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Jubilees Cont.............
[Chapter 23]
1 And he placed two fingers of Jacob on his eyes, and he blessed the God of gods, and he
covered his face and stretched out his feet and slept the sleep of eternity, and was
gathered to his fathers.
2 And notwithstanding all this Jacob was lying in his bosom, and knew not that Abraham,
his father's
3 father, was dead. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and behold Abraham was cold as ice,
and he
4 said 'Father, father'; but there was none that spake, and he knew that he was dead. And
he arose from his bosom and ran and told Rebecca, his mother; and Rebecca went to Isaac in
the night, and told him; and they went together, and Jacob with them, and a lamp was in
his hand, and
5 when they had gone in they found Abraham lying dead. And Isaac fell on the face of his
father
6 and wept and kissed him. And the voices were heard in the house of Abraham, and Ishmael
his son arose, and went to Abraham his father, and wept over Abraham his father, he and
all the house
7 of Abraham, and they wept with a great weeping. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried
him in the double cave, near Sarah his wife, and they wept for him forty days, all the men
of his house, and Isaac and Ishmael, and all their sons, and all the sons of Keturah in
their places; and the days of
8 weeping for Abraham were ended. And he lived three jubilees and four weeks of years, one
hundred
9 and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his life, being old and full of days.
For the days of the forefathers, of their life, were nineteen jubilees; and after the
Flood they began to grow less than nineteen jubilees, and to decrease in jubilees, and to
grow old quickly, and to be full of their days by reason of manifold tribulation and the
wickedness of their ways, with the exception of
10 Abraham. For Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord, and well-pleasing in
righteousness all the days of his life; and behold, he did not complete four jubilees in
his life, when he had
11 grown old by reason of the wickedness, and was full of his days. And all the
generations which shall arise from this time until the day of the great judgment shall
grow old quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and their knowledge shall forsake
them by reason of their old age Land all their know-
12 ledge shall vanish away]. And in those days, if a man live a jubilee and a-half of
years, they shall say regarding him: 'He has lived long, and the greater part of his days
are pain and sorrow and
13 tribulation, and there is no peace: For calamity follows on calamity, and wound on
wound, and tribulation on tribulation, and evil tidings on evil tidings, and illness on
illness, and all evil judgments such as these, one with another, illness and overthrow,
and snow and frost and ice, and fever, and chills, and torpor, and famine, and death, and
sword, and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and
14 pains.' And all these shall come on an evil generation, which transgresses on the
earth: their works
15 are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and abominations. Then they shall say:
'The days of the forefathers were many (even), unto a thousand years, and were good; but
behold, the days of our life, if a man has lived many, are three score years and ten, and,
if he is strong, four score years,
16 and those evil, and there is no peace in the days of this evil generation.' And in that
generation the sons shall convict their fathers and their elders of sin and
unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the great wickednesses which they
perpetrate, and concerning their forsaking the covenant which the Lord made between them
and Him, that they should observe and do all His commandments and His ordinances and all
His laws, without departing either to the right hand or the left.
17 For all have done evil, and every mouth speaks iniquity and all their works are an
uncleanness and
18 an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness and destruction. Behold
the earth shall be destroyed on account of all their works, and there shall be no seed of
the vine, and no oil; for their works are altogether faithless, and they shall all perish
together, beasts and cattle and birds, and
19 all the fish of the sea, on account of the children of men. And they shall strive one
with another, the young with the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich,
the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince, on account of the law and the
covenant; for they have forgotten commandment, and covenant, and feasts, and months, and
Sabbaths, and jubilees, and all judgments.
20 And they shall stand
21 not return until much blood has been shed on the earth, one by another. And those who
have escaped shall not return from their wickedness to the way of righteousness, but they
shall all exalt themselves to deceit and wealth, that they may each take all that is his
neighbour's, and they shall name the great name, but not in truth and not in
righteousness, and they shall defile the holy of
22 holies with their uncleanness and the corruption of their pollution. And a great
punishment shall befall the deeds of this generation from the Lord, and He will give them
over to the sword and to
23 judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured. And He will wake up
against them the sinners of the Gentiles, who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who
shall respect the person of none, neither old nor young, nor any one, for they are more
wicked and strong to do evil than all the children of men.
And they shall use violence against Israel and transgression against Jacob,
And much blood shall be shed upon the earth,
And there shall be none to gather and none to bury.
24 In those days they shall cry aloud,
And call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the Gentiles;
But none shall be saved.
25 And the heads of the children shall be white with grey hair,
And a child of three weeks shall appear old like a man of one hundred years,
And their stature shall be destroyed by tribulation and oppression.
26 And in those days the children shall begin to study the laws,
And to seek the commandments,
And to return to the path of righteousness.
27 And the days shall begin to grow many and increase amongst those children of men
Till their days draw nigh to one thousand years.
And to a greater number of years than (before) was the number of the days.
28 And there shall be no old man
Nor one who is
For all shall be (as) children and youths.
29 And all their days they shall complete and live in peace and in joy,
And there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer;
For all their days shall be days of blessing and healing.
30 And at that time the Lord will heal His servants,
And they shall rise up and see great peace,
And drive out their adversaries.
And the righteous shall see and be thankful,
And rejoice with joy for ever and ever,
And shall see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies.
31 And their bones shall rest in the earth,
And their spirits shall have much joy,
And they shall know that it is the Lord who executes judgment,
And shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him
32 And do thou, Moses, write down these words; for thus are they written, and they record (them) on the heavenly tablets for a testimony for the generations for ever.
[Chapter 24]
1 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that the Lord blessed Isaac his son, and
he arose from Hebron and went and dwelt at the Well of the Vision in the first year of the
third week [2073 A.M.]
2 of this jubilee, seven years. And in the first year of the fourth week a famine began in the land, [2080 A.M.]
3 besides the first famine, which had been in the days of Abraham. And Jacob sod
lentil pottage, and Esau came from the field hungry. And he said to Jacob his brother:
'Give me of this red pottage.' And Jacob said to him: 'Sell to me thy [primogeniture,
this] birthright and I will give
4 thee bread, and also some of this lentil pottage.' And Esau said in his heart: 'I shall
die; of
5 what profit to me is this birthright? 'And he said to Jacob: 'I give it to thee.' And
Jacob said:
6 'Swear to me, this day,' and he sware unto him. And Jacob gave his brother Esau bread
and pottage, and he eat till he was satisfied, and Esau despised his birthright; for this
reason was Esau's name
7 called Edom, on account of the red pottage which Jacob gave him for his birthright. And
Jacob became
8 the elder, and Esau was brought down from his dignity. And the famine was over the land,
and Isaac departed to go down into Egypt in the second year of this week, and went to the
king of the Philis-
9 tines to Gerar, unto Abimelech. And the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him: 'Go
not down into Egypt; dwell in the land that I shall tell thee of, and sojourn in this
land, and I will
10 be with thee and bless thee. For to thee and to thy seed will I give all this land, and
I will establish My oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father, and I will multiply thy
seed as the
11 stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all this land. And in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed, because thy father obeyed My voice, and kept My
charge and My commandments, and My laws, and My ordinances, and My covenant; and now obey
My voice and dwell in
12,13 this land.' And he dwelt in Gelar three weeks of years. And Abimelech charged
concerning him, [2080-2101 A.M.] and concerning all that was his, saying: 'Any man that
shall touch him or aught that is his shall
14 surely die.' And Isaac waxed strong among the Philistines, and he got many possessions,
oxen
15 and sheep and camels and asses and a great household. And he sowed in the land of the
Philistines and brought in a hundred-fold, and Isaac became exceedingly great, and the
Philistines envied him.
16 Now all the wells which the servants of Abraham had dug during the life of Abraham, the
Philistines
17 had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech
said unto Isaac: 'Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we', and Isaac departed
thence in
18 the first year of the seventh week, and sojourned in the valleys of Gerar. And they
digged again the wells of water which the servants of Abraham, his father, had digged, and
which the Philistines had closed after the death of Abraham his father, and he called
their names as Abraham his father
19 had named them. And the servants of Isaac dug a well in the valley, and found living
water, and the shepherds of Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac, saying: 'The water
is ours'; and Isaac
20 called the name of the well 'Perversity', because they had been perverse with us. And
they dug a second well, and they strove for that also, and he called its name 'Enmity'.
And he arose from thence and they digged another well, and for that they strove not, and
he called the name of it 'Room', and Isaac said: 'Now the Lord hath made room for us, and
we have increased in the
21 land.' And he went up from thence to the Well of the Oath in the first year of the
first week in the [2108 A.M.]
22 forty-fourth jubilee. And the Lord appeared to him that night, on the new moon
of the first month, and said unto him: 'I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for
I am with thee, and shall bless thee and shall surely multiply thy seed as the sand of the
earth, for the sake of Abraham my
23 servant.' And he built an altar there, which Abraham his father had first built, and he
called upon
24 the name of the Lord, and he offered sacrifice to the God of Abraham his father. And
they digged
25 a well and they found living water. And the servants of Isaac digged another well and
did not find water, and they went and told Isaac that they had not found water, and Isaac
said: 'I have sworn
26 this day to the Philistines and this thing has been announced to us.' And he called the
name of that place the Well of the Oath; for there he had sworn to Abimelech and Ahuzzath
his friend and
27 Phicol the prefect Or his host. And Isaac knew that day that under constraint he had
sworn to them
28 to make peace with them. And Isaac on that day cursed the Philistines and said: 'Cursed
be the Philistines unto the day of wrath and indignation from the midst of all nations;
may God make them a derision and a curse and an object of wrath and indignation in the
hands of the sinners the
29 Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. And whoever escapes the sword of the enemy and
the Kittim, may the righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven; for they
shall be the enemies and foes of my children throughout their generations upon the earth.
30 And no remnant shall be left to them,
Nor one that shall be saved on the day of the wrath of judgment;
For destruction and rooting out and expulsion from the earth is the whole seed of the
Philistines (reserved),
And there shall no longer be left for these Caphtorim a name or a seed on the earth.
31 For though he ascend unto heaven,
Thence shall he be brought down,
And though he make himself strong on earth,
Thence shall he be dragged forth,
And though he hide himself amongst the nations,
Even from thence shall he be rooted out;
And though he descend into Sheol,
There also shall his condemnation be great,
And there also he shall have no peace.
32 And if he go into captivity,
By the hands of those that seek his life shall they slay him on the way,
And neither name nor seed shall be left to him on all the earth;
For into eternal malediction shall he depart.'
33 And thus is it written and engraved concerning him on the heavenly tablets, to do unto him on the day of judgment, so that he may be rooted out of the earth.
[Chapter 25]
1 And in the second year of this week in this jubilee, Rebecca called Jacob her son, and
spake unto [2109 A.M.] him, saying: 'My son, do not take thee a wife of the daughters of
Canaan, as Esau, thy brother, who took him two wives of the daughters of Canaan, and they
have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds: for all their deeds are fornication
and lust, and there is no righteousness with them,
2 for (their deeds) are evil. And I, my son, love thee exceedingly, and my heart and my
affection
3 bless thee every hour of the day and watch of the night. And now, my son, hearken to my
voice, and do the will of thy mother, and do not take thee a wife of the daughters of this
land, but only of the house of my father, and of my father's kindred. Thou shalt take thee
a wife of the house of my father, and the Most High God will bless thee, and thy children
shall be a righteous generation and
4 a holy seed.' And then spake Jacob to Rebecca, his mother, and said unto her: 'Behold,
mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I neither know nor have I touched any woman, nor
have I betrothed
5 myself to any, nor even think of taking me a wife of the daughters of Canaan. For I
remember, mother, the words of Abraham, our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife
of the daughters
6 of Canaan, but to take me a wife from the seed of my father's house and from my kindred.
I have heard before that daughters have been born to Laban, thy brother, and I have set my
heart on them
7 to take a wife from amongst them. And for this reason I have guarded myself in my spirit
against sinning or being corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life; for
with regard to lust
8 and fornication, Abraham, my father, gave me many commands. And, despite all that he has
commanded me, these two and twenty years my brother has striven with me, and spoken
frequently to me and said: 'My brother, take to wife a sister of my two wives'; but I
refuse to do as he has done.
9 I swear before thee, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take me a wife from
the daughters
10 of the seed of Canaan, and I will not act wickedly as my brother has done. Fear not,
mother; be
11 assured that I shall do thy will and walk in uprightness, and not corrupt my ways for
ever.' And thereupon she lifted up her face to heaven and extended the fingers of her
hands, and opened her mouth and blessed the Most High God, who had created the heaven and
the earth, and she gave Him
12 thanks and praise. And she said: 'Blessed be the Lord God, and may His holy name be
blessed for ever and ever, who has given me Jacob as a pure son and a holy seed; for he is
Thine, and Thine
13 shall his seed be continually and throughout all the generations for evermore. Bless
him, O Lord,
14 and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him.' And at that
hour, when the spirit of righteousness descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands
on the head of Jacob, and said:
15 Blessed art thou, Lord of righteousness and God of the ages
And may He bless thee beyond all the generations of men.
