and Manasseh

A Study of Chapters 41 to 44 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Chapter 45

— Jacob and sons went into the best part of Egypt, into Goshen
— and said to Joseph: ‘Now let me die since I have seen you
— Joseph and his brothers eat bread and drank wine before Jacob
— Jacob lived were three jubilees, one hundred and forty-seven years
— in his blessings he made known what would come in the last days
— he gave all his and books of his fathers to Levi his son to preserve

Chapter 46

— the children of Israel multiplied and they became a great nation
— and Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old; seventeen years
— he lived in Canaan; ten years he was a servant, three years in prison
— eighty years he was under the Pharaoh, ruling all the land of Egypt
— new Pharaoh of Egypt devised an evil against the children of Israel
— afflicting them he said to the people of Egypt: ‘Behold the children
— of Israel have multiplied more than we; let us afflict them
— and he set over them taskmasters to afflict them in slavery

Chapter 47

— Pharaoh issued a command; and this began a time of tribulation
— on the children of Israel; all their male children casted into the Nile
— and Moses was born, an ark for him, watched by her sister Miriam
— Tharmuth, daughter of Pharaoh, came to bathe heard the baby’s cry
— hence Moses grew up, they brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh
— when grown up, he saw an Egyptian bully an Israelite, killed him
— Moses was afraid and fled on account of knowing being watched

Chapter 48

— Moses went to live in the land of Midian; then returned to Egypt
— being sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians
— to perform against Pharaoh, against his servants and people
— the Lord executed a great vengeance on them for Israel’s sake
— and smote them through plagues of blood and frogs, lice and flies
— malignant boils breaking forth in blains; and their cattle by death
— and by hail-stones, and by locusts; by hail, and darkness
— by deaths of the first-born of men and animals, and all their idols
— in these judgments, the prince Mastema stood up against Moses
— he helped the sorcerers with evils, but the Lord smote them

Chapter 49

— the Lord commanded to celebrate the passover on the fourteenth
— of the first month; that they should kill it before it is evening
— and that they should eat it at night on the evening of the fifteenth
— while they were eating the passover, the powers of Mastema
— let loose to slay all the first-born in Egypt: men and beasts
— and remember this day, to observe it from year to year once a year,
— according to all ordinances, do not adjourn a day or a month from it
— and it shall come for a memorial well pleasing before the Lord
— do not celebrate the passover in their cities; only at the sanctuary

Chapter 50

— besides the weekly and annual Sabbaths do keep the land Sabbath
— six days shall you labour, but the seventh day is the Lord’s Sabbath
— and whoever lights a fire, rides any beast, or travels on the sea
— and the man that does any work by desecrating such a day shall die
— save burning frankincense and bringing oblations before the Lord
— this work be conducted on the Sabbaths and only in the sanctuary

A Study of Chapters 45 to 50 ~ HERE ~ —— ~

Posted in Books of Ancients

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Chapter 45

¹ And Israel went into the country of Egypt, into the land of Goshen, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the second year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubilee.

² And Joseph went to meet his father Jacob, to the land of Goshen, and he fell on his father’s neck and wept.

³ And Israel said to Joseph: ‘Now let me die since I have seen you, and now may the Lord God of Israel be blessed the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac who has not withheld His mercy and His grace from His servant Jacob.

⁴ It is enough for me that I have seen your 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 His name.’

⁵ And Joseph and his brothers eat bread before their father and drank wine, and Jacob rejoiced with wonderful 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 twelve sons. — we couldn’t imagine Joseph and his brothers eat bread before their father and drank grape juice, and rejoice, could we? But there is a modern cult with over 20 million faithfuls who do.

⁶ 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 and Israel was one hundred and thirty years old when he came into Egypt.

⁷ And Joseph nourished his father and his brethren and also their possessions with bread as much as sufficed them for the seven years of the famine.

⁸ 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 and their cattle and everything for Pharaoh.

⁹ 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 year, for the river had overflowed all the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ 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 and the Egyptians sowed the land, and it bore much corn that year.

¹¹ And this was the first year of the fourth week of the forty-fifth jubilee.

¹² 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 the land of Egypt until this day.

¹³ 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 year of the fifth week of the forty-fifth jubilee. — 49 + 49 + 49 = 147 years, establishing their jubilee as 49 years and not 50;

— this 49 years cycle contradicts Leviticus 25:10:

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:10

— today the Jubilee year is neither designated nor observed; and the reason given by Chabad is this:

Although the laws of shemittah are observed in Israel to this very day, the Jubilee year is not designated or observed. There are many reasons for this. Some of them: a) The Jubilee only affected the shemittah cycle when the shemittah was established and declared by the Sanhedrin, as opposed to today when it is automatically programmed into the perpetual Jewish calendar. b) The observance of shemittah today is only a rabbinic decree, and therefore the Jubilee year does not affect its cycle. c) No commemoration is in order when there is no Sanhedrin, whose participation in the declaration of the Jubilee year was integral. In fact, it was the Sanhedrin’s blast of the shofar (ram’s horn) on Yom Kippur which signaled the entry of the Jubilee year. Chabad 

¹⁴ 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 the land.

¹⁵ 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 the land of Hebron.

¹⁶ 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 weeks of years, all the days of the life of Joseph.

² 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 of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph.

³ 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 prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all the land of Egypt.

⁴ And he died and all his brethren and all that generation.

⁵ And he commanded the children of Israel before he died that they should carry his bones with them when they went out from the land of Egypt.

⁶ 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 Egyptians to the gates of ‘Ermon.

⁷ 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 Egypt were closed, and none went out and none came into Egypt.

⁸ 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 all his brethren died after him.

⁹ And the king of Egypt went out to war with the king of Canaan 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 field in the double cave in the mountain.

¹⁰ And the most (of them) returned to Egypt, but a few of them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram your father remained with them.

¹¹ And the king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and he closed the gates of Egypt.

¹² And he devised an evil device against the children of Israel of afflicting them and he said to the people of Egypt: ‘Behold the people of the children of Israel have increased and multiplied more than we.

¹³ 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 to our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their hearts and faces are towards the land of Canaan.’

¹⁴ 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 had fallen in the cities of Egypt.

¹⁵ 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, your father went out from the land of Canaan, and you were born in the fourth week, in the sixth year of it, in the forty-eighth jubilee; this was the time of tribulation on the children of Israel.

² And Pharaoh, king of Egypt, issued a command regarding them that they should cast all their male children which were born into the river.

³ And they cast them in for seven months until the day that you were born.

⁴ And your mother hid you for three months, and they told regarding her. And she made an ark for you, and covered it with pitch and asphalt, and placed it in the flags on the bank of the river, and she placed you in it seven days, and your mother came by night and suckled you, and by day Miriam, your sister, guarded you from the birds.

⁵ And in those days Tharmuth, the daughter of Pharaoh, came to bathe in the river, and she heard your voice crying, and she told her maidens to bring you forth, and they brought you to her.

⁶ And she took you out of the ark, and she had compassion on you.

⁷ And your sister said to her: ‘Shall I go and call to you one of the Hebrew women to nurse and suckle this babe for you?’

⁸ And she said (to her): ‘Go.’ And she went and called your mother Jochebed, and she gave her wages, and she nursed you.

⁹ And afterwards, when you were grown up, they brought you to the daughter of Pharaoh, and you became her son, and Amram your father taught you writing, and after you had completed three weeks they brought you into the royal court.

¹⁰ And you were three weeks of years at court until the time when you came out from the royal court and saw an Egyptian smiting your friend who was of the children of Israel, and you killed him and hid him in the sand.

¹¹ And on the second day you saw two of the children of Israel struggling together, and you said to him who was doing the wrong: ‘Why do you strike your brother?’

¹² And he was angry and indignant, and said: ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you think to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ And you were afraid and fled on account of these words.

Chapter 48

¹ And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee you departed and lived (in the land of Midian, five weeks and one year. And you returned into Egypt in the second week in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee.

² And you yourself know what He spoke to you on Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with you when you were returning into Egypt.

³ Did he not with all his power seek to slay you and deliver the Egyptians out of your hand when he saw that you were sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians?

⁴ And I delivered you out of his hand, and you performed the signs and wonders which you were sent to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh, and against all his house, and against his servants and his people.

⁵ And the Lord executed a great vengeance on them for Israel’s sake, and smote them through (the plagues of) blood and frogs, lice and dog-flies, and malignant boils breaking forth in blains; and their cattle by death; and by hail-stones, thereby He destroyed everything that grew for them; and by locusts which devoured the residue which had been left by the hail, and by darkness; and (by the death) of the first-born of men and animals, and on all their idols the Lord took vengeance and burned them with fire.

⁶ And everything was sent through your hand, that you should declare (these things) before they were done, and you spoke with the king of Egypt before all his servants and before his people.

⁷ And everything took place according to your words; ten great and terrible judgments came on the land of Egypt that you might execute vengeance on it for Israel.

⁸ And the Lord did everything for Israel’s sake, and according to His covenant, which he had ordained with Abraham that He would take vengeance on them as they had brought them by force into bondage.

