The Book of Adam

Translated from the Georgian original by J.P. Mahe

Discovery of Expulsion

1.1 It came to pass, when Adam went out from paradise with his wife Eve, they went out at the eastern part of paradise. And Adam made a hut to live in. They both entered (it) and resided there for seven days. They both wept with abundant tears for they regretted the residences of the kingdom from which they had been expelled.
2.1 And after seven “days, they were hungry and looked for something to eat.
2.2 Eve told Adam: “Adam, my lord, arise and (go) search for food for me that we may eat, while waiting to try – who knows – (that) for the Lord to accept us and take us back to the same place in paradise.
3.1 And Adam arose after seven days and went about upon the face of the earth and he did not find any food like that which they used to eat in paradise. Adam replied to Eve and told her, “We are going to die a death.”
3.2 Eve told Adam, “Oh, if I were dead then God would have accepted you in paradise!” Adam replied to Eve and said to her, “Because of us a great anger lies against (upon?) all creatures. (However) I do not know this: whether it is because of me or because of you.” Eve replied to Adam, “My lord, if you think it wise, kill me so that I will be exterminated from the sight of God and his angels, so that God’s anger against you may cease, which happened because of me: and he will bring you back into paradise.
3.3 Adam replied and told her, “No, no! Do not mention this matter, lest God send another judgment upon us because of (this) killing. How could I raise my hand and cause my own flesh to suffer?” Then Eve told him, “Arise, let us both seek vegetables.”
4.1 And they did not find (anything) tasting like the fruit of the tree which was in paradise.
4.2 And Eve told him, “God created that for the (wild-)beasts to get their food; but our food was that by which the angels live.
4.3 Now, come and let us repent in penitence for forty days, so that God may pity us and then give us better food than that of the (dumb) animals, lest we should become like them.”

Penitence and Second Temptation

5.1 Adam replied to Eve and told her, “Explain to me now what penitence you (wish to) repent, or for how many days will you be able to repent in your penitence, lest, perchance, we make a promise to God.
5.2 and we be unable to fulfill the promise which we will have made to him.”
5.3 Eve replied to Adam and she told him, “Tell me about the number of days to me, then; For what period of time will you consider doing penitence – who knows, (perhaps) I will add more to that – for it is I who have brought these tribulations upon you.”
6.1 Adam replied and said to Eve, “You will not be able to add (anything to it). On the contrary, hold to the number of days which I will tell you and keep it. And I will do penitence for forty days, and you, do penitence for thirty-four days. Leave me these six days, since were you not created upon the sixth day, when God completed the creation of all creatures? Now, You arise and go to the river Tigris; and put a stone under your feet and stay in the water and clothe yourself (with it) up to your neck. While you pray, (beware) let no sound come from your mouth, for we are not worthy to open our mouths, for our lips are impure because we transgressed the commandments, concerning the food [so as to eat from the tree] of paradise which God had forbidden us.
6.2 Rather, be silent, only do penitence in the water for thirty-four days with all your heart and I will do the same in the Jordan river, until God hearkens and gives us food.”
7.1 Eve went off to the Tigris river and she did as Adam had ordered her.
7.2 But Adam, he remained in the Jordan river and the hair of his head spread out .
8.1 And Adam said, “I tell you, O Jordan, suffer with me and assemble all the (dumb-) animals which are around you, so that they (may come) to surround you and bewail me,
8.2 not for their own sakes, but for me [so q…b]. Because God did not withhold their fodder from them, which God gave them from the beginning, but I have been withheld from my means of life and from my food.”
8.3 When Adam had said that with bitter tears, all the cattle gathered close to him and stood around him like walls. At the moment when the water (of) the Jordan had restrained its flow, then Adam raised his voice towards God and he varied his tone of voice six times, like the voices of all the angels in all times.
9.1 When the twelve days of his weeping were completed, the devil trembled and changed his shape and his clothes by his artful deceit. He went close to Eve, on the Tigris river, and stood beside the bank.
9.2 He was weeping and had his false tears dripping (trickling) down on his garment and from his garment down to the ground. Then he told Eve, “Come out of that water (where you are) and stop your tribulations, for God has hearkened to your penitence and to Adam your husband.”
9.3 Moreover, we too have besought favor because of your misfortunes which we have seen.
9.4 Thus God sent me to have you (plural) come forth and to give you the food on account of which you repented.
9.5 Now, come upfrom there, for I have gone to Adam and he sent me and told me, ‘Go and speak with Eve, my spouse; bring her back to me.’ Come, now, and I will lead you to Adam to the place where he is and where your food also is.”
10.1 And Eve came up out of the water and her flesh was withered like rotten vegetables because of the coldness of the water. All the form of her beauty had been destroyed.
10.2 And when she had come up out of the water, she fell on the face of the earth in great weakness and remained lying (on the ground) without moving for two days. And after two days she arose and the devil led her to where Adam was.
10.3 And as soon as Adam saw Eve (and) how she was following the devil, he started to weep with burning tears and called out with a great voice and told her, “Where are the commands of repentance which I gave you? How have you been deceived again by him, because of whom we are aliens to our dwellings?”
11.1 When Eve heard that, that it was the devil who had deceived her, she fell down before him and Adam’s distress for Eve increased twofold for he saw her lying on the earth like one dead.
11.2 He was sad and said, groaning, “Woe to you who fight against us! What evil have we done to you? For it is because of your calumnies that we went out from paradise. Is it because we have caused you to be expelled that you are angry against us?
11.3 Or is it because of us that you were despoiled of your glory? Or is it, in some way, by our action that you are in such deficiency? Or are we the only creatures of God that you fight against us alone?

Fall of Satan

12.1 the devil began to cry with forced tears and the devil told Adam, “O Adam, all the greed and the anger and all the grief of my heart are directed against you because it was through you that I fell from my dwellings, (it was) by you that I was alienated from my own throne. My wings were more numerous than those of the Cherubim, and I concealed myself under them. Because of you, now my feet walk on the earth, which I would never have believed.”
12.2 Adam replied to the devil and told him,
12.3 “What is my fault, by which I have done all that to you?”
13.1 The devil replied to him and told him, “You did nothing to me, but it is because of you that I have fallen upon the earth.”
13.2 The very day when you were created, on that day, I fell from before the face of God, because when God breathed a spirit onto your face, you had the image and likeness of the divinity. And then Michael came; he presented you and made you bend down before God. And God told Michael, “I have created Adam according to (my) image and my divinity.”
14.1 Then Michael came; he summoned all the troops of angels and told them, “Bow down before the likeness and the image of the divinity.”
14.2 And then, when Michael summoned them and all had bowed down to you, he summoned me also.
14.3 And I told him, “Go away from me, for I shall not bow down to him who is younger than me; indeed, I am master prior to him and it is proper for him to bow down to me.
15.1 The six classes of other angels heard that and my speech pleased them and they did not bow down to you.
16.1 Then God became angry with us and commanded us, them and me, to be cast down from our dwellings to the earth. As for you, he commanded you to dwell in paradise.
16.2 When I had realized that I had fallen before you,[B, “by your power] that I was in distress and you were in rest,
16.3 then I aimed at hunting you so that I might alienate you from the paradise of Delights, just as I had been alienated because of you.
17.1 When Adam heard that, he cried in a loud voice and said, “Lord, my life is in your hands. Make this enemy distant from me, who desires to lead me astray and seeks to destroy my race. It is by him that Eve has been lost.”
17.2 At that moment, Beliar became invisible.
17.3 As for Adam, he remained in the water and did repentance. But Eve had fallen upon the earth like one dead. Then she stood up from the earth (ground?)

Separation of Adam and Eve

18.1 and told Adam, “Be saved, Adam, for you did not join me in the transgression of the commandments, neither in the first (instance) nor in the second. (But) the word of God will prevail against me.” And Eve said to him, “Behold, I shall so leave in the direction of the setting sun and I will eat grass like a (dumb-)animal until I die, for by no means am I worthy (of having a part) in the food of the living.”
18.2 Then Eve went away in the direction of the setting sun and she remained there in mourning and moaning.
18.3 And after these days, she made for herself a hut in the direction of the setting sun. Now she had conceived three months before, and Cain was in her womb,
19.1 when the days of her parturition arrived, then she started to tremble; she wailed towards God in a loud voice and said:
19.2 “Where is Adam so that he can console me in my present pain, or who will relate my sufferings to him? Is there none among the birds, who would go to him and tell him, ‘Come, help Eve, your spouse.’ I beg of you, all you races of heaven, and when you go to the east, relate my present sufferings to my lord.”
20.1a Then Adam heard in the river Jordan her crying of tears and misfortunes.
20.1b Then God hearkened to Adam’s prayer and sent him the angel Michael who brought him a seeds, sealed with the divine seal, destined to be brought to Adam. Then he taught him sowing and the work related to it, so that thus they might be saved, (they) and all their descendants.
20.1c And when Adam (had) heard the prayer of Eve and the wailing of her tears from the west, Adam recognized her voice and said in his heart, “This is the voice of my rib, the voice of my SHEEP (?); I will arise and I will see why she cries. Is it that the serpent is attacking her again?”
20.2 Adam arose and followed her footsteps. And he came close to her, in the part of the West where Eve was, and when Eve saw Adam, she was crying with abundant tears and said, “My lord, Adam, have you not heard the sound of my tears? For, today, it is nine days, day and night, that there has been this crying of mine towards you. Is it that the generations of the east have not informed you when they arose? And have not the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth informed you, for I begged them all that they tell you about it. Arise, entreat your Creator to have pity, so that God may answer your prayer and deliver me from my sufferings or, if it seems fitting to Him, send death to me or, by your prayers, liberate me from my torments.”
20.3 Adam prayed and spoke a plea to God on her behalf and the Lord hearkened to him.
21.1 And behold, twelve angels and two powers came from heaven. And they came to the place (where) Eve (was).
21.2 One of the powers came, touched Eve’s face and her breast, and told Eve, “Blessed are you, Eve, because of Adam, elect one and servant of God, for his prayers are great before God and, because of him, God will deliver you. If you had not been brought help because of him, you would have conceived such a thorn that you could not have rescued yourself from your sufferings. Rise up now and prepare yourself to give birth to a child.”
21.3a Eve arose as the angel had instructed her: she gave birth to an child and his color was like that of the stars. He fell into the hands of the midwife and (at once) he began to pluck up the grass, for in his mother’s hut grass was planted.
21.3b The midwife replied to him and told him, “God is just that he did not at all leave you in my hands. For, you are Cain, the perverse one, killer of the good, for you are the one who plucks up the fruit-bearing tree, and not him who plants it. You are the bearer of bitterness and not of sweetness.”
21.3c And the power told Adam, “Remain by Eve until she has done with the infant what I have taught her. [so QAC, ag. K]”

Death of Abel

[22]1.2 As for Adam, he took Eve and the child and he brought them into a part of the East and he stayed there. And when the eighth year and the second month were completed
[22]1.3 Eve became pregnant and bore another son whom the power of God called by name Abel, and they remained there together.
[22]2.1 At that time Eve told Adam,
[22]2.2 “Adam, my lord, in my sleep I saw that the blood of my son Abel was pouring into the mouth of Cain his brother and he drank it without mercy. And Abel beseeched him to leave him]a little of his blood,
[22]2.3 and he did not agree to hearken to him but he drank it completely and it did not remain in his stomach but it went forth and he was smeared with it and it could not at all be removed from his body.”
[22]2.4a Adam replied to Eve and told her, “Lest Cain plan to kill him, let us separate them from one another,
[23]2.4b and let us be with them, so as to provide no room to anger.” And they acted as Adam had said, and he told (them), “My sons, come and let us disperse, each to his own place.”
[23]3.2 Then God told the angel Gabriel, “Say to Adam: ‘Do not reveal to Cain the secret plan which you know, for he is a son of wrath, because his brother will be killed by him!’ However, let Adam not be sad, for I will raise up Seth for him instead of Abel, and he will resemble my image and he, so QAC will teach you everything of which I have a memory. But do not reveal this to anyone but Adam!”
[23]3.3a That is what God told the angel and the angel spoke this word to Adam. Then Adam kept the word in his heart. And they both were sad, Adam and his spouse.
[23]3.3b And the time arrived when Abel was killed by Cain his brother and he, Adam, told her, Eve, “God has established an end for all human beings. Was death anything else but the killing by which Abel has been killed by Cain and Cain’s jealousy delivered him to death because Cain was of a perverse race?”
[23]3.3c And the times arrived when Cain and Abel had gone up towards their fields. Two demons resembling Cain and Abel came. One demon reproached the other demon. He became angry with him and took a stone sword, which was of a transparent stone [maybe same stone as Ex 4:25]. He cut his throat and killed him.
[23]3.3d And when Cain saw the blood, he went quickly and took the stone in his hand(s). But when Abel saw him coming upon him, he begged him, “Do not make me die, O my brother Cain!” He, however, did not accept his prayer and he spilled Abel’s blood in front of him. And Adam and Eve afflicted themselves all that time with great sadness.
[23]4.1 And after this, Adam entered his spouse and Eve became pregnant and bore Seth who resembled Adam.
[24]4.2 Adam told Eve, “Behold, I have born a son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed before me.”
[24]5.1a And again, after that, Adam had thirty sons and thirty daughters. For all the years of Adam were 930 years. And from him they multiplied over the earth and settled over it.

Illness of Adam

[30]5.1b And when the 930 years were completed Adam fell ill and cried out in a loud voice and said, “Gather to me ye all my descendants and I will see them before my death.”
[30]5.2 And all his progeny gathered to him who had settled, and he divided the three parts of the earth among his descendants. And all Adam’s descendants assembled by him, for they had taken a position before his doors, in the place which Adam had made, and into which he would enter and address his prayers to God.
[30]5.3 And his sons told him, “What is this, Father Adam?”
[30]5.4 He told them, “I am sick, my sons.” And they told him, “What is your illness and how does a human being fall ill?”
[31]6.1 Seth, his son, replied to him and told him, “Father Adam, what has befallen you? Have you remembered, perchance, the fruit of the Garden, and you longed for it and you become sad yourself because of it?
[31]6.2 If it is thus, tell me and I will go before paradise and I will cast dust upon my head and I will weep. And, if only God hears me, let him send his angel and he, the angel, will bring me the fruit of paradise and I will bring it to you so that you may calm your distress.”
[31]6.3 And Adam told him, “My son Seth, it is not so, rather I am sick and I have pain.” Seth replied to him, “Father, what is pain and how do you have pain?”

Adam’s Story of the Fall

[32]7.1 Adam told Seth, “Son, when God made us, me and your mother, he set us in the the paradise of Delights to eat its fruit. But there was one plant in the middle of paradise, very beautiful, concerning which God commanded us, ‘Eat not of it.’
[32]7.2 And the serpent deceived your mother and caused her to eat of it, because of which, now, we are going to die. When it was the hour for the guardian angels to ascend to worship God, the enemy deceived her and she ate of it
[32]7.3a and she deceived me, my children, for I did not know.
[32]7.3b And God had divided (paradise) between us, between me and your mother Eve, so that we might guard it. As for me, he had given me the eastern and northern portion; to your mother Eve he had entrusted the southern and the western portion.
[33].1 And there were twelve angels with each of us to guard us
[33].2 until the time of the dawn, but at each (time, at) day, they ascended (there). And at the moment of their ascent, the serpent deceived your mother and caused her to eat of the tree, for he had seen that I was not with her any more than the angels.
[33].3 She also made me eat of it and I did not understand.
[34]8.1 When we had eaten, God became angry with us and he told us,
[34]8.2 ‘You have, therefore, scorned my commandment; I too will scorn you.’ And he sent 70 evils upon us, to our eyes, and to our ears and as far as our feet, plagues and portents, treasured in (his) treasuries. This God did to me to cause me to perish through death.”

Comand to Retrieve the Oil

[35]9.1
[35]9.2 (Eve) said, weeping, “My lord Adam, give me half of your sufferings and I will bear your present pain, for your suffering is due to me and it is I who caused these pains to come upon you.”
[36]9.3 And Adam told Eve, “Arise and go with Seth, my son, to paradise; cast soil on your head and weep before God so that he might give us grace.
[36]9.4 And (God) will send his angel to paradise where the tree of life is, from which the oil flows out, so that he may give you a little of that oil. And you will bring it here to me and I will anoint myself and I will be healed of my sufferings.
[36]9.5 Then I will let you know the whole way in which we were tried.”

Encounter with the Beast

[37]10.1
[37]10.2 “Woe is me, for when arrive at the day of judgment, all my sins will burn me and (people) will tell me, ‘In the first instance, it was you who did not observe God’s orders.”
[37]10.3 Eve called out and told the wicked beast, “O evil beast, have you no fear? Did you dare to fight the image of God? How did you take it upon yourself to open your mouth and how have you (thought to) sink your teeth? Or how have you not recalled the first order of God and have opened your mouth against the image of God?”
[38]11.1 Then the beast replied to her and told Eve, “It is not from our greed(iness) that your discontent and your weeping come, but your discontent and your weeping come from your own greed(iness), for at the beginning of creation, it was you who hearkened to the beast, the serpent.
[38]11.2 How did you dare to open your mouth and eat of the tree of which God had commanded you not to eat? (It is) you, (because of) whom (Mahe emmendation) the aspect of everything has changed.
[38]11.3 Now, you will not be able to endure, if I start talking and rebuking you.”
[39]12.1 Seth replied to him and told the beast, “Let your mouth be closed and be silent, beast, and get away from us, the image of the divinity, until the day when God will have you standing (before him).”
[39]12.2 Then also the beast told Seth, “Behold, then, that I get away from you, image of God, dazzling (splendor) of God.” And when the beast had left him (her?), the beast fled (far) from Seth and the wounded man went to the hut of Adam his father.”

Arrival at Paradise

[40]13.1
[41]13.2a (And God sent to them the archangel Michael), who is in charge of the souls, and he told Seth,
[41]13.2b “Man of God, do not labor to supplicate thus concerning the olive tree, in command to anoint your father Adam.

Michael’s Reply

[42]13.3 This is not to be right now but in the future times, when five thousand years will be completed. Then, at the five and a half thousandth year, the beloved son of God, Christ, will come upon the earth to r(esurrect) Adam’s body from his fall, because of the transgression of the commands.
[42]13.4 He will come and he will be baptized in the river Jordan. And as soon as he will have come forth from of the water with the (anointing) of oil, he will anoint him, him
[42]13.5 and all his descendants, so that they will rise at the time of the resurrection. The Lord said, ‘I will admit them into paradise and I will anoint them with that unction.’