May He give thee, my Son, the path of righteousness,
And reveal righteousness to thy seed.
16 And may He make thy sons many during thy life,
And may they arise according to the number of the months of the year.
And may their sons become many and great beyond the stars of heaven,
And their numbers be more than the sand of the sea.
17 And may He give them this goodly land -as He said He would give it to Abraham and to
his seed after him alway-
And may they hold it as a possession for ever.
18 And may I see (born) unto thee, my son, blessed children during my life,
And a blessed and holy seed may all thy seed be.
19 And as thou hast refreshed thy mother's spirit during her life,
The womb of her that bare thee blesses thee thus,
[My affection] and my breasts bless thee
And my mouth and my tongue praise thee greatly.
20 Increase and spread over the earth,
And may thy seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth for ever;
And may thy seed rejoice,
And on the great day of peace may it have peace.
21 And may thy name and thy seed endure to all the ages,
And may the Most High God be their God,
And may the God of righteousness dwell with them,
And by them may His sanctuary be built unto all the ages.
22 Blessed be he that blesseth thee,
And all flesh that curseth thee falsely, may it be cursed.'
23 And she kissed him, and said to him;
'May the Lord of the world love thee
As the heart of thy mother and her affection rejoice in thee and bless thee.'
And she ceased from blessing.
[Chapter 26]
1 And in the seventh year of this week Isaac called Esau, his elder Son, and said unto
him: ' I am [2114 A.M.]
2 old, my son, and behold my eyes are dim in seeing, and I know not the day of my
death. And now take thy hunting weapons thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field,
and hunt and catch me (venison), my son, and make me savoury meat, such as my soul loveth,
and bring it to me that I may
3 eat, and that my soul may bless thee before I die.' But Rebecca heard Isaac speaking to
Esau.
4,5 And Esau went forth early to the field to hunt and catch and bring home to his father.
And Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and said unto him: 'Behold, I heard Isaac, thy father,
speak unto Esau, thy brother, saying: "Hunt for me, and make me savoury meat, and
bring (it) to me that
6 I may eat and bless thee before the Lord before I die." And now, my son, obey my
voice in that which I command thee: Go to thy flock and fetch me two good kids of the
goats, and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loves, and thou shalt
bring (it) to thy father that he
7 may eat and bless thee before the Lord before he die, and that thou mayst be blessed.'
And Jacob said to Rebecca his mother: 'Mother, I shall not withhold anything which my
father would eat, and which would please him: only I fear, my mother, that he will
recognise my voice and wish to touch
8 me. And thou knowest that I am smooth, and Esau, my brother, is hairy, and I shall
appear before his eyes as an evildoer, and shall do a deed which he had not commanded me,
and he will be
9 wroth with me, and I shall bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing.' And Rebecca,
his
10 mother, said unto him: 'Upon me be thy curse, my son, only obey my voice.' And Jacob
obeyed the voice of Rebecca, his mother, and went and fetched two good and fat kids of the
goats, and
11 brought them to his mother, and his mother made them ~savoury meat~ such as he loved.
And Rebecca took the goodly rainment of Esau, her elder son, which was with her in the
house, and she clothed Jacob, her younger son, (with them), and she put the skins of the
kids upon his hands and on
12 the exposed parts of his neck. And she gave the meat and the bread which she had
prepared into
13 the hand of her son Jacob. And Jacob went in to his father and said: 'I am thy son: I
have done according as thou badest me: arise and sit and eat of that which I have caught,
father, that thy soul
14,15 may bless me.' And Isaac said to his son: 'How hast thou found so quickly, my son?
'And Jacob
16 said: 'Because (the Lord thy God caused me to find.' And Isaac said unto him: Come
near, that
17 I may feel thee, my son, if thou art my son Esau or not.' And Jacob went near to Isaac,
his father,
18 and he felt him and said: 'The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of
Esau,' and he discerned him not, because it was a dispensation from heaven to remove his
power of perception and
19 Isaac discerned not, for his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's, so that he blessed
him. And he said: 'Art thou my son Esau? ' and he said: 'I am thy son': and he said,
'Bring near to me that
20 I may eat of that which thou hast caught, my son, that my soul may bless thee.' And he
brought
21 near to him, and he did eat, and he brought him wine and he drank. And Isaac, his
father, said unto
22 him: 'Come near and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled
the smell of his raiment, and he blessed him and said: 'Behold, the smell of my son is as
the smell of a (full) field which the Lord hath blessed.
23 And may the Lord give thee of the dew of heaven
And of the dew of the earth, and plenty of corn and oil:
Let nations serve thee,
And peoples bow down to thee.
24 Be lord over thy brethren,
And let thy mother's sons bow down to thee;
And may all the blessings wherewith the Lord hath blessed me and blessed Abraham, my
father;
Be imparted to thee and to thy seed for ever:
Cursed be he that curseth thee,
And blessed be he that blesseth thee.'
25 And it came to pass as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing his son Jacob, and
Jacob had gone
26 forth from Isaac his father he hid himself and Esau, his brother, came in from his
hunting. And he also made savoury meat, and brought (it) to his father, and said unto his
father: 'Let my father
27 arise, and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me.' And Isaac, his father, said
unto him: 'Who art thou? 'And he said unto him: 'I am thy first born, thy son Esau: I have
done as thou hast
28 commanded me.' And Isaac was very greatly astonished, and said: 'Who is he that hath
hunted and caught and brought (it) to me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and
have blessed him:
29 (and) he shall be blessed, and all his seed for ever.' And it came to pass when Esau
heard the words of his father Isaac that he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry,
and said unto his father:
30 'Bless me, (even) me also, father.' And he said unto him: 'Thy brother came with guile,
and hath taken away thy blessing.' And he said: 'Now I know why his name is named Jacob:
behold, he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birth-right, and now he
hath taken away
31 my blessing.' And he said: 'Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me, father?' and
Isaac answered and said unto Esau:
31 'Behold, I have made him thy lord,
And all his brethren have I given to him for servants,
And with plenty of corn and wine and oil have I strengthened him:
And what now shall I do for thee, my son?'
32 And Esau said to Isaac, his father:
'Hast thou but one blessing, O father?
Bless me, (even) me also, father: '
33 And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
And Isaac answered and said unto him:
'Behold, far from the dew of the earth shall be thy dwelling,
And far from the dew of heaven from above.
34 And by thy sword wilt thou live,
And thou wilt serve thy brother.
And it shall come to pass when thou becomest great,
And dost shake his yoke from off thy neck,
Thou shalt sin a complete sin unto death,
And thy seed shall be rooted out from under heaven.'
35 And Esau kept threatening Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him, and he: said in his heart: 'May the days of mourning for my father now come, so that I may slay my brother Jacob.'
[Chapter 27]
1 And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebecca in a dream, and Rebecca sent
and
2 called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him: 'Behold Esau thy brother will take
vengeance on
3 thee so as to kill thee. Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee thou
to Laban, my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until thy brother's anger
turns away, and he remove his anger from thee, and forget all that thou hast done; then I
will send and fetch thee from
4,5 thence.' And Jacob said: 'I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him.'
But she said
6 unto him: 'Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day.' And Jacob said to Rebecca
his mother: 'Behold, thou knowest that my father has become old, and does not see because
his eyes are dull, and if I leave him it will be evil in his eyes, because I leave him and
go away from you, and my father will be angry, and will curse me. I will not go; when he
sends me, then only will I go.'
7,8 And Rebecca said to Jacob: 'I will go in and speak to him, and he will send thee
away.' And Rebecca went in and said to Isaac: 'I loathe my life because of the two
daughters of Heth, whom Esau has taken him as wives; and if Jacob take a wife from among
the daughters of the land such
9 as these, for what purpose do I further live, for the daughters of Canaan are evil.' And
Isaac called
10 Jacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said unto him: 'Do not take thee a wife
of any of the daughters of Canaan; arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel,
thy mother's father,
11 and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother. And
God Almighty bless thee and increase and multiply thee that thou mayest become a company
of nations, and give thee the blessings of my father Abraham, to thee and to thy seed
after thee, that thou mayest inherit the land of thy sojournings and all the land which
God gave to Abraham: go, my
12 son, in peace.' And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son
of
13 Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Jacob's mother. And it came to pass after
Jacob had
14 arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca was grieved after her son, and
she wept. And Isaac said to Rebecca: 'My sister, weep not on account of Jacob, my son; for
he goeth in peace, and
15 in peace will he return. The Most High God will preserve him from all evil, and will be
with him;
16 for He will not forsake him all his days; For I know that his ways will be prospered in
all things
17 wherever he goes, until he return in peace to us, and we see him in peace. Fear not on
his account, my sister, for he is on the upright path and he is a perfect man: and he is
faithful and will not perish.
18,19 Weep not.' And Isaac comforted Rebecca on account of her son Jacob, and blessed him.
And Jacob went from the Well of the Oath to go to Haran on the first year of the second
week in the forty-fourth jubilee, and he came to Luz on the mountains, that is, Bethel, on
the new moon of the first month of this week, [2115 A.M.] and he came to the place at even
and turned from the way to the west of the
20 road that night: and he slept there; for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones
of that
21 place and laid
22 And he spake to Jacob and said: 'I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God
of
23 Isaac; the land whereon thou art sleeping, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed
after thee. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt increase to the
west and to the east, to the
24 north and the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the nations
be blessed. And behold, I will be with thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest,
and I will bring thee again into this land in peace; for I will not leave thee until I do
everything that I told thee of.'
25 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, 'Truly this place is the house of the Lord,
and I knew it not.' And he was afraid and said: 'Dreadful is this place which is none
other than the house of
26 God, and this is the gate of heaven.' And Jacob arose early in the morning, and took
the stone which he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar for a sign, and he
poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name
of the place was Luz at the first.
27 And Jacob vowed a vow unto the Lord, saying: 'If the Lord will be with me, and will
keep me in this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I
come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone
which I have set up as a pillar for a sign in this place, shall be the Lord's house, and
of all that thou givest me, I shall give the tenth to thee, my God.'
[Chapter 28]
1 And he went on his journey, and came to the land of the east, to Laban, the brother of
Rebecca,
2 and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his daughter one week. And in the first
year of the third week [2122 A.M.] he said unto him: 'Give me my wife, for whom I have
served thee seven years '; and
3 Laban said unto Jacob: 'I will give thee thy wife.' And Laban made a feast, and took
Leah his elder daughter, and gave (her) to Jacob as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his
handmaid for an hand-
4 maid; and Jacob did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel. And he went in unto
her, and behold, she was Leah; and Jacob was angry with Laban, and said unto him: 'Why
hast thou dealt thus with me? Did not I serve thee for Rachel and not for Leah? Why hast
thou wronged me?
5 Take thy daughter, and I will go; for thou hast done evil to me.' For Jacob loved Rachel
more than Leah; for Leah's eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome; but Rachel had
beautiful
6 eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form. And Laban said to Jacob: 'It is not so done
in our country, to give the younger before the elder.' And it is not right to do this; for
thus it is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets, that no one should give his
younger daughter before the elder; but the elder, one gives first and after her the
younger -and the man who does so, they set down guilt against him in heaven, and none is
righteous that does this thing, for this deed is evil before the
7 Lord. And command thou the children of Israel that they do not this thing; let them
neither take
8 nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked. And Laban
said to Jacob: 'Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give thee
Rachel, that thou mayst serve me another seven years, that thou mayst pasture my sheep as
thou didst in the former week.' And on the day when the seven days of the feast of Leah
had passed, Laban gave Rachel to Jacob, that he might serve him another seven years, and
he gave to Rachel Bilhah, the sister of
10 Zilpah, as a handmaid. And he served yet other seven years for Rachel, for Leah had
been given
11 to him for nothing. And the Lord opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bare
Jacob a son, and he called his name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in
the first year of
12 the third week. [2122 A.M.] But the womb of Rachel was closed, for the Lord saw that
Leah was hated and
13 Rachel loved. And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob a
second son, and he called his name Simeon, on the twenty-first of the tenth month, and in
the third year of this
14 week. [2124 A.M.] And again Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare him a
third son, and he
15 called his name Levi, in the new moon of the first month in the sixth year of this
week. [2127 A.M.] And again Jacob went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a
fourth son, and he called his name Judah,
16 on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of the fourth week. [2129 A.M.]