⁹ And the prince Mastema stood up against you, and sought to cast you into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and performed before you.

¹⁰ The evils indeed we permitted them to perform, but the remedies we did not allow to be done by their hands.

¹¹ And the Lord smote them with malignant ulcers, and they were not able to stand, for we destroyed them so that they could not perform a single sign.

¹² And notwithstanding all signs and wonders the prince Mastema was not put to shame because he took courage and cried to the Egyptians to pursue after you with all the powers of the Egyptians, with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the hosts of the peoples of Egypt.

¹³ 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 middle of the sea as if it were dry land.

¹⁴ And all the peoples whom he brought to pursue after Israel, the Lord our God cast them into the middle 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 account of one suckling of the children of your people which they had thrown into the river.

¹⁵ 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 might not accuse them.

¹⁶ And on the nineteenth we let them loose that they might help the Egyptians and pursue the children of Israel.

¹⁷ And he hardened their hearts and made them stubborn, and the device was devised by the Lord our God that He might strike the Egyptians and cast them into the sea.

¹⁸ 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 which they had forced them to serve.

¹⁹ And we did not lead forth the children of Israel from Egypt empty handed.

Chapter 49

¹ Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded you concerning the passover, that you should celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that you should kill it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the time of the setting of the sun.

² For on this night, the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy, you 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 of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle.

³ 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 were in the house because the sign of the blood was on its lintels.

⁴ 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 man, or dog.

⁵ And the plague was very grievous in Egypt, and there was no house in Egypt where there was not one dead, and weeping and lamentation.

⁶ 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 the evil bondage.

⁷ And remember you this day all the days of your life, and observe it from year to year all the days of your life, once a year, on its day, according to all the law of it, and do not adjourn (it) from day to day, or from month to month.

⁸ 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 for ever.

⁹ 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 the night, for two portions of the day are given to the light, and a third part to the evening.

¹¹ This is what the Lord commanded you that you should observe it between the evenings.

¹² 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 it with fire.

¹³ 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 of it and its feet they shall roast with fire, and not break any bone of it; 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 of it; 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 festival let it be observed.

¹⁵ And 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 strike in that year in which they celebrate the passover in its season in every respect according to His command.

¹⁶ 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 in the sanctuary of the Lord.

¹⁸ 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 middle 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 middle of the tabernacle of the Lord, and let them slay it before the Lord from year to year.

¹⁹ 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 sunset, at the third part of the day.

²⁰ 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 with fire in the court of the house which has been sanctified in the name of the Lord.

²¹ 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 has dwelt; and they shall not go astray from the Lord.

²² And do you, Moses, command the children of Israel to observe the ordinances of the passover, as it was commanded to you; declare you to 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 joy before the Lord on the altar of your God.

²³ For you celebrated this festival with haste when you went out from Egypt till you entered into the wilderness of Shur; for on the shore of the sea you completed it.

Chapter 50

¹ And after this law I made known to you the days of the Sabbaths in the desert of Sin[ai], which is between Elim and Sinai.

² And I told you of the Sabbaths of the land on Mount Sinai, and I told you of the jubilee years in the sabbaths of years: but the year of it have I not told you till ye enter the land which you are to possess.

³ And the land also shall keep its sabbaths while they dwell upon it, and they shall know the jubilee year.

⁴ Wherefore I have ordained for you the year-weeks and the years and the jubilees: there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of Adam until this day, and one week and two years: and there are yet forty years to come (lit. ‘distant’) for learning the commandments of the Lord, until they pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan to the west.

⁵ 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 you- and all the judgments of its laws.

⁷ Six days shall you labour, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no manner of work, you and your sons, and your men-servants and your maid-servants, and all your cattle and the sojourner also who is with you.

⁸ 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 shall die.

⁹ You shall do no work whatever on the Sabbath day save what you 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 a day of the holy kingdom for all Israel is this day among their days for ever.

¹⁰ 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 Sabbaths.

¹¹ 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 you have been commanded.

¹² 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 whoever catches an animal or a bird or a fish, or whoever fasts or makes war on the Sabbaths:

¹³ 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 you the laws of the seasons, and the seasons according to the division of their days.

This completes the account of the division of the days.

Posted in Books of Ancients

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Chapter 41

¹ And in the forty-fifth jubilee, in the second week, (and) in the second year, Judah took for his first-born Er, a wife from the daughters of Aram, named Tamar. — Aram is where Syria is; its language is Aramaic; so was from where Haran was, their kinship region where Rebecca, Leah and Rachel, were from;

— perhaps Judah regretted taking Betasu’el, a Canaanite, for wife; and he wanted to make good by having his firstborn marrying a daughter from his kinmen; but Er, his firstborn, resented;

² 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 kinsfolk of his mother, but Judah, his father, would not permit him. — so Er, Judah’s firstborn, wanted a Canaanite to be his wife, but Judah prefered him to take one from his kinship from Haran; hence the crash;

³ And this Er, the first-born of Judah, was wicked, and the Lord slew him.

⁴ And Judah said to Onan, his brother ‘Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother.’

⁵ And 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 him.

⁶ And Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law: ‘Remain in your father’s house as a widow till Shelah my son be grown up, and I shall give you to him to wife.’

⁷ 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 in the fifth year of this week. — not allowing her son Shelah to marry Tamar would be another wicked thing before the Lord, and perhaps, the Lord slew her as well;

⁸ And in the sixth year Judah went up to shear his sheep at Timnah.

⁹ And they told Tamar: ‘Behold your 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 way to Timnah.

¹⁰ And as Judah was going along he found her, and thought her to be an harlot, and he said to her: ‘Let me come in to you;’ and she said to him ‘Come in,’ and he went in.

¹¹ And she said to him: ‘Give me my hire;’ and he said to her: ‘I have nothing in my hand save my ring that is on my finger, and my necklace, and my staff which is in my hand.’

¹² And she said to him ‘Give them to me until you do send me my hire’, and he said to her: ‘I will send to you a kid of the goats’; and he gave them to her, and she conceived by him.

¹³,And Judah went to his sheep, and she went to her father’s house.

¹⁴ 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 to him; ‘There is no harlot here with us.’

¹⁵ And he returned and informed him, and said to him that he had not found her: ‘I asked the people of the place, and they said to me: “There is no harlot here.” ‘ And he said: ‘Let her keep (them) lest we become a cause of derision.’

¹⁶ And when she had completed three months, it was manifest that she was with child, and they told Judah, saying: ‘Behold Tamar, your daughter-in-law, is with child by whoredom.’

¹⁷ And Judah went to the house of her father, and said to her father and her brothers: ‘Bring her forth, and let them burn her, for she has done uncleanness in Israel.’

¹⁸ 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: ‘Discern whose are these, for by him am I with child.’

¹⁹ And Judah acknowledged, and said: ‘Tamar is more righteous than I am.

²⁰ And therefore let them not burn her’ And for that reason she was not given to Shelah, and he did not again approach her.

²¹ And after that she bore two sons, Perez and Zerah, in the seventh year of this second week.

²² And thereupon the seven years of fruitfulness were accomplished, of which Joseph spoke to Pharaoh.

²³ 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, and did not again commit it.

²⁵ 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 uncleanness and pollution upon them, with fire let them burn them.

²⁶ And 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 has committed 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 from Israel.

²⁷ And to Judah we said that his two sons had not lain with her, and for this reason his seed was stablished for a second generation, and would not be rooted out.

²⁸ 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 land, and the rain refused to be given to the earth, for none whatever fell.

² 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 seven years of plenty and had preserved it.

³ 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 the people of the land for gold.

⁴ (Now the famine was very sore in the land of Canaan), and Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt, and he sent his ten sons that they should procure food for him in Egypt; but Benjamin he did not send, and arrived among those that went (there).

⁵ And Joseph recognised them, but they did not recognise him, and he spoke to them and questioned them, and he said to them; ‘Are you not spies and have you not come to explore the approaches of the land? ‘And he put them in ward.

⁶ And after that he set them free again, and detained Simeon alone and sent off his nine brothers.

⁷ And he filled their sacks with corn, and he put their gold in their sacks, and they did not know.

⁸ And he commanded them to bring their younger brother, for they had told him their father was living and their younger brother.

⁹ 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 had seized Simeon till they should bring Benjamin.

¹⁰ And Jacob said: ‘Me have you bereaved of my children! Joseph is not and Simeon also is not, and you will take Benjamin away. On me has your wickedness come.

¹¹ ‘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 you will take from me. If perchance he took a fever on the road, you would bring down my old age with sorrow to death.’

¹² For he saw that their money had been returned to every man in his sack, and for this reason he feared to send him.

¹³ 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 and preserving it for the years of famine.

¹⁴ And the people of Egypt fed themselves thereon during the first year of their famine.

¹⁵ But when Israel saw that the famine was very sore in the land, and that there was no deliverance, he said to his sons: ‘Go again, and procure food for us that we may not die.’

¹⁶ 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 you, slay my two sons instead of his soul.’ And he said to him: ‘He shall not go with you.’

¹⁹ And Judah came near and said: ‘Send him with me, and if I do not bring him back to you, let me bear the blame before you all the days of my life.’