Return to Adam

[43]13.6 But now, go to your father Adam, because the days of his times are completed. (In) three days his soul will go out of his body and numerous wonders will be seen in the heavens.”
[44]14.1 When the angel had told that to him, (immediately) he was hidden underneath the plant of paradise. Now (as for) Seth and Eve they departed for Adam’s hut. And Adam wept because of the wound of the beast

Adam’s Rebuke of Eve

[44]14.2 and he told Eve, “What have (all of) us done? For an evil has come upon us and upon all our descendants.
[44]14.3 Indeed, tell your children what are your sins: for we will die, you and I, and misfortunes will spread over the earth. All the descendants who have come forth from us will curse us saying,
[44]14.4 ‘It was our father and mother who brought this misfortune upon us.'”

The Portions of Adam and Eve in Paradise

[44]15.1 Then Eve began to cry and she said, “Now hearken to me, my children, and I will tell you how we were tricked.
[44]15.2 It happened, (then), that your father was guarding his portion of paradise, the east and the north,
[44]15.3 while I was guarding my own portion, the west and the south. And the devil came to Adam’s portion. And there were beasts there
[44]15.4 for the Lord had also divided the beasts between us. All (that were) male He had given to Adam, and all (that were) female, he had given to me. And we each fed our own ones.

Satan’s Encounter with the Beast

[44]16.1 When the devil came to your father’s portion
[44]16.2 the devil summoned the serpent and told him, “Arise and come to me, and I will teach you a useful word.”
[44]16.3a Then, the serpent came and the Devil told the serpent, “I (hear) that you are wiser than all the (dumb) animals and I have come to test your wisdom (science), for Adam gives food to all the (dumb-)animals, thus also to you. (mahe has note that is unexplained)
[44]16.3b When then all the (dumb) animals come to bow down before Adam from day to day and from morning to morning, every day, you also come to bow down. You were created before him, as large (as you) are, and you bow down before this little one!
[44]16.3c And why do you eat (food) inferior to Adam’s and his spouse’s and not the good fruit of paradise? But come and hearken to me so that we may have Adam expelled from the wall of paradise just as we are outside. Perhaps we can re-enter somehow to paradise.”
[44]16.4 And the serpent told him, “How can we have them excluded?” The devil replied and told the serpent, “Be a sheath for me and I will speak to the woman through your mouth a word by which we will trick (them).”

Serpent’s Approach to Paradise

[44]17.1 And the two of them came together and they allowed their heads to hang on the wall of the paradise at the time where the angels had ascended to bow down to God. Then the devil changed himself into the image of an angel; he praised the praises of the angels. And I was gazing in the direction of the enclosure to hear the praises.
[44]17.2a I stared and I saw him like an angel and at once he became invisible
[44]17.2b for he had gone forth to bring the serpent. And he told him, ‘Arise and come and I will be with you and I will speak though your mouth that which it is proper for you to say.’
[44]17.2c He took on the form of the serpent (to go) close to the wall of paradise and the devil slipped inside the serpent and he allowed his head to hang on the wall of paradise. He cried out and said, ‘Shame on you, woman, you who are in the the paradise of Delight (and) who are blind! Come to me and I will tell you a certain secret word.’
[44]17.2d And when I had come, he told me, ‘Eve!’ and I told him, ‘Here I am.’ He replied to me and told me, ‘What do you do in paradise?”
[44]17.3 I replied and told him, ‘God has set me to guard paradise and eat (of it).’
[44]17.4 The devil replied to me and told me through the mouth of the serpent, ‘Well (done!) Do you eat the fruit of every tree which is in paradise?’
[44]17.5 I replied to him and told him, ‘(Yes), we eat all the fruit except for only one tree which is here in the middle of paradise, for God commanded us, ‘Do not eat of it, so that you will not die of death.’

Temptation of Eve

[44]18.1 Then the serpent told me, ‘I am distressed for you, for you are like the (dumb) animals. God was jealous of you and he has not permitted you, but I, I do not desire your ignorance. Rather come, eat and you will see the glory which is to be with you.’
[44]18.2 However, I told him, ‘I am afraid of dying, perhaps, as God said.’
[44]18.3 The serpent replied to me and told me, ‘What is death and how does one die? Death is life!’ I replied to him and told him, ‘I do not know.’ He replied to me and told me, ‘God is living, just so that you (pl.) will not die, but at the moment when you (pl.)eat your eyes will be opened and you will be instructed, like God, about good and evil.
[44]18.4 God knew that you would become like him (unexplained *) and God was jealous of you. Because of that God told you, ‘Do not eat of it!’
[44]18.5 Look at (so Mahe emmendation) the tree and see the glory around it.’ As for me, when I had gone and I had seen its glory around it, then I said,
[44]18.6 ‘This tree is good and its fruit is well-known in my eyes. However, I am afraid to stretch out my hand and take (it). But you, if you are not afraid, bring it out to me and I will eat (of it) and I will know whether your (present) words are true or not.’ The serpent replied to and told me, ‘Come, open the gate and I will give you of it.’

Entrance of the Snake into Paradise

[44]19.1 And when I had gone to open the gate for him and he had entered Paradise, he went forth, and then he stopped a little. I replied to him and said, ‘Why have you stopped?’ But he, my children, began to use trickery with me. He replied to me and told me, ‘If I have stopped it is because I changed my mind for fear that, perhaps if I should give you of it and you eat it, and your eyes will be opened and you will become like God, and you will know good and evil, and you will become prideful and become jealous of Adam and you will not make him eat of it, and he will be like a (dumb) animal before you, as you were before God, because God was jealous of you. If you wish (it), swear to me truly that, if I make you eat it, you will not be jealous of Adam, your husband, but will make him eat of it and give of it also to him.’
[44]19.2 I replied to him and told him, ‘I do not know any oath, how could I swear to you?’ And he told me, ‘Say: I swear by the plants of paradise and by the Cherubs upon whom sits the Father and (upon which) he descends to paradise, that if I eat and know it all, I will not be jealous but will give of it also to Adam.”
[44]19.3 And when he had made me take the oath, he bound me (to it), gave me of the tree and I ate it.

Eve’s Recognition of Her Sin

[44]20.4 [… (I was searching for leaves to cover)..] my nakedness and found none on all the trees, for at the moment at which I had eaten, the leaves from all the trees of paradise, in my portion, fell down.
[44]20.5 I took some and made a covering for myself and stood by the tree of which I had eaten, my children. I was afraid because of the oath which I had sworn by paradise and in which I had said, ‘I will make Adam eat of it as well.’

Temptation of Adam

[44]21.2 Then your father Adam came. He had thought thus: that a beast had entered paradise and he told me, ‘What are you thinking for and why do you have this fig-leaf on yourself?’
[44]21.3 I replied to him and I told him, ‘Do you wish me to tell you something or not? Until today we were like (dumb) animals. When I understood (that of which) the Lord had said to us, ‘Do not eat of this’ and when I saw its splendor, I took of it and ate of it and I knew good and evil. Now, eat also of it and you will you become like God.’
[44]21.4a Adam replied to me and told me, ‘I fear lest God be angry with me and tell me, “My commandment which I gave you, you did not keep it!”‘
[44]21.4b But I told the father, “On me shall be this blame. If He asks you, say thus: ‘This woman whom you have given me is to blame for that; (she said:) See the flavor of this glory.’!
[44]21.5 Then I gave him of it and he ate of it and became like me, and he also took a leaf of the fig tree and covered his nakedness with it.

Entry of God into Paradise

[44]22.1 After which we heard that, through an angel, (God) blew the trumpet. He (had) summoned the angels and told them,
[44]22.2 “Thus says the Lord, come to paradise and hear the sentence to which we are going to judge (them).” Adam (told me), “We have sinned, for God is going to come to judge us.” We were afraid and we hid.
[44]22.3 And God came to paradise sitting upon the Cherubs and the angels were singing hymns before him. When he had arrived at paradise, at once all (the) tree(s) cast off their (its) foliage,
[44]22.4 and thrones were set up near the tree of life.
[44]23.1 And God summoned Adam and told him, “Adam, Adam, where are you? Are you hiding from me? Or how will a house hide from its builder? Or why have you hidden near the tree of paradise?”
[44]23.2 Then your father replied and told the Lord, “I have hidden because I am afraid: I am naked and I am ashamed.”
[44]23.3 God replied to him and told him, “Who told you that you are naked? Have you scorned the commandment which I gave you?”
[44]23.4 Then Adam remembered my word(s) which I had said, “Do not be concerned for (the blame) for it will lie upon me.” And Adam said, “Lord, it is this woman whom you gave to me who deceived me.” Then He turned towards me and told me, “What have you done?”
[44]23.5 And I remembered the serpent’s word and I said, “It is the serpent who deceived me!”

Judgment of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

[44]24.1 God replied to Adam and told him, “Because you hearkened to your wife and disobey my commandment, let the earth be cursed in your deeds.
[44]24.2 May you work it and it will give you no fruit; it will sprout only thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread.
[44]24.3 May you be with many sighs, labor in labors and you shall have (no) rest. You shall hunger and you shall (not) be sated. You shall be affected by bitterness and you shall (not) taste sweetness; you shall be tomrented by heat and will undergo cold; you (pl.) shall be pauperized and you shall (not) be enriched; you shall eat and shall (not) grow fat; you shall warm yourselves with fire, and you shall not be heated. You will ???? (to soak) yourselves with water and it will draw back.
[44]24.4 And the beasts over whom you (sing.) ruled shall rise up against you. You shall be weakened because you have not kept my commandments.”
[44]25.1 God turned to me and told me, “Why did you hearken to the serpent and abandon my commandments with which I commanded to you? (May you) be in toils and pains;
[44]25.2 (may you) give birth to many fruits and when you give birth to them you will despair of your life because of the torments and pains.
[44]25.3 (You shall promise yourself) that if you are ever delivered from the agonies, you will never go back to (your husband) and you will harden your heart in view of the great combat which the serpent instituted with you.
[44]25.4 (But may you) return at once to the same point, may you bear your offspring in hurt and return in pity to your husband, and he will rule over you.”
[44]26.1 When he had said all this to me, he became very angry with the serpent, and he told it, “You, too, perish and be cursed among all the (dumb) animals.
[44]26.2 May you be withheld from you food which you used to eat and may the soil be to you as food all the days of your life; you shall go on your breast and on your stomach; your hands and your feet will be taken from you.
[44]26.3 May you have neither ears nor nails and may not even one limb remain for you. Let the precious cross which my Son will take upon the earth condemn you because of the deceit by which you deceived Adam. But may you again be crushed and broken because of the evil of your heart.
[44]26.4 And I will set enmity between you and the offspring of the woman: she will lay in wait for your head and you will lay in wait for her heel until the day of judgment.”

Adam’s Plea for Mercy

[44]27.1 Thus God said, and he commanded both of us to be expelled from paradise.
[44]27.2 Adam besought the angels and told them, “Wait for me to beseech the Lord; who knows, perhaps the Lord will grant me a penitence for that which I have done and I will not go out of paradise.”
[44]27.3 Then the angels waited for us to ask. Adam besought the Lord and said, “I beseech you, Lord, pardon me for what I have done.”
[44]27.4 Then the Lord told the angels, “Why have you been waiting (before) separating Adam from paradise? Is the blame mine (Am I to blame) or have I not judged justly?”
[44]27.5 Then the angels fell to the ground and told him, bowing before the Lord, “You are just, Lord, and you sentence is upright.”
[44]28.1 The Lord turned and told Adam, “You are not to remain in paradise.”
[44]28.2 Adam replied to the Lord and told him, “I beseech you, Lord, give me of the tree of life so that I may eat before I have gone forth.”
[44]28.3 Then the Lord addressed a speech to Adam and told him, “You will not take any of it anymore in your lifetime. I have posted burning Cherubs and a turning sword to keep it from you, lest you should taste it and become immortal and boast saying, ‘I shall not die ever’; and you will conduct the fight which the enemy has conducted against you.
[44]28.4 If you go out of paradise and guard yourself from every evil, you will die and after death you will arise in the future resurrection. Then, indeed, I will give you of the tree of life and you will be immortal for ever.”

Expulsion

[44]29.1 When the Lord had said that he commanded us to be chased out of paradise.
[44]29.2 And your father wept before the angels, but they told him, “What is this or what shall we do for you?”
[44]29.3 Then your father replied to them and told them, “Behold, I am going out. Now I beseech you that at the very moment of my leaving paradise I may take incense from paradise so that, when I go out, I may offer a sweet odered incense-fragrance and God will be willing to hearken to me.”
[44]29.6 And the angels let him and he took four sweet odered incenses-fragrances: nard, saffron, reed, cinnamon; that is what Adam brought from paradise onto the earth.

Death of Adam

[44]30.1 Now, therefore, my children I have taught you the whole way in which we were tricked and I beseech you to watch yourselves and not to stop doing good.’
[45]31.1 That, then, is what Eve said in the midst of her children when Adam was lying ill. And on the second day his soul was about to go out of his body. Eve told Adam,
31.2 “Why are you alone dying and I am alive? Or, how long shall I exist? Or, what will become of me after your death? Let me know about me that.”
[45]31.3 Then Adam told Eve, “Be not concerned, whatever you have done. If we must both die, you too will be set near me. And if I am to die alone, do not move me from my place until God gives you an command about me,
[45]31.4 for the Lord will not forget me, but rather he will seek out the vessel which he has made. Arise and pray a prayer to God that my soul be commended into the hands of my Creator. For I do not know how I am going to reach the Creator of all, or whether he is angry with me or whether he will accept me.”

Eve’s Confession

[45]32.1 Then Eve arose and went out from Adam(‘s place). She did penitance and said,
[45]32.2 “I have sinned against you, God; I have sinned against you and I have sinned before you. I have sinned before your elect angels. I have sinned before the Cherubs. I have sinned before the altar of your holiness. I have sinned before the generations of the heavens. I have sinned before the birds of heavens. I have sinned before the beasts of the earth. I have sinned against you, God, by all my greed, among all your creatures. I beseech you all, you creatures of heaven and earth, beseech the Lord of all for me.”
[45]32.3 While Eve was on her (knees) to pray, suddenly Michael came, the angel of mankind, he stood and raised Eve up, and told her,
[45]32.4 “Arise from that penitence, for Adam your husband has gone forth from the body. Arise and see his soul, how his Creator has already (got) it.”

Angelic Liturgy

[45]33.1 Eve arose and put her hand on her face and the angel went up again, and he told Eve, “Raise you eyes and abandon earthly concerns.”
[45]33.2 As for Eve, when she had raised her eyes towards the heavens, she saw chariots of fire and a light which went up, (borne) by four (winds): they were so resplendent that no word could express it, and it was impossible to sound them out, neither from the front nor from the back. And angels were proceeding before these chariots.
[45]33.3 And when they had arrived (at the place) where the father was, the chariot stopped and the Seraphs stood between him and the chariot(s).
[45]33.4 And I, Eve, saw three gold censers, and (three) cups and three angels come quickly upon the altar. These angels took a burning coal and put it in the censer and set the censer upon (the altar). And while they blew, the smoke went up and veiled the frimaments of the heavens.
[45]33.5 the angels were praising (God), they were bowing before him, crying out and saying, “God, forgive Adam for he is your image and the work of your hands: he is your creature.”
[46]34.1 And I, Eve, saw two great lights prostrated in fear before God and I wept and told my son Seth,
[46]34.2 Rise from near your father’s body, come towards me and see that which your eyes have not seen, concerning Adam your father.”
[46]35.1 Then Seth arose and went close to his mother Eve and told her, “Why are you weeping?
[46]35.2 Raise your eyes and see the seven firmaments open and see the likeness of the father Adam, as he lies before God and all the angels are beseeching him and saying, ‘God, forgive Adam, for he is your image and your likeness, because it is you who have created him.'”
[46]35.3 “What is this, then, my son Seth,
[46]35.4 do they deliver the blood of my spouse to these Indians, for they were before God?” Seth replied to Eve and told her, “No, mother, did you not recognize those whom you called Indians in these colours of blood?” Eve replied to him and told him, “I do not know them, my son.”
[46]36.1 Seth replied to her and told her, “These are the sun and the moon: they are prostrated and they are beseeching for Adam, my father.”
[46]36.2 “Where is the light of the sun, for it is no more with it, or why is it darkened thus?”
[46]36.3 Seth replied to her and told Eve, “Because its light has been eclipsed before the God of all and its light had become darkened by fear of God.”

Assumption of Adam to Paradise

[47]37.1 As Seth was telling that to Eve, at once a great angel blew the trumpet and all the angels who were prostrated on their faces stood up again. They besought Adam and cried out in a loud voice, and said,
[47]37.2 “Blessed is God, by all blessing. You pardoned the protoplast.”
[47]37.3 And when the angels had said these words, one of the six-winged Seraphs was sent towards him (Adam). He took Adam to the lake of (A)cheron,
[47]37.4 and he dipped him in it three times. Then he led him back before God and (Adam) remained (prostrate) on his face for three hours. And after that, God stretched out his hand from his Throne, raised Adam up and gave him to Michael, and he told him,
[47]37.5 “Take him to the third heaven, to paradise, and set him before the altar until the day of the “oikonomia” which I contemplate concerning all the fleshly (beings) with my well beloved Son.”
[47]37.6 Then Michael took Adam to the place which God had commanded and all the angels were chanting angelic psalms. They were praising this wonder: the forgiveness of Adam and the promise of a future (life).