And on account of all this Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to
Jacob: 'Give me children'; and Jacob
17 said: 'Have I withheld from thee the fruits of thy womb? Have I forsaken thee?' And
when Rachel saw that Leah had borne four sons to Jacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and
Judah, she said unto
18 him: 'Go in unto Bilhah my handmaid, and she will conceive, and bear a son unto me.'
(And she gave (him) Bilhah her handmaid to wife). And he went in unto her, and she
conceived, and bare him a son, and he called his name Dan, on the ninth of the sixth
month, in the sixth year of the
19 third week. [2127 A.M.] And Jacob went in again unto Bilhah a second time, and she
conceived, and bare Jacob another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the fifth
of the seventh month, in the
20 second year of the fourth week. [2130 A.M.] And when Leah saw that she had become
sterile and did not bear, she envied Rachel, and she also gave her handmaid Zilpah to
Jacob to wife, and she conceived, and bare a son, and Leah called his name Gad, on the
twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of
21 the fourth week. [2131 A.M.] And he went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare
him a second son, and Leah called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month, in
the fifth year of the fourth
22 week. [2133 A.M.] And Jacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare a son, and
she called his name Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the
fourth week,[2132 A.M.] and she gave him
23 to a nurse. And Jacob went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare two
(children), a son and a daughter, and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name
of the daughter Dinah,
24 in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week. [2134 A.M.]
And the Lord was gracious to Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bare a
son, and she called his
25 name Joseph, on the new moon of the fourth month, in the sixth year in this fourth
week. [2134 A.M.] And in the days when Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban: 'Give me my
wives and sons, and let me go to my father Isaac, and let me make me an house; for I have
completed the years in which I
26 have served thee for thy two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father.' And
Laban said to Jacob: 'Tarry with me for thy wages, and pasture my flock for me again, and
take thy wages.'
27 And they agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the
lambs and kids
28 which were born black and spotted and white, (these) were to be his wages. And all the
sheep brought forth spotted and speckled and black, variously marked, and they brought
forth again lambs like themselves, and all that were spotted were Jacob's and those which
were not were
29 Laban's. And Jacob's possessions multiplied exceedingly, and he possessed oxen and
sheep and
30 asses and camels, and menservants and maid-servants. And Laban and his sons envied
Jacob, and Laban took back his sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.
[Chapter 29]
1 And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep;
for they
2 were distant from him a three days' journey. And Jacob saw that Laban was going to shear
his sheep, and Jacob called Leah and Rachel, and spake kindly unto them that they should
come with
3 him to the land of Canaan. For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even
all that He had spoken unto him that he should return to his father's house, and they
said: 'To every place
4 whither thou goest we will go with thee.' And Jacob blessed the God of Isaac his father,
and the God of Abraham his father's father, and he arose and mounted his wives and his
children, and took all his possessions and crossed the river, and came to the land of
Gilead, and Jacob hid his intention
5 from Laban and told him not. And in the seventh year of the fourth week Jacob turned
(his face) toward Gilead in the first month, on the twenty-first thereof. [2135 A.M.] And
Laban pursued after him and
6 overtook Jacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third month, on the thirteenth thereof.
And the Lord did not suffer him to injure Jacob; for he appeared to him in a dream by
night. And Laban
7 spake to Jacob. And on the fifteenth of those days Jacob made a feast for Laban, and for
all who came with him, and Jacob sware to Laban that day, and Laban also to Jacob, that
neither should
8 cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil purpose. And he made there a heap
for
9 a witness; wherefore the name of that place is called: 'The Heap of Witness,' after this
heap. But before they used to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rephaim; for it was
the land of the Rephaim, and the Rephaim were born (there), giants whose height was ten,
nine, eight down to
10 seven cubits. And their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount
Hermon,
11 and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, and Misur, and
Beon. And the Lord destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds; for they were very
malignant, and the Amorites dwelt in their stead, wicked and sinful, and there is no
people to-day which has wrought
12 to the full all their sins, and they have no longer length of life on the earth. And
Jacob sent away Laban, and he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and Jacob
returned to the land of
13 Gilead. And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth month, on the eleventh thereof. And
on that day Esau, his brother, came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed
from him unto
14 the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents. And in the first year of the fifth week in
this jubilee [2136 A.M.] he crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he
pastured his sheep from the sea of the
15 heap unto Bethshan, and unto Dothan and unto the forest of Akrabbim. And he sent to his
father Isaac of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and
butter, and
16 cheese, and some dates of the valley. And to his mother Rebecca also four times a year,
between the times of the months, between ploughing and reaping, and between autumn and the
rain (season)
17 and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham. For Isaac had returned from the
Well of the Oath and gone up to the tower of his father Abraham, and he dwelt there apart
from his son
18 Esau. For in the days when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, Esau took to himself a wife
Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, and he gathered together all the flocks of his father
and his wives, and went
19 Up and dwelt on Mount Seir, and left Isaac his father at the Well of the Oath alone.
And Isaac went up from the Well of the Oath and dwelt in the tower of Abraham his father
on the mountains
20 of Hebron, And thither Jacob sent all that he did send to his father and his mother
from time to time, all they needed, and they blessed Jacob with all their heart and with
all their soul.
[Chapter 30]
1 And in the first year of the sixth week [2143 A.M.] he went up to Salem, to the east of
Shechem, in peace, in
2 the fourth month. And there they carried off Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, into the
house of Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with
her and defiled her,
3 and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years. And he besought his father and her
brothers that she might be given to him to wife. And Jacob and his sons were wroth because
of the men of Shechem; for they had defiled Dinah, their sister, and they spake to them
with evil intent and dealt
4 deceitfully with them and beguiled them. And Simeon and Levi came unexpectedly to
Shechem and executed judgment on all the men of Shechem, and slew all the men whom they
found in it, and left not a single one remaining in it: they slew all in torments because
they had dishonoured
5 their sister Dinah. And thus let it not again be done from henceforth that a daughter of
Israel be defiled; for judgment is ordained in heaven against them that they should
destroy with the sword
6 all the men of the Shechemites because they had wrought shame in Israel. And the Lord
delivered them into the hands of the sons of Jacob that they might exterminate them with
the sword and execute judgment upon them, and that it might not thus again be done in
Israel that a virgin of
7 Israel should be defiled. And if there is any man who wishes in Israel to give his
daughter or his sister to any man who is of the seed of the Gentiles he shall surely die,
and they shall stone him with stones; for he hath wrought shame in Israel; and they shall
burn the woman with fire, because
8 she has dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she shall be rooted out of
Israel. And let not an adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout all the
days of the generations of the earth; for Israel is holy unto the Lord, and every man who
has defiled (it) shall surely die:
9 they shall stone him with stones. For thus has it been ordained and written in the
heavenly tablets regarding all the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) shall surely die,
and he shall be stoned with
10 stones. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no remission, nor any atonement:
but the man who has defiled his daughter shall be rooted out in the midst of all Israel,
because he has given
11 of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to defile it. And do thou, Moses,
command the children of Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the
Gentiles, and not to take for
12 their sons any of the daughters of the Gentiles, for this is abominable before the
Lord. For this reason I have written for thee in the words of the Law all the deeds of the
Shechemites, which they wrought against Dinah, and how the sons of Jacob spake, saying:
'We will not give our daughter
13 to a man who is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us.' And it is a reproach
to Israel, to those who live, and to those that take the daughters of the Gentiles; for
this is unclean and
14 abominable to Israel. And Israel will not be free from this uncleanness if it has a
wife of the daughters of the Gentiles, or has given any of its daughters to a man who is
of any of the Gentiles.
15 For there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon curse, and every judgment and
plague and curse will come
16 whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this man.
And there will be no respect of persons [and no consideration of persons] and no receiving
at his hands of fruits and offerings and burnt-offerings and fat, nor the fragrance of
sweet savour, so as to accept it: and
17 so fare every man or woman in Israel who defiles the sanctuary. 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.
[Chapter 31]
1 And on the new moon of the month Jacob spake to all the people of his house. saying:
'Purify yourselves and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where I
vowed a vow to Him on the day when I fled from the face of Esau my brother, because he has
been with me and
2 brought me into this land in peace, and put ye away the strange gods that arc among
you.' And they gave up the strange gods and that which was in their ears and which was on
their necks and the idols which Rachel stole from Laban her father she gave wholly to
Jacob. And he burnt and brake them to pieces and destroyed them, and hid them under an oak
which is in the land of
3 Shechem. And he went up on the new moon of the seventh month to Bethel. And he built an
altar at the place where he had slept, and he set up a pillar there, and he sent word to
his father
4 Isaac to come to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother Rebecca. And Isaac said: 'Let
my son
5 Jacob come, and let me see him before I die.' And Jacob went to his father Isaac and to
his mother Rebecca, to the house of his father Abraham, and he took two of his sons with
him, Levi and Judah, and he came to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca.
6 And Rebecca came forth from the tower to the front of it to kiss Jacob and embrace him;
for her spirit had revived when she heard: 'Behold Jacob thy son has come'; and she kissed
7 him. And she saw his two sons, and she recognised them, and said unto him: 'Are these
thy sons, my son?' and she embraced them and kissed them, and blessed them, saying: 'In
you shall the
8 seed of Abraham become illustrious, and ye shall prove a blessing on the earth.' And
Jacob went in to Isaac his father, to the chamber where he lay, and his two sons were with
him, and he took the hand of his father, and stooping down he kissed him, and Isaac clung
to the neck of Jacob his son,
9 and wept upon his neck. And the darkness left the eyes of Isaac, and he saw the two sons
of Jacob,
10 Levi, and Judah, and he said: 'Are these thy sons, my son? for they are like thee.' And
he said unto him that they were truly his sons: 'And thou hast truly seen that they are
truly my sons'.
11 And they came near to him, and he turned and kissed them and embraced them both
together.
12 And the spirit of prophecy came down into his mouth, and he took Levi by his right hand
and
13 Judah by his left. And he turned to Levi first, and began to bless him first, and said
unto him:
May the God of all, the very Lord of all the ages, bless thee and thy children throughout
all the
14 ages. And may the Lord give to thee and to thy seed greatness and great glory, and
cause thee and thy seed, from among all flesh, to approach Him to serve in His sanctuary
as the angels of the presence and as the holy ones. (Even) as they, shall the seed of thy
sons be for glory and greatness
15 and holiness, and may He make them great unto all the ages. And they shall be judges
and princes, and chiefs of all the seed of the sons of Jacob;
They shall speak the word of the Lord in righteousness,
And they shall judge all His judgments in righteousness.
And they shall declare My ways to Jacob
And My paths to Israel.
The blessing of the Lord shall be given in their mouths
To bless all the seed of the beloved.
16 Thy mother has called thy name Levi,
And justly has she called thy name;
Thou shalt be joined to the Lord
And be the companion of all the sons of Jacob;
Let His table be thine,
And do thou and thy sons eat thereof;
And may thy table be full unto all generations,
And thy food fail not unto all the ages.
17 And let all who hate thee fall down before thee,
And let all thy adversaries be rooted out and perish;
And blessed be he that blesses thee,
And cursed be every nation that curses thee.'
18 And to Judah he said:
'May the Lord give thee strength and power
To tread down all that hate thee;
A prince shalt thou be, thou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob;
May thy name and the name of thy sons go forth and traverse every land and region.
Then shall the Gentiles fear before thy face,
And all the nations shall quake
[And all the peoples shall quake].
In thee shall be the help of Jacob,
And in thee be found the salvation of Israel.
20 And when thou sittest on the throne of honour of thy righteousness
There shall be great peace for all the seed of the sons of the beloved;
Blessed be he that blesseth thee,
And all that hate thee and afflict thee and curse thee
Shall be rooted out and destroyed from the earth and be accursed.'
21 And turning he kissed him again and embraced him, and rejoiced greatly; for he had
seen the
22 sons of Jacob his son in very truth. And he went forth from between his feet and fell
down and bowed down to him, and he blessed them and rested there with Isaac his father
that night, and they
23 eat and drank with joy. And he made the two sons of Jacob sleep, the one on his right
hand and the
24 other on his left, and it was counted to him for righteousness. And Jacob told his
father everything during the night, how the Lord had shown him great mercy, and how he had
prospered (him in) all
25 his ways, and protected him from all evil. And Isaac blessed the God of his father
Abraham, who
26 had not withdrawn his mercy and his righteousness from the sons of his servant Isaac.