²⁰ And he sent him with them in the second year of this week on the first day of the month, and they came to the land of Egypt with all those who went, and (they had) presents in their hands, stacte and almonds and terebinth nuts and pure honey. — reluctantly Jacob allowed Benjamin to go with them into Egypt;

²¹ And they went and stood before Joseph, and he saw Benjamin his brother, and he knew him, and said to them: Is this your youngest brother?’ And they said to him: ‘It is he.’ And he said ‘The Lord be gracious to you, my son!’

²² And he sent him into his house and he brought forth Simeon to them and he made a feast for them, and they presented to him the gift which they had brought in their hands.

²³ And they eat before him and he gave them all a portion, but the portion of Benjamin was seven times larger than that of any of theirs.

²⁴ And they eat and drank and arose and remained with their donkeys.

²⁵ 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 to 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 money in their sacks, and put the cup in Benjamin’s sack.

² And early in the morning they departed, and it came to pass that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said to the steward of his house: ‘Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, “For good you 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 youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment.’

³ And he ran after them and said to them according to these words.

⁴ And they said to him: ‘God forbid that your servants should do this thing, and steal from the house of your lord any utensil, and the money also which we found in our sacks the first time, we your servants brought back from the land of Canaan.

⁵ How then should we steal any utensil? Behold here are we and our sacks search, and wherever you findest the cup in the sack of any man amongst us, let him be slain, and we and our donkeys will serve your lord.’

⁶ And he said to them: ‘Not so, the man with whom I find, him only shall I take as a servant, and you shall return in peace to your house.’

⁷ And as he was searching in their vessels, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, it was found in Benjamin’s sack.

⁸ And they rent their garments, and laded their donkeys, and returned to the city and came to the house of Joseph, and they all bowed themselves on their faces to the ground before him.

⁹ And Joseph said to them: ‘You have done evil.’ And they said: ‘What shall we say and how shall we defend ourselves? Our lord has discovered the transgression of his servants; behold we are the servants of our lord, and our donkeys also.

¹⁰ ‘And Joseph said to them: ‘I too fear the Lord; as for you, go you to your homes and let your brother be my servant, for you have done evil. Do you not know that a man delights in his cup as I with this cup? And yet you have stolen it from me.’

¹¹ And Judah said: ‘O my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord’s ear two brothers did your servant’s mother bear to our father: one went away and was lost, and has not been found, and he alone is left of his mother, and your servant our father loves him, and his life also is bound up with this lad’s life.

¹² And it will come to pass, when we go to your servant our father, and the lad is not with us, that he will die, and we shall bring down our father with sorrow to death.

¹³ Now rather let me, your servant, abide instead of the boy as a bondsman to my lord, and let the lad go with his brethren, for I became surety for him at the hand of your servant our father, and if I do not bring him back, your servant will hear the blame to our father for ever.’

¹⁴ And Joseph saw that they were all accordant in goodness one with another, and he could not refrain himself, and he told them that he was Joseph.

¹⁵ And he conversed with them in the Hebrew tongue and fell on their neck and wept.

¹⁶ But they knew him not and they began to weep. And he said to them: ‘Do not weep over me, but hasten and bring my father to me; and you see that it is my mouth that speaketh and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see.

¹⁷ For behold this is the second year of the famine, and there are still five years without harvest or fruit of trees or ploughing.

¹⁸ Come down quickly you and your households, so that you perish not through the famine, and do not be grieved for your possessions, for the Lord sent me before you to set things in order that many people might live.

¹⁹ And tell my father that I am still alive, and ye, behold, you see that the Lord has made me as a father to Pharaoh, and ruler over his house and over all the land of Egypt.

²⁰ And tell my father of all my glory, and all the riches and glory that the Lord has given me.’

²¹ 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 raiment and silver.

²² And to their father he sent raiment and silver and ten donkeys which carried corn, and he sent them away.

²³ 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 father Isaac on the seventh of this month.

² And Jacob remembered the dream that he had seen at Bethel, and he feared to go down into Egypt.

³ 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 perchance he could see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down.

⁴ 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 birds, and also over man. — the harvest festival of the first-fruits according to them (the writer and believers) would be the fifteenth of their third month of their calendar;

⁵ And on the sixteenth the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘Jacob, Jacob’; and he said, ‘Here am I.’

⁶ And He said to him: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation. I will go down with you, and I will bring you up (again), and in this land shall you be buried, and Joseph shall put his hands upon your 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 wagons.

⁸ And Israel rose up from the Well of the Oath on the sixteenth of this third month, and he went to the land of Egypt.

⁹ 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 might be near him.

¹⁰ And this was the best (land) in the land of Egypt, and near to him, for all (of them) and also for the cattle.

¹¹ And these are the names of the sons of Jacob who went into Egypt with Jacob their father Reuben, the First-born of Israel; and these are the names of his sons Enoch, and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi-five.

¹² 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 of the Zephasite woman-seven.

¹³ Levi and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Gershon, and Kohas, and Merari-four.

¹⁴ Judah and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Shela, and Perez, and Zerah-four.

¹⁵ Issachar and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Tola, and Phua, and Jasub, and Shimron-five.

¹⁷ Zebulon and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel-four.

¹⁸ 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 father being with them, they were thirty.

¹⁹ And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, the wife of Jacob, who bore to Jacob Gad and Ashur.

²⁰ 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, and Arodi-eight.

²¹ And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, (and Ishvi), and Beriah, and Serah, their one sister-six.

²² All the souls were fourteen, and all those of Leah were forty-four.

²³ And the sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁴ And there were born to Joseph in Egypt before his father came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar priest of Heliopolis bore to him, Manasseh, and Ephraim-three.

²⁵ 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 And all the souls of Rachel were fourteen.

²⁷ And the sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, whom she bore to Jacob, were Dan and Naphtali.

²⁸ 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 was left to Dan Hushim alone.

³⁰ And these are the names of the sons of Naphtali Jahziel, and Guni and Jezer, and Shallum, and ‘Iv.

³¹ And ‘Iv, who was born after the years of famine, died in Egypt.

³² And all the souls of Rachel were twenty-six.

³³ 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 in Egypt before Joseph, and had no children.

³⁴ 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.

Posted in Books of Ancients

Chapter 37

¹ And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau died, the sons of Esau heard that Isaac had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Jacob and they were very angry.

² And they strove with their father, saying ‘Why has your father given Jacob the portion of the elder and passed over you, although you are the elder and Jacob the younger?’

³ And he said to 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 my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and put me under his hand.

⁴ 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 corrupt.’

⁵ And they said to him, ‘We shall not listen to you 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 you must not go with us, we shall do hurt to you also.

⁶ And now listen to 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 to them, ‘Do not go and do not make war with him lest you fall before him.’

⁸ And they said to him, ‘This too, is exactly your mode of action from your youth until this day, and you are putting your neck under his yoke.

⁹ We shall not listen 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 fighting men, chosen men of war.

¹⁰ 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 Kittim mighty men of war.

¹¹ And they said to their father: Go forth with them and lead them, else we shall slay you.’

¹² 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 remembered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother;

¹³ and he did not remember the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother to devise no evil all his days against Jacob his brother.

¹⁴ 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 tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war.

¹⁵ And the men of Hebron sent to him saying, ‘Behold your brother has come against you, to fight you, with four thousand girt with the sword, and they carry shields and weapons’; for they loved Jacob more than Esau.

¹⁶ So they told him; for Jacob was a more liberal and merciful man than Esau. But Jacob would not believe until they came very near to the tower.

¹⁷ And he closed the gates of the tower; and he stood on the battlements and spoke to his brother Esau and said, ‘Noble is the comfort wherewith you have come to comfort me for my wife who has died. Is this the oath that you swore to your father and again to your mother before they died? You have broken the oath, and on the moment that you swore to your father were you condemned.’

¹⁸ And then Esau answered and said to him, ‘Neither the children of men nor the beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness sworn for all time; but every day they devise evil one against another, and how each may slay his adversary and foe.

¹⁹ And you do hate me and my children for ever. And there is no observing the tie of brotherhood with you.

²⁰ Hear these words which I declare to you,

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 you
And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother, for you have 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 you.

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 you.

²³ And when the raven becomes white as the raza,

Then know that I have loved you
And shall make peace with you
You shall be rooted out,
And your sons shall be rooted out,
And there shall be no peace for you.’

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 the spear that pierces and kills it, and recoils not from it; then he spoke to his own and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.

Chapter 38

¹ And after that Judah spoke to Jacob, his father, and said to him: ‘Bend your bow, father, and send forth your arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and may you have the power, for we shall not slay your brother, for he is such as you, and he is like you let us give him (this) honour.’

² Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his brother (on his right breast) and slew him.

³ And again he sent forth an arrow and struck ‘Adoran the Aramaean, on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him.

⁴ And then went out the sons of Jacob, they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower.

⁵ And Judah went out 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 out on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon.

⁷ And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went out on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the Philistines.

⁸ And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben’s son, went out 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 lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in ‘Aduram.

⁹ And the sons of Jacob pursued them to the mountains of Seir.