Adam and Abel’s Funerary Rites

[47]38.1 After which Michael cried out towards God,
[47]38.2 and God commanded that the trumpet be sounded and that all the angels assemble before God, each one in his rank: those who held a censer; those who held a psaltery; and those who sounded the trumpet.
[47]38.3 And behold, the Lord of Sabaoth rose upon the winds of the Cherubs, and
[47]37.1
[47]38.4 And (God) first reached his paradise, and the flowers of paradise, with their sweet odors, were moved at the sweet odor of the glorious God. All the children of Adam were breathless, except only for Seth, for he was son of the greatness of God.
[47]39.1 And when the Lord had come to the body of Adam which had fallen in (the earth), the Lord was sorrowful for him and told him in a sad voice, “If you had kept my commandments, you would not have fallen in that place and your enemy would not have been able to see that he had caused you to be expelled in that place.
[47]39.2 But I will change his joy into sorrow and I will lead you back towards this realm and I will set you upon your enemy’s throne, where he was seated, close (by the place) where his rebellion was discovered.
[47]39.3 He will fall in the place (where) you (are) and he will see you in that (other) place sitting upon a throne.”
[48]40.1 And after that, God gave an command to Michael
[48]40.2 who took (Adam) back to paradise, which is in the third heaven. They seized three folded shrouds of (cloth) and God told Michael and Gabriel, “Unfold these shrouds and envelop Adam’s body and take the ointment from the olive tree and pour it upon him.” And three angels dressed him (in it) and when they had dressed Adam’s body (in it),
[48]40.3 God told them, “Take Abel’s body as well, seize other shrouds and dress him in them also
[48]40.4 for he had remained lying naked since the day when wicked Cain killed him. And he wished to bury him in the earth and he was unable (to do so), because his body came back out of the earth. For a voice made itself heard from heaven and said to him,
[48]40.5a “He will not be able to be buried in the earth before he who was created first has returned to the earth from which he was created.”
[48]40.5b Then he took it to a rock and it remained spread out there until the death of Adam. Thus (the angels) took him and dressed him like his father.
[48]40.6 God commanded that both of them should be taken up to paradise, on the eastern part, in the place from which God had taken some soil and created Adam. And God commanded Michael to dig.
[48]40.7 And God sent seven angels to paradise: they gathered much incense from paradise and they brought them to them. Then they took both bodies, put them into the grave and covered them (with earth).
[48]41.1 Then God turned and called Adam. Adam’s body answered him from the soil and said, “Here I am, (Lord).”
[48]41.2 And the Lord told him, “Behold, as I told you, you are soil and you have returned to the soil,
[48]41.3 but I will raise you up in the resurrection which I have promised you, at the time of resurrection.
[48]42.1 Then, after that, God took the triangular seal and sealed the tomb of Adam and he said, “Let no person touch it during these six days, until your rib returns to you.
[48]42.2 Then God reascended to the upper heaven and each of the angels to his office.

Eve’s Prayer to Join Adam

[48]42.3 But Eve grew numb when she saw (so Mahe) all that. Eve wept and wished to see where they had put Adam, for she did not know. When the Lord had descended upon the earth, the sweet odor of all the trees of paradise did not (…) because of his sweet odor all had grown numb. Until the wrapping and the burial of Adam, nobody understood anything except Seth.
[48]42.4 Then Eve begged (and) wept so that (God) might lead her off, show her the place where they had put Adam. And when she had completed her prayer, she said,
[48]42.5 “Lord, do not alienate me from Adam’s place,
[48]42.6 but command me, me also, (to be) with him,
[48]42.7 as we both were in paradise, inseparable from one another.
[48]42.8 Do not separate us in our death, but place me where you have placed him.” And after this prayer she gave up her soul.

Eve’s Funeral and Epilogue

[51]43.1 And the angel Michael came and taught Seth how to dress Eve. Three angels came and took Eve’s body and placed it where they had placed Adam’s body.
[51]43.2 And after that, the angel Michael told him, “Thus dress every dead person who dies, until the death of all human beings.”
[51]43.3 When he had taught Seth all that, he ascended to the uppermost heaven, far from Seth, and he told him, “Do not mourn for the dead more than five days and on the seventh day rejoice, for on that day God rested from all his (works) which the Lord had made.”
[51]43.4 To him is glory and honor and adoration, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and for ever and ever. Amen.

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The Life of Adam and Eve in Latin

Expulsion

 

1.1 Quando expulsi sunt [II,III=Cum expulsi (fuissent? essent?)] Adam et Eva de paradiso, fecerunt sibi tabernaculum et fuerunt VII dies lugentes et lamentantes in magna tristitia.

2.1 Post VII autem dies coeperunt esurire et quaerebant escam, ut manducarent et non inveniebant.

2.2 Tunc dixit Eva ad Adam: domine mi, esurio. vade, quaere nobis, quod manducemus. forsitan respiciet et miserebitur nobis dominus deus et revocabit nos in locum, quo prius eramus.

3.1 Et surrexit Adam et ambulavit VII dies omnem terram illam et non invenit escam, qualem habebant in paradiso.

3.2 Et dixit Eva ad Adam: domine mi, putas fac me utinam moriar. et forte introducat te dominus deus denuo in paradisum, quoniam propter me iratus est tibi dominus deus. vis interficere me, ut moriar? et forte introducet te dominus deus in paradisum, quia propter meam causam expulsus es inde.

3.3 Respondit Adam: noli, Eva, talia dicere, ne forte aliquam iterum maledictionem inducat in nos dominus deus. quomodo potest fieri, ut mittam manum meam in carnem meam? sed surgamus et quaeramus nobis, unde vivamus, ut non deficiamus.

4.1 Et ambulantes quaesierunt novem dies et non invenerunt sicut habebant in paradiso, sed hoc tantum inveniebant, quod animalia edebant.

4.2 Et dixit Adam ad Evam: haec tribuit dominus animalibus et bestiis, ut edant; nobis autem esca angelica erat.

4.3 Sed iuste et digne plangimus ante conspectum dei, qui fecit nos. peniteamus penitentiam magnam; forsitan indulgeat et miserebitur nostri dominus deus et disponet nobis, unde vivamus.

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Penitence and Second Temptation

 

5.1 Et dixit Eva ad Adam: domine mi, dic mihi, quid est penitentia et qualiter peniteam, ne forte laborem nobis inponamus, quem non possumus sustinere, et non exaudiat preces nostras.

5.2 Et avertat dominus faciem suam a nobis, quia sicut promisimus non adimplevimus.

5.3 Domine mi, quantum cogitasti penitere, quod ego tibi induxi laborem et tribulationem.

6.1 Et dixit Adam ad Evam: non potes tantum facere quantum ego, sed tantum fac ut salveris. ego enim faciam quadraginta diebus ieiunans: tu autem surge et vade ad Tigris fluvium et tolle lapidem et sta super eum in aqua usque ad collum in altitudine fluminis. et non exiet sermo de ore tuo, quia indigni sumus rogare dominum, quia labia nostra inmunda sunt de ligno inlicito et contradicto.

6.2 Et sta in aqua fluminis XXXVII dies. ego autem faciam in aqua Jordanis XL dies. forsitan miserebitur nostri dominus deus.

7.1 Et ambulavit Eva ad Tigris flumen et fecit sicut dixit ei Adam.

7.2 Similiter ambulavit Adam ad flumen Jordanis et stetit super la pidem usque ad collum in aqua.

8.1 Et dixit Adam: tibi dico, aqua Jordanis, condole mihi et segrega mihi omnia natantia, quae in te sunt et circumdent me ac lugeant pariter mecum.

8.2 Non se plangant, sed me, quia ipsi non peccaverunt, sed ego.

8.3 Statim omnia animantia venerunt et circumdederunt eum et aqua Jordanis stetit ab illa hora non agens cursum suum.

9.1 Et transierunt dies XVIII. tunc iratus est Satanas et transfiguravit se in claritatem angelorum et abiit ad Tigrem flumen ad Evam.

9.2 Et invenit eam flentem. et ipse diabolus quasi condolens ei coepit flere et dixit ad eam: egredere de flumine [II,III+et repausa ] et de cetero non plores. iam cessa de tristitia et gemitu. quid sollicita es tu et Adam vir tuus?

9.3 Audivit dominus deus gemitum vestrum et suscepit penitentiam vestram; et nos omnes angeli rogavimus pro vobis deprecantes dominum,

9.4 et misit me, ut educerem vos de aqua et darem vobis alimentum, quod habuistis in paradiso et pro quo planxistis.

9.5 Nunc ergo egredere de aqua et perducam vos in locum, ubi paratus est victus vester.

10.1 Haec audiens autem Eva credidit et exivit de aqua fluminis et caro eius erat sicut herba de frigore aquae.

10.2 Et cum egressa esset cecidit in terram et erexit eam diabolus et perduxit eam ad Adam.

10.3 Cum autem vidisset eam Adam et diabolum cum ea, exclamavit cum fletu dicens: O Eva, O Eva, ubi est opus penitentiae tuae? quomodo iterum seducta es ab adversario nostro, per quem alienati sumus de habitatione paradisi et laetitia spiritali.

11.1 Haec cum audisset Eva cognovit quod diabolus suasit exire de flumine et cecidit super faciem suam in terram et duplicatus est dolor et gemitus et planctus ab ea.

11.2 Et exclamavit dicens: ve tibi, diabole, quid nos expugnas gratis? quid tibi apud nos? aut quid tibi fecimus, quoniam dolose nos persequeris? aut quid pertinet ad nos malitia tua?

11.3 Numquid nos abstulimus gloriam tuam et fecimus te sine honore esse? quid persequeris nos, inimice, usque ad mortem impie et invidiose?

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Fall of Satan

 

12.1 Et ingemescens diabolus dixit: O Adam, tota inimicitia mea et invidia et dolor ad te est, quoniam propter te expulsus sum et alienatus de gloria mea, quam habui in caelis in medio angelorum, et propter te eiectus sum in terram.

12.2 Respondit Adam: quid tibi feci

12.3 Aut quae est culpa mea in te? cum non sis a nobis nocitus nec laesus, quid nos persequeris?

13.1 Respondit diabolus: Adam, tu quid dicis mihi? propter tuam causam projectus sum inde.

13.2 Quando tu plasmatus es, ego proiectus sum a facie dei et foras a societate angelorum missus sum. quando insufflavit deus spiritum vitae in te et factus est vultus et similitudo tua ad imaginem dei, et adduxit te Michahel et fecit te adorare in conspectu dei, et dixit dominus deus: ecce Adam, feci te ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram

14.1 Et egressus Michahel vocavit omnes angelos dicens: adorate imaginem domini dei, sicut praecepit dominus deus.

14.2 Et ipse Michahel primus adoravit, et vocavit me et dixit: adora imaginem dei Jehova.

14.3 Et respondi ego: non habeo ego adorare Adam. et cum compelleret me Michahel adorare, dixi ad eum: quid me compellis? non adorabo deteriorem et posteriorem meum. in creatura illius prius sum. antequam ille fieret, ego iam factus eram. ille me debet adorare.

15.1 Hoc audientes ceteri qui sub me erant angeli noluerunt adorare eum.

15.2 Et ait Michahel: adora imaginem dei. si autem non adorave ris, irascetur tibi dominus deus.

15.3 Et ego dixi: si irascitur mihi, ponam sedem meam super sidera caeli et ero similis altissimo.

16.1 Et iratus est mihi dominus deus et misit me cum angelis meis foras de gloria nostra, et per tuam causam in hunc mundum expulsi sumus de habitationibus nostris et proiecti sumus in terram.

16.2 Et statim facti sumus in dolore, quoniam expoliati sumus tanta gloria,

16.3 et te in tanta laetitia delitiarum videre dolebamus.

16.4 Et dolo circumveniebam mulierem tuam et feci te expelli per eam de delitiis laetitiae tuae, sicut ego expulsus sum de gloria mea.

17.1 Haec audiens Adam a diabolo exclamavit cum magno fletu et dixit: domine deus meus, in manibus tuis est vita mea. fac ut iste adversarius meus longe sit a me, qui quaerit animam meam perdere, et da mihi gloriam eius, quam ipse perdidit.

17.2 Et statim non apparuit diabolus ei.

17.3 Adam vero perseveravit XL diebus stans in poenitentia in aqua Jordanis.

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Separation of Adam and Eve

 

18.1 Et dixit Eva ad Adam: vive tu, domine mi. tibi concessa est vita, quoniam tu nec primam nec secundam praevaricationem fecisti , sed ego praevaricata et seducta sum, quia non custodivi mandatum dei. et nunc separa me a lumine vitae istius, et vadam ad occasum solis et ero ibi usque dum moriar.

18.2 Et coepit ambulare contra partes occidentales et coepit lugere et amare flere cum gemitu magno.

18.3 Et fecit ibi habitaculum habens in utero foetum trium mensium.

19.1 Et cum adpropinquasset tempus partus eius coepit conturbari doloribus et exclamavit ad dominum dicens:

19.2 miserere mei, domine, adiuva me. Et non exaudiebatur nec erat misericordia dei circa eam. et dixit ipsa in se: quis nuntiabit domino meo Adae? deprecor vos luminaria caeli, dum revertimini ad orientem, nuntiate domino meo Adam.

20.2 Et ambulans invenit eam in luctu magno; et dixit Eva: ex quo vidi te, domine mi, refrigeravit anima mea in doloribus posita. et nunc deprecare dominum deum pro me ut exaudiat te et respiciat ad me et liberet me de doloribus meis pessimis.

20.3 Et deprecatus est Adam dominum pro Eva.

21.1 Et ecce venerunt XII angeli et duo virtutes stantes a dextris et a sinistris Evae. Eve.

21.2 Et Michahel erat stans a dextris et tetigit faciem eius usque ad pectus et dixit ad Evam: beata es, Eva, propter Adam. quoniam preces eius magnae sunt et orationes, missus sum ad te, ut accipias adiutorium nostrum. exsurge nunc et para te ad partum

21.3a Et peperit filium et erat lucidus. et continuo infans ex surgens cucurrit et manibus suis tulit herbam et dedit matri suae. et vocatum est nomen eius Cain.

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Death of Abel

 

22.1 Et tulit Adam Evam et puerum et duxit eos ad orientem.

22.2 Et misit dominus deus per Michahel angelum semina diversa et dedit Adae et ostendit ei laborare et colere terram, ut habeant fructum, unde viverent ipsi et omnes generationes eorum.

22.3 Postea enim concepit Eva et genuit filium, cui nomen Abel. et manebat Cain cum Abel in unum.

22.4a Et dixit Eva ad Adam:

22.4b domine mi, dormiens vidi visum quasi sanguinem filii nostri Abel in manu Cain ore suo deglutientis eum. propterea dolorem habeo.

22.5 Et dixit Adam: Vae, ne forte interficiat Cain Abel! sed separemus eos ab invicem et faciamus eis singulas mansiones.

23.1 Et fecerunt Cain agricolam, Abel fecerunt pastorem, ut ita fuissent ab invicem separati.

23.2 Et post haec interfecit Cain Abel. erat autem tunc Adam annorum CXXX. interfectus est autem Abel cum esset annorum CXXII.

23.3 Et post haec cognovit Adam uxorem suam et genuit filium et vocavit nomen eius Seth.

24.1 Et dixit Adam ad Evam: ecce genui filium pro Abel, quem occidit Cain.

24.2 Et postquam genuit Adam Seth, vixit annos DCCC et genuit filios XXX et filias XXX, simul LXIII. et multiplicati sunt super terram in nationibus suis.

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Adam’s Vision

 

25.1 Et dixit Adam ad Seth: audi, fili mi Seth, ut referam tibi, quae audivi et vidi. postquam eiecti sumus de paradiso ego et mater tua,

25.2 cum essemus in oratione, venit ad me Michahel archangelus nuntius dei.

25.3 Et vidi currum tamquam ventum et rotae illius erant igneae et raptus sum in paradisum iustitiae. et vidi dominum sedentem et aspectus eius erat ignis incendens intolerabilis. et multa milia angelorum erant a dextris et a sinistris currus illius.

26.1 Haec videns perturbatus sum et timor comprehendit me et adoravi coram deo super faciem terrae.

26.2 Et dixit mihi deus: ecce tu morieris, quia praeteristi mandatum dei, quia plus audisti vocem uxoris tuae quam tibi dedi in potestatem, ut haberes eam in voluntatem tuam. et audisti illam et verba mea praeteristi.

27.1 Et cum haec audivi verba dei, procidens in terram adoravi dominum et dixi: domine mi, omnipotens deus et misericors sancte et pie, ne deleatur nomen memoriae tuae maiestatis. sed converte animam meam, quia morior et spiritus meus exibit de ore meo.

27.2 Ne proicias me a facie tua quem de limo terrae plasmasti, nec postponas gratiae tuae quem nutristi.

27.3 Et ecce verbum tuum incedit mihi et dixit dominus ad me: quoniam figurantur dies tui factus es diligens scientiam, propter hoc non tolletur de semine tuo usque in seculum ad ministrandum mihi.

28.1 Et cum haec verba audivi, prostravi me in terram et adoravi dominum deum dicens: tu es aeternus deus et summus et omnes creaturae tibi dant honorem et laudem.

28.2 Tu es super omne lumen fulgens vera lux, vita vivens, incomprehensibilis magnitudinis virtus. tibi dant honorem et laudem spiritales virtutes. tu facis cum genere humano magnalia misericordiae tuae.

28.3 Postquam adoravi dominum, statim Michahel archangelus dei adprehendit manum meam et eiecit me de paradiso visitationis et iussionis dei.

28.4 Et tenens Michahel in manu sua virgam tetigit aquas quae erant circa paradisum et gelaverunt.

29.1 Et pertransivi et Michahel pertransivit mecum et reduxit me in locum, unde me rapuit.

29.2 Audi, fili mi Seth, et caetera mysteria sacramentaque futura quae mihi sunt revelata, qui per lignum scientiae comedens cognovi et intellexi, quae erunt in hoc seculo.

29.3 29.3 [II,III,IV+temporali (III+futura)] quae facturus est Deus creaturae suae humano generi.

29.4 Apparebit Dominus in flamma ignis. ex ore maiestatis suae dabit omnibus mandata et praecepta (ex ore eius exiet gladius ex utraque parte acutus?) et sanctificabunt eum in domo habitationis maiestatis illius. et ostendet illis locum mirabilem maiestatis suae.

29.5 Et tunc aedificabunt domum domino deo suo in terra, qua pavit illos (quam praeparabit eis?), et ibi praeteribunt praecepta eius et accendetur sanctuarium eorum et terra eorum deseretur et ipsi dispergentur propter quod exacerbaverunt Deum.

29.6 Et iterum (die tertio?, septimo?) saluos faciet illos a dispersione illorum, et iterum aedificabunt domum Dei et exaltabitur novissime domus Dei maior quam prius,

29.7 Et iterum superabit iniquitas aequitatem. et post haec habitabit Deus cum hominibus in terris videndus. et tunc incipiet aequitas fulgere. et domus Dei in saeculum honorabitur et non poterunt adversa amplius nocere hominibus, qui sunt in Deo credentes. et suscitabit sibi Deus plebem fidelem, quam salvabit in secula seculorum. et impii punientur a deo rege suo qui noluerint amare legem illius.

29.8 Celum et terra noctes et dies et omnes creaturae obedient ei et non praeteribunt mandatum eius nec mutabunt opera sua. homines autem mutabuntur derelinquentes legem Domini.