And in the morning Jacob told his father Isaac the vow which he had vowed to the Lord, and
the vision which he had seen, and that he had built an altar, and that everything was
ready for the sacrifice to be
27 made before the Lord as he had vowed, and that he had come to set him on an ass. And
Isaac said unto Jacob his son: 'I am not able to go with thee; for I am old and not able
to bear the way: go, my son, in peace; for I am one hundred and sixty-five years this day;
I am no longer able to
28 journey; set thy mother (on an ass) and let her go with thee. And I know, my son, that
thou hast come on my account, and may this day be blessed on which thou hast seen me
alive, and I also have
29 seen thee, my son. Mayest thou prosper and fulfil the vow which thou hast vowed; and
put not off thy vow; for thou shalt be called to account as touching the vow; now
therefore make haste to perform it, and may He be pleased who has made all things, to whom
thou hast vowed the vow.'
30 And he said to Rebecca: 'Go with Jacob thy son'; and Rebecca went with Jacob her son,
and
31 Deborah with her, and they came to Bethel. And Jacob remembered the prayer with which
his father had blessed him and his two sons, Levi and Judah, and he rejoiced and blessed
the God of his
32 fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And he said: 'Now I know that I have an eternal hope, and
my sons also, before the God of all'; and thus is it ordained concerning the two; and they
record it as an eternal testimony unto them on the heavenly tablets how Isaac blessed
them.
[Chapter 32]
1 And he abode that night at Bethel, and Levi dreamed that they had ordained and made him
the priest of the Most High God, him and his sons for ever; and he awoke from his sleep
and blessed
2 the Lord. And Jacob rose early in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month, and he
gave a tithe of all that came with him, both of men and cattle, both of gold and every
vessel and garment,
3 yea, he gave tithes of all. And in those days Rachel became pregnant with her son
Benjamin. And Jacob counted his sons from him upwards and Levi fell to the portion of the
Lord, and his
4 father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and filled his hands. And on the
fifteenth of this month, he brought to the altar fourteen oxen from amongst the cattle,
and twenty-eight rams, and forty-nine sheep, and seven lambs, and twenty-one kids of the
goats as a burnt-offering on the
5 altar of sacrifice, well pleasing for a sweet savour before God. This was his offering,
in consequence of the vow which he had vowed that he would give a tenth, with their
fruit-offerings and their drink-
6 offerings. And when the fire had consumed it, he burnt incense on the fire over the
fire, and for a thank-offering two oxen and four rams and four sheep, four he-goats, and
two sheep of a year old,
7 and two kids of the goats; and thus he did daily for seven days. And he and all his sons
and his men were eating (this) with joy there during seven days and blessing and thanking
the Lord, who
8 had delivered him out of all his tribulation and had given him his vow. And he tithed
all the clean animals, and made a burnt sacrifice, but the unclean animals he gave (not)
to Levi his son, and he
9 gave him all the souls of the men And Levi discharged the priestly office at Bethel
before Jacob his father in preference to his ten brothers, and he was a priest there, and
Jacob gave his vow: thus
10 he tithed again the tithe to the Lord and sanctified it, and it became holy unto Him.
And for this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets as a law for the tithing again
the tithe to eat before the Lord from year to year, in the place where it is chosen that
His name should dwell, and to this law
11 there is no limit of days for ever. This ordinance is written that it may be fulfilled
from year to year in eating the second tithe before the Lord in the place where it has
been chosen, and nothing
12 shall remain over from it from this year to the year following. For in its year shall
the seed be eaten till the days of the gathering of the seed of the year, and the wine
till the days of the wine,
13 and the oil till the days of its season. And all that is left thereof and becomes old,
let it be regarded
14 as polluted: let it be burnt with fire, for it is unclean. And thus let them eat it
together in the
15 sanctuary, and let them not suffer it to become old. And all the tithes of the oxen and
sheep shall be holy unto the Lord, and shall belong to his priests, which they will eat
before Him from year to
16 year; for thus is it ordained and engraven regarding the tithe on the heavenly tablets.
And on the following night, on the twenty-second day of this month, Jacob resolved to
build that place, and to surround the court with a wall, and to sanctify it and make it
holy for ever, for himself and his children
17 after him. And the Lord appeared to him by night and blessed him and said unto him:
'Thy name
18 shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall they name thy name.' And He said unto him
again: 'I am the Lord who created the heaven and the earth, and I will increase thee and
multiply thee exceedingly, and kings shall come forth from thee, and they shall judge
everywhere wherever the foot
19 of the sons of men has trodden. And I will give to thy seed all the earth which is
under heaven, and they shall judge all the nations according to their desires, and after
that they shall get possession
20 of the whole earth and inherit it for ever.' And He finished speaking with him, and He
went up
21 from him. and Jacob looked till He had ascended into heaven. And he saw in a vision of
the night, and behold an angel descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands, and
he gave them to Jacob, and he read them and knew all that was written therein which would
befall him and his sons
21 throughout all the ages. And he showed him all that was written on the tablets, and
said unto him: 'Do not build this place, and do not make it an eternal sanctuary, and do
not dwell here; for this is not the place. Go to the house of Abraham thy father and dwell
with Isaac thy father until the day
23 of the death of thy father. For in Egypt thou shalt die in peace, and in this land thou
shalt be buried
24 with honour in the sepulchre of thy fathers, with Abraham and Isaac. Fear not, for as
thou hast seen and read it, thus shall it all be; and do thou write down everything as
thou hast seen and read.'
25 And Jacob said: 'Lord, how can I remember all that I have read and seen? 'And he said
unto
26 him: 'I will bring all things to thy remembrance.' And he went up from him, and he
awoke from his sleep, and he remembered everything which he had read and seen, and he
wrote down all the
27 words which he had read and seen. And he celebrated there yet another day, and he
sacrificed thereon according to all that he sacrificed on the former days, and called its
name 'Addition,' for
28 this day was added and the former days he called 'The Feast '. And thus it was
manifested that it should be, and it is written on the heavenly tablets: wherefore it was
revealed to him that he should
29 celebrate it, and add it to the seven days of the feast. And its name was called
'Addition,' because that it was recorded amongst the days of the feast days, according to
the number of
30 the days of the year. And in the night, on the twenty-third of this month, Deborah
Rebecca's nurse died, and they buried her beneath the city under the oak of the river, and
he called the name of this
31 place, 'The river of Deborah,' and the oak, 'The oak of the mourning of Deborah.' And
Rebecca went and returned to her house to his father Isaac, and Jacob sent by her hand
rams and sheep and
32 he-goats that she should prepare a meal for his father such as he desired. And he went
after his
33 mother till he came to the land of Kabratan, and he dwelt there. And Rachel bare a son
in the night, and called his name 'Son of my sorrow '; for she suffered in giving him
birth: but his father called his name Benjamin, on the eleventh of the eighth month in the
first of the sixth week of this
34 jubilee. [2143 A.M.] And Rachel died there and she was buried in the land of Ephrath,
the same is Bethlehem, and Jacob built a pillar on the grave of Rachel, on the road above
her grave.
[Chapter 33]
1 And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra'ef. And he went to his father Isaac,
he
2 and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel's
maid,
3 the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her. And
he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her
sleeping alone on a bed in
4 her house. And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with
her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried
out, and discovered
5 that it was Reuben. And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him,
and he
6,7 fled. And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any
one. And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: 'I am not clean for thee,
for I have been defiled as regards thee; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me
in the night, and I was
8 asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.' And Jacob
was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had
uncovered his
9 father's skirt. And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And
as for any man who uncovers his father's skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is
abominable before
10 the Lord. For this reason it is written and ordained on the heavenly tablets that a man
should not lie with his father's wife, and should not uncover his father's skirt, for this
is unclean: they shall surely die together, the man who lies with his father's wife and
the woman also, for they have
11 wrought uncleanness on the earth. And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in
the nation
12 which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. And again, it is written a second
time: 'Cursed be he who lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his
father's shame'; and all the
13 holy ones of the Lord said 'So be it; so be it.' And do thou, Moses, command the
children of Israel that they observe this word; for it (entails) a punishment of death;
and it is unclean, and there is no atonement for ever to atone for the man who has
committed this, but he is to be put to death and slain, and stoned with stones, and rooted
out from the midst of the people of our God.
14 For to no man who does so in Israel is it permitted to remain alive a single day on the
earth, for he
15 is abominable and unclean. And let them not say: to Reuben was granted life and
forgiveness after he had lain with his father's concubine, and to her also though she had
a husband, and her husband
16 Jacob, his father, was still alive. For until that time there had not been revealed the
ordinance and judgment and law in its completeness for all, but in thy days (it has been
revealed) as a law of
17 seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the everlasting generations. And for
this law there is no consummation of days, and no atonement for it, but they must both be
rooted out in the midst
18 of the nation: on the day whereon they committed it they shall slay them. And do thou,
Moses, write (it) down for Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these
words, and not commit a sin unto death; for the Lord our God is judge, who respects not
persons and accepts not gifts. And tell them these words of the covenant, that they may
hear and observe, and be on their guard with respect to them, and not be destroyed and
rooted out of the land; for an uncleanness, and an abomination, and a contamination, and a
pollution are all they who commit it on the earth before
20 our God. And there is no greater sin than the fornication which they commit on earth;
for Israel is a holy nation unto the Lord its God, and a nation of inheritance, and a
priestly and royal nation and for (His own) possession; and there shall no such
uncleanness appear in the midst of the holy
21 nation. And in the third year of this sixth week [2145 A.M.] Jacob and all his sons
went and dwelt in the house
22 of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebecca his mother. And these were the names of
the sons of Jacob: the first-born Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, the sons
of Leah; and the sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Dan and
Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, the only
daughter of Jacob. And they
23 came and bowed themselves to Isaac and Rebecca, and when they saw them they blessed
Jacob and all his sons, and Isaac rejoiced exceedingly, for he saw the sons of Jacob, his
younger son and he blessed them.
[Chapter 34]
1 And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth jubilee [2148 A.M.] Jacob sent
his sons to pasture their
2 sheep, and his servants with them to the pastures of Shechem. And the seven kings of the
Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under
the trees, and
3 to take their cattle as a prey. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the
house with Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him:
and Benjamin was
4 the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father. And there came the king[s]
of Taphu and the king[s] of 'Aresa, and the king[s] of Seragan, and the king[s] of Selo,
and the king[s] of Ga'as, and the king of Bethoron, and the king of Ma'anisakir, and all
those who dwell in these
5 mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan. And they announced this to
Jacob saying: 'Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered
their herds.'
6 And he arose from his house, he and his three sons and all the servants of his father,
and his own
7 servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords. And he
slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with
the edge of the sword, and he slew 'Aresa and Taphu and Saregan and Selo and 'Amani-
8 sakir and Ga[ga]'as, and he recovered his herds. And he prevailed over them, and imposed
tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and
he built Robel
9 and Tamnatares. And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his
10 servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into Egypt. And in the seventh
year of this week [2149 A.M.] he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers
from his house to the land of Shechem,
11 and he found them in the land of Dothan. And they dealt treacherously with him, and
formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to
Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar,
the eunuch of Pharaoh, the
12 chief of the cooks, priest of the city of 'Elew. And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a
kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on
the tenth of the seventh month.
13 And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he
became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: 'An evil beast hath devoured
Joseph'; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were
grieving and mourning with
14 him all that day. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused
to be
15 comforted for his son. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she
died mourning him, and she was living in Qafratef, and Dinah also, his daughter, died
after Joseph had
16 perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. And they
buried
17 Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also. his daughter, they buried
there. And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said 'Let me go down
to the grave mourning
18 for my son'. For this reason it is ordained for the children of Israel that they should
afflict themselves on the tenth of the seventh month -on the day that the news which made
him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father- that they should make atonement for
themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for
their sins; for they had grieved the
19 affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. And this day has been ordained that
they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all
their errors, so that they
20 might cleanse themselves on that day once a year. And after Joseph perished, the sons
of Jacob took unto themselves wives. The name of Reuben's wife is 'Ada; and the name of
Simeon's wife is 'Adlba'a, a Canaanite; and the name of Levi's wife is Melka, of the
daughters of Aram, of the seed of the sons of Terah; and the name of Judah's wife,
Betasu'el, a Canaanite; and the name of Issachar's wife, Hezaqa: and the name of Zabulon's
wife, Ni'iman; and the name of Dan's wife, 'Egla; and the name of Naphtali's wife, Rasu'u,
of Mesopotamia; and the name of Gad's wife, Maka; and the name of Asher's wife, 'Ijona;
and the name of Joseph's wife, Asenath, the Egyptian; and the name
21 of Benjamin's wife, 'Ijasaka. And Simeon repented, and took a second wife from
Mesopotamia as his brothers.
[Chapter 35]
1 And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth jubilee [2157 A.M.] Rebecca
called Jacob, her son, and commanded him regarding his father and regarding his brother,
that he should honour them all the
2 days of his life. And Jacob said: 'I will do everything as thou hast commanded me; for
this thing will be honour and greatness to me, and righteousness before the Lord, that I
should honour them.