¹⁰ And Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in ‘Aduram, and he returned to his house.

¹¹ And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in the mountains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob. And they sent to their father to ask if they should make peace with them or slay them.

— “sent to their father to ask” which father, Esau or Jacob; it doesn’t make sense if he is Esau, since he’s already buried; so he has to be Jacob, meaning; the sons of Esau, instead of begging for mercy, still have the cheek to ask whether to make peace with them or slay them;

¹² And Jacob sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace with them, and placed the yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always.

¹³ And they continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he went down into Egypt.

¹⁴ And the sons of Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had imposed on them until this day.

¹⁵ And these are the kings that reigned in Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel [until this day] in the land of Edom.

¹⁶ And Balaq, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Danaba.

¹⁷ And Balaq died, and Jobab, the son of Zara of Boser, reigned in his stead.

¹⁸ 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 stead, and the name of his city was Avith.

²⁰ And ‘Adath died, and Salman, from ‘Amaseqa, reigned in his stead.

²¹ And Salman died,and Saul of Ra’aboth (by the) river, reigned in his stead.

²² And Saul died, and Ba’elunan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his stead.

²³ 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 Matarat, the daughter of Metabedza’ab. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom.

Chapter 39

¹ And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings in the land of Canaan.

² These are the generations of Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down into the land of Egypt, and Potiphar, an eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief cook bought him.

³ And he set Joseph over all his house and the blessing of the Lord came upon the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph, and the Lord prospered him in all that he did.

⁴ And the Egyptian committed everything into the hands of Joseph; for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord prospered him in all that he did.

⁵ 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 and besought him to lie with her.

⁶ 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 will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord.

⁷ And Joseph remembered these words and refused to lie with her.

⁸ And she besought him for a year, but he refused and would not listen.

⁹ 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 his garment in her hands and broke through the door and fled without from her presence.

¹⁰ And the woman saw that he would not lie with her, and she calumniated him in the presence of his lord, saying ‘Your Hebrew servant, whom you 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 my hands when I held him, and he brake through the door.’

¹¹ And the Egyptian saw the garment of Joseph and the broken door, and heard the words of his wife, and cast Joseph into prison into the place where the prisoners were kept whom the king imprisoned.

¹² 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 made all that he did to prosper.

¹³ 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 Lord perfected it.

¹⁴ And he remained there two years. And in those days Pharaoh, king of Egypt was angry against his two eunuchs, against the chief butler, and against the chief baker, and he put them in ward in the house of the chief cook, in the prison where Joseph was kept.

¹⁵ And the chief of the prison guards appointed Joseph to serve them; and he served before them.

¹⁶ And they both dreamed a dream, the chief butler and the chief baker, and they told it to Joseph.

¹⁷ And as he interpreted to them so it befell them, and Pharaoh restored the chief butler to his office and the (chief) baker he slew, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

¹⁸ 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 spoke of him to the king, and he brought him forth from the prison, and he to]d his two dreams before him.

³ And he said before Pharaoh that his two dreams were one, and he said to 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 the land.

⁴ 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 years of famine, and the land will not perish through the famine, for it will be very severe.’

⁵ And the Lord gave Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said to his servants. We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with him.’

⁶ And he appointed him the second in all his kingdom and gave him authority over all Egypt, and caused him to ride in the second chariot of Pharaoh.

⁷ 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 said to him.

⁸ ‘Only on the throne shall I be greater than you.’ 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 person (therein).

¹⁰ And the king called Joseph’s name Sephantiphans, and gave Joseph to wife the daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, the chief cook.

¹¹ And on the day that Joseph stood before Pharaoh he was thirty years old [when he stood before Pharaoh].

¹² 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 land of Egypt abundantly produced, one measure (producing) eighteen hundred measures.

¹³ 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.

Posted in Books of Ancients

Chapter 33

¹ And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra’ef. And he went to his father Isaac, he and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month.

² And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her.

³ 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 her house.

⁴ 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 that it was Reuben.

⁵ And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he fled.

⁶ And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one.

⁷ And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said to him: ‘I am not clean for you, for I have been defiled as regards you; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.’

⁸ And Jacob was exceedingly angry with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his father’s skirt.

⁹ 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 the Lord.

¹⁰ 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 done uncleanness on the earth.

¹¹ And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in the nation which He has chosen for Himself as a possession.

¹² And again, it is written a second time: ‘Cursed be he who lieth with the wife of his father, for he has uncovered his father’s shame;’ and all the holy ones of the Lord said ‘So be it; so be it.’

¹³ And do you, 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 middle 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 is abominable and unclean.

¹⁵ 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 Jacob, his father, was still alive.

¹⁶ For until that time there had not been revealed the ordinance and judgment and law in its completeness for all, but in your days (it has been revealed) as a law of seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the everlasting generations.

¹⁷ And for this law there is no consummation of days, and no atonement for it, but they must both be rooted out in the middle of the nation: on the day whereon they committed it they shall slay them.

¹⁸ And do you, Moses, write (it) down for Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these words, and not commit a sin to death; for the Lord our God is judge, who respects not persons and accepts not gifts.

¹⁹ 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 our God.

²⁰ And there is no greater sin than the fornication which they commit on earth; for Israel is a holy nation to 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 middle of the holy nation.

²¹ And in the third year of this sixth week Jacob and all his sons went and dwelt in the house of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebecca his mother.

²² 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.

²³ And they 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 Jacob sent his sons to pasture their sheep, and his servants with them to the pastures of Shechem.

² And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take their cattle as a prey.

³ 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 the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father.

⁴ 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 mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan.

⁵ And they announced this to Jacob saying: ‘Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded your 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 servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords.

⁷ 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-sakir and Ga[ga]’as, and he recovered his herds.

⁸ 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 and Tamnatares.

⁹ And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into Egypt.

¹⁰ And in the seventh year of this week he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem, and he found them in the land of Dothan.

¹¹ 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 chief of the cooks, priest of the city of ‘Elew.

¹² 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 has devoured Joseph;’ and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with him all that day.

¹⁴ And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son.

¹⁵ 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 perished.

¹⁶ And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. And they buried Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and they buried also his daughter, Dinah, there.

¹⁷ And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said ‘Let me go down to the grave mourning for my son.’

¹⁸ 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 affection of their father regarding Joseph his son.

— “it is ordained for the children of Israel” who ordained this? Jacob and all the other sons? the Lord? “the tenth of the seventh month” is Yom Kippur; is this a co-incidence?

¹⁹ 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 might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.

²⁰ And after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob took to themselves wives. The name of Reuben’s wife is ‘Ada; and the name of Simeon’s wife is ‘Adiba’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 of Benjamin’s wife, ‘Ijasaka.

— names of their wives and of their tribes are largely different from that of the Book of Jasher in chapter 45; not just different but both are incomplete.

— and here is a summary from Chapter 45

— Reuben took for a wife Eliuram, a Canaanite
— Simeon took Dinah for a wife; and Bunah a Canaanite
— Judah went to Adulam, her name Aliyath, also a Canaanite
— Levi took Adinah; Issachar took Aridah, from the son of Eber
— Dan went to the Moabites and took for a wife Aphlaleth
— Gad and Naphtali to Haran and took from the son of Nahor
— and Naphtali took Merimah, and Gad took Uzith, for wives
— Asher took Adon, an Ishmaelite for a wife; but no child
— Asher then took Hadurah the daughter of the son of Eber
— Zebulun Midian, and took for a wife Merishah, a Midianite
— Jacob took for Benjamin Mechalia the daughter of Terah
— Benjamin took another wife Aribath, a daughter of Abraham
— Judah, by Tamar, had twins: first Perez; second Zarah

²¹ And Simeon repented, and took a second wife from Mesopotamia as his brothers. — if he had taken another from Mesopotamia, he would be following Naphtali, and perhaps Levi.

Chapter 35

¹ And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth jubilee Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and commanded him regarding his father and regarding his brother, that he should honour them all the days of his life.

² And Jacob said: ‘I will do everything as you have commanded me; for this thing will be honour and greatness to me, and righteousness before the Lord, that I should honour them.

³ And you too, mother, know from the time I was born until this day, all my deeds and all that is in my heart, that I always think good concerning all.

⁴ And how should I not do this thing which you have commanded me, that I should honour my father and my brother! Tell me, mother, what 6 perversity have you seen in me and I shall turn away from it, and mercy will be upon me.’

⁵ And she said to him: ‘My son, I have not seen in you all my days any perverse but (only) upright deeds.

⁶ And yet I will tell you 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 live.’

⁷ And Jacob laughed at the words of his mother. because his mother had said to 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 had touched her all the days of her life.

⁸ And Jacob said to her: ‘Blessed am I, mother, if my days approach the days of your life, and my strength remain with me thus as your strength: and you must not die, for you are jesting idly with me regarding your death.’

⁹ And she went in to Isaac and said to him: ‘One petition I make to you: make Esau swear that he will not injure Jacob, nor pursue him with enmity; for you know Esau’s thoughts that they are perverse from his youth, and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after your death to kill him.

¹⁰ And you know 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; your flocks he has taken to himself, and carried off all your possessions from before your face.