29.9 Propter hoc repellet Dominus a se impios et iusti fulgebunt sicut sol in conspectu Dei. et in tempore illo purificabuntur homines per aquam a peccatis.

29.10 Condempnati autem erunt nolentes purificari per aquam. et felix erit homo, qui correxerit animam suam, quando erunt iudicia et magnalia dei inter homines et inquirentur facta eorum a Deo iusto iudice.]

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Illness of Adam

 

30.1 Postquam factus est Adam annos DCCCCXXX, sciens quoniam dies eius finiuntur dixit [II,III+ad Evam]: congregentur ad me omnes filii mei, ut benedicam eos, antequam moriar, et loquar cum eis.

30.2 Et congregati sunt in tres partes ante conspectum eius coram oratorio, ubi adorabant dominum deum. [III+erat autem numerus XV milia virorum exceptis mulieribus et parvulis]

30.3 Et interrogaverunt eum: [II,III+et cum congregasti essent omnes una voce dixerunt] quid tibi est, pater, ut congregares nos? et quare iaces in lecto tuo?

30.4 Et respondens Adam dixit: filii mei, male mihi est doloribus. et dixerunt ad eum omnes filii eius: quid est pater male habere doloribus?

31.1 Tunc filius eius Seth dixit: domine forte desiderasti de fructu paradisi, ex quo edebas, et ideo iaces contristatus?

31.2 Dic mihi et vadam ad proximas ianuas paradisi et mittam pulverem in caput meum et proiciam me in terram ante portas paradisi et plangam in lamentatione magna deprecans dominum. forsitan audiet me et mittet angelum suum ut adferat mihi de fructu quod desiderasti.

31.3 Respondit Adam et dixit: non, fili mi, non desidero, sed infirmitatem et dolorem magnum habeo in corpore meo. Respondit Seth: quid est dolor, domine pater, nescio; sed noli nobis abscondere, sed dic nobis [III+quia penitus ignoramus].

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Adam’s Story of the Fall

 

32.1 Et respondit Adam et dixit: audite me, filii mei. quando fecit nos deus, me et matrem vestram, et posuit nos in paradisum et dedit nobis omnem arborem fructiferam ad edendum et interdixit nobis: de arbore scientiae boni et mali, quae est in medio paradisi, ne comedatis ex ea.

32.2 Deus autem partem dedit paradisi mihi et matri vestrae: arborem orientalis partis et boreae quae est (et erubie que est?, et bone que est?, boree quod est?) contra aquilonem dedit mihi, et matri vestrae dedit partem austri et partem occidentalem.

33.1 Dedit nobis dominus deus angelos duos ad custodiendos nos.

33.2 Venit hora ut ascenderunt angeli in conspectu dei adorare. statim invenit locum adversarius diabolus dum absentes essent angeli. et seduxit diabolus matrem vestram, ut manducaret de arbore inlicita et contradicta.

33.3 et manducavit et dedit mihi.

34.1 Et statim iratus est nobis dominus deus et dixit ad me dominus. eo quod dereliquisti mandatura meum et verbum meum quod confortavi tibi non custodisti, ecce inducam in corpus tuum LXX plagas; diversis doloribus ab initio capitis et oculorum et aurium usque ad ungulas pedum et per singula membra torquebimini. haec deputavit in flagellationem dolori uno cum arboribus (dolorum pro transgressione fructus arboris?). Haec autem omnia misit dominus ad me et omnes generationes nostras.

34.2 Deus autem partem dedit paradisi mihi et matri vestrae: arborem orientalis partis et boreae quae est (et erubie que est?, et bone que est?, boree quod est?) contra aquilonem dedit mihi, et matri vestrae dedit partem austri et partem occidentalem.

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Comand to Retrieve the Oil

 

35.1 Haec dicens Adam ad omnes filios suos comprehensus est magnis doloribus et clamans magnis vocibus dicebat: quid faciam infelix, positus in talibus doloribus.

35.2 Et cum vidisset eum Eva flentem coepit et ipsa flere dicens: domine deus meus, in me transfer dolor em eius, quoniam ego peccavi. Et dixit Eva ad Adam: domine mi, da mihi partem dolorum tuorum, quoniam a me culpa haec tibi accessit.

36.1 Et dixit Adam ad Evam: exsurge et vade cum filio meo Seth ad proximum paradisi [III=portas paradysi] et mittite pulverem in capita vestra et prosternite vos in terram et plangite in conspectu dei.

36.2 Forsitan miserebitur et transmittet angelum suum ad arborem misericordiae suae, de qua currit oleum vitae, et dabit vobis ex ipso modicum, ut me unguatis ex eo, ut quiescam ab his doloribus, ex quibus consumor.

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Encounter with the Beast

 

37.1 Et abierunt Seth et mater eius contra portas paradisi; et dum ambularent, ecce subito venit serpens bestia et impetum faciens morsit Seth.

37.2 Et cum vidisset Eva flevit dicens: heu mihi miserae, quoniam maledicta sum, quoniam non custodivi praecepta domini.

37.3 Et dixit Eva ad serpentem voca magna: bestia maledicta, quomodo non timuisti mittera te ad imaginem dei, sed ausus es pugnare cum ea? aut quomodo praevaluerunt dentes tui?

38.1 Respondit bestia voce humana: O Eva, numquid non ad vos est malitia nostra? nonne contra vos est furor noster?

38.2 Dic mihi, Eva, quomodo apertum est os tuum, ut manducares de fructu, quem praecepit tibi dominus deus ut non manducares:

38.3 nunc autem non potes portare, si tibi incepero exprobrare?

39.1 Tunc dixit Seth ad bestiam: increpet te dominus deus. stupe, obmutesce: claude os tuum, maledicte inimice veritatis confusio perditionis; recede de imagine dei usque in diem, quando dominus deus iusserit in comprobationem te adduci.

39.2 et dixit bestia ad Seth: ecce recedo, sicut dixisti, a facie imaginis dei. statim recessit plaga de dentibus a Seth.

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Arrival at Paradise

 

40.1 Seth autem et mater eius ambulaverunt in partes paradisi propter oleum misericordiae, ut ungerent Adam infirmum. et pervenien tes ad portas paradisi tulerunt pulverem de terra et posuerunt super caput suum. et prostraverunt se in terram super faciem suam et coeperunt plangere cum gemitu magno deprecantes dominum deum, ut misereretur Adae in doloribus suis et mitteret angelum suum dare eis oleum de arbore misericordiae suae.

41.1 41:1 [Orantibus autem eis horas multas et deprecantibus ecce angelus Michahel apparens eis dixit: ego missus sum ad te a domino, ego sum constitutus a domino super corpus humanum.

41.2 tibi dico, Seth homo dei, noli lacrimare orando et deprecando propter oleum ligni misericordiae, ut perunguas patrem tuum Adam pro doloribus corporis sui.

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Michael’s Reply

 

42.1 Quia nullo modo poteris ex eo accipere, nisi in novissimis diebus, quando completi fuerint quinque milia et quingenti anni.

42.2 Tunc veniet super terram amantissimus rex dei resuscitare corpus Adae et cum eo resuscitare corpora mortuorum. Et ipse filius dei veniens baptizabitur in flumine Jordanis et dum egressus fuerit de aqua Jordanis, tunc de oleo misericordiae suae perunguet omnes credentes in se.

42.3 42:4 Et erit oleum misericordiae in generationem et generationem eis, qui renascendi sunt ex aqua et spiritu sancto in vitam aeternam. Tunc descendens in terris amantissimus filius dei Christus introducet patrem tuum Adam in paradisum ad arborem misericordiae. END NIC]

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Return to Adam

 

43.1 Tu autem, Seth, vade ad patrem tuum Adam, quoniam completum est tempus vitae illius. adhuc sex dies tunc exibit anima eius de corpore et, cum exierit, videbis magna mirabilia in caelo et in terra et in luminaribus caeli.

43.2 Haec dicens Michahel statim recessit a Seth. et reversi sunt Eva et Seth. ac tulerunt secum [III+ ramusculum et odor] odoramenta hoc est nardum et crocum et calaminthen et cinamomum. [III+ continuo discessit angelus ab eo in paradisum et attulit ramusculum trium foliorum fractum de arbore scientiae per quam expulsi fuerant Adam et Eua de paradiso reuersusque ad Seth dedit ei dicens: haec porta patri tuo ad refrigerium et solatium corporis sui. festina ne tardaueris. uade ad patrem tuum, quoniam impletum est tempus vitae suae, adhuc sex dies et exiet anima eius de corpore . . .tulerunt secum ranusculum et odoramenta hoc est nardum et crocum et calamum et cynamomum . et factum est dum Eva et Seth transirent aquam Jordanis, ecce ramus quem dederat ei angelus cecidit in medio fluminis. et cum pervenissent Seth et mater eius ad Adam, dixerunt omnia quae gesta fuerant. ]

44.1 Et cum pervenissent Seth et mater eius ad Adam dixerunt ei [III+omnia, quae gesta fuerant in via, et dixit], quia bestia serpens morsit Seth.

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Adam’s Rebuke of Eve

 

44.2 Et dixit Adam ad Evam: quid fecisti? induxisti nobis plagam magnam, delictum et peccatum in omnem generationem nostram. et hoc quod fecisti post mortem meam refert filios tuos,

44.3 quoniam qui exsurgent a nobis laborantes non sufficient sed deficient et maledicent nos dicentes:

44.4 quoniam omnia mala intulerunt nobis parentes nostri, qui ab initio fuerunt. haec audiens Eva coepit lacrimare et ingemescere. [III+ et dixit Adam filio suo Seth: numquid angelus non misit mihi aliquid. conturbatus vero Seth et perterritus, quod non inuenit quod miserat ei angelus, dixit patri suo: Ramum misit tibi angelus de paradiso, qui cecidit mihi in medio fluminis Jordanis. Cui pater: Vade fili me, et in ipso loco ubi cecidit inuenies et affer mihi, ut uideam antequam moriar et benedicat tibi anima mea. Reuersus est Seth ad flumen, inuenit ramum in medio fluminis numquam de loco motum et gauisus Seth tulit eum patri suo, quem cum accepisset Adam (et uidisset diligenter add. cod. 15) gauisus est gaudio magno et dixit: Ecce mors et resurrectio mea. Rogauitque filios suos ut plantarent ramum ad caput sepulchri sui.].

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Death of Adam

 

45.1 Et sicut praedixit Michahel archangelus, post sex dies venit mors Adae.

45.2 Cum cognovisset Adam, quia hora venit mortis suae, dixit ad omnes filios suos: ecce sum annorum DCCCCXXX, et si mortuus fuero, sepelite me contra ortum dei magnum (contra ortum diei in agrum habitationis illius?) habitationibus.

45.3 Et factum est, cum finisset omnes sermones illius, tradidit spiritum.

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Angelic Liturgy

 

46.1 Obtenebratus est sol et luna et stellae per dies VII. et cum esset Seth amplexans corpus patris sui lugens desuper et Eva cum esset respiciens in terram intextas manus super caput eius habens et caput super genua imponens et omnes filii eius fletibus amaris simis lacrimassent:

46.2 46:2 Et ecce Michahel angelus apparuit stans ad caput Adae et dixit ad Seth: exurge desuper corpus patris tui et veni ad me et vide, quid de eo disponat dominus deus. plasma eius est et misertus est ei.

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Assumption of Adam to Paradise

 

47.1 Et omnes angeli canentes tubis dixerunt: benedictus es, domine, quia misertus es plasmae tuae.

47.3 Tunc vidit Seth manum domini extensam tenentem Adam; et tradidit Michaheli dicens:

47.5 sit in custodia tua usque in diem dispensationischange his mourning into joy. mos, quando convertam luctum eius in gaudium. Tunc sedebit in throno eius, qui eum supplantavit.

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Adam and Abel’s Funerary Rites

 

48.1 Et dixit iterum dominus ad Michahel et Urihel angelos: afferte mihi tres sindones bissinas et expandite super Adam. et alias sindones super Abel filium eius, et sepelite Adam et filium eius.

48.2 Et processerunt omnes virtutes angelorum ante Adam. et sanctificata est dormitatio mortuorum.

48.3 Sepelierunt Adam et Abel Michahel et Urihel angeli in partibus paradisi videntibus Seth et matre eius et alio nemine. et dixerunt Michahel et Urihel: sicut vidistis, similiter sepelite mortuos vestros. [III+ His expletis angeli discesserunt ab eis. Seth uero filius eius plantauit ramum arboris, sicut rogauerat eum pater eius, ad caput sepulchri eius. qui creuit in arborem magnam. post multum uero tempus inuenta est a uenatoribus Salomonis, et sibi allata et ab ipso miris modis ornata et postmodum propter reginam austri destructa, quae uenit a finibus terrae audire et uidere sapientiam Salomonis. cui epse etiam ostendit omnia secreta sua et hoc lignum mirifice in templo suo ornatum. quo uiso statim prophetauit perhoc lignum omnia regna et munitiones et leges Judeorum destrui. Quo audito rex lignum hoc auro et argento et lapidibus pretiosis precepit ornari (orbari?), et in piscinam Probaticam proici, ubi postmodum (supernatauit. Ende von cod. 2) semper descendit angelus et turbabat aquam et cottidie sanabatur unus usque ipsum Christum. qui postmodum in ipso ligno suspensus est in eo qui dicitur Caluarie locus et in ipso stipite arboris posito ita ut sanguis ipsius redemptoris in caput primi plasmatis descenderet.]

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Two Stelae Legend

 

49.1 Post sex dies vero quod mortuus est Adam, cognoscens Eva mortem suam, congregavit omnes filios suos et filias suas, qui fuerunt Seth cum XXX fratribus et XXX sororibus, et dixit ad omnes Eva:

49.2 Audite me, filii mei, ut referam vobis, quod ego et pater vester transgressi sumus praeceptum dei et dixit nobis Michahel archangelus:

49.3 propter praevaricationes vestras generi vestro superinducet dominus noster iram iudicii sui primum per aquam secundum per ignem: his duobus iudicabit dominus omne humanum genus.

50.1 Sed audite me, filii mei! facite ergo tabulas lapideas et alias tabulas luttea et scribite in his omnem vitam meam et patris vestri quae a nobis audistis et vidistis.

50.2 Si per aquam iudicabit genus nostrum, tabulae de terra solventur et tabulae lapideae perma nebunt. si autem per ignem iudicabit genus nostrum, tabulae lapideae solventur et de terra luteae decoquentur. haec omnia

50.3 cum dixisset Eva filiis suis expandit manus in caelum orans et inclinans genua in terram et adorans dominum et gratias agens tradidit spiritum.

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Eve’s Funeral and Epilogue

 

51.1 Postea cum magno fletu sepelierunt eam omnes filii eius. cum essent lugentes quattuor dies, tunc apparuit eis Michahel archangelus dicens ad Seth:

51.3 homo dei, ne amplius lugeas mortuos tuos quam sex dies quia septimo die signum resurrectionis est futuri seculi requies, et in die septimo requievit dominus ab omnibus operibus suis. [III+omni opere suo. Octavus vero dies futurae et aeternae beatitudinis est, in qua omnes sancti cum ipso creatore et salvatore simul cum anima et corpore nunquam de cetero morituri regnabunt per infinita secula seculorum. Amen] III.

51.3 tunc Seth fecit tabulas.

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History of the Stelae

 

52.1 Tunc Seth fecit (duas?) tabulas lapideas et (duas?) luteas, (et composuit apices literarum?) et scripsit in eis vitam patris sui Adae et matris sue Evae quam ab eis audivit et oculis suis vidit et posuit tabulas in medio domus patris sui in oratorio ubi orabat dominum. et post diluvium a multis videbantur hominibus tabulae illae scriptae (lapides illi scripti?) et a nemine legebantur. Salomon autem sapiens vidit scripturam et deprecatus est dominum et apparuit ei angelus domini dicens: ego sum qui tenui manum Seth, ut scriberet cum digito suo (ferreo digito?, ferreo stilo?) lapides istos, et eris sciens scripturam, ut cognoscas et intelligas (ubi sint) quid contineant lapides isti omnes et ubi fuerit oratorium, ubi Adam et Eva adorabant dominum deum. et oportet te ibi aedificare templum domini id est domum orationis. Tunc Salomon supplevit templum domini dei et vocavit literas illas achiliacas hoc est sine verborum doctrina scriptas (achilicas quod est latine lapideas id est sine labiis doctrina scripta?, achiliacas quod est latine sillabicas hoc est sine librorum doctrina scriptas ?) digito Seth, tenens manum eius angelus domini.

53.1 et in ipsis lapidibus inventum est, quod prophetavit septimus ab Adam Enoch dicens ante diluvium de adventu Christi: ecce veniet dominus in sanctis suis (in sanctis milibus suis?, in milibus suis?, in sanctis nubibus suis?) facere iudicium de omnibus et arguere impios de omnibus operibus suis quibus locuti sunt de eo peccatores et impii murmuratores et irreligiosi qui secundum concupiscentias suas ingrediuntur et os eorum locutum est superbiam.] [IV+et os illorum locuntur superbiam ibunt in orcum, iusti vero plaudentes in regnum caelorum.

54.1 Adam vero post quadraginta dies introivit in paradisum et Eva post octoginta et fuit Adam in paradisum annos septem et sub die moverunt omnem bestiarum]

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Octapartite Adam

 

55.1 Sciendum est quod de octo partibus plasmatum fuit corpus Ade. Una pars erat de limo terre unde facta est caro eius et inde piger erit. Alia pars erat de mari unde factus est sanguis eius et inde erat uagus et profugus. Tertia pars erat de lapidibus terre unde sunt ossa eius et inde erat durus et auarus. Quarta pars erat de nubibus, inde facte sunt cogitaciones eius et inde factus est luxuriosus. Quinta pars erat de uento unde factus est anelitus et inde factus est leuis. Sexta pars erat de sole unde facti sunt oculi eius et inde erat bellus et preclarus. Septima pars est de luce mundi unde factus est gratus et inde habet scienciam. Octaua pars est de spiritu sancto unde facta est anima et inde sunt episcopi et sacerdotes et omnes sancti et electi dei.

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Place of Adam’s Creation

 

56.1 Et sciendum quod deus fecit et plasmauit Adam in eo loco in quo natus est Iesus scilicet in ciuitate Bedleem que est in medio mundi, et ibi de quatuor angulis terre corpus Ade factum est, deferentibus angelis de limo terre de partibus illis, uidelicet Micaele Gabriele Raphaele et Uriele. Et erat illa terra candida et munda sicut sol, et conspersa est illa terra de quatuor fluminibus id est Geon Phison Tigris et Euphrates, et factus est homo ad imaginem dei, et insufflauit in faciem eius spiraculum uite scilicet animam. Sicut enim a quatuor fluminibus conspersus sic a quatuor uentis accepit flatus.