3 And thou too, mother, knowest from the time I was born until this day, all my deeds and
all that is in
4 my heart, that I always think good concerning all. And how should I not do this thing
which thou
5 hast commanded me, that I should honour my father and my brother! Tell me, mother, what
6 perversity hast thou seen in me and I shall turn away from it, and mercy will be upon
me.' And she said unto him: 'My son, I have not seen in thee all my days any perverse but
(only) upright deeds. And yet I will tell thee the truth, my son: I shall die this year,
and I shall not survive this year in my life; for I have seen in a dream the day of my
death, that I should not live beyond a hundred and fifty-five years: and behold I have
completed all the days of my life which I am to
7 live.' And Jacob laughed at the words of his mother. because his mother had said unto
him that she should die; and she was sitting opposite to him in possession of her
strength, and she was not infirm in her strength; for she went in and out and saw, and her
teeth were strong, and no ailment
8 had touched her all the days of her life. And Jacob said unto her: 'Blessed am I,
mother, if my days approach the days of thy life, and my strength remain with me thus as
thy strength: and thou
9 wilt not die, for thou art jesting idly with me regarding thy death.' And she went in to
Isaac and said unto him: 'One petition I make unto thee: make Esau swear that he will not
injure Jacob, nor pursue him with enmity; for thou knowest Esau's thoughts that they are
perverse from his youth,
10 and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after thy death to kill him. And thou
knowest all that he has done since the day Jacob his brother went to Haran until this day:
how he has forsaken us with his whole heart, and has done evil to us; thy flocks he has
taken to himself, and carried off
11 all thy possessions from before thy face. And when we implored and besought him for
what was
12 our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us. And he is bitter against thee
because thou didst bless Jacob thy perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only
goodness in him, and since he came from Haran unto this day he has not robbed us of aught,
for he brings us everything in its season always, and rejoices with all his heart when we
take at his hands and he blesses us, and has not parted from us since he came from Haran
until this day, and he remains with us continually
13 at home honouring us.' And Isaac said unto her: 'I, too, know and see the deeds of
Jacob who is with us, how that with all his heart he honours us; but I loved Esau formerly
more than Jacob, because he was the firstborn; but now I love Jacob more than Esau, for he
has done manifold evil deeds, and there is no righteousness in him, for all his ways are
unrighteousness and violence, [and
14 there is no righteousness around him.] And now my heart is troubled because of all his
deeds, and neither he nor his seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be
destroyed from the earth and who will be rooted out from under heaven, for he has forsaken
the God of Abraham and gone
15 after his wives and after their uncleanness and after their error, he and his children.
And thou dost bid me make him swear that he will not slay Jacob his brother; even if he
swear he will not abide
16 by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only. But if he desires to slay Jacob,
his brother, into Jacob's hands will he be given, and he will not escape from his hands,
[for he will descend into his
17 hands.] And fear thou not on account of Jacob; for the guardian of Jacob is great and
powerful
18 and honoured, and praised more than the guardian of Esau.' And Rebecca sent and called
Esau and he came to her, and she said unto him: 'I have a petition, my son, to make unto
thee, and do
19 thou promise to do it, my son.' And he said: 'I will do everything that thou sayest
unto me, and
20 I will not refuse thy petition.' And she said unto him: 'I ask you that the day I die,
thou wilt take me in and bury me near Sarah, thy father's mother, and that thou and Jacob
will love each other and that neither will desire evil against the other, but mutual love
only, and (so) ye will prosper, my sons, and be honoured in the midst of the land, and no
enemy will rejoice over you, and ye will be
21 a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love you.' And he said: 'I will do
all that thou hast told me, and I shall bury thee on the day thou diest near Sarah, my
father's mother, as
22 thou hast desired that her bones may be near thy bones. And Jacob, my brother, also, I
shall love above all flesh; for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only: and
this is no great merit for me if I love him; for he is my brother, and we were sown
together in thy body, and together came
23 we forth from thy womb, and if I do not love my brother, whom shall I love? And I,
myself, beg thee to exhort Jacob concerning me and concerning my sons, for I know that he
will assuredly be king over me and my sons, for on the day my father blessed him he made
him the higher and me
24 the lower. And I swear unto thee that I shall love him, and not desire evil against him
all the
25 days of my life but good only.' And he sware unto her regarding all this matter. And
she called Jacob before the eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the words
which
26 she had spoken to Esau. And he said: 'I shall do thy pleasure; believe me that no evil
will proceed from me or from my sons against Esau, and I shall be first in naught save in
love only.'
27 And they eat and drank, she and her sons that night, and she died, three jubilees and
one week and one year old, on that night, and her two sons, Esau and Jacob, buried her in
the double cave near Sarah, their father's mother.
[Chapter 36]
1 And in the sixth year of this week [2162 A.M.] Isaac called his two sons Esau and Jacob,
and they came to him, and he said unto them: 'My sons, I am going the way of my fathers,
to the eternal house
2 where my fathers are. Wherefore bury me near Abraham my father, in the double cave in
the field of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulchre to bury in; in the
sepulchre which
3 I digged for myself, there bury me. And this I command you, my sons, that ye practise
righteousness and uprightness on the earth, so that the Lord may bring upon you all that
the Lord said that
4 he would do to Abraham and to his seed. And love one another, my sons, your brothers as
a man who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and
act together on the earth; and let them love each other as their own souls. And concerning
the question of idols, I command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and love
them not, for they are full
6 of deception for those that worship them and for those that bow down to them. Remember
ye, my sons, the Lord God of Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served
Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the
stars of heaven in multitude, and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness
which will not be rooted
7 out unto all the generations for ever. And now I shall make you swear a great oath -for
there is no oath which is greater than it by the name glorious and honoured and great and
splendid and wonderful and mighty, which created the heavens and the earth and all things
together- that ye will
8 fear Him and worship Him. And that each will love his brother with affection and
righteousness, and that neither will desire evil against his brother from henceforth for
ever all the days of your life
9 so that ye may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed. And if either of you
devises evil against his brother, know that from henceforth everyone that devises evil
against his brother shall fall into his hand, and shall be rooted out of the land of the
living, and his seed shall be destroyed from
10 under heaven. But on the day of turbulence and execration and indignation and anger,
with flaming devouring fire as He burnt Sodom, so likewise will He burn his land and his
city and all that is his, and he shall be blotted out of the book of the discipline of the
children of men, and not be recorded in the book of life, but in that which is appointed
to destruction, and he shall depart into eternal execration; so that their condemnation
may be always renewed in hate and in execration and in wrath and in torment and in
indignation and in plagues and in disease for ever. I say and testify to you, my sons,
according to the judgment which shall come upon the man who wishes to
12 injure his brother. And he divided all his possessions between the two on that day and
he gave the larger portion to him that was the first-born, and the tower and all that was
about it, and all that
13 Abraham possessed at the Well of the Oath. And he said: 'This larger portion I will
give to the
14 firstborn.' And Esau said, 'I have sold to Jacob and given my birthright to Jacob; to
him let it be
15 given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his.' And Isaac
said, May a blessing rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for ye have
given me rest, and my heart is not
16 pained concerning the birthright, lest thou shouldest work wickedness on account of it.
May the
17 Most High God bless the man that worketh righteousness, him and his seed for ever.' And
he ended commanding them and blessing them, and they eat and drank together before him,
and he rejoiced because there was one mind between them, and they went forth from him and
rested that day and
18 slept. And Isaac slept on his bed that day rejoicing; and he slept the eternal sleep,
and died one hundred and eighty years old. He completed twenty-five weeks and five years;
and his two sons
19 Esau and Jacob buried him. And Esau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of Seir,
and
20 dwelt there. And Jacob dwelt in the mountains of Hebron, in the tower of the land of
the sojournings of his father Abraham, and he worshipped the Lord with all his heart and
according to the visible
21 commands according as He had divided the days of his generations. And Leah his wife
died in the fourth year of the second week of the forty-fifth jubilee, [2167 A.M.] and he
buried her in the double cave
23 near Rebecca his mother to the left of the grave of Sarah, his father's mother and all
her sons and his sons came to mourn over Leah his wife with him and to comfort him
regarding her, for he
24 was lamenting her for he loved her exceedingly after Rachel her sister died; for she
was perfect and upright in all her ways and honoured Jacob,and all the days that she lived
with him he did not hear from her mouth a harsh word, for she was gentle and peaceable and
upright and honourable
24 And he remembered all her deeds which she had done during her life and he lamented her
exceedingly; for he loved her with all his heart and with all his soul.
[Chapter 37]
1 And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau died, [2162 A.M.] the sons of
Esau heard that Isaac
2 had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Jacob and they were very angry.
And they strove with their father, saying 'Why has thy father given Jacob the portion of
the elder and passed
3 over thee, although thou art the elder and Jacob the younger?' And he said unto them
'Because I sold my birthright to Jacob for a small mess of lentils, and on the day my
father sent me to hunt and catch and bring him something that he should eat and bless me,
he came with guile and brought
4 my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and put me under his hand. And now
our father has caused us to swear, me and him, that we shall not mutually devise evil,
either against his brother, and that we shall continue in love and in peace each with his
brother and not make our ways
5 corrupt.' And they said unto him, 'We shall not hearken unto thee to make peace with
him; for our strength is greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he; we
shall go against him and slay him, and destroy him and his sons. And if thou wilt not go
with us, we shall do hurt
6 to thee also. And now hearken unto us: Let us send to Aram and Philistia and Moab and
Ammon, and let us choose for ourselves chosen men who are ardent for battle, and let us go
against him and do battle with him, and let us exterminate him from the earth before he
grows strong.'
7 And their father said unto them, 'Do not go and do not make war with him lest ye fall
before him.'
8 And they said unto him, 'This too, is exactly thy mode of action from thy youth until
this day, and
9 thou art putting thy neck under his yoke. We shall not hearken to these words.' And they
sent to Aram, and to 'Aduram to the friend of their father, and they hired along with them
one thousand
10 fighting men, chosen men of war. And there came to them from Moab and from the children
of Ammon, those who were hired, one thousand chosen men, and from Philistia, one thousand
chosen men of war, and from Edom and from the Horites one thousand chosen fighting men,
and from the
11 Kittim mighty men of war. And they said unto their father: Go forth with them and lead
them,
12 else we shall slay thee.' And he was filled with wrath and indignation on seeing that
his sons were forcing him to go before (them) to lead them against Jacob his brother. But
afterward he remem-
13 bered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother; and he
remembered not the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother that he would
devise no evil all his days
14 against Jacob his brother. And notwithstanding all this, Jacob knew not that they were
coming against him to battle, and he was mourning for Leah, his wife, until they
approached very near to the
15 tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war And the men of Hebron sent to
him saying, 'Behold thy brother has come against thee, to fight thee, with four thousand
girt with the sword, and they carry shields and weapons'; for they loved Jacob more than
Esau. So they told him; for
16 Jacob was a more liberal and merciful man than Esau. But Jacob would not believe until
they came
17 very near to the tower. And he closed the gates of the tower; and he stood on the
battlements and spake to his brother Esau and said, 'Noble is the comfort wherewith thou
hast come to comfort me for my wife who has died. Is this the oath that thou didst swear
to thy father and again to thy mother before they died? Thou hast broken the oath, and on
the moment that thou didst swear to
18 thy father wast thou condemned.' And then Esau answered and said unto him, 'Neither the
children of men nor the beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in
swearing they have sworn (an oath valid) for ever; but every day they devise evil one
against another, and how each
19 may slay his adversary and foe. And thou dost hate me and my children for ever. And
there is
20 no observing the tie of brotherhood with thee. Hear these words which I declare unto
thee,
If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool,
Or if it can cause horns to sprout forth on its head like the horns of a stag or of a
sheep,
Then will I observe the tie of brotherhood with thee
And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother, for thou hast not been a
brother to me.
21 And if the wolves make peace with the lambs so as not to devour or do them violence,
And if their hearts are towards them for good,
Then there shall be peace in my heart towards thee
22 And if the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes peace with him
And if he is bound under one yoke with him and ploughs with him,
Then will I make peace with thee.
23 And when the raven becomes white as the raza,
Then know that I have loved thee
And shall make peace with thee
Thou shalt be rooted out,
And thy sons shall be rooted out,
And there shall be no peace for thee'
24 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) evilly disposed towards him with his heart, and
with all his soul as to slay him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which
comes upon
25 the spear that pierces and kills it, and recoils not from it; then he spake to his own
and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.