¹¹ And when we implored and besought him for what was our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us.

¹² And he is bitter against you because you blessed Jacob your perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only goodness in him, and since he came from Haran to this day he has not robbed us of anything, 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 at home honouring us.’

¹³ And Isaac said to 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 there is no righteousness around him.

¹⁴ 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 after his wives and after their uncleanness and after their error, he and his children.

¹⁵ And you do bid me make him swear that he will not slay Jacob his brother; even if he swear he will not abide by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only.

¹⁶ 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 hands.]

¹⁷ And fear you not on account of Jacob; for the guardian of Jacob is great and powerful and honoured, and praised more than the guardian of Esau.’

¹⁸ And Rebecca sent and called Esau and he came to her, and she said to him: ‘I have a petition, my son, to make to you, and do you promise to do it, my son.’

¹⁹ And he said: ‘I will do everything that you sayest to me, and I will not refuse your petition.’

²⁰ And she said to him: ‘I ask you that the day I die, you must take me in and bury me near Sarah, your father’s mother, and that you and Jacob will love each other and that neither will desire evil against the other, but mutual love only, and (so) you will prosper, my sons, and be honoured in the middle of the land, and no enemy will rejoice over you, and you will be a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love you.’

²¹ And he said: ‘I will do all that you have told me, and I shall bury you on the day you diest near Sarah, my father’s mother, as you have desired that her bones may be near your bones.

²² 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 your body, and together came we forth from your womb, and if I do not love my brother, whom shall I love?

²³ And I, myself, beg you 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 the lower.

²⁴ And I swear to you that I shall love him, and not desire evil against him all the days of my life but good only.’

²⁵ And he swore to her regarding all this matter. And she called Jacob before the eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the words which she had spoken to Esau.

²⁶ And he said: ‘I shall do your 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. — Rebecca died at the age of 155 (49 x 3 + 7 + 1 = 155)

Chapter 36

¹ And in the sixth year of this week Isaac called his two sons Esau and Jacob, and they came to him, and he said to them: ‘My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house where my fathers are.

² 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 I dug for myself, there bury me.

³ And this I command you, my sons, to practise righteousness and uprightness on the earth, so that the Lord may bring upon you all that the Lord said that he would do to Abraham and to his seed.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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 of deception for those that worship them and for those that bow down to them.

⁶ 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 out to all the generations for ever.

⁷ 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 you will fear Him and worship Him.

⁸ 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 so that you may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed.

⁹ 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 under heaven.

¹⁰ 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,

¹¹ but in that 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 injure his brother.

¹² 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 Abraham possessed at the Well of the Oath.

¹³ And he said: ‘This larger portion I will give to the firstborn.’

¹⁴ And Esau said, ‘I have sold to Jacob and given my birthright to Jacob; to him let it be given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his.’

¹⁵ And Isaac said, May a blessing rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for you have given me rest, and my heart is not pained concerning the birthright, lest you shouldest work wickedness on account of it.

¹⁶ May the Most High God bless the man that worketh righteousness, him and his seed for ever.’

¹⁷ 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 out from him and rested that day and slept.

¹⁸ 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 Esau and Jacob buried him.

¹⁹ And Esau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of Seir, and dwelt there.

²⁰ 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 commands according as He had divided the days of his generations.

²¹ And Leah his wife died in the fourth year of the second week of the forty-fifth jubilee, and he buried her in the double cave near Rebecca his mother to the left of the grave of Sarah, his father’s mother,

²² and all her sons and his sons came to mourn over Leah his wife with him and to comfort him regarding her for he was lamenting her for he loved her exceedingly after Rachel her sister died;

²³ 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.

Posted in Books of Ancients

Chapter 29

¹ And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep; for they were distant from him a three days’ journey.

² And Jacob saw that Laban was going to shear his sheep, and Jacob called Leah and Rachel, and spoke kindly to them that they should come with him to the land of Canaan.

³ For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even all that He had spoken to him that he should return to his father’s house, and they said: ‘To every place wherever you go we will go with you.’

⁴ 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 from Laban and told him not.

⁵ And in the seventh year of the fourth week Jacob turned (his face) toward Gilead in the first month, on the twenty-first of it. And Laban pursued after him and overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third month, on the thirteenth of it.

⁶ And the Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for he appeared to him in a dream by night. And Laban spoke to Jacob.

⁷ And on the fifteenth of those days Jacob made a feast for Laban, and for all who came with him, and Jacob swore to Laban that day, and Laban also to Jacob, that neither should cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil purpose.

⁸ And he made there a heap for a witness; wherefore the name of that place is called: ‘The Heap of Witness,’ after this heap.

⁹ 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 seven cubits.

¹⁰ And their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon, and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, and Misur, and Beon.

¹¹ 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 to the full all their sins, and they have no longer length of life on the earth.

¹² And Jacob sent away Laban, and he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and Jacob returned to the land of Gilead.

¹³ And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth month, on the eleventh of it. And on that day Esau, his brother, came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed from him to the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents.

¹⁴ And in the first year of the fifth week in this jubilee he crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he pastured his sheep from the sea of the heap to Bethshan, and to Dothan and to the forest of Akrabbim.

¹⁵ And he sent to his father Isaac of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and butter, and cheese, and some dates of the valley.

¹⁶ 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) and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham.

¹⁷ 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 Esau.

¹⁸ 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 up and dwelt on Mount Seir, and left Isaac his father at the Well of the Oath alone.

¹⁹ And Isaac went up from the Well of the Oath and dwelt in the tower of Abraham his father on the mountains of Hebron,

²⁰ And there Jacob sent all that he sent 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 he went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace, in the fourth month.

² 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, and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years.

³ And he besought his father and her brothers that she might be given to him to wife. And Jacob and his sons were angry because of the men of Shechem; for they had defiled Dinah, their sister, and they spoke to them with evil intent and dealt deceitfully with them and beguiled them.

⁴ 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 their sister Dinah.

⁵ 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 all the men of the Shechemites because they had brought shame in Israel.

⁶ 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 Israel should be defiled.

⁷ 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 has brought shame in Israel; and they shall burn the woman with fire, because she has dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she shall be rooted out of Israel.

⁸ 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 to the Lord, and every man who has defiled (it) shall surely die: they shall stone him with stones.

⁹ 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 stones.

¹⁰ 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 middle of all Israel, because he has given of his seed to Moloch, and done impiously so as to defile it.

¹¹ And do you, Moses, command the children of Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the Gentiles, and not to take for their sons any of the daughters of the Gentiles, for this is abominable before the Lord.

¹² For this reason I have written for you in the words of the Law all the deeds of the Shechemites, which they did against Dinah, and how the sons of Jacob spoke, saying: ‘We will not give our daughter to a man who is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach to us.’

¹³ 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 abominable to Israel.

¹⁴ 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 : if he do this thing, or hide his eyes from those who commit uncleanness, or those who defile the sanctuary of the Lord, or those who profane His holy name, (then) will the whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this man.

¹⁶ 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 so fare every man or woman in Israel who defiles the sanctuary.

¹⁷ For this reason I have commanded you, saying: ‘Testify this testimony to Israel: see how the Shechemites fared and their sons: how they were delivered into the hands of two sons of Jacob, and they slew them under tortures, and it was (reckoned) to them for righteousness, and it is written down to them for righteousness.

¹⁸ 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 to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on all those who arose against Israel.

¹⁹ And so they inscribe as a testimony in his favour on the heavenly tablets blessing and righteousness before the God of all:

²⁰ 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 man.

²¹ All this account I have written for you, and have commanded you to say to the children of Israel, that they should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor break the covenant which has been ordained for them, (but) that they should fulfil it and be recorded as friends. — who is the narrator here, the ‘I’?

²² 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 those who will be destroyed and with those who will be rooted out of the earth.

²³ 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 donkeys, and all their wealth, and all their flocks, and brought them all to Jacob their father.

²⁵ 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 spoke 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 brought me into this land in peace, and put you away the strange gods that arc among you.’

² And they gave up the strange gods and that 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 Shechem.

³ 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 Isaac to come to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother Rebecca.

⁴ And Isaac said: ‘Let my son Jacob come, and let me see him before I die.’

⁵ 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 your son has come;’ and she kissed him.

⁷ And she saw his two sons, and she recognised them, and said to him: ‘Are these your sons, my son?’ and she embraced them and kissed them, and blessed them, saying: ‘In you shall the seed of Abraham become illustrious, and you shall prove a blessing on the earth.’

⁸ 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, and wept upon his neck.

⁹ And the darkness left the eyes of Isaac, and he saw the two sons of Jacob, Levi, and Judah, and he said: ‘Are these your sons, my son? for they are like you.’

¹⁰ And he said to him that they were truly his sons: ‘And you have 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 Judah by his left.

¹³ And he turned to Levi first, and began to bless him first, and said to him: May the God of all, the very Lord of all the ages, bless you and your children throughout all the ages.

¹⁴ And may the Lord give to you and to your seed greatness and great glory, and cause you and your 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 your sons be for glory and greatness and holiness, and may He make them great to all the ages.