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Adam’s Name

 

57.1 Cum factus fuisset Adam et non erat ei nomen impositum adhuc, dixit dominus ad quatuor angelos ut quererent ei nomen, et exiuit Micael ad orientem et uidit stellam orientalem Ancolim nomine et sumpsit primam literam ab illa, et exiuit Gabriel ad meridiem et uidit stellam meridianam nomine disis et tulit primam literam ab illa; exiuit Raphael ad aquilonem et uidit stellam aquilonarem Arthos nomine et tulit primam literam ab ipsa; exiuit Uriel ad occidentem et uidit stellam occidentalem Mencembrion nomine et attulit primam literam ab eadem; quibus literis adductis dixit dominus ad Urielam, Lege literas istas, et legit et dixit, Adam, et dixit dominus, Sic uocetur nomen eius. Explicit uita protoplasti nostri Ade et Eue uxoris eius.

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The Life of Adam and Eve (Latin Translation)

Expulsion

1.1 When Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise they made for themselves a tent and spent seven days mourning and lamenting in great sadness.

2.1 But after seven days they began to be hungry and sought food to eat and did not find any.

2.2 Eve told Adam: “Adam, my lord, Then Eve said to Adam: “My lord, I am hungry. Go, seek for us something to eat. Perhaps the Lord God will look upon us and have mercy on us and will call us back to the place where we were previously.”

3.1 And Adam arose after seven days and And Adam arose and walked for seven days over all that land but did not find food such as they had in paradise.

3.2 Eve said to Adam: “My lord, would that I might die. Perhaps then the Lord God would bring you back into paradise, for it was because of me that the Lord God grew angry with you. Do you wish to kill me, that I might die? Perhaps the Lord God will bring you back into paradise, since on account of my action you were expelled from there.”

3.3 Adam responded: “Don’t say such things Eve lest the Lord God bring upon us some other curse. How could it be that I should raise my hand against my own flesh? Let us arise and seek for ourselves something by which we might live so that we might not perish.”

4.1 Walking about, they searched for many days but did not find anything like they had in paradise. They only found what animals eat.

4.2 Adam said to Eve: “The Lord gave these things to animals and beasts to eat. Ours, however was the angelic food.

4.3 But justly and worthily do we lament before the face of God who made us. Let us perform a great penitence. Perhaps the Lord God will yield and have mercy on us and give us something by which we might live.”

Penitence and Second Temptation

5.1 Eve said to Adam: “My lord, tell me what is penitence and how long should I perform it, lest perhaps we place on ourselves a labor which we cannot endure, and he not hear our prayers,

5.2 And the Lord turned his face from us because we did not fulfill what we promise.

5.3 My lord, how much penitence are you thinking of doing since I brought labor and tribulation upon you.”

6.1 Adam said to Eve: “You cannot do as much as I, but do as much so that you might be saved. For I will do forty days of fasting. You, however, arise and go to the Tigris River and take a stone and stand upon it in the water up to your neck in the depth of the river. Let not a word go forth from your mouth since we are unworthy to ask of the Lord for our lips are unclean from the illicit and forbidden tree.

6.2 Stand in the water of the river for thirtyseven days. I however, will do forty days in the water of the Jordan. Perhaps the Lord will have mercy on us.”

7.1 Eve walked to the Tigris River and did just as Adam told her.Ê

7.2 Likewise, Adam walked to the Jordan River and stood upon a rock up to his neck in the water.

8.1 Adam said: “I say to you, water of the Jordan, mourn with me and separate from me all swimming creatures which are in you. Let them surround me and mourn with me.

8.2 Let them not lament for themselves, but for me, for they have not sinned, but I.”

8.3 Immediately, all living things came and surrounded him and the water of the Jordan stood from that hour not flowing in its course.

9.1 Eighteen days passed. Then Satan grew angry and transfigured himself into the brilliance of an angel and went off to the Tigris River to Eve.

9.2 He found her weeping, and then, the Devil himself, as if mourning with her began to weep and said to her: “Come out of the water and rest and weep no longer. Cease now from your sadness and lamenting. Why are you uneasy, you and your husband Adam?

9.3 The Lord God has heard your lamenting and accepted your penitence. All of us angels have pleaded for you, praying to the Lord,

9.4 and he sent me to lead you forth from the water and to give you the nourishment which you had in paradise and for which you have grieved.

9.5 Now, therefore, come out of the water and I will lead you to the place where your food is prepared.”

10.1 Hearing this, Eve believed him and went out of the water of the river. Her flesh was like grass from the waters coldness.

10.2 When she had come out, she fell to the ground, but the Devil stood her up and led her to Adam.

10.3 When Adam saw her and the Devil with her, he cried out with tears, saying: “O Eve, O Eve, where is the work of your penitence? How have you again been seduced by our adversary, through whom we were alienated from the dwelling of paradise and spiritual happiness?

11.1 When Eve heard this, she knew that it was the Devil who had persuaded her to go out from the river and she fell on her face on the ground and her grief was double, as was her wailing and lamentation.

11.2 She cried out, saying: “Woe to you, Devil. For what reason do you fight against us? What concern do you have with us? What have we done to you that you should persecute us so grievously? Why does your malice extend to us?

11.3 Did we ever take your glory from you or cause you to be without honor? Why do you persecute us, O enemy, impiously and jealously unto death?”

Fall of Satan

12.1 Groaning, the Devil said: “O Adam, all my enmity, jealousy, and resentment is towards you, since on account of you I was expelled and alienated from my glory, which I had in heaven in the midst of the angels. On account of you I was cast out upon the earth.”

12.2 Adam answered: “What have I done to you?

12.3 What fault do I have against you? Since you have not been harmed nor injured by us, why do you persecute us?”

13.1 The Devil answered: “Adam what are you saying to me? On account of you I was cast out from heaven.

13.2 When you were formed, I was cast out from the face of God and was sent forth from the company of the angels. When God blew into you the breath of life and your countenance and likeness were made in the image of God, Michael led you and made you worship in the sight of God. The Lord God then said: ‘Behold, Adam, I have made you in our image and likeness.’

14.1 Having gone forth Michael called all the angels saying: ‘Worship the image of the Lord God, just as the Lord God has commanded.’

14.2 Michael himself worshipped first then he called me and said: ‘Worship the image of God Jehovah.’

14.3 I answered: ‘I do not have it within me to worship Adam.’ When Michael compelled me to worship, I said to him: ‘Why do you compel me? I will not worship him who is lower and posterior to me. I am prior to that creature. Before he was made, I had already been made. He ought to worship me.’

15.1 Hearing this, other angels who were under me were unwilling to worship him.

15.2 Michael said: ‘Worship the image of God. If you do not worship, the Lord God will grow angry with you.’

15.3 said: ‘If he grows angry with me, I will place my seat above the stars of heaven and I will be like the Most High.’

16.1 Then the Lord God grew angry with me and sent me forth with my angels from our glory. On account of you we were expelled from our dwelling into this world and cast out upon the earth.

16.2 Immediately we were in grief, since we had been despoiled of so much glory,

16.3 and we grieved to see you in such a great happiness of delights. 16:4 By a trick I cheated your wife and caused you to be expelled through her from the delights of your happiness, just as I had been expelled from my glory.”

17.1 Hearing this, Adam cried out with a great shout because of the Devil, and said: “O Lord my God, in your hands is my life. Make this adversary of mine be far from me, who seeks to ruin my soul. Give me his glory which he himself lost.”

17.2 Immediately the Devil no longer appeared to him.

17.3 Adam truly persevered for forty days standing in penitence in the waters of the Jordan.

Separation of Adam and Eve

18.1 Eve said to Adam: “Long may you live, my lord to you is my life submitted, since you did not take part in either the first or second collusion. But I conspired and was seduced, because I did not keep the commandment of God. Now separate me from the light of this life. I will go to the west and I will be there until I die.

18.2 She then began to walk toward the western regions and began to wail and weep bitterly with great moaning.

18.3 She made there a dwelling, being three months pregnant.

19.1 When the time of her delivery approached, she began to be distressed with pains, and she cried out to the Lord, saying:

19.2 “Have mercy on me, O Lord, help me.” She was not heard, nor was the mercy of God toward her. She said to herself: “Who will tell my lord Adam? I beseech you, lights of the heavens, when you turn again to the east, tell my lord Adam.

20.1a In that very hour Adam said: “The lament of Eve has come to me. Perhaps the serpent has fought with her again.”

20.2 Walking, he found her in great distress. Eve said: “How is it that I see you, my Lord. My soul has grown cold being in such pains. Now pray to the Lord God on my behalf that he might hear you and look down upon me and free me from my very bad pains.”

20.3 Adam then prayed to the Lord for Eve.

21.1 And behold, twelve angels came and two Virtues, standing to the right and to the left of Eve.

21.2 Michael was standing to her right and touched his face to her chest and said to Eve: “Blessed are you, Eve, on account of Adam, for his prayers and supplications are great. I was sent to you that you might receive our help. Arise now and prepare yourself for birth.”

21.3a She brought forth a son who shone brilliantly. At once the infant stood up and ran out and brought some grass with his own hands and gave it to his mother. His name was called Cain.

Death of Abel

22.1 Adam took Eve and the boy and led them to the east.

22.2 The Lord God sent various seeds by Michael the angel, who gave them to Adam and showed them how to work and tend the ground, in order to have fruit, from which they and all their generations might live.

22.3 Afterwards, Eve conceived and bore a son, whose name was Abel, and Cain and Abel remained together as one.

22.4a Eve said to Adam:

22.4b “My lord, while asleep I saw a vision like the blood of our son Abel on the hand of Cain who tasted it with his mouth. On account of this I am pained.”

22.5 Adam said: “Woe, let not Cain kill Abel, but let us separate them from each other and make separate houses for them.”

23.1 They made Cain to be a farmer, and Abel to be a shepherd that they might thus be separated from each other.

23.2 But even after this, Cain killed Abel. Adam was then 130 years old. Abel was killed when he was 122 years old.

23.3 After this Adam knew his wife and begot a son and called his name Seth.

24.1 Adam said to Eve: “Behold, I have begotten a son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.”

24.2 After Adam begot Seth, he lived for 800 years and begot 30 sons and 30 daughters 63 altogether and they were multiplied over the earth in its nations.

Adam’s Vision

25.1 Adam said to Seth: “Let me recount for you what I have heard and seen. After I and your mother were cast out of paradise,

25.2 when we were at prayer, the archangel Michael, the messenger of God, came to me.

25.3 I saw a chariot like the wind, and its wheels were afire, and I was caught up into the paradise of the just. I saw the Lord seated, his face like fire burning intolerably. Many thousands of angels were at the right and the left of his chariot.

26.1 Seeing this, I was disturbed and fear seized me and I worshipped before God above the face of the earth.

26.2 Then God said to me: ‘Behold, you shall die because you transgressed the commandment of God, because you harkened more to the voice of your wife whom I gave over to your control that you might have her in your will. You listen to your her and transgressed my words.’

27.1 When I heard these words of God, falling down on the ground I worshipped the Lord and said: ‘My Lord, Almighty and merciful God, holy and faithful, do not let the name of the memory of your majesty be destroyed, but turn my soul around, for I will die and my spirit will go forth from my mouth.

27.2 Do not cast me out from your sight, whom you formed from the dust of the earth, nor put me out from your grace whom you nourished.

27.3 Behold, your word has come over me.’ Then the Lord God said to me: ‘Since your days are numbered, you have become attentive to knowledge. my very bad pains.” On account of this no one shall ever be taken from your offspring to minister unto me.’

28.1 When I heard these words, I prostrated myself on the ground and worshipped the Lord God saying: ‘You are the eternal and most high God. All creatures give you honor and praise.

28.2 You are above all, the shining light, the true light, the living life, the Virtue of incomprehensible greatness. To you the spiritual virtues give honor and praise. With the human race you show the great deeds of your mercy.’

28.3 After I worshipped the Lord God, straightway Michael, the archangel of God, took my hand and threw me out of the paradise of God’s visitation and commanding.

28.4 Michael, holding in his hand a rod, touched the waters which surrounded paradise and they froze.

29.1 Then I crossed over, and Michael crossed over with me and brought me again to the place from which he had taken me.

29.2 Hear also, my son Seth, the other mysteries and promised things to come which have been revealed to me. By eating of the tree of knowledge I have known and understood the things which are in this age,

29.3 which God will do to his creature, the human race.

29.4 The Lord will appear in a flame of fire. From the mouth of his majesty he will give commandment and precepts to all (from his mouth will go forth a sword, sharp on both edges) and they will sanctify him in the house of the dwelling of his majesty. He will show to them the marvelous place of his majesty.

29.5 Then they will build a house for the Lord God on my behalf that he might hear you and look down upon me and free me from Lord their God in the land which he will prepare for them, and there they will transgress his precepts. Their sanctuary will be set afire, and their land shall be desolate, and they themselves will be dispersed because they provoked God.

29.6 But again, (on the third / seventh day ?) he will save them from their dispersion and they will build once more the house of God, and it will then be higher than it was before.

29.7 But once again, iniquity will conquer justice. After this, God will dwell, living with men on the earth. Then justice will begin to shine, and the house of the Lord will be honored forever. The opponents will no more be able to kill men who believe in God. God will then receive unto himself a faithful people, who will be saved forever and ever. But the impious who did not wish to love his law will be punished by God their King.

29.8 Heaven and earth, night and day, and all creatures will obey him and will not transgress his commandment, nor will they alter his works. Men who forsake the law of the Lord, however, will be changed.

29.9 On account of this, the Lord will cast away from himself the impious, but the just will shine like the sun in the sight of God. At that time, men will be purified by water of their sins.

29.10 Those unwilling to be purified by water will be condemned. Blessed will be the man who shall amend his soul when the judgments and great deeds of God will be among men. Their deeds will be investigated by God, the just judge.”]II,III,IV

Illness of Adam

30.1b After Adam reached the age of 930 years, knowing that his days were ended, he said [to Eve]: “Gather about me all my children that I might bless them before I die, and that I might speak with them.”

30.2 They were gathered before his sight, in front of the oratory where he worshipped the Lord God. [They numbered 15,000 men, not counting women and children.]

30.3 They asked him [and when they all had been gathered, they said with one voice]: “What is wrong with you, father, that you have gathered us together? Why are you lying on your bed?”

30.4 Answering, Adam said: “My children, I am in great pain.” All his children said to him: “What does mean, father, to have great pain?”

31.1 Then his son, Seth, said: “Lord, do you perhaps long for some of the fruit of paradise, which you used to eat, and therefore you lie there saddened? Tell me and I will go up to the gates of paradise and cast dust on my head and throw myself on the ground before the gates of paradise, mourning in great lamentation, beseeching the Lord. Perhaps he will hear me and send his angel to bring me some of the fruit you desire.”

31.2 Adam answered and said: “No, my son, I do not desire it, even though I am suffering infirmity and great pain in my body.”

31.3 Seth answered: “What is pain, my lord, father, for I do not know. Do not send us away, but tell us [for inwardly we do not know.]”

Adam’s Story of the Fall

32.1 Adam answered and said: “Hear me, my children. When God made us, me and your mother, and placed us in paradise and gave us all fruitbearing trees for food, he forbade us, saying: ‘Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is in the midst of paradise, you may not eat.’

32.2 God, however, gave part of paradise to me, and part to your mother: to me he gave the tree of the eastern and northern part (which is against the north ?), and to your mother he gave the southern and western part.

33.1 The Lord God gave us two angels to watch over us.

33.2 The hour came for the angels to ascend to the sight of God for worship. At once, the Devil, our adversary, found the place.

33.3 Then she ate and gave to me to eat.

34.1 Immediately, the Lord God grew angry with us and said to me: ‘Because you have forsaken my mandate and have not kept my word which I entrusted to you, I will bring upon your body seventy afflictions. You will be racked with pains from the top of your head, eyes, and ears, to the bottom of your feet, and in every single member.’ This he counted as punishment fitting in suffering [to the seriousness of our transgression] concerning the trees (of suffering for the transgression of the fruit of the tree?)

34.2 The Lord sent all these ills upon me and all our generations.”

Comand to Retrieve the Oil

35.1 Saying this to all his children, Adam was seized with great pains, and crying out with a great voice, he said: “What shall I do, I who am unfortunate, being in so much pain?”

35.2 When Eve saw him, she began to cry and said: “My Lord God, transfer his pain over to me, since it was I who sinned.” Eve then said to Adam: “My lord, give me part of your pain, since by me this blame came upon you.”

36.1 Adam then said to Eve: “Rise, go with my son, Seth, near to the gates of paradise and cast dust on your heads, and prostrate yourself on the ground, lamenting in the sight of God.

36.2 Perhaps he will take pity and send his angel over to the tree of his mercy from which flows the oil of life, and will give you a little of it with which to anoint me so that I may have rest from these pains with which I am consumed.”

Encounter with the Beast

37.1 Seth and his mother went away to the gates of paradise. As they were walking, there suddenly appeared the serpent, the beast, who attacked and bit Seth.

37.2 When Eve saw this, she said: “Alas, woe is me, for I am cursed because I did not keep the precepts of the Lord.”

37.3 Eve said to the serpent in a great voice: “O cursed beast, why are you not afraid to cast yourself at the image of God, but dare to fight against it? Why have your teeth prevailed?”

38.1 The beast answered in a human voice: “O Eve, was our malice ever not against you? Isn’t our anger against you?

38.2 Tell me, Eve. How could you open your mouth to eat the fruit which the Lord God commanded you not to eat. Now, however, you are not able to bear it, if I should begin to reproach you?”

39.1 Then Seth said to the beast: “May the Lord God reproach you. Be mute, grow silent, close your mouth, cursed enemy of the truth, disorder of destruction. Fall back from the image of God until the day when the Lord God shall order you to be brought in for trial.”

39.2 The beast said to Seth: “Behold, I am going away, just as you have said, from the face of the image of God.” At once the wound from its teeth disappeared from Seth.

Arrival at Paradise

40.1 Seth and his mother then walked to the region of paradise for the oil of mercy to anoint the sick Adam. Arriving at the gate of paradise, they picked up dust from the ground and cast it on their heads, and prostrated themselves on the ground and began to lament with a great moan, beseeching the Lord God that He might have mercy on Adam in his pains, and send his angel to give them some oil from the tree of his mercy.