[Chapter 38]
1 And after that Judah spake to Jacob, his father, and said unto him: 'Bend thy bow,
father, and send forth thy arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and
mayst thou have the power, for we shall not slay thy brother, for he is such as thou, and
he is like thee let us give him
2 (this) honour.' Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his
brother (on
3 his right breast) and slew him. And again he sent forth an arrow and struck 'Adoran the
Aramaean,
4 on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him And then went forth the sons of
Jacob,
5 they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the
tower. And Judah went forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants
with him on the south side of the tower, and they slew all they found before them, and not
one individual of them escaped.
6 And Levi and Dan and Asher went forth on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men)
with them,
7 and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon
went forth on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the
fighting men of the
8 Philistines. And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben's son, went forth on the west
side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites
four hundred men, stout warriors; and six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esau fled
with them, and left their father
9 lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in 'Aduram. And the sons of Jacob
pursued after them to the mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill
which is in 'Aduram, and
10 he returned to his house. And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in
the moun-
11 tains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob.
And they
12 sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should make peace with them or slay
them. And Jacob sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace
with them, and placed the
13 yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always.
And they
14 continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he went down into Egypt. And the
sons of Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had
imposed on
15 them until this day. And these are the kings that reigned in Edom before there reigned
any king
16 over the children of Israel [until this day] in the land of Edom. And Balaq, the son of
Beor, reigned
17 in Edom, and the name of his city was Danaba. And Balaq died, and Jobab, the son of
Zara of
18 Boser, reigned in his stead. And Jobab died, and 'Asam, of the land of Teman, reigned
in his stead.
19 And 'Asam died, and 'Adath, the son of Barad, who slew Midian in the field of Moab,
reigned in his
20 stead, and the name of his city was Avith. And 'Adath died, and Salman, from 'Amaseqa,
reigned
21,22 in his stead. And Salman died,and Saul of Ra'aboth (by the) river, reigned in his
stead. And Saul
23 died, and Ba'elunan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his stead. And Ba'elunan, the son of
Achbor died, and 'Adath reigned in his stead, and the name of his wife was Maitabith, the
daughter of
25 Matarat, the daughter of Metabedza'ab. These are the kings who reigned in the land of
Edom.
[Chapter 39]
1,2 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings in the land of Canaan. These
are the generations of Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down
into
3 the land of Egypt, and Potiphar, an eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief cook bought him. And he
set Joseph over all his house and the blessing of the Lord came upon the house of the
Egyptian on
4 account of Joseph, and the Lord prospered him in all that he did. And the Egyptian
committed everything into the hands of Joseph; for he saw that the Lord was with him, and
that the
5 Lord prospered him in all that he did. And Joseph's appearance was comely [and very
beautiful was his appearance], and his master's wife lifted up her eyes and saw Joseph,
and she loved him
6 and besought him to lie with her. But he did not surrender his soul, and he remembered
the Lord and the words which Jacob, his father, used to read from amongst the words of
Abraham, that no man should commit fornication with a woman who has a husband; that for
him the punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God, and
the sin
7 will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord. And
Joseph
8 remembered these words and refused to lie with her. And she besought him for a year, but
he
9 refused and would not listen. But she embraced him and held him fast in the house in
order to force him to lie with her, and closed the doors of the house and held him fast;
but he left
10 his garment in her hands and broke through the door and fled without from her presence.
And the woman saw that he would not lie with her, and she calumniated him in the presence
of his lord, saying 'Thy Hebrew servant, whom thou lovest, sought to force me so that he
might lie with me; and it came to pass when I lifted up my voice that he fled and left his
garment in
11 my hands when I held him, and he brake through the door.' And the Egyptian saw the
garment of Joseph and the broken door, and heard the words of his wife, and cast Joseph
into
12 prison into the place where the prisoners were kept whom the king imprisoned. And he
was there in the prison; and the Lord gave Joseph favour in the sight of the chief of the
prison guards and compassion before him, for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that
the Lord
13 made all that he did to prosper. And he committed all things into his hands, and the
chief of the prison guards knew of nothing that was with him, for Joseph did every thing,
and the
14 Lord perfected it. And he remained there two years. And in those days Pharaoh, king of
Egypt was wroth against his two eunuchs, against the chief butler, and against the chief
baker, and he put
15 them in ward in the house of the chief cook, in the prison where Joseph was kept. And
the chief of
16 the prison guards appointed Joseph to serve them; and he served before them. And they
both
17 dreamed a dream, the chief butler and the chief baker, and they told it to Joseph. And
as he interpreted to them so it befell them, and Pharaoh restored the chief butler to his
office and the
18 (chief) baker he slew, as Joseph had interpreted to them. But the chief butler forgot
Joseph in the prison, although he had informed him what would befall him, and did not
remember to inform Pharaoh how Joseph had told him, for he forgot.
[Chapter 40]
1 And in those days Pharaoh dreamed two dreams in one night concerning a famine which was
to be in all the land, and he awoke from his sleep and called all the interpreters of
dreams that were in Egypt, and magicians, and told them his two dreams, and they were not
able to declare (them).
2 And then the chief butler remembered Joseph and spake of him to the king, and he brought
him
3 forth from the prison, and he to]d his two dreams before him. And he said before Pharaoh
that his two dreams were one, and he said unto him: 'Seven years shall come (in which
there shall be) plenty over all the land of Egypt, and after that seven years of famine,
such a famine as has not been in all
4 the land. And now let Pharaoh appoint overseers in all the land of Egypt, and let them
store up food in every city throughout the days of the years of plenty, and there will be
food for the seven
5 years of famine, and the land will not perish through the famine, for it will be very
severe.' And the Lord gave Joseph favour and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh
said unto his servants. We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for
the spirit of the Lord is with
6 him.' And he appointed him the second in all his kingdom and gave him authority over all
7 Egypt, and caused him to ride in the second chariot of Pharaoh. And he clothed him with
byssus garments, and he put a gold chain upon his neck, and (a herald) proclaimed before
him ' 'El 'El wa 'Abirer,' and placed a ring on his hand and made him ruler over all his
house, and magnified him, and
8 said unto him. 'Only on the throne shall I be greater than thou.' And Joseph ruled over
all the land of Egypt, and all the princes of Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all who
did the king's business loved him, for he walked in uprightness, for he was without pride
and arrogance, and he had no respect of persons, and did not accept gifts, but he judged
in uprightness all the people of the land.
9 And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because of Joseph, for the Lord was
with him, and gave him favour and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew
him and those who heard concerning him, and Pharaoh's kingdom was well ordered, and there
was no Satan and no evil
10 person (therein). And the king called Joseph's name Sephantiphans, and gave Joseph to
wife the
11 daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, the chief cook. And on
the day that
12 Joseph stood before Pharaoh he was thirty years old [when he stood before Pharaoh]. And
in that year Isaac died. And it came to pass as Joseph had said in the interpretation of
his two dreams, according as he had said it, there were seven years of plenty over all the
land of Egypt, and the
13 land of Egypt abundantly produced, one measure (producing) eighteen hundred measures.
And Joseph gathered food into every city until they were full of corn until they could no
longer count and measure it for its multitude.
[Chapter 41]
1 And in the forty-fifth jubilee, in the second week, (and) in the second year, [2165
A.M.] Judah took for his
2 first-born Er, a wife from the daughters of Aram, named Tamar. But he hated, and did not
lie with her, because his mother was of the daughters of Canaan, and he wished to take him
a wife of the
3 kinsfolk of his mother, but Judah, his father, would not permit him. And this Er, the
first-born of Judah,
4 was wicked, and the Lord slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, his brother 'Go in unto thy
brother's wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed
unto thy brother.' And
5 Onan knew that the seed would not be his, (but) his brother's only, and he went into the
house of his brother's wife, and spilt the seed on the ground, and he was wicked in the
eyes of the Lord, and He slew
6 him. And Judah said unto Tamar, his daughter-in-law: 'Remain in thy father's house as a
widow till
7 Shelah my son be grown up, and I shall give thee to him to wife.' And he grew up; but
Bedsu'el, the wife of Judah, did not permit her son Shelah to marry. And Bedsu'el, the
wife of Judah, died [2168 A.M.]
8 in the fifth year of this week. And in the sixth year Judah went up to shear his sheep at Timnah. [2169 A.M.]
9 And they told Tamar: 'Behold thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his
sheep.' And she put off her widow's clothes, and put on a veil, and adorned herself, and
sat in the gate adjoining the
10 way to Timnah. And as Judah was going along he found her, and thought her to be an
harlot, and he said unto her: 'Let me come in unto thee'; and she said unto him Come in,'
and he went
11 in. And she said unto him: 'Give me my hire'; and he said unto her: 'I have nothing in
my
12 hand save my ring that is on my finger, and my necklace, and my staff which is in my
hand.' And she said unto him 'Give them to me until thou dost send me my hire', and he
said unto her: 'I will send unto thee a kid of the goats'; and he gave them to her,
13,14 she conceived by him. And Judah went unto his sheep, and she went to her father's
house. And Judah sent a kid of the goats by the hand of his shepherd, an Adullamite, and
he found her not; and he asked the people of the place, saying: 'Where is the harlot who
was here?' And they said
15 unto him; 'There is no harlot here with us.' And he returned and informed him, and said
unto him that he had not found her: 'I asked the people of the place, and they said unto
me: "There
16 is no harlot here." ' And he said: 'Let her keep (them) lest we become a cause of
derision.' And when she had completed three months, it was manifest that she was with
child, and they told Judah,
17 saying: 'Behold Tamar, thy daughter-in-law, is with child by whoredom.' And Judah went
to the house of her father, and said unto her father and her brothers: 'Bring her forth,
and let them burn
18 her, for she hath wrought uncleanness in Israel.' And it came to pass when they brought
her forth to burn her that she sent to her father-in-law the ring and the necklace, and
the staff, saying:
19 'Discern whose are these, for by him am I with child.' And Judah acknowledged, and
said: 'Tamar
20 is more righteous than I am. And therefore let them burn her not' And for that reason
she was
21 not given to Shelah, and he did not again approach her And after that she bare two
sons, Perez [2170 A.M.]
22 and Zerah, in the seventh year of this second week. And thereupon the seven
years of fruitfulness
23 were accomplished, of which Joseph spake to Pharaoh. And Judah acknowledged that the
deed which he had done was evil, for he had lain with his daughter-in-law, and he esteemed
it hateful in his eyes, and he acknowledged that he had transgressed and gone astray, for
he had uncovered the skirt of his son, and he began to lament and to supplicate before the
Lord because of his transgression.
24 And we told him in a dream that it was forgiven him because he supplicated earnestly,
and lamented,
25 and did not again commit it. And he received forgiveness because he turned from his sin
and from his ignorance, for he transgressed greatly before our God; and every one that
acts thus, every one who lies with his mother-in-law, let them burn him with fire that he
may burn therein, for there is
26 uncleanness and pollution upon them, with fire let them burn them. And do thou command
the children of Israel that there be no uncleanness amongst them, for every one who lies
with his daughter-in-law or with his mother-in-law hath wrought uncleanness; with fire let
them burn the man who has lain with her, and likewise the woman, and He will turn away
wrath and punishment
27 from Israel. And unto Judah we said that his two sons had not lain with her, and for
this reason
28 his seed was stablished for a second generation, and would not be rooted out. For in
singleness of eye he had gone and sought for punishment, namely, according to the judgment
of Abraham, which he had commanded his sons, Judah had sought to burn her with fire.
[Chapter 42]
1 And in the first year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubilee the famine began to
come into the [2171 A.M.]
2 land, and the rain refused to be given to the earth, for none whatever fell.
And the earth grew barren, but in the land of Egypt there was food, for Joseph had
gathered the seed of the land in the
3 seven years of plenty and had preserved it. And the Egyptians came to Joseph that he
might give them food, and he opened the store-houses where was the grain of the first
year, and he sold it to
4 the people of the land for gold.
5 that went (there). And Joseph recognised them, but they did not recognise him, and he
spake unto them and questioned them, and he said unto them; 'Are ye not spies and have ye
not come to
6 explore the approaches of the land? 'And he put them in ward. And after that he set them
free
7 again, and detained Simeon alone and sent off his nine brothers. And he filled their
sacks with corn,
8 and he put their gold in their sacks, and they did not know. And he commanded them to
bring
9 their younger brother, for they had told him their father was living and their younger
brother. And they went up from the land of Egypt and they came to the land of Canaan; and
they told their father all that had befallen them, and how the lord of the country had
spoken roughly to them, and
10 had seized Simeon till they should bring Benjamin. And Jacob said: 'Me have ye bereaved
of my children! Joseph is not and Simeon also is not, and ye will take Benjamin away. On
me has your
11 wickedness come. 'And he said: 'My son will not go down with you lest perchance he fall
sick; for their mother gave birth to two sons, and one has perished, and this one also ye
will take from me. If perchance he took a fever on the road, ye would bring down my old
age with sorrow unto death.'