¹⁵ 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 Your mother has called your name Levi,

And justly has she called your name;
You shall be joined to the Lord
And be the companion of all the sons of Jacob;
Let His table be your,
And and your sons eat of it;
And may your table be full to all generations,
And your food fail not to all the ages.

¹⁷ And let all who hate you fall down before you,

And let all your adversaries be rooted out and perish;
And blessed be he that blesses you,
And cursed be every nation that curses you.’

¹⁸ And to Judah he said:

‘May the Lord give you strength and power
To tread down all that hate you;

¹⁹ A prince shall you be, you and one of your sons, over the sons of Jacob;

May your name and the name of your sons go forth and traverse every land and region.
Then shall the Gentiles fear before your face,
And all the nations shall quake
[And all the peoples shall quake].
In you shall be the help of Jacob,
And in you be found the salvation of Israel.

²⁰ And when you sittest on the throne of honour of your righteousness

There shall be great peace for all the seed of the sons of the beloved;
Blessed be he that blesseth you,
And all that hate you and afflict you and curse you
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 sons of Jacob his son in very truth.

²² And he went out 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 eat and drank with joy.

²³ And he made the two sons of Jacob sleep, the one on his right hand and the other on his left, and it was counted to him for righteousness.

— despite the birthright holder, I Chronicles 5:2 Joseph wasn’t in this blessings by Isaac, which seems unusual; second, as Jacob love Joseph more than any of the other sons, it is unbelievable that Jacob didnt bring him along with him; and

— third, that Jacob showed no feeling or reflection for having Joseph missed out this blessings by Isaac. Hence the biasness of the writer of the Book of Jubilees.

²⁴ 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 his ways, and protected him from all evil.

²⁵ And Isaac blessed the God of his father Abraham, who had not withdrawn his mercy and his righteousness from the sons of his servant Isaac.

²⁶ 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 made before the Lord as he had vowed, and that he had come to set him on an ass.

²⁷ And Isaac said to Jacob his son: ‘I am not able to go with you; 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 journey; set your mother (on an ass) and let her go with you.

²⁸ And I know, my son, that you have come on my account, and may this day be blessed on which you have seen me alive, and I also have seen you, my son.

²⁹ May you prosper and fulfil the vow which you have vowed; and put not off your vow; for you shall 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 you have vowed the vow.’

³⁰ And he said to Rebecca: ‘Go with Jacob your son;’ and Rebecca went with Jacob her son, and Deborah with her, and they came to Bethel.

³¹ 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 fathers, Abraham and Isaac.

³² 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 to 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 the Lord.

² 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, yea, he gave tithes of all.

³ 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 father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and filled his hands. — counting backward or upward would make Levi the tenth in the lineage of sonship, hence a tenth as tithe, but why counting backward or upward?

⁴ 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 altar of sacrifice, well pleasing for a sweet savour before God.

⁵ 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-offerings.

⁶ 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, and two kids of the goats; and thus he did daily for seven days.

⁷ 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 had delivered him out of all his tribulation and had given him his vow.

⁸ 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 gave him all the souls of the men

⁹ 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 he tithed again the tithe to the Lord and sanctified it, and it became holy to Him.

¹⁰ 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 there is no limit of days for ever.

¹¹ 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 shall remain over from it from this year to the year following.

¹² 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, and the oil till the days of its season.

¹³ And all that is left of it and becomes old, let it be regarded as polluted: let it be burnt with fire, for it is unclean.

¹⁴ And thus let them eat it together in the sanctuary, and let them not suffer it to become old.

¹⁵ And all the tithes of the oxen and sheep shall be holy to the Lord, and shall belong to his priests, which they will eat before Him from year to year; for thus is it ordained and engraven regarding the tithe on the heavenly tablets.

¹⁶ 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 after him.

¹⁷ And the Lord appeared to him by night and blessed him and said to him: ‘Your name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall they name your name.’

¹⁸ And He said to him again: ‘I am the Lord who created the heaven and the earth, and I will increase you and multiply you exceedingly, and kings shall come forth from you, and they shall judge everywhere wherever the foot of the sons of men has trodden.

¹⁹ And I will give to your 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 of the whole earth and inherit it for ever.’

²⁰ And He finished speaking with him, and He went up from him.

²¹ 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 throughout all the ages.

²² And he showed him all that was written on the tablets, and said to 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 your father and dwell with Isaac your father until the day of the death of your father.

²³ For in Egypt you shall die in peace, and in this land you shall be buried with honour in the sepulchre of your fathers, with Abraham and Isaac.

²⁴ Fear not, for as you have seen and read it, thus shall it all be; and write down everything as you have seen and read.’

²⁵ And Jacob said: ‘Lord, how can I remember all that I have read and seen? ‘And he said to him: ‘I will bring all things to your remembrance.’

²⁶ 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 words which he had read and seen.

²⁷ 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 this day was added and the former days he called ‘The Feast.’ — is this the 22nd “of the seventh month” (Chapter 31:3)? if so this would be added after the Last Great Day, or Shemini Atzeret.

²⁸ 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 celebrate it, and add it to the seven days of the feast.

²⁹ And its name was called ‘Addition,’ because that it was recorded amongst the days of the feast days, according to the number of the days of the year. — is this ‘Addition,’ feast celebrated by the Essenes?

³⁰ 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 place, ‘The river of Deborah,’ and the oak, ‘The oak of the mourning of Deborah.’

³¹ And Rebecca went and returned to her house to his father Isaac, and Jacob sent by her hand rams and sheep and he-goats that she should prepare a meal for his father such as he desired.

³² And he went after his mother till he came to the land of Kabratan, and he dwelt there.

³³ And Rachel bore 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 jubilee.

³⁴ 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.

Posted in Books of Ancients

Chapter 25

¹ And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, Rebecca called Jacob her son, and spoke to him, saying: ‘My son, do not take you a wife of the daughters of Canaan, as Esau, your 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, for (their deeds) are evil.

² And I, my son, love you exceedingly, and my heart and my affection bless you every hour of the day and watch of the night.

³ And now, my son, listen to my voice, and do the will of your mother, and do not take you a wife of the daughters of this land, but only of the house of my father, and of my father’s kindred. You shall take you a wife of the house of my father, and the Most High God will bless you, and your children shall be a righteous generation and a holy seed.’

⁴ And then spoke Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said to her: ‘Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor have I betrothed myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. — 9 times 7 = 63 years old;

⁵ For I remember, mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father’s house and from my kindred.

⁶ I have heard before that daughters have been born to Laban, your brother, and I have set my heart on them to take a wife from amongst them. — so Jacob had already heard of Laban’s daughters;

⁷ 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 and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many commands.

⁸ 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. — the tone expressed here doesn’t show any of the brother’s animosity for each other; but this was before Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright by deceit, which comes up the next chapter;

⁹ I swear before you, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take me a wife from the daughters of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my brother has done.

¹⁰ Fear not, mother; be assured that I shall do your will and walk in uprightness, and not corrupt my ways for ever.’

¹¹ 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 thanks and praise.

¹² 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 Your, and Your shall his seed be continually and throughout all the generations for evermore.

¹³ Bless him, O Lord, and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him.’

¹⁴ 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 are you, Lord of righteousness and God of the ages

And may He bless you beyond all the generations of men.
May He give you, my Son, the path of righteousness,
And reveal righteousness to your seed.

¹⁶ And may He make your sons many during your 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.

^17-18 And may He give them this goodly land, as He said He would give it to Abraham and to his seed after him always-

And may they hold it as a possession for ever.

And may I see (born) to you, my son, blessed children during my life,
And a blessed and holy seed may all your seed be.

¹⁹ And as you have refreshed your mother’s spirit during her life,

The womb of her that bore you blesses you thus,
[My affection] and my breasts bless you
And my mouth and my tongue praise you greatly.

²⁰ Increase and spread over the earth,

And may your seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth for ever;
And may your seed rejoice,
And on the great day of peace may it have peace.

²¹ And may your name and your 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 to all the ages.

²² Blessed be he that blesseth you,

And all flesh that curseth you falsely, may it be cursed.’

²³ And she kissed him, and said to him;

‘May the Lord of the world love you
As the heart of your mother and her affection rejoice in you and bless you.’

And she ceased from blessing.

Chapter 26

¹ And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Esau, his elder Son, and said to him: ‘I am old, my son, and behold my eyes are dim in seeing, and I know not the day of my death.

² And now take your hunting weapons your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt and catch me (venison), my son, and make me savoury meat, such as my soul loves, and bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.’

³ But Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to Esau.

⁴ And Esau went out early to the field to hunt and catch and bring home to his father.

⁵ And Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and said to him: ‘Behold, I heard Isaac, your father, speak to Esau, your brother, saying: “Hunt for me, and make me savoury meat, and bring (it) to me that I may eat and bless you before the Lord before I die.”

⁶ And now, my son, obey my voice in that I command you: Go to your flock and fetch me two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savoury meat for your father, such as he loves, and you shall bring (it) to your father that he may eat and bless you before the Lord before he die, and that you may be blessed.’

⁷ 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 me.

⁸ And you know 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 angry with me, and I shall bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing.’

