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