12 For he saw that their money had been returned to every man in his sack, and for this
reason he
13 feared to send him. And the famine increased and became sore in the land of Canaan, and
in all lands save in the land of Egypt, for many of the children of the Egyptians had
stored up their seed for food from the time when they saw Joseph gathering seed together
and putting it in storehouses
14 and preserving it for the years of famine. And the people of Egypt fed themselves
thereon during
15 the first year of their famine But when Israel saw that the famine was very sore in the
land, and that there was no deliverance, he said unto his sons: 'Go again, and procure
food for us that we die
16 not.' And they said: 'We shall not go; unless our youngest brother go with us, we shall
not go.'
17 And Israel saw that if he did not send him with them, they should all perish by reason
of the famine
18 And Reuben said: 'Give him into my hand, and if I do not bring him back to thee, slay
my two
19 sons instead of his soul.' And he said unto him: 'He shall not go with thee.' And Judah
came near and said: 'Send him with me, and if I do not bring him back to thee, let me bear
the blame before
20 thee all the days of my life.' And he sent him with them in the second year of this
week on the [2172 A.m.] first day of the month, and they came to the land of Egypt with
all those who went, and (they had)
21 presents in their hands, stacte and almonds and terebinth nuts and pure honey. And they
went and stood before Joseph, and he saw Benjamin his brother, and he knew him, and said
unto them: Is this your youngest brother?' And they said unto him: 'It is he.' And he said
The Lord be
22 gracious to thee, my son!' And he sent him into his house and he brought forth Simeon
unto them and he made a feast for them, and they presented to him the gift which they had
brought in their
23 hands. And they eat before him and he gave them all a portion, but the portion of
Benjamin was
24 seven times larger than that of any of theirs. And they eat and drank and arose and
remained with
25 their asses. And Joseph devised a plan whereby he might learn their thoughts as to
whether thoughts of peace prevailed amongst them, and he said to the steward who was over
his house: 'Fill all their sacks with food, and return their money unto them into their
vessels, and my cup, the silver cup out of which I drink, put it in the sack of the
youngest, and send them away.'
[Chapter 43]
1 And he did as Joseph had told him, and filled all their sacks for them with food and put
their
2 money in their sacks, and put the cup in Benjamin's sack. Aud early in the morning they
departed, and it came to pass that, when they had gone from thence, Joseph said unto the
steward of his house: 'Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, "For good ye have
requited me with evil; you have stolen from me the silver cup out of which my lord
drinks." And bring back to me their
3 youngest brother, and fetch (him) quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment.' And
he ran
4 after them and said unto them according to these words. And they said unto him: 'God
forbid that thy servants should do this thing, and steal from the house of thy lord any
utensil, and the money also which we found in our sacks the first time, we thy servants
brought back from the land of
5 Canaan. How then should we steal any utensil? Behold here are we and our sacks search,
and wherever thou findest the cup in the sack of any man amongst us, let him be slain, and
we and our
6 asses will serve thy lord.' And he said unto them: 'Not so, the man with whom I find,
him only
7 shall I take as a servant, and ye shall return in peace unto your house.' And as he was
searching in their vessels, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, it was
found in Benjamin's
8 sack. And they rent their garments, and laded their asses, and returned to the city and
came to the
9 house of Joseph, and they all bowed themselves on their faces to the ground before him.
And Joseph said unto them: 'Ye have done evil.' And they said: 'What shall we say and how
shall we defend ourselves? Our lord hath discovered the transgression of his servants;
behold we are the
10 servants of our lord, and our asses also. 'And Joseph said unto them: 'I too fear the
Lord; as for you, go ye to your homes and let your brother be my servant, for ye have done
evil. Know ye not
11 that a man delights in his cup as I with this cup? And yet ye have stolen it from me.'
And Judah said: 'O my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ear
two brothers did thy servant's mother bear to our father: one went away and was lost, and
hath not been found, and he alone is left of his mother, and thy servant our father loves
him, and his life also is bound up with
12 the life of this (lad). And it will come to pass, when we go to thy servant our father,
and the lad is
13 not with us, that he will die, and we shall bring down our father with sorrow unto
death. Now rather let me, thy servant, abide instead of the boy as a bondsman unto my
lord, and let the lad go with his brethren, for I became surety for him at the hand of thy
servant our father, and if I do not
14 bring him back, thy servant will hear the blame to our father for ever.' And Joseph saw
that they were all accordant in goodness one with another, and he could not refrain
himself, and he told them
15 that he was Joseph. And he conversed with them in the Hebrew tongue and fell on their
neck and
16 wept. But they knew him not and they began to weep. And he said unto them: 'Weep not
over me, but hasten and bring my father to me; and ye see that it is my mouth that
speaketh and the
17 eyes of my brother Benjamin see. For behold this is the second year of the famine, and
there are
18 still five years without harvest or fruit of trees or ploughing. Come down quickly ye
and your households, so that ye perish not through the famine, and do not be grieved for
your possessions, for
19 the Lord sent me before you to set things in order that many people might live. And
tell my father that I am still alive, and ye, behold, ye see that the Lord has made me as
a father to Pharaoh,
20 and ruler over his house and over all the land of Egypt. And tell my father of all my
glory, and
21 all the riches and glory that the Lord hath given me.' And by the command of the mouth
of Pharaoh he gave them chariots and provisions for the way, and he gave them all
many-coloured
21 raiment and silver. And to their father he sent raiment and silver and ten asses which
carried corn,
23 and he sent them away. And they went up and told their father that Joseph was alive,
and was measuring out corn to all the nations of the earth, and that he was ruler over all
the land of Egypt.
24 And their father did not believe it, for he was beside himself in his mind; but when he
saw the wagons which Joseph had sent, the life of his spirit revived, and he said: 'It is
enough for me if Joseph lives; I will go down and see him before I die.'
[Chapter 44]
1 And Israel took his journey from Haran from his house on the new moon of the third
month, and he went on the way of the Well of the Oath, and he offered a sacrifice to the
God of his
2 father Isaac on the seventh of this month. And Jacob remembered the dream that he had
seen
3 at Bethel, and he feared to go down into Egypt. And while he was thinking of sending
word to Joseph to come to him, and that he would not go down, he remained there seven
days, if
4 perchance he could see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down. And he
celebrated the harvest festival of the first-fruits with old grain, for in all the land of
Canaan there was not a handful of seed [in the land], for the famine was over all the
beasts and cattle and
5 birds, and also over man. And on the sixteenth the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto
him, 'Jacob, Jacob'; and he said, 'Here am I.' And He said unto him: 'I am the God of thy
fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there
make of thee
6 a great nation I will go down with thee, and I will bring thee up (again), and in this
land shalt thou be buried, and Joseph shall put his hands upon thy eyes. Fear not; go down
into Egypt.'
7 And his sons rose up, and his sons' sons, and they placed their father and their
possessions upon
8 wagons. And Israel rose up from the Well of the Oath on the sixteenth of this third
month, and he
9 went to the land of Egypt. And Israel sent Judah before him to his son Joseph to examine
the Land of Goshen, for Joseph had told his brothers that they should come and dwell there
that they
10 might be near him. And this was the goodliest (land) in the land of Egypt, and near to
him, for all
11 (of them) and also for the cattle. And these are the names of the sons of Jacob who
went into
12 Egypt with Jacob their father Reuben, the First-born of Israel; and these are the names
of his
13 sons Enoch, and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi-five. Simeon and his sons; and these are
the names of his sons: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the
son
14 of the Zephathite woman-seven. Levi and his sons; and these are the names of his sons:
Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari-four. Judah and his sons; and these are the names of his
sons:
15 Shela, and Perez, and Zerah-four. Issachar and his sons; and these are the names of his
sons:
17 Tola, and Phua, and Jasub, and Shimron-five. Zebulon and his sons; and these are the
names of
18 his sons: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel-four. And these are the sons of Jacob and their
sons whom Leah bore to Jacob in Mesopotamia, six, and their one sister, Dinah and all the
souls of the sons of Leah, and their sons, who went with Jacob their father into Egypt,
were twenty-nine, and Jacob their
19 father being with them, they were thirty. And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, the
wife of
20 Jacob, who bore unto Jacob Gad and Ashur. And there are the names of their sons who
went with him into Egypt. The sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, and Shuni, and Ezbon, (and
Eri, and Areli,
21 and Arodi-eight. And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, (and Ishvi), and Beriah, and
Serah,
22,23 their one sister-six. All the souls were fourteen, and all those of Leah were
forty-four. And the
24 sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. And there were born to Joseph
in Egypt before his father came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar
priest of Heliopolis
25 bare unto him, Manasseh, and Ephraim-three. And the sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher
and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, and Ehi, and Rosh, and Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard-eleven.
26,27 And all the souls of Rachel were fourteen. And the sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of
Rachel, the
28 wife of Jacob, whom she bare to Jacob, were Dan and Naphtali. And these are the names
of their sons who went with them into Egypt. And the sons of Dan were Hushim, and Samon,
and Asudi.
29 and 'Ijaka, and Salomon-six. And they died the year in which they entered into Egypt,
and there
30 was left to Dan Hushim alone. And these are the names of the sons of Naphtali Jahziel,
and Guni
31 and Jezer, and Shallum, and 'Iv. And 'Iv, who was born after the years of famine, died
in Egypt.
32,33 And all the souls of Rachel were twenty-six. And all the souls of Jacob which went
into Egypt were seventy souls. These are his children and his children's children, in all
seventy, but five died
34 in Egypt before Joseph, and had no children. And in the land of Canaan two sons of
Judah died, Er and Onan, and they had no children, and the children of Israel buried those
who perished, and they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile nations.
[Chapter 45]
1 And Israel went into the country of Egypt, into the land of Goshen, on the new moon of
the fourth [2172 A.M].
2 month, in the second year of the third week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Joseph went
to meet his
3 father Jacob, to the land of Goshen, and he fell on his father's neck and wept. And
Israel said unto Joseph: 'Now let me die since I have seen thee, and now may the Lord God
of Israel be blessed the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac who hath not withheld His
mercy and His grace from
4 His servant Jacob. It is enough for me that I have seen thy face whilst I am yet alive;
yea, true is the vision which I saw at Bethel. Blessed be the Lord my God for ever and
ever, and blessed be
5 His name.' And Joseph and his brothers eat bread before their father and drank wine, and
Jacob rejoiced with exceeding great joy because he saw Joseph eating with his brothers and
drinking before him, and he blessed the Creator of all things who had preserved him, and
had preserved for him his
6 twelve sons. And Joseph had given to his father and to his brothers as a gift the right
of dwelling in the land of Goshen and in Rameses and all the region round about, which he
ruled over before Pharaoh. And Israel and his sons dwelt in the land of Goshen, the best
part of the land of Egypt
7 and Israel was one hundred and thirty years old when he came into Egypt. And Joseph
nourished his father and his brethren and also their possessions with bread as much as
sufficed them for the
8 seven years of the famine. And the land of Egypt suffered by reason of the famine, and
Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh in return for food, and he got
possession of the people
9 and their cattle and everything for Pharaoh. And the years of the famine were
accomplished, and Joseph gave to the people in the land seed and food that they might sow
(the land) in the eighth
10 year, for the river had overflowed all the land of Egypt. For in the seven years of the
famine it had (not) overflowed and had irrigated only a few places on the banks of the
river, but now it overflowed
11 and the Egyptians sowed the land, and it bore much corn that year. And this was the
first year of [2178 A.M.]
12 the fourth week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Joseph took of the corn of the
harvest the fifth part for the king and left four parts for them for food and for seed,
and Joseph made it an ordinance for
13 the land of Egypt until this day. And Israel lived in the land of Egypt seventeen
years, and all the days which he lived were three jubilees, one hundred and forty-seven
years, and he died in the fourth [2188 A.M.]
14 year of the fifth week of the forty-fifth jubilee. And Israel blessed his sons
before he died and told them everything that would befall them in the land of Egypt; and
he made known to them what would come upon them in the last days, and blessed them and
gave to Joseph two portions in
15 the land. And he slept with his fathers, and he was buried in the double cave in the
land of Canaan, near Abraham his father in the grave which he dug for himself in the
double cave in
16 the land of Hebron. And he gave all his books and the books of his fathers to Levi his
son that he might preserve them and renew them for his children until this day.
[Chapter 46]
1 And it came to pass that after Jacob died the children of Israel multiplied in the land
of Egypt, and they became a great nation, and they were of one accord in heart, so that
brother loved brother and every man helped his brother, and they increased abundantly and
multiplied exceedingly, ten [2242 A.M.]