⁹ And Rebecca, his mother, said to him: ‘Upon me be your curse, my son, only obey my voice.’

¹⁰ And Jacob obeyed the voice of Rebecca, his mother, and went and fetched two good and fat kids of the goats, and brought them to his mother, and his mother made them ~savoury meat~ such as he loved.

¹¹ 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 the exposed parts of his neck.

¹² And she gave the meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹³ And Jacob went in to his father and said: ‘I am your son: I have done according as you badest me: arise and sit and eat of that I have caught, father, that your soul may bless me.’

¹⁴ And Isaac said to his son: ‘How have you found meat so quickly, my son?

¹⁵ ‘And Jacob said: ‘Because the Lord your God caused me to find it.’

¹⁶ And Isaac said to him: Come near, that I may feel you, my son, if you are my son Esau or not.’

¹⁷ And Jacob went near to Isaac, his father, and he felt him and said: ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau,’

¹⁸ and he discerned him not, because it was a dispensation from heaven to remove his power of perception and Isaac discerned not, for his hands were hairy as his brother Esau’s, so that he blessed him.

¹⁹ And he said: ‘Are you my son Esau? ‘ and he said: ‘I am your son’: and he said, ‘Bring near to me that I may eat of that you have caught, my son, that my soul may bless you.’

²⁰ And he brought near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine and he drank.

²¹ And Isaac, his father, said to him: ‘Come near and kiss me, my son.

²² 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 has blessed.

²³ And may the Lord give you of the dew of heaven

And of the dew of the earth, and plenty of corn and oil:
Let nations serve you,
And peoples bow down to you.

²⁴ Be lord over your brethren,

And let your mother’s sons bow down to you;
And may all the blessings wherewith the Lord has blessed me and blessed Abraham, my father;
Be imparted to you and to your seed for ever:
Cursed be he that curseth you,
And blessed be he that blesseth you.’

²⁵ And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing his son Jacob, and Jacob had gone forth from Isaac his father he hid himself and Esau, his brother, came in from his hunting.

²⁶ And he also made savoury meat, and brought (it) to his father, and said to his father: ‘Let my father arise, and eat of my venison that your soul may bless me.’

²⁷ And Isaac, his father, said to him: ‘Who are you? ‘And he said to him: ‘I am your first born, your son Esau: I have done as you have commanded me.’

²⁸ And Isaac was very greatly astonished, and said: ‘Who is he that has hunted and caught and brought (it) to me, and I have eaten of all before you camest, and have blessed him: (and) he shall be blessed, and all his seed for ever.’

²⁹ And it came to pass when Esau heard the words of his father Isaac that he cried with an wonderful and bitter cry, and said to his father:

³⁰ ‘Bless me, (even) me also, father.’ And he said to him: ‘Your brother came with guile, and has taken away your blessing.’ And he said: ‘Now I know why his name is named Jacob: behold, he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birth-right, and now he has taken away my blessing.’

³¹ And he said: ‘Hast you not reserved a blessing for me, father?’ and Isaac answered and said to Esau:

‘Behold, I have made him your 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 you, my son?’

³² And Esau said to Isaac, his father:

‘Hast you 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 to him:
‘Behold, far from the dew of the earth shall be your dwelling,
And far from the dew of heaven from above.

³⁴ And by your sword must you live,

And you must serve your brother.
And it shall come to pass when you becomest great,
And do shake his yoke from off your neck,
You shall sin a complete sin to death,
And your 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 called Jacob her younger son, and said to him:

² ‘Behold Esau your brother will take vengeance on you so as to kill you.

³ Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee you to Laban, my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until your brother’s anger turns away, and he remove his anger from you, and forget all that you have done; then I will send and fetch you from thence.’

⁴ And Jacob said: ‘I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him.’

⁵ But she said to him: ‘Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day.’

⁶ And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: ‘Behold, you know 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 And Rebecca said to Jacob: ‘I will go in and speak to him, and he will send you away.’

⁸ 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 as these, for what purpose do I further live, for the daughters of Canaan are evil.’

⁹ And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said to him: ‘Do not take you a wife of any of the daughters of Canaan;

¹⁰ arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

¹¹ And God Almighty bless you and increase and multiply you that you may become a company of nations, and give you the blessings of my father Abraham, to you and to your seed after you, that you may inherit the land of your sojournings and all the land which God gave to Abraham: go, my son, in peace.’

¹² And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob’s mother.

¹³ And it came to pass after Jacob had arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca was grieved after her son, and she wept.

¹⁴ And Isaac said to Rebecca: ‘My sister, Do not weep on account of Jacob, my son; for he goeth in peace, and in peace will he return.

¹⁵ The Most High God will preserve him from all evil, and will be with him; for He will not forsake him all his days;

¹⁶ For I know that his ways will be prospered in all things wherever he goes, until he return in peace to us, and we see him in peace.

¹⁷ 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. Do not weep.’

¹⁸ And Isaac comforted Rebecca on account of her son Jacob, and blessed him.

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ And he came to the place at evening and turned from the way to the west of the road that night: and he slept there; for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and laid under the tree, and he was journeying alone, and he slept.

²¹ And he dreamt that night, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the angels of the Lord ascended and descended on it: and behold, the Lord stood upon it.

²² And he spoke to Jacob and said: ‘I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon you are sleeping, to you will I give it, and to your seed after you.

²³ And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall increase to the west and to the east, to the north and the south, and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the nations be blessed.

²⁴ And behold, I will be with you, and will keep you whithersoever you go, and I will bring you again into this land in peace; for I will not leave you until I do everything that I told you 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 God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

²⁶ 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 to 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 you give me, I shall give one tenth of it to you, 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, and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his daughter one week.

² And in the first year of the third week he said to him: ‘Give me my wife, for whom I have served you seven years ‘; and Laban said to Jacob: ‘I will give you your wife.’ — it should be “in the first year of the second week?”

³ 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 as a maidservant; and Jacob did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel.

⁴ And he went in to her, and behold, she was Leah; and Jacob was angry with Laban, and said to him: ‘Why have you dealt thus with me? Did not I serve you for Rachel and not for Leah? Why have you wronged me?

⁵ Take your daughter, and I will go; for you have 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 eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form.

⁶ 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 Lord.

⁷ And command you the children of Israel that they do not this thing; let them neither take nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked.

⁸ And Laban said to Jacob: ‘Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give you Rachel, that you may serve me another seven years, that you may pasture my sheep as you did in the former week.’

⁹ 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 Zilpah, as a handmaid.

¹⁰ And he served yet other seven years for Rachel, for Leah had been given to him for nothing.

¹¹ And the Lord opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a son, and he called his name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in the first year of the third week.

¹² But the womb of Rachel was closed, for the Lord saw that Leah was hated and Rachel loved.

¹³ And again Jacob went in to Leah, and she conceived, and bore 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 week.

¹⁴ And again Jacob went in to Leah, and she conceived, and bore him a third son, and he called his name Levi, in the new moon of the first month in the sixth year of this week.

¹⁵ And again Jacob went in to her, and she conceived, and bore him a fourth son, and he called his name Judah, on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of the fourth week.

¹⁶ And on account of all this Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to Jacob: ‘Give me children’; and Jacob said: ‘Have I withheld from you the fruits of your womb? Have I forsaken you?’

¹⁷ And when Rachel saw that Leah had borne four sons to Jacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Judah, she said to him: ‘Go in to Bilhah my handmaid, and she will conceive, and bear a son to me.’

¹⁸ (And she gave (him) Bilhah her handmaid to wife). And he went in to her, and she conceived, and bore him a son, and he called his name Dan, on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth year of the third week.

¹⁹ And Jacob went in again to Bilhah a second time, and she conceived, and bore Jacob another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the fifth of the seventh month, in the second year of the fourth week.

²⁰ 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 bore a son, and Leah called his name Gad, on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of the fourth week.

²¹ And he went in again to her, and she conceived, and bore him a second son, and Leah called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month, in the fifth year of the fourth week.

²² And Jacob went in to Leah, and she conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the fourth week, and she gave him to a nurse.

²³ And Jacob went in again to her, and she conceived, and bore two (children), a son and a daughter, and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name of the daughter Dinah, in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week.

²⁴ And the Lord was gracious to Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bore a son, and she called his name Joseph, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the sixth year in this fourth week.

²⁵ 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 have served you for your two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father.’

²⁶ And Laban said to Jacob: ‘Tarry with me for your wages, and pasture my flock for me again, and take your wages.’

²⁷ And they agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the lambs and kids which were born black and spotted and white, (these) were to be his wages.

²⁸ 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 Laban’s.

²⁹ And Jacob’s possessions multiplied exceedingly, and he possessed oxen and sheep and donkeys and camels, and menservants and maid-servants.

³⁰ And Laban and his sons envied Jacob, and Laban took back his sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.

Posted in Books of Ancients

Chapter 21

¹ And in the sixth year of the seventh week of this jubilee Abraham called Isaac his son, and [2057 (2050?) AM] commanded him: saying, ‘I am become old, and know not the day of my death, and am full of my days.

² 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 in all His ways.

³ My soul has hated idols, that I might observe to do the will of Him who created me.