41.1 41:1 [FROM THE GOS. OF NICO. 41:1 [After they had prayed and pleaded for many hours, behold, the angel Michael appeared to them and said: “I was sent to you by the Lord. I was given power over the human body.

41.2 I tell you, Seth, man of God, do not weep, praying and pleading for the oil of the tree of mercy to anoint your father Adam on account of the pains of his body.

Michael’s Reply

42.1 For in no wise can you receive any until the last days, 42:2 after 550 years have passed.

42.2 Then the most loving king of God will come upon the earth to resurrect the body of Adam, and, with him, the bodies of all the dead. The very Son of God, when he comes, will be baptized in the river Jordan, and when he comes forth from the water of the Jordan, he will then anoint all who believe in him with the oil of his mercy.

42.3 42:4 This oil of mercy will be from generation to generation on those who are reborn of water and the Holy Spirit into eternal life. 42:5 Then, the most loving Son of God will descend into the earth and lead your father, Adam, back into paradise to the tree of mercy. END NIC]

Return to Adam

43.1 But you, Seth. go to your father, Adam, for the time of his life is complete. Six days hence, his soul will go forth from his body, and, when it does, you will see great wonders in heaven and on earth, and in the lights of heaven.”

43.2 Saying this, Michael at once withdrew from Seth. Seth and Eve went home, carrying with them [a small branch and] spices — nard, crocus, calaminth, and cinnamon. [III “Legend of the Holy Rood”]

44.1 When Seth and his mother reached Adam, they said to him [III all that had been done on the way, and said] that the beast, the serpent, had bitten Seth.

Adam’s Rebuke of Eve

44.2 Adam said to Eve: “What have you done? You have brought on us a great affliction, fault and sin unto all our generations.

44.3 What you have done will be passed on to your children after my death, for those who arise from us will not have all they need from their labors, but will be lacking. They will curse us, saying:

44.4 “Our parents, who were from the beginning, brought all these evils on us.'” Hearing this, Eve began to weep and moan. [III “Legend of the wood of the Cross”]

Death of Adam

45.1 Just as Michael had predicted, after six days the death of Adam came.

45.2 45:2 When Adam knew that the hour of his death had come, he said to all his children: Now I am 930 years old, and if I die, bury me beside the great garden of God near his dwelling.”

45.3 And it happened that, when he had finished all his words, he gave up his spirit..

Angelic Liturgy

46.1 The sun, moon and stars grew dark for seven days. Seth embraced the body of his father and mourned over it. Eve cast her eyes upon the ground with her hands clasped above her head and her head placed on her knees. All her children wept with very bitter tears.

46.2 46:2 Then Michael the angel appeared, standing at Adam’s head, and said to Seth: “Arise from the body of your father, and come with me and see what the Lord God has arranged for him. He is his creature and he has taken pity on him.

Assumption of Adam to Paradise

47.1 Then all the angels, playing trumpets, said: “Blessed are you, Lord, for you have taken pity on your creature.”

47.3 Then Seth saw the hand of the Lord outstretched, holding Adam. He handed him over to Michael, saying:

47.5 “Let him be in your care until the day of retribution, in supplication until the last years when I shall change his mourning into joy. Then he will sit on the throne of him who beguiled him.”

Adam and Abel’s Funerary Rites

48.1 Again the Lord said to the angels Michael and Uriel: “Bring me 3 linen shrouds and stretch them over Adam. Bring other shrouds and stretch them over Abel, his son. Then bury Adam and his son.”

48.2 And all the virtues of the angels processed before Adam, and thus was the dormition of the dead sanctified.

48.3 The angels Michael and Uriel buried Adam and Abel in the regions of paradise which Seth and his mother saw, but no one else. Michael and Uriel: “Just as you see us doing, likewise bury your dead.” [III+***Legend of the Wood of the Cross*** ]III

Two Stelae Legend

49.1 Six days after Adam’s death, Eve knew her own death [was near], so she gathered together all her sons and daughters, who were Seth along with his thirty brothers and thirty sisters. Eve said to them all:

49.2 ‘”Hear me, my children, that I might recount for you how I and your father transgressed the precept of God. Michael the archangel said to us:

49.3 ‘On account of your conspiracies, our Lord will bring upon your race the wrath of his judgment, first by water, and second by fire. By these two will the Lord judge all the human race.’

50.1 But hear me, my children! Make tablets of stone, and other tablets of earth, and write on them my whole life, and that of your father, which you have heard from us and seen.

50.2 If he judges our race by water, the tablets of earth will dissolve, but the tablets of stone will endure. If, however, he judges our race by fire, the tablets of stone will be destroyed, but the tablets of earth will be fired.”

50.3 When she had said all these things to her children, she stretched out her hand toward heaven, knelt upon the earth, worshipped God, and giving thanks, gave up her spirit.

Eve’s Funeral and Epilogue

51.1 Afterwards, all her children buried her with great weeping. After they had mourned her for four days, Michael appeared to them and said to Seth:

51.3 “Man of God, mourn no longer than 6 days, for the 7th day is the sign of the resurrection, the repose of the coming age, and on the 7th day the Lord rested from all his works. [III+ from all his work. Indeed, the 8th day is [the sign] of the future and eternal blessedness, in which all the holy will reign throughout endless ages with the Creator and Savior himself, in both soul and body, never again to die. Amen. III]

51.3 Then Seth made tablets.

History of the Stelae

52.1 52 Then Seth made 2 tablets of stone and two of earth, (and he devised the caps of letters?) and wrote on them the life of this father, Adam, and his mother, Eve, which he had heard from them and seen with his own eyes. He placed the tablets in the middle of his father’s house in the oratory where he prayed to the Lord. After the flood, these written tablets were seen by many men (these written stones?) but were legible to no one. Solomon, however, being wise, saw the writing and prayed to the Lord. There appeared to him an angel of the Lord, saying: “I am he who held the hand of Seth, that he might write these stones with his finger (with an iron finger/ with an iron stylus?). You will be knowledgeable of these writings, so that you might know and understand (Whence they are ) what all these stone contain, and where the oratory was where Adam and Eve worshipped the Lord God. You must build there the temple of the Lord, which is the house of prayer. Then Solomon completed the temple of the Lord God, and called these letters ‘achiliacae,’ that is, written without the teaching of words’ (‘achiliacae’ stones, which is in Latin, teaching written without lips’ / achiliacae’ which is in Latin, parchments ‘written without the teaching of books’ ?) by the finger of Seth, while the angel of the Lord held his hand.

53.1 On these stones was found what Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied before the flood about the coming of Christ: “Behold the Lord will come in his sanctuary (in his holy soldiers, in his soldiers, in his holy clouds ?) to render judgment on all and to accuse the impious of all their works by which they have spoken concerning him Ñ sinners, impious murmurers, and the irreligious who have lived according to their feelings of desire, and whose mouths have spoken pridefully.] [Those whose mouths have spoken pridefully will go to Hades, but the just will surely go rejoicing into the kingdom of heaven.

54.1 (Adam entered paradise after forty days, and Eve after eighty. Adam was in paradise for seven years and near to the day they moved each one of the beasts [?])IV.

Octapartite Adam

55.1 It must be known that the body of Adam was formed of eight parts. The first part was of the dust of the earth, from which was made his flesh, and thereby he was sluggish. The next part was of the sea, from which was made his blood, and thereby he was aimless and fleeing. The third part was of the stones of the earth, from which his bones were made, and thereby he was hard and covetous. The fourth part was of the clouds, from which were made his thoughts, and thereby he was immoderate. The fifth part was of the wind, from which was made his breath, and thereby he was fickle. The sixth part was of the sun, from which were made his eyes, and thereby he was handsome and beautiful. The seventh part was of the light of the world, from which he was made pleasing, and thereby he had knowledge. The eight part was of the Holy Spirit, from which was made his soul, and thereby are the bishops, priests, and all the saints and elect of God.

Place of Adam’s Creation

56.1 It must also be known that God made and formed Adam in that place where Jesus was born, that is, in the city of Bethlehem, which is in the center of the earth. There Adam was made from the four corners of the earth, when angels brought some of the dust of the earth from its parts, viz. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. This earth was white and pure like the sun and it was gathered together from the four rivers, that is, the Geon, Phison, Tigris, and Euphrates. Man was made in the image of God, and he blew into his face the breath of life, which is the soul. For just as he was gathers from the four rivers, thus from the four winds he received his breath.

Adam’s Name

57.1 When Adam was made, and there was no name assigned to him yet, the Lord said to the four angels to seek a name for him. Michael went out to the east and saw the eastern star, named Ancolim, and took its first letter from it. Gabriel went out to the south, and saw the southern star, named Disis, and took its first letter from it. Raphael went out to the north, and saw the northern star, named Arthos, and took its first latter from it. Uriel went out to the west, and saw the western star, named Mencembrion, and took its first letter from it. When the letter were brought together, the Lord said to Uriel: “read these letters.” He read them and said, “Adam.” The Lord said: “Thus shall his name be called. “Here ends the life of our protoplast, Adam, and his wife, Eve.

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The Life of Adam and Eve (Slavonic Translation)

xxviii 1 And we sat together before the gate of paradise, Adam weeping with his face bent down to the earth, lay on the ground lamenting. And seven days passed by and we had nothing
2 to eat and were consumed with great hunger, and I Eve cried with a loud voice: ‘Pity me, O Lord, My Creator; for my sake Adam suffereth thus!’

xxxix 1 And I said to Adam: ‘Rise up! my lord, that we may seek us food; for now my spirit faileth me and my heart within me is brought low.’ Then Adam spake to me: ‘I have thoughts of
2 killing thee, but I fear since God created thine image and thou showest penitence and criest to God; hence my heart hath not departed from thee.’

xxx 1 And Adam arose and we roamed through all lands and found nothing to eat save nettles (and) grass of the field. And we returned again to the gates of paradise and cried aloud and entreated: ‘Have compassion on thy creature.
2 O Lord Creator, allow us food.’

xxxi 1 And for fifteen days continuously we entreated. Then we heard Michael the archangel and Joel
2 praying for us, and Joel the archangel was commanded by the Lord, and he took a seventh part of paradise and gave it to us. Then the
3 Lord said: ‘Thorns and thistles shall spring up from under thy hands; and from thy sweat shalt thou eat (bread), and thy wife shall tremble when she looketh upon thee.’

xxxii 1 The archangel Joel said to Adam: ‘Thus saith the Lord; I did not create thy wife to command thee, but to obey; why art thou obedient to thy wife?’ Again Joel the archangcl bade Adam separate the cattle and all kinds of flying and creeping things and animals, both wild and tame; and to give names to all things. Then indeed
3 he took the oxen and began to plough.

xxxiii 1 Then the devil approached and stood before the oxen, and hindered Adam in tilling the field and said to Adam: ‘Mine are the things of
2 earth, the things of Heaven are God’s; but if thou wilt be mine, thou shalt labour on the earth; but if thou wilt be God’s, (pray) go away to paradise.’ Adam said: ‘The things
3 of Heaven are the Lord’s, and the things of earth and Paradise and the whole Universe.’

xxxiv 1 The devil said: ‘I do not suffer thee to till the field, except thou write the bond that thou art mine.’ Adam replied: ‘Whosoever is lord of
2 the earth, to the same do I (belong) and my children.’ Then the devil was overcome with joy. (But Adam was not ignorant that the Lord
3 would descend on earth and tread the devil under foot.) The devil said: ‘Write me thy
4 bond.’ And Adam wrote: ‘Who is lord of the earth, to the same do I belong and my children.’

xxxv 1 Eve said to Adam, ‘Rise up, my lord, let us pray to God in this cause that He set us free from that devil, for thou art in this strait on my account.’

But Adam said: ‘Eve, since thou repentest of
2 thy misdeed, my heart will hearken to thee, for the Lord created thee out of my ribs. Let us fast forty days perchance the Lord will have pity on us and will leave us understanding and life.’ I, for my part, said: ‘Do thou, (my) lord,
3 fast forty days, but I will fast forty-four.’

xxxvi 1 And Adam said to me: ‘Haste thee to the river, named Tigris, and take a great stone and place it under thy feet, and enter into the stream and clothe thyself with water, as with a cloak, up to the neck, and pray to God in thy heart and let no word proceed out of thy mouth.’ And
2 I said: ‘O (my) lord, with my whole heart will I call upon God.’ And Adam said to me:
3 ‘Take great care of thyself. Except thou seest me and all my tokens, depart not out of the water, nor trust in the words, which are said to thee, lest thou fall again into the snare.’ And
4 Adam came to Jordan and he entered into the water and he plunged himself altogether into the flood, even (to) the hairs of his head, while he made supplication to God and sent (up) prayers to Him.

xxxvii 1And there, the angels came together and all living creatures, wild and tame, and all birds that fly, (and) they surrounded Adam, like a wall, praying to God for Adam.

xxxviii 1 The devil came to me, wearing the form and brightness of an angel, and shedding big teardrops, (and) said to me: ‘Come out of the water,
2 Eve, God hath heard thy prayers and (heard) us angels. God hath fulfilled the prayers of those who intercede on thy behalf. God hath sent me to thee, that thou mayst come out of the water.’

xxxix 1 But I (Eve) perceived that he was the devil and answered him nothing. But Adam (when) he returned from Jordan, saw the devil’s footprints, and feared lest perchance he had deceived me; but when he had remarked me standing in the water he was overcome with joy (and) he took
2 me and led me out of the water.

xl 1 Then Adam cried out with a loud voice: ‘Be silent, Eve, for already is my spirit straitened in my body; arise, go forth, utter prayers to God, till I deliver up my spirit to God.’

(Passage follows exactly parallel to Apocalypsis Mosis xxxii. seq., but in abbreviated form.)

Acts of A King

In the year 332 B.C.E., in the process of assembling the greatest empire the world had ever seen, Alexander the Great conquered the region of Palestine. Within a short time, however, the young Macedonian died, and his remaining generals divided the empire among themselves. Naturally, this division did not occur entirely peacefully, as each of the generals jockeyed for the position of greatest power. It is in this context of war and the ebb and flow of power that the present scroll finds its most natural setting.

Alexander’s general Ptolemy came to control Egypt, while, after various battles that shall not concern us here, another general, Seleucus, took power in Syria. For the next decades, Palestine was ground between these upper and lower millstones as the two generals fought to control the region, regarded by each as crucial to the defense of his own realm. Eventually Ptolemy now styling himself king and bearing an appropriately grandiose name, Ptolemy T Soter (the Greek word for “savior”) took control of Palestine more or less permanently. The Jews remained under aegis of Egypt for virtually all of the third century, only passing to the Syrian realm in the year 199/8 B.C.E.

Using biblical imagery and cast in the form of a prophecy, this scroll seems to be describing two of the four separate occasions on which Ptolemy I conquered Palestine. Which two of the four is uncertain, not only because of what has been lost from the scroll, but also because our knowledge of Ptolemy’s campaigns is spotty and susceptible to various interpretations.

The text hegins with a picture of general conquest, apparently including the notion of God himself fighting on the side of the enemy forces (1. 5). Lines 2-4 draw their imagery from Deuteronomy 28.

Frag. 1 2[ . . . ] Egypt and Zion ~and [ . . . ] 3[ . . . For it is a grim-fac]ed nation. Then they shall consume [the fruit of their livestock . . . ] 4[All-l their [s]ons and daught[e]rs [shall be] besieged in [their settlements . . . ] sand the LORD* shall cause [His] spirit to pass through their settlements and [all of their land.. l

The focus now is on the return of the enemy forces, this time to conquer the “Temple city,” Jerusalem. Line 9 is a paraphrase of conquest imagery found in J eremiah 48:32.

6[Then] he shall come to Egypt and sell her dust and [stones . . . He shall come] to the temple city and seize it, together with all its booty . . . ] 8He shall overthrow the nations and return to Egyp[t . . . ~ 9[The destroyer shall fall] upon the vintage and the sum[mer fruits . . . And after] all these things, the children [of Israel] shall return [to the LORD . . . 1