2 weeks of years, all the days of the life of Joseph And there was no Satan nor
any evil all the days of the life of Joseph which he lived after his father Jacob, for all
the Egyptians honoured the children
3 of Israel all the days of the life of Joseph. And Joseph died being a hundred and ten
years old; seventeen years he lived in the land of Canaan, and ten years he was a servant,
and three years in
4 prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all the land of Egypt. And he
died and all
5 his brethren and all that generation. And he commanded the children of Israel before he
died that
6 they should carry his bones with them when they went forth from the land of Egypt. And
he made them swear regarding his bones, for he knew that the Egyptians would not again
bring forth and bury him in the land of Canaan, for Makamaron, king of Canaan, while
dwelling in the land of Assyria, fought in the valley with the king of Egypt and slew him
there, and pursued after the
7 Egyptians to the gates of 'Ermon. But he was not able to enter, for another, a new king,
had become king of Egypt, and he was stronger than he, and he returned to the land of
Canaan, and the gates of
8 Egypt were closed, and none went out and none came into Egypt. And Joseph died in the
forty-sixth jubilee, in the sixth week, in the second year, and they buried him in the
land of Egypt, and [2242 A.M.]
9 all his brethren died after him. And the king of Egypt went forth to war with
the king of Canaan [2263 A.M.] in the forty-seventh jubilee, in the second week in the
second year, and the children of Israel brought forth all the bones of the children of
Jacob save the bones of Joseph, and they buried them in the
10 field in the double cave in the mountain. And the most (of them) returned to Egypt, but
a few of
11 them remained in the mountains of Hebron, and Amram thy father remained with them. And
the
12 king of Canaan was victorious over the king of Egypt, and he closed the gates of Egypt.
And he devised an evil device against the children of Israel of afflicting them and he
said unto the people of
13 Egypt: 'Behold the people of the children of Israel have increased and multiplied more
than we. Come and let us deal wisely with them before they become too many, and let us
afflict them with slavery before war come upon us and before they too fight against us;
else they will join themselves unto our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their
hearts and faces are towards the land
14 of Canaan.' And he set over them taskmasters to afflict them with slavery; and they
built strong cities for Pharaoh, Pithom, and Raamses and they built all the walls and all
the fortifications which
15 had fallen in the cities of Egypt. And they made them serve with rigour, and the more
they dealt evilly with them, the more they increased and multiplied. And the people of
Egypt abominated the children of Israel
[Chapter 47]
1 And in the seventh week, in the seventh year, in the forty-seventh jubilee, thy father
went forth [2303 A.M.] from the land of Canaan, and thou wast born in the fourth week, in
the sixth year thereof, in the [2330 A.M.]
2 forty-eighth jubilee; this was the time of tribulation on the children of
Israel. And Pharaoh, king of Egypt, issued a command regarding them that they should cast
all their male children which were
3 born into the river. And they cast them in for seven months until the day that thou wast
born
4 And thy mother hid thee for three months, and they told regarding her. And she made an
ark for thee, and covered it with pitch and asphalt, and placed it in the flags on the
bank of the river, and she placed thee in it seven days, and thy mother came by night and
suckled thee, and by day
5 Miriam, thy sister, guarded thee from the birds. And in those days Tharmuth, the
daughter of Pharaoh, came to bathe in the river, and she heard thy voice crying, and she
told her maidens to
6 bring thee forth, and they brought thee unto her. And she took thee out of the ark, and
she had
7 compassion on thee. And thy sister said unto her: 'Shall I go and call unto thee one of
the
8 Hebrew women to nurse and suckle this babe for thee?' And she said (unto her): 'Go.' And
she
9 went and called thy mother Jochebed, and she gave her wages, and she nursed thee. And
afterwards, when thou wast grown up, they brought thee unto the daughter of Pharaoh, and
thou didst become her son, and Amram thy father taught thee writing, and after thou hadst
completed three weeks
10 they brought thee into the royal court. And thou wast three weeks of years at court
until the time [2351-] when thou didst go forth from the royal court and didst see an
Egyptian smiting thy friend who was [2372 A.M.]
11 of the children of Israel, and thou didst slay him and hide him in the sand.
And on the second day thou didst and two of the children of Israel striving together, and
thou didst say to him who was
12 doing the wrong: 'Why dost thou smite thy brother?' And he was angry and indignant, and
said: 'Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Thinkest thou to kill me as thou
killedst the Egyptian yesterday?' And thou didst fear and flee on account of these words.
[Chapter 48]
1 And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee thou didst depart and
dwell (in [2372 A.M.] the land of Midian, five weeks and one year. And thou didst return
into Egypt in the second week
2 in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee. And thou thyself knowest what He spake unto
thee on [2410 A.M.] Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with thee when thou
wast returning into Egypt
3
4 judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians? And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou
didst perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against
Pharaoh, and
5 against all his house, and against his servants and his people. 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.
[Chapter 49]
1 Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded thee concerning the passover, that
thou shouldst celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou
shouldst kill it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening
of the fifteenth from the
2 time of the setting of the sun. For on this night -the beginning of the festival and the
beginning of the joy- ye were eating the passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastema
had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of
Pharaoh to the first-born
3 of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle. And this is the sign which
the Lord gave them: Into every house on the lintels of which they saw the blood of a lamb
of the first year, into (that) house they should not enter to slay, but should pass by
(it), that all those should be saved that
4 were in the house because the sign of the blood was on its lintels. And the powers of
the Lord did everything according as the Lord commanded them, and they passed by all the
children of Israel, and the plague came not upon them to destroy from amongst them any
soul either of cattle, or
5 man, or dog. And the plague was very grievous in Egypt, and there was no house in Egypt
6 where there was not one dead, and weeping and lamentation. And all Israel was eating the
flesh of the paschal lamb, and drinking the wine, and was lauding, and blessing, and
giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers, and was ready to go forth from under the
yoke of Egypt, and from
7 the evil bondage. And remember thou this day all the days of thy life, and observe it
from year to year all the days of thy life, once a year, on its day, according to all the
law thereof, and do not
8 adjourn (it) from day to day, or from month to month. For it is an eternal ordinance,
and engraven on the heavenly tablets regarding all the children of Israel that they should
observe it every year on its day once a year, throughout all their generations; and there
is no limit of days, for this is ordained
9 for ever. And the man who is free from uncleanness, and does not come to observe it on
occasion of its day, so as to bring an acceptable offering before the Lord, and to eat and
to drink before the Lord on the day of its festival, that man who is clean and close at
hand shall be cut off: because he offered not the oblation of the Lord in its appointed
season, he shall take the guilt upon himself.
10 Let the children of Israel come and observe the passover on the day of its fixed time,
on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, from the third part of the
day to the third part of
1 the night, for two portions of the day are given to the light, and a third part to the
evening. This
12 is that which the Lord commanded thee that thou shouldst observe it between the
evenings. And it is not permissible to slay it during any period of the light, but during
the period bordering on the evening, and let them eat it at the time of the evening, until
the third part of the night, and whatever is left over of all its flesh from the third
part of the night and onwards, let them burn
13 it with fire. And they shall not cook it with water, nor shall they eat it raw, but
roast on the fire: they shall eat it with diligence, its head with the inwards thereof and
its feet they shall roast with fire, and not break any bone thereof; for of the children
of Israel no bone shall be crushed.
14 For this reason the Lord commanded the children of Israel to observe the passover on
the day of its fixed time, and they shall not break a bone thereof; for it is a festival
day, and a day commanded, and there may be no passing over from day to day, and month to
month, but on the day of its
15 festival let it be observed. And do thou command the children of Israel to observe the
passover throughout their days, every year, once a year on the day of its fixed time, and
it shall come for a memorial well pleasing before the Lord, and no plague shall come upon
them to slay or to smite in that year in which they celebrate the passover in its season
in every respect according to His
16 command. And they shall not eat it outside the sanctuary of the Lord, but before the
sanctuary of the Lord, and all the people of the congregation of Israel shall celebrate it
in its appointed season.
17 And every man who has come upon its day shall eat it in the sanctuary of your God
before the Lord from twenty years old and upward; for thus is it written and ordained that
they should eat it
18 in the sanctuary of the Lord. And when the children of Israel come into the land which
they are to possess, into the land of Canaan, and set up the tabernacle of the Lord in the
midst of the land in one of their tribes until the sanctuary of the Lord has been built in
the land, let them come and celebrate the passover in the midst of the tabernacle of the
Lord, and let them slay it
19 before the Lord from year to year. And in the days when the house has been built in the
name of the Lord in the land of their inheritance, they shall go there and slay the
passover in the evening, at
20 sunset, at the third part of the day. And they shall offer its blood on the threshold
of the altar, and shall place its fat on the fire which is upon the altar, and they shall
eat its flesh roasted
21 with fire in the court of the house which has been sanctified in the name of the Lord.
And they may not celebrate the passover in their cities, nor in any place save before the
tabernacle of the Lord, or before His house where His name hath dwelt; and they shall not
go astray from the Lord.
22 And do thou, Moses, command the children of Israel to observe the ordinances of the
passover, as it was commanded unto thee; declare thou unto them every year and the day of
its days, and the festival of unleavened bread, that they should eat unleavened bread
seven days, (and) that they should observe its festival, and that they bring an oblation
every day during those seven days of
23 joy before the Lord on the altar of your God. For ye celebrated this festival with
haste when ye went forth from Egypt till ye entered into the wilderness of Shur; for on
the shore of the sea ye completed it.
[Chapter 50]
1 And after this law I made known to thee the days of the Sabbaths in the desert of
Sin[ai], which
2 is between Elim and Sinai. And I told thee of the Sabbaths of the land on Mount Sinai,
and I told thee of the jubilee years in the sabbaths of years: but the year thereof have I
not told thee till ye
3 enter the land which ye are to possess. And the land also shall keep its sabbaths while
they dwell
4 upon it, and they shall know the jubilee year. Wherefore I have ordained for thee the
year-weeks and the years and the jubilees: there are forty-nine jubilees from the days of
Adam until this day, [2410 A.M.] and one week and two years: and there are yet forty years
to come (lit. 'distant') for learning the [2450 A.M.] commandments of the Lord, until they
pass over into the land of Canaan, crossing the Jordan to the
5 west. And the jubilees shall pass by, until Israel is cleansed from all guilt of
fornication, and uncleanness, and pollution, and sin, and error, and dwells with
confidence in all the land, and there shall be no more a Satan or any evil one, and the
land shall be clean from that time for evermore.
6 And behold the commandment regarding the Sabbaths -I have written (them) down for thee-
7 and all the judgments of its laws. Six days shalt thou labour, but on the seventh day is
the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it ye shall do no manner of work, ye and your sons,
and your men-
8 servants and your maid-servants, and all your cattle and the sojourner also who is with
you. And the man that does any work on it shall die: whoever desecrates that day, whoever
lies with (his) wife, or whoever says he will do something on it, that he will set out on
a journey thereon in regard to any buying or selling: and whoever draws water thereon
which he had not prepared for himself on the sixth day, and whoever takes up any burden to
carry it out of his tent or out of his house
9 shall die. Ye shall do no work whatever on the Sabbath day save what ye have prepared
for yourselves on the sixth day, so as to eat, and drink, and rest, and keep Sabbath from
all work on that day, and to bless the Lord your God, who has given you a day of festival
and a holy day: and
10 a day of the holy kingdom for all Israel is this day among their days for ever. For
great is the honour which the Lord has given to Israel that they should eat and drink and
be satisfied on this festival day, and rest thereon from all labour which belongs to the
labour of the children of men save burning frankincense and bringing oblations and
sacrifices before the Lord for days and for
11 Sabbaths. This work alone shall be done on the Sabbath-days in the sanctuary of the
Lord your God; that they may atone for Israel with sacrifice continually from day to day
for a memorial well-pleasing before the Lord, and that He may receive them always from day
to day according as thou
12 hast been commanded. And every man who does any work thereon, or goes a journey, or
tills (his) farm, whether in his house or any other place, and whoever lights a fire, or
rides on any beast, or travels by ship on the sea, and whoever strikes or kills anything,
or slaughters a beast or a bird, or
13 whoever catches an animal or a bird or a fish, or whoever fasts or makes war on the
Sabbaths: The man who does any of these things on the Sabbath shall die, so that the
children of Israel shall observe the Sabbaths according to the commandments regarding the
Sabbaths of the land, as it is written in the tablets, which He gave into my hands that I
should write out for thee the laws of the seasons, and the seasons according to the
division of their days.
Herewith is completed the account of the division of the days.