⁴ 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 does judgment on all those who transgress His commandments and despise His covenant.

⁵ And do you, my son, observe His commandments and His ordinances and His judgments, and walk not after the abominations and after the graven images and after the molten images.

⁶ And eat no blood at all of animals or cattle, or of any bird which flies in the heaven.

⁷ And if you do slay a victim as an acceptable peace offering, slay you 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 you must 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 is upon them, and upon the loins and liver you shall remove, together with the kidneys.

⁹ And offer all these for a sweet savour acceptable before the Lord, with its meat-offering and with its drink- offering, for a sweet savour, the bread of the offering to the Lord.

¹⁰ 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 of it 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 your oblations you shall strew salt, and let not the salt of the covenant be lacking in all your oblations before the Lord.

¹² And as regards the wood of the sacrifices, beware lest you bring (other) wood for the altar in addition to these: cypress, bay, almond, fir, pine, cedar, savin, fig, olive, myrrh, laurel, aspalathus.

¹³ 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 fragrance is gone] for there is no longer fragrance in it as before.

¹⁴ Besides these kinds of wood there is none other that you shall place (on the altar), for the fragrance is dispersed, and the smell of its fragrance goes not up to heaven.

¹⁵ Observe this commandment and do it, my son, that you may be upright in all your deeds.

¹⁶ And at all times be clean in your body, and wash yourself with water before you approach to offer on the altar, and wash your hands and your feet before you draw near to the altar; and when you are done sacrificing, wash again your hands and your feet.

¹⁷ And let no blood appear upon you nor upon your clothes; be on your guard, my son, against blood, be on your guard exceedingly; cover it with dust.

¹⁸ And do not eat any blood for it is the soul; eat no blood whatever.

¹⁹ 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 blood of man save by the blood of him who shed it.

²⁰ And take no present or gift for the blood of man: blood for blood, that you may be accepted before the Lord, the Most High God; for He is the defence of the good: and that you may be preserved from all evil, and that He may save you 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 you shouldest walk in their ways

And tread in their paths,
And sin a sin to death before the Most High God.
Else He will [hide His face from you
And] give you back into the hands of your transgression,
And root you out of the land, and your seed likewise from under heaven,
And your name and your 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 you in all your deeds,

And will raise up from you a plant of righteousness through all the earth, throughout all generations of the earth,

And my name and your name shall not be forgotten under heaven for ever.

²⁵ Go, my son in peace.

May the Most High God, my God and your God, strengthen you to do His will,
And may He bless all your seed and the residue of your seed for the generations for ever, with all righteous blessings,
That you may 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 father, and Abraham rejoiced because his two sons had come. — the Essenes celebrate their “feast of the first fruits” at the midst of their third month as expressed elsewhere (15:1; 16:13) in Jubilees;

² For Isaac had many possessions in Beersheba, and Isaac was wont to go and see his possessions and to return to his father.

³ And in those days Ishmael came to see his father, and they both came together, and Isaac offered a sacrifice for a burnt offering, and presented it on the altar of his father which he had made in Hebron.

⁴ 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 drink.

⁶ And he ate and drank, and blessed the Most High God,

Who has created heaven and earth,
Who has 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 to You, my God, because you have 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 been to me peace. — the narrative “I” is now Abraham, who then was 175 years when he died;

⁸ The sword of the adversary has not overcome me in all that You have given me and my children all the days of my life until this day. — the narrative is now Abraham;

⁹ My God, may Your mercy and Your peace be upon Your servant, and upon the seed of his sons, that they may be to You a chosen nation and an inheritance from amongst all the nations of the earth from henceforth to all the days of the generations of the earth, to all the ages.’

¹⁰ And he called Jacob and said: ‘My son Jacob, may the God of all bless you and strengthen you to do righteousness, and His will before Him, and may He choose you and your seed that you may become a people for His inheritance according to His will always. — the narrative “he” is now Abraham;

¹¹ And now Jacob, my son, 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, to all the ages:
May God give to you a seed of righteousness;
And some of your sons may He sanctify in the middle of the whole earth;
May nations serve you,
And all the nations bow themselves before your seed. — may his (Judah) brothers bow before Judah is in the Masoretic Text, but all nations bow before Jacob isn’t;

¹² Be strong in the presence of men,

And exercise authority over all the seed of Seth. — his would involve all humanity;

Then your ways and the ways of your sons will be justified,

So that they shall become a holy nation. — a holy nation comes about only after being sanctified, but not when they exercise authority over all the seed of Seth! This is because often they exercise wickedness than doing good over the Gentiles; as history had shown;

¹³ May the Most High God give you all the blessings

Wherewith He has blessed me
And wherewith He blessed Noah and Adam;
May they rest on the sacred head of your seed from generation to generation for ever.

¹⁴ And may He cleanse you from all unrighteousness and impurity,

That you may be forgiven all the transgressions; which you have committed ignorantly.
And may He strengthen you,
And bless you.
And may you inherit the whole earth, — over the choisest part of the earth, yes, but surely not “the whole earth” because Noah had other sons, Ham and Japheth and each were allocated their own portion;

¹⁵ And may He renew His covenant with you.

That you may be to Him a nation for His inheritance for all the ages,
And that He may be to you and to your seed a God in truth and righteousness throughout all the days of the earth.

¹⁶ And, my son Jacob, remember my words,

And observe the commandments of Abraham, your father:
Separate yourself from the nations,
And eat not with them: — the Essenes sect do not mix with other people; they lived on their isolated community; like the Amish today;
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: ‘You are my God,’
And to a stone: ‘You are my Lord and you are my deliverer.’
[And they have no heart.

¹⁹ And as for you, my son Jacob,

May the Most High God help you

And the God of heaven bless you

And remove you from their uncleanness and from all their error.

²⁰ Beware, 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 of it,
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 you from destruction,
And from all the paths of error may he deliver you.

²⁴ This house have I built for myself that I might put my name upon it in the earth: [it is given to you and to your seed for ever], and it will be named the house of Abraham; it is given to you and to your seed for ever; for you must build my house and establish my name before God for ever: your seed and your name will stand throughout all generations of the earth.’

²⁵ And he ceased commanding him and blessing him.

²⁶ 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 affection and his heart rejoiced over him.

²⁷ 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 be the Most High for ever.’

²⁸ And he blessed Jacob and said: ‘My son, over whom with all my heart and my affection I rejoice, may Your grace and Your mercy be lift up upon him and upon his seed always.

²⁹ And do not forsake him, nor set him at nought from henceforth to the days of eternity, and may Your eyes be opened upon him and upon his seed, that You may preserve him, and bless him, and may sanctify him as a nation for Your inheritance;

³⁰ And bless him with all Your blessings from henceforth to all the days of eternity, and renew Your covenant and Your grace with him and with his seed according to all Your good pleasure to 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 Jacob was still lying in his bosom, and did not know that Abraham, his father’s father, was dead.

³ And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and behold Abraham was cold as ice, and he said ‘Father, father’; but there was none to reply, and he knew that he was dead.

⁴ 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 when they had gone in they found Abraham lying dead.

⁵ And Isaac fell on the face of his father and wept and kissed him.

⁶ 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 of Abraham, and they wept with a great weeping.

⁷ 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 weeping for Abraham were ended.

⁸ And he lived three jubilees and four weeks of years, one hundred and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his life, being old and full of days. — Abraham lived 175 years (49 + 49 + 49 + 28 = 175 years; establishing their Jubilee as 49 years, and not 50);

— this 49 years cycle contradicts Leviticus 25:10:

And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. Leviticus 25:10

— today the Jubilee year is neither designated nor observed; and the reason given by Chabad is this:

Although the laws of shemittah are observed in Israel to this very day, the Jubilee year is not designated or observed. There are many reasons for this. Some of them: a) The Jubilee only affected the shemittah cycle when the shemittah was established and declared by the Sanhedrin, as opposed to today when it is automatically programmed into the perpetual Jewish calendar. b) The observance of shemittah today is only a rabbinic decree, and therefore the Jubilee year does not affect its cycle. c) No commemoration is in order when there is no Sanhedrin, whose participation in the declaration of the Jubilee year was integral. In fact, it was the Sanhedrin’s blast of the shofar (ram’s horn) on Yom Kippur which signaled the entry of the Jubilee year. Chabad 

⁹ 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 Abraham.

¹⁰ 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 grown old by reason of the wickedness, and was full of his days.

¹¹ 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 knowledge shall vanish away].

¹² 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 tribulation, and there is no peace:

¹³ 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 pains.’

¹⁴ And all these shall come on an evil generation, which transgresses on the earth: their works are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and abominations.

¹⁵ Then they shall say: ‘The days of the forefathers were many (even), to 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, and those evil, and there is no peace in the days of this evil generation.’

¹⁶ 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 an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness and destruction.

¹⁸ 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 all the fish of the sea, on account of the children of men.

¹⁹ 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 swords and war to turn them back into the way; but they shall not return until much blood has been shed on the earth, one by another.

²¹ 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 holies with their uncleanness and the corruption of their pollution.

²² 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 judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured.

²³ 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