The Testament of Abraham

Version 1

  1. Abraham lived the measure of his life, nine hundred and ninety-five years, and having lived all the years of his life in quietness, gentleness, and righteousness, the righteous one was exceeding hospitable; for, pitching his tent in the cross-ways at the oak of Mamre, he received every one, both rich and poor, kings and rulers, the maimed and the helpless, friends and strangers, neighbors and travelers, all alike did the devout, all-holy, righteous, and hospitable Abraham entertain. Even upon him, however, there came the common, inexorable, bitter lot of death, and the uncertain end of life. Therefore the Lord God, summoning his archangel Michael, said to him: Go down, chief-captain Michael, to Abraham and speak to him concerning his death, that he may set his affairs in order, for I have blessed him as the stars of heaven, and as the sand by the sea-shore, and he is in abundance of long life and many possessions, and is becoming exceeding rich. Beyond all men, moreover, he is righteous in every goodness, hospitable and loving to the end of his life; but go, archangel Michael, to Abraham, my beloved friend, and announce to him his death and assure him thus: You shall at this time depart from this vain world, and shall quit the body, and go to your own Lord among the good.
  2. And the chief-captain departed from before the face of God, and went down to Abraham to the oak of Mamre, and found the righteous Abraham in the field close by, sitting beside yokes of oxen for ploughing, together with the sons of Masek and other servants, to the number of twelve. And behold the chief-captain came to him, and Abraham, seeing the chief-captain Michael coming from afar, like to a very comely warrior, arose and met him as was his custom, meeting and entertaining all strangers. And the chief-captain saluted him and said: Hail, most honored father, righteous soul chosen of God, true son of the heavenly one. Abraham said to the chief-captain: Hail, most honored warrior, bright as the sun and most beautiful above all the sons of men; you are welcome; therefore I beseech your presence, tell me whence the youth of your age has come; teach me, your suppliant, whence and from what army and from what journey your beauty has come hither. The chief-captain said: I, O righteous Abraham, come from the great city. I have been sent by the great king to take the place of a good friend of his, for the king has summoned him. And Abraham said, Come, my Lord, go with me as far as my field. The chief-captain said: I come; and going into the field of the ploughing, they sat down beside the company. And Abraham said to his servants, the sons of Masek: Go to the herd of horses, and bring two horses, quiet, and gentle and tame, so that I and this stranger may sit thereon. But the chief-captain said, Nay, my Lord, Abraham, let them not bring horses, for I abstain from ever sitting upon any four-footed beast. Is not my king rich in much merchandise, having power both over men and all kinds of cattle? Let us go, then, O righteous soul, walking lightly until we reach your house. And Abraham said, Amen, be it so.
  3. And as they went on from the field toward his house, beside that way there stood a cypress tree, and by the command of the Lord the tree cried out with a human voice, saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God that calls himself to those that love him; but Abraham hid the mystery, thinking that the chief-captain had not heard the voice of the tree. And coming near to the house they sat down in the court, and Isaac seeing the face of the angel said to Sarah his mother, My lady mother, behold, the man sitting with my father Abraham is not a son of the race of those that dwell on the earth. And Isaac ran, and saluted him, and fell at the feet of the Incorporeal, and the Incorporeal blessed him and said, The Lord God will grant you his promise that he made to your father Abraham and to his seed, and will also grant you the precious prayer of your father and your mother. Abraham said to Isaac his son, My son Isaac, draw water from the well, and bring it me in the vessel, that we may wash the feet of this stranger, for he is tired, having come to us from off a long journey. And Isaac ran to the well and drew water in the vessel and brought it to them, and Abraham went up and washed the feet of the chief captain Michael, and the heart of Abraham was moved, and he wept over the stranger. And Isaac, seeing his father weeping, wept also, and the chief captain, seeing them weeping, also wept with them, and the tears of the chief captain fell upon the vessel into the water of the basin and became precious stones. And Abraham seeing the marvel, and being astonished, took the stones secretly, and hid the mystery, keeping it by himself in his heart.
  4. And Abraham said to Isaac his son: Go, my beloved son, into the inner chamber of the house and beautify it. Spread for us there two couches, one for me and one for this man that is guest with us this day. Prepare for us there a seat and a candlestick and a table with abundance of every good thing. Beautify the chamber, my son, and spread under us linen and purple and fine linen. Burn there every precious and excellent incense, and bring sweet-smelling plants from the garden and fill our house with them. Kindle seven lamps full of oil, so that we may rejoice, for this man that is our guest this day is more glorious than kings or rulers, and his appearance surpasses all the sons of men. And Isaac prepared all things well, and Abraham taking the archangel Michael went into the chamber, and they both sat down upon the couches, and between them he placed a table with abundance of every good thing. Then the chief captain arose and went out, as if by constraint of his belly to make issue of water, and ascended to heaven in the twinkling of an eye, and stood before the Lord, and said to him: Lord and Master, let your power know that I am unable to remind that righteous man of his death, for I have not seen upon the earth a man like him, pitiful, hospitable, righteous, truthful, devout, refraining from every evil deed. And now know, Lord, that I cannot remind him of his death. And the Lord said: Go down, chief-captain Michael, to my friend Abraham, and do whatever he says to you, and eat with him whatever he eats. And I will send my Holy Spirit upon his son Isaac, and will put the remembrance of his death into the heart of Isaac, so that even he in a dream may see the death of his father, and Isaac will relate the dream, and you shall interpret it, and he himself will know his end. And the chief-captain said, Lord, all the heavenly spirits are incorporeal, and neither eat nor drink, and this man has set before me a table with abundance of all good things earthly and corruptible. Now, Lord, what shall I do? How shall I escape him, sitting at one table with him? The Lord said: Go down to him, and take no thought for this, for when you sit down with him, I will send upon you a devouring spirit, and it will consume out of your hands and through your mouth all that is on the table. Rejoice together with him in everything, only you shall interpret well the things of the vision, that Abraham may know the sickle of death and the uncertain end of life, and may make disposal of all his possessions, for I have blessed him above the sand of the sea and as the stars of heaven.
  5. Then the chief captain went down to the house of Abraham, and sat down with him at the table, and Isaac served them. And when the supper was ended, Abraham prayed after his custom, and the chief-captain prayed together with him, and each lay down to sleep upon his couch. And Isaac said to his father, Father, I too would fain sleep with you in this chamber, that I also may hear your discourse, for I love to hear the excellence of the conversation of this virtuous man. Abraham said, Nay, my son, but go to your own chamber and sleep on your own couch, lest we be troublesome to this man. Then Isaac, having received the prayer from them, and having blessed them, went to his own chamber and lay down upon his couch. But the Lord cast the thought of death into the heart of Isaac as in a dream, and about the third hour of the night Isaac awoke and rose up from his couch, and came running to the chamber where his father was sleeping together with the archangel. Isaac, therefore, on reaching the door cried out, saying, My father Abraham, arise and open to me quickly, that I may enter and hang upon your neck, and embrace you before they take you away from me. Abraham therefore arose and opened to him, and Isaac entered and hung upon his neck, and began to weep with a loud voice. Abraham therefore being moved at heart, also wept with a loud voice, and the chief-captain, seeing them weeping, wept also. Sarah being in her room, heard their weeping, and came running to them, and found them embracing and weeping. And Sarah said with weeping, My Lord Abraham, what is this that you weep? Tell me, my Lord, has this brother that has been entertained by us this day brought you tidings of Lot, your brother’s son, that he is dead? Is it for this that you grieve thus? The chief-captain answered and said to her, Nay, my sister Sarah, it is not as you say, but your son Isaac, methinks, beheld a dream, and came to us weeping, and we seeing him were moved in our hearts and wept.
  6. Then Sarah, hearing the excellence of the conversation of the chief-captain, straightway knew that it was an angel of the Lord that spoke. Sarah therefore signified to Abraham to come out towards the door, and said to him, My Lord Abraham, do you know who this man is? Abraham said, I know not. Sarah said, You know, my Lord, the three men from heaven that were entertained by us in our tent beside the oak of Mamre, when you killed the kid without blemish, and set a table before them. After the flesh had been eaten, the kid rose again, and sucked its mother with great joy. Do you not know, my Lord Abraham, that by promise they gave to us Isaac as the fruit of the womb? Of these three holy men this is one. Abraham said, O Sarah, in this you speak the truth. Glory and praise from our God and the Father. For late in the evening when I washed his feet in the basin I said in my heart, These are the feet of one of the three men that I washed then; and his tears that fell into the basin then became precious stones. And shaking them out from his lap he gave them to Sarah, saying, If you believe me not, look now at these. And Sarah receiving them bowed down and saluted and said, Glory be to God that shows us wonderful things. And now know, my Lord Abraham, that there is among us the revelation of something, whether it be evil or good!
  7. And Abraham left Sarah, and went into the chamber, and said to Isaac, Come hither, my beloved son, tell me the truth, what it was you saw and what befell you that you came so hastily to us. And Isaac answering began to say, I saw, my Lord, in this night the sun and the moon above my head, surrounding me with its rays and giving me light. As I gazed at this and rejoiced, I saw the heaven opened, and a man bearing light descend from it, shining more than seven suns. And this man like the sun came and took away the sun from my head, and went up into the heavens from whence he came, but I was greatly grieved that he took away the sun from me. After a little, as I was still sorrowing and sore troubled, I saw this man come forth from heaven a second time, and he took away from me the moon also from off my head, and I wept greatly and called upon that man of light, and said, Do not, my Lord, take away my glory from me; pity me and hear me, and if you take away the sun from me, then leave the moon to me. He said, Suffer them to be taken up to the king above, for he wishes them there. And he took them away from me, but he left the rays upon me. The chief-captain said, Hear, O righteous Abraham; the sun which your son saw is you his father, and the moon likewise is Sarah his mother. The man bearing light who descended from heaven, this is the one sent from God who is to take your righteous soul from you. And now know, O most honored Abraham, that at this time you shall leave this worldly life, and remove to God. Abraham said to the chief captain O strangest of marvels! And now are you he that shall take my soul from me? The chief-captain said to him, I am the chief-captain Michael, that stands before the Lord, and I was sent to you to remind you of your death, and then I shall depart to him as I was commanded. Abraham said, Now I know that you are an angel of the Lord, and wast sent to take my soul, but I will not go with you; but do whatever you are commanded.
  8. The chief-captain hearing these words immediately vanished, and ascending into heaven stood before God, and told all that he had seen in the house of Abraham; and the chief-captain said this also to his Lord, Thus says your friend Abraham, I will not go with you, but do whatever you are commanded; and now, O Lord Almighty, does your glory and immortal kingdom order anything? God said to the chief-captain Michael, Go to my friend Abraham yet once again, and speak to him thus, Thus says the Lord your God, he that brought you into the land of promise, that blessed you above the sand of the sea and above the stars of heaven, that opened the womb of barrenness of Sarah, and granted you Isaac as the fruit of the womb in old age, Verily I say unto you that blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your seed, and I will give you all that you shall ask from me, for I am the Lord your God, and besides me there is no other. Tell me why you have rebelled against me, and why there is grief in you, and why you rebelled against my archangel Michael? Do you not know that all who have come from Adam and Eve have died, and that none of the prophets has escaped death? None of those that rule as kings is immortal; none of your forefathers has escaped the mystery of death. They have all died, they have all departed into Hades, they are all gathered by the sickle of death. But upon you I have not sent death, I have not suffered any deadly disease to come upon you, I have not permitted the sickle of death to meet you, I have not allowed the nets of Hades to enfold you, I have never wished you to meet with any evil. But for good comfort I have sent my chief-captain Michael to you, that you may know your departure from the world, and set your house in order, and all that belongs to you, and bless Isaac your beloved son. And now know that I have done this not wishing to grieve you. Wherefore then have you said to my chief-captain, I will not go with you? Wherefore have you spoken thus? Do you not know that if I give leave to death and he comes upon you, then I should see whether you would come or not?
  9. And the chief-captain receiving the exhortations of the Lord went down to Abraham, and seeing him the righteous one fell upon his face to the ground as one dead, and the chief-captain told him all that he had heard from the Most High. Then the holy and just Abraham rising with many tears fell at the feet of the Incorporeal, and besought him, saying, I beseech you, chief-captain of the hosts above, since you have wholly deigned to come yourself to me a sinner and in all things your unworthy servant, I beseech you even now, O chief-captain, to carry my word yet again to the Most High, and you shall say to him, Thus says Abraham your servant, Lord, Lord, in every work and word which I have asked of you, you have heard me, and hast fulfilled all my counsel. Now, Lord, I resist not your power, for I too know that I am not immortal but mortal. Since therefore to your command all things yield, and fear and tremble at the face of your power, I also fear, but I ask one request of you, and now, Lord and Master, hear my prayer, for while still in this body I desire to see all the inhabited earth, and all the creations which you established by one word, and when I see these, then if I shall depart from life I shall be without sorrow. So the chief-captain went back again, and stood before God, and told him all, saying, Thus says your friend Abraham, I desired to behold all the earth in my lifetime before I died. And the Most High hearing this, again commanded the chief-captain Michael, and said to him, Take a cloud of light, and the angels that have power over the chariots, and go down, take the righteous Abraham upon a chariot of the cherubim, and exalt him into the air of heaven that he may behold all the earth.
  10. And the archangel Michael went down and took Abraham upon a chariot of the cherubim, and exalted him into the air of heaven, and led him upon the cloud together with sixty angels, and Abraham ascended upon the chariot over all the earth. And Abraham saw the world as it was in that day, some ploughing, others driving wains, in one place men herding flocks, and in another watching them by night, and dancing and playing and harping, in another place men striving and contending at law, elsewhere men weeping and having the dead in remembrance. He saw also the newly-wedded received with honor, and in a word he saw all things that are done in the world, both good and bad. Abraham therefore passing over them saw men bearing swords, wielding in their hands sharpened swords, and Abraham asked the chief-captain, Who are these? The chief-captain said, These are thieves, who intend to commit murder, and to steal and burn and destroy. Abraham said, Lord, Lord, hear my voice, and command that wild beasts may come out of the wood and devour them. And even as he spoke there came wild beasts out of the wood and devoured them. And he saw in another place a man with a woman committing fornication with each other, and said, Lord, Lord, command that the earth may open and swallow them, and straightway the earth was cleft and swallowed them. And he saw in another place men digging through a house, and carrying away other men’s possessions, and he said, Lord, Lord, command that fire may come down from heaven and consume them. And even as he spoke, fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And straightway there came a voice from heaven to the chief-captain, saying thus, O chief-captain Michael, command the chariot to stop, and turn Abraham away that he may not see all the earth, for if he behold all that live in wickedness, he will destroy all creation. For behold, Abraham has not sinned, and has no pity on sinners, but I have made the world, and desire not to destroy any one of them, but wait for the death of the sinner, till he be converted and live. But take Abraham up to the first gate of heaven, that he may see there the judgments and recompenses, and repent of the souls of the sinners that he has destroyed.
  11. So Michael turned the chariot and brought Abraham to the east, to the first gate of heaven; and Abraham saw two ways, the one narrow and contracted, the other broad and spacious, and there he saw two gates, the one broad on the broad way, and the other narrow on the narrow way. And outside the two gates there he saw a man sitting upon a gilded throne, and the appearance of that man was terrible, as of the Lord. And they saw many souls driven by angels and led in through the broad gate, and other souls, few in number, that were taken by the angels through the narrow gate. And when the wonderful one who sat upon the golden throne saw few entering through the narrow gate, and many entering through the broad one, straightway that wonderful one tore the hairs of his head and the sides of his beard, and threw himself on the ground from his throne, weeping and lamenting. But when he saw many souls entering through the narrow gate, then he arose from the ground and sat upon his throne in great joy, rejoicing and exulting. And Abraham asked the chief-captain, My Lord chief-captain, who is this most marvelous man, adorned with such glory, and sometimes he weeps and laments, and sometimes he rejoices and exults? The incorporeal one said: This is the first-created Adam who is in such glory, and he looks upon the world because all are born from him, and when he sees many souls going through the narrow gate, then he arises and sits upon his throne rejoicing and exulting in joy, because this narrow gate is that of the just, that leads to life, and they that enter through it go into Paradise. For this, then, the first-created Adam rejoices, because he sees the souls being saved. But when he sees many souls entering through the broad gate, then he pulls out the hairs of his head, and casts himself on the ground weeping and lamenting bitterly, for the broad gate is that of sinners, which leads to destruction and eternal punishment. And for this the first-formed Adam falls from his throne weeping and lamenting for the destruction of sinners, for they are many that are lost, and they are few that are saved, for in seven thousand there is scarcely found one soul saved, being righteous and undefiled.
  12. While he was yet saying these things to me, behold two angels, fiery in aspect, and pitiless in mind, and severe in look, and they drove on thousands of souls, pitilessly lashing them with fiery thongs. The angel laid hold of one soul, and they drove all the souls in at the broad gate to destruction. So we also went along with the angels, and came within that broad gate, and between the two gates stood a throne terrible of aspect, of terrible crystal, gleaming as fire, and upon it sat a wondrous man bright as the sun, like to the Son of God. Before him stood a table like crystal, all of gold and fine linen, and upon the table there was lying a book, the thickness of it six cubits, and the breadth of it ten cubits, and on the right and left of it stood two angels holding paper and ink and pen. Before the table sat an angel of light, holding in his hand a balance, and on his left sat an angel all fiery, pitiless, and severe, holding in his hand a trumpet, having within it all-consuming fire with which to try the sinners. The wondrous man who sat upon the throne himself judged and sentenced the souls, and the two angels on the right and on the left wrote down, the one on the right the righteousness and the one on the left the wickedness. The one before the table, who held the balance, weighed the souls, and the fiery angel, who held the fire, tried the souls. And Abraham asked the chief-captain Michael, What is this that we behold? And the chief-captain said, These things that you see, holy Abraham, are the judgment and recompense. And behold the angel holding the soul in his hand, and he brought it before the judge, and the judge said to one of the angels that served him, Open me this book, and find me the sins of this soul. And opening the book he found its sins and its righteousness equally balanced, and he neither gave it to the tormentors, nor to those that were saved, but set it in the midst.
  13. And Abraham said, My Lord chief-captain, who is this most wondrous judge? And who are the angels that write down? And who is the angel like the sun, holding the balance? And who is the fiery angel holding the fire? The chief-captain said, Do you see, most holy Abraham, the terrible man sitting upon the throne? This is the son of the first created Adam, who is called Abel, whom the wicked Cain killed, and he sits thus to judge all creation, and examines righteous men and sinners. For God has said, I shall not judge you, but every man born of man shall be judged. Therefore he has given to him judgment, to judge the world until his great and glorious coming, and then, O righteous Abraham, is the perfect judgment and recompense, eternal and unchangeable, which no one can alter. For every man has come from the first-created, and therefore they are first judged here by his son, and at the second coming they shall be judged by the twelve tribes of Israel, every breath and every creature. But the third time they shall be judged by the Lord God of all, and then, indeed, the end of that judgment is near, and the sentence terrible, and there is none to deliver. And now by three tribunals the judgment of the world and the recompense is made, and for this reason a matter is not finally confirmed by one or two witnesses, but by three witnesses shall everything be established. The two angels on the right hand and on the left, these are they that write down the sins and the righteousness, the one on the right hand writes down the righteousness, and the one on the left the sins. The angel like the sun, holding the balance in his hand, is the archangel, Dokiel the just weigher, and he weighs the righteousnesses and sins with the righteousness of God. The fiery and pitiless angel, holding the fire in his hand, is the archangel Puruel, who has power over fire, and tries the works of men through fire, and if the fire consume the work of any man, the angel of judgment immediately seizes him, and carries him away to the place of sinners, a most bitter place of punishment. But if the fire approves the work of anyone, and does not seize upon it, that man is justified, and the angel of righteousness takes him and carries him up to be saved in the lot of the just. And thus, most righteous Abraham, all things in all men are tried by fire and the balance.
  14. And Abraham said to the chief-captain, My Lord the chief-captain, the soul which the angel held in his hand, why was it adjudged to be set in the midst? The chief-captain said, Listen, righteous Abraham. Because the judge found its sins. and its righteousnesses equal, he neither committed it to judgment nor to be saved, until the judge of all shall come. Abraham said to the chief-captain, And what yet is wanting for the soul to be saved? The chief-captain said, If it obtains one righteousness above its sins, it enters into salvation. Abraham said to the chief-captain, Come hither, chief-captain Michael, let us make prayer for this soul, and see whether God will hear us. The chief-captain said, Amen, be it so; and they made prayer and entreaty for the soul, and God heard them, and when they rose up from their prayer they did not see the soul standing there. And Abraham said to the angel, Where is the soul that you held in the midst? And the angel answered, It has been saved by your righteous prayer, and behold an angel of light has taken it and carried it up into Paradise. Abraham said, I glorify the name of God, the Most High, and his immeasurable mercy. And Abraham said to the chief-captain, I beseech you, archangel, hearken to my prayer, and let us yet call upon the Lord, and supplicate his compassion, and entreat his mercy for the souls of the sinners whom I formerly, in my anger, cursed and destroyed, whom the earth devoured, and the wild beasts tore in pieces, and the fire consumed through my words. Now I know that I have sinned before the Lord our God. Come then, O Michael, chief-captain of the hosts above, come, let us call upon God with tears that he may forgive me my sin, and grant them to me. And the chief-captain heard him, and they made entreaty before the Lord, and when they had called upon him for a long space, there came a voice from heaven saying, Abraham, Abraham, I have hearkened to your voice and your prayer, and forgive you your sin, and those whom you think that I destroyed I have called up and brought them into life by my exceeding kindness, because for a season I have requited them in judgment, and those whom I destroy living upon earth, I will not requite in death.
  15. And the voice of the Lord said also to the chief-captain Michael, Michael, my servant, turn back Abraham to his house, for behold his end has come near, and the measure of his life is fulfilled, that he may set all things in order, and then take him and bring him to me. So the chief-captain, turning the chariot and the cloud, brought Abraham to his house, and going into his chamber he sat upon his couch. And Sarah his wife came and embraced the feet of the Incorporeal, and spoke humbly, saying, I give you thanks, my Lord, that you have brought my Lord Abraham, for behold we thought he had been taken up from us. And his son Isaac also came and fell upon his neck, and in the same way all his men-slaves and women-slaves surrounded Abraham and embraced him, glorifying God. And the Incorporeal one said to them, Hearken, righteous Abraham. Behold your wife Sarah, behold also your beloved son Isaac, behold also all your men-servants and maid-servants round about you. Make disposition of all that you have, for the day has come near in which you shall depart from the body and go to the Lord once for all. Abraham said, Has the Lord said it, or do you say this of yourself? The chief-captain answered, Hearken, righteous Abraham. The Lord has commanded, and I tell it you. Abraham said, I will not go with you. The chief-captain, hearing these words, straightway went forth from the presence of Abraham, and went up into the heavens, and stood before God the Most High, and said, Lord Almighty, behold I have hearkened to Your friend Abraham in all he has said to You, and have fulfilled his requests. I have shown to him Your power, and all the earth and sea that is under heaven. I have shown to him judgment and recompense by means of cloud and chariots, and again he says, I will not go with you. And the Most High said to the angel, Does my friend Abraham say thus again, I will not go with you? The archangel said, Lord Almighty, he says thus, and I refrain from laying hands on him, because from the beginning he is Your friend, and has done all things pleasing in Your sight. There is no man like him on earth, not even Job the wondrous man, and therefore I refrain from laying hands on him. Command, therefore, Immortal King, what shall be done.
  16. Then the Most High said, Call me hither Death that is called the shameless countenance and the pitiless look. And Michael the Incorporeal went and said to Death, Come hither; the Lord of creation, the immortal king, calls you. And Death, hearing this, shivered and trembled, being possessed with great terror, and coming with great fear it stood before the invisible father, shivering, groaning and trembling, awaiting the command of the Lord. Therefore the invisible God said to Death, Come hither, you bitter and fierce name of the world, hide your fierceness, cover your corruption, and cast away your bitterness from you, and put on your beauty and all your glory, and go down to Abraham my friend, and take him and bring him to me. But now also I tell you not to terrify him, but bring him with fair speech, for he is my own friend. Having heard this, Death went out from the presence of the Most High, and put on a robe of great brightness, and made his appearance like the sun, and became fair and beautiful above the sons of men, assuming the form of an archangel, having his cheeks flaming with fire, and he departed to Abraham. Now the righteous Abraham went out of his chamber, and sat under the trees of Mamre, holding his chin in his hand, and awaiting the coming of the archangel Michael. And behold, a smell of sweet odor came to him, and a flashing of light, and Abraham turned and saw Death coming towards him in great glory and beauty. And Abraham arose and went to meet him, thinking that it was the chief-captain of God, and Death beholding him saluted him, saying, Rejoice, precious Abraham, righteous soul, true friend of the Most High God, and companion of the holy angels. Abraham said to Death, Hail you of appearance and form like the sun, most glorious helper, bringer of light, wondrous man, from whence does your glory come to us, and who are you, and whence do you come? Then Death said, Most righteous Abraham, behold I tell you the truth. I am the bitter lot of death. Abraham said to him, Nay, but you are the comeliness of the world, you are the glory and beauty of angels and men, you are fairer in form than every other, and do you say, I am the bitter lot of death, and not rather, I am fairer than every good thing. Death said, I tell you the truth. What the Lord has named me, that also I tell you. Abraham said, For what are you come hither? Death said, For your holy soul am I come. Then Abraham said, I know what you mean, but I will not go with you; and Death was silent and answered him not a word.
  17. Then Abraham arose, and went into his house, and Death also accompanied him there. And Abraham went up into his chamber, and Death went up with him. And Abraham lay down upon his couch, and Death came and sat by his feet. Then Abraham said, Depart, depart from me, for I desire to rest upon my couch. Death said, I will not depart until I take your spirit from you. Abraham said to him, By the immortal God I charge you to tell me the truth. Are you death? Death said to him, I am Death. I am the destroyer of the world. Abraham said, I beseech you, since you are Death, tell me if you come thus to all in such fairness and glory and beauty? Death said, Nay, my Lord Abraham, for your righteousnesses, and the boundless sea of your hospitality, and the greatness of your love towards God has become a crown upon my head, and in beauty and great peace and gentleness I approach the righteous, but to sinners I come in great corruption and fierceness and the greatest bitterness and with fierce and pitiless look. Abraham said, I beseech you, hearken to me, and show me your fierceness and all your corruption and bitterness. And Death said, You cannot behold my fierceness, most righteous Abraham. Abraham said, Yes, I shall be able to behold all your fierceness by means of the name of the living God, for the might of my God that is in heaven is with me. Then Death put off all his comeliness and beauty, and all his glory and the form like the sun with which he was clothed, and put upon himself a tyrant’s robe, and made his appearance gloomy and fiercer than all kind of wild beasts, and more unclean than all uncleanness. And he showed to Abraham seven fiery heads of serpents and fourteen faces, (one) of flaming fire and of great fierceness, and a face of darkness, and a most gloomy face of a viper, and a face of a most terrible precipice, and a face fiercer than an asp, and a face of a terrible lion, and a face of a cerastes and basilisk. He showed him also a face of a fiery scimitar, and a sword-bearing face, and a face of lightning, lightening terribly, and a noise of dreadful thunder. He showed him also another face of a fierce stormy sea, and a fierce rushing river, and a terrible three-headed serpent, and a cup mingled with poisons, and in short he showed to him great fierceness and unendurable bitterness, and every mortal disease as of the odor of Death. And from the great bitterness and fierceness there died servants and maid-servants in number about seven thousand, and the righteous Abraham came into indifference of death so that his spirit failed him.
  18. And the all-holy Abraham, seeing these things thus, said to Death, I beseech you, all-destroying Death, hide your fierceness, and put on your beauty and the shape which you had before. And straightway Death hid his fierceness, and put on his beauty which he had before. And Abraham said to Death, Why have you done this, that you have slain all my servants and maidservants? Has God sent you hither for this end this day? Death said, Nay, my Lord Abraham, it is not as you say, but on your account was I sent hither. Abraham said to Death, How then have these died? Has the Lord not spoken it? Death said, Believe, most righteous Abraham, that this also is wonderful, that you also were not taken away with them. Nevertheless I tell you the truth, for if the right hand of God had not been with you at that time, you also would have had to depart from this life. The righteous Abraham said, Now I know that I have come into indifference of death, so that my spirit fails, but I beseech you, all-destroying Death, since my servants have died before their time, come let us pray to the Lord our God that he may hear us and raise up those who died by your fierceness before their time. And Death said, Amen, be it so. Therefore Abraham arose and fell upon the face of the ground in prayer, and Death together with him, and the Lord sent a spirit of life upon those that were dead and they were made alive again. Then the righteous Abraham gave glory to God.
  19. And going up into his chamber he lay down, and Death came and stood before him. And Abraham said to him, Depart from me, for I desire to rest, because my spirit is in indifference. Death said, I will not depart from you until I take your soul. And Abraham with an austere countenance and angry look said to Death, Who has ordered you to say this? You say these words of yourself boastfully, and I will not go with you until the chief-captain Michael come to me, and I shall go with him. But this also I tell you, if you desire that I shall accompany you, explain to me all your changes, the seven fiery heads of serpents and what the face of the precipice is, and what the sharp sword, and what the loud-roaring river, and what the tempestuous sea that rages so fiercely. Teach me also the unendurable thunder, and the terrible lightning, and the evil-smelling cup mingled with poisons. Teach me concerning all these. And Death answered, Listen, righteous Abraham. For seven ages I destroy the world and lead all down to Hades, kings and rulers, rich and poor, slaves and free men, I convoy to the bottom of Hades, and for this I showed you the seven heads of serpents. The face of fire I showed you because many die consumed by fire, and behold death through a face of fire. The face of the precipice I showed you, because many men die descending from the tops of trees or terrible precipices and losing their life, and see death in the shape of a terrible precipice. The face of the sword I showed you because many are slain in wars by the sword, and see death as a sword. The face of the great rushing river I showed you because many are drowned and perish snatched away by the crossing of many waters and carried off by great rivers, and see death before their time. The face of the angry raging sea I showed you because many in the sea falling into great surges and becoming shipwrecked are swallowed up and behold death as the sea. The unendurable thunder and the terrible lightning I showed you because many men in the moment of anger meet with unendurable thunder and terrible lightning coming to seize upon men, and see death thus. I showed you also the poisonous wild beasts, asps and basilisks, leopards and lions and lions’ cubs, bears and vipers, and in short the face of every wild beast I showed you, most righteous one, because many men are destroyed by wild beasts, and others by poisonous snakes, serpents and asps and cerastes and basilisks and vipers, breathe out their life and die. I showed you also the destroying cups mingled with poison, because many men being given poison to drink by other men straightway depart unexpectedly.
  20. Abraham said, I beseech you, is there also an unexpected death? Tell me. Death said, Verily, verily, I tell you in the truth of God that there are seventy-two deaths. One is the just death, buying its fixed time, and many men in one hour enter into death being given over to the grave. Behold, I have told you all that you have asked, now I tell you, most righteous Abraham, to dismiss all counsel, and cease from asking anything once for all, and come, go with me, as the God and judge of all has commanded me. Abraham said to Death, Depart from me yet a little, that I may rest on my couch, for I am very faint at heart, for since I have seen you with my eyes my strength has failed me, all the limbs of my flesh seem to me a weight as of lead, and my spirit is distressed exceedingly. Depart for a little; for I have said I cannot bear to see your shape. Then Isaac his son came and fell upon his breast weeping, and his wife Sarah came and embraced his feet, lamenting bitterly. There came also his men slaves and women slaves and surrounded his couch, lamenting greatly. And Abraham came into indifference of death, and Death said to Abraham, Come, take my right hand, and may cheerfulness and life and strength come to you. For Death deceived Abraham, and he took his right hand, and straightway his soul adhered to the hand of Death. And immediately the archangel Michael came with a multitude of angels and took up his precious soul in his hands in a divinely woven linen cloth, and they tended the body of the just Abraham with divine ointments and perfumes until the third day after his death, and buried him in the land of promise, the oak of Mamre, but the angels received his precious soul, and ascended into heaven, singing the hymn of thrice holy to the Lord the God of all, and they set it there to worship the God and Father. And after great praise and glory had been given to the Lord, and Abraham bowed down to worship, there came the undefiled voice of the God and Father saying thus, Take therefore my friend Abraham into Paradise, where are the tabernacles of my righteous ones, and the abodes of my saints Isaac and Jacob in his bosom, where there is no trouble, nor grief, nor sighing, but peace and rejoicing and life unending. (And let us, too, my beloved brethren, imitate the hospitality of the patriarch Abraham, and attain to his virtuous way of life, that we may be thought worthy of the life eternal, glorifying the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; to whom be glory and power forever. Amen.).

Version 2

  1. It came to pass, when the days of the death of Abraham drew near, that the Lord said to Michael: Arise and go to Abraham, my servant, and say to him, You shall depart from life, for lo! The days of your temporal life are fulfilled: so that he may set his house in order before he die.
  2. And Michael went and came to Abraham, and found him sitting before his oxen for ploughing, and he was exceeding old in appearance, and had his son in his arms. Abraham, therefore, seeing the archangel Michael, rose from the ground and saluted him, not knowing who he was, and said to him: The Lord preserve you. May your journey be prosperous with you. And Michael answered him: You are kind, good father. Abraham answered and said to him: Come, draw near to me, brother, and sit down a little while, that I may order a beast to be brought that we may go to my house, and you may rest with me, for it is toward evening, and in the morning arise and go wherever you will, lest some evil beast meet you and do you hurt. And Michael enquired of Abraham, saying: Tell me your name, before I enter your house, lest I be burdensome to you. Abraham answered and said, My parents called me Abram, and the Lord named me Abraham, saying: Arise and depart from your house, and from your kindred, and go into the land which I shall show unto you. And when I went away into the land which the Lord showed me, he said to me: Your name shall no more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. Michael answered and said to him: Pardon me, my father, experienced man of God, for I am a stranger, and I have heard of you that you went forty furlongs and brought a goat and slew it, entertaining angels in your house, that they might rest there. Thus speaking together, they arose and went towards the house. And Abraham called one of his servants, and said to him: Go, bring me a beast that the stranger may sit upon it, for he is wearied with his journey. And Michael said: Trouble not the youth, but let us go lightly until we reach the house, for I love your company.
  3. And arising they went on, and as they drew near to the city, about three furlongs from it, they found a great tree having three hundred branches, like to a tamarisk tree. And they heard a voice from its branches singing, Holy are you, because you have kept the purpose for which you were sent. And Abraham heard the voice, and hid the mystery in his heart, saying within himself, What is the mystery that I have heard? As he came into the house, Abraham said to his servants, Arise, go out to the flocks, and bring three sheep, and slay them quickly, and make them ready that we may eat and drink, for this day is a feast for us. And the servants brought the sheep, and Abraham called his son Isaac, and said to him, My son Isaac, arise and put water in the vessel that we may wash the feet of this stranger. And he brought it as he was commanded, and Abraham said, I perceive, and so it shall be, that in this basin I shall never again wash the feet of any man coming to us as a guest. And Isaac hearing his father say this wept, and said to him, My father what is this that you say? This is my last time to wash the feet of a stranger? And Abraham seeing his son weeping, also wept exceedingly, and Michael seeing them weeping, wept also, and the tears of Michael fell upon the vessel and became a precious stone.
  4. When Sarah, being inside in her house, heard their weeping, she came out and said to Abraham, Lord, why is it that you thus weep? Abraham answered, and said to her, It is no evil. Go into your house, and do your own work, lest we be troublesome to the man. And Sarah went away, being about to prepare the supper. And the sun came near to setting, and Michael went out of the house, and was taken up into the heavens to worship before God, for at sunset all the angels worship God and Michael himself is the first of the angels. And they all worshipped him, and went each to his own place, but Michael spoke before the Lord and said, Lord, command me to be questioned before your holy glory! And the Lord said to Michael, Announce whatsoever you will! And the Archangel answered and said, Lord, you sent me to Abraham to say to him, Depart from your body, and leave this world; the Lord calls you; and I dare not, Lord, reveal myself to him, for he is your friend, and a righteous man, and one that receives strangers. But I beseech you, Lord, command the remembrance of the death of Abraham to enter into his own heart, and bid not me tell it him, for it is great abruptness to say, Leave the world, and especially to leave one’s own body, for you created him from the beginning to have pity on the souls of all men. Then the Lord said to Michael, Arise and go to Abraham, and lodge with him, and whatever you see him eat, eat also, and wherever he shall sleep, sleep there also. For I will cast the thought of the death of Abraham into the heart of Isaac his son in a dream.
  5. Then Michael went into the house of Abraham on that evening, and found them preparing the supper, and they ate and drank and were merry. And Abraham said to his son Isaac, Arise, my son, and spread the man’s couch that he may sleep, and set the lamp upon the stand. And Isaac did as his father commanded him, and Isaac said to his father, I too am coming to sleep beside you. Abraham answered him, Nay, my son, lest we be troublesome to this man, but go to your own chamber and sleep. And Isaac not wishing to disobey his father’s command, went away and slept in his own chamber.
  6. And it happened about the seventh hour of the night Isaac awoke, and came to the door of his father’s chamber, crying out and saying, Open, father, that I may touch you before they take you away from me. Abraham arose and opened to him, and Isaac entered and hung upon his father’s neck weeping, and kissed him with lamentations. And Abraham wept together with his son, and Michael saw them weeping and wept likewise. And Sarah hearing them weeping called from her bed-chamber, saying, My Lord Abraham, why is this weeping? Has the stranger told you of your brother’s son Lot that he is dead? Or has anything else befallen us? Michael answered and said to Sarah, Nay, Sarah, I have brought no tidings of Lot, but I knew of all your kindness of heart, that therein you excel all men upon earth, and the Lord has remembered you. Then Sarah said to Abraham, How dare you weep when the man of God has come in to you, and why have your eyes shed tears for today there is great rejoicing? Abraham said to her, How do you know that this is a man of God? Sarah answered and said, Because I say and declare that this is one of the three men who were entertained by us at the oak of Mamre, when one of the servants went and brought a kid and you killed it, and said to me, Arise, make ready that we may eat with these men in our house. Abraham answered and said, You have perceived well, O woman, for I too, when I washed his feet knew in my heart that these were the feet which I had washed at the oak of Mamre, and when I began to enquire concerning his journey, he said to me, I go to preserve Lot your brother from the men of Sodom, and then I knew the mystery.
  7. And Abraham said to Michael, Tell me, man of God, and show to me why you have come hither. And Michael said, Your son Isaac will show you. And Abraham said to his son, My beloved son, tell me what you have seen in your dream today, and wast frightened. Relate it to me. Isaac answered his father, I saw in my dream the sun and the moon, and there was a crown upon my head, and there came from heaven a man of great size, and shining as the light that is called the father of light. He took the sun from my head, and yet left the rays behind with me. And I wept and said, I beseech you, my Lord, take not away the glory of my head, and the light of my house, and all my glory. And the sun and the moon and the stars lamented, saying, Take not away the glory of our power. And that shining man answered and said to me, Weep not that I take the light of your house, for it is taken up from troubles into rest, from a low estate to a high one; they lift him up from a narrow to a wide place; they raise him from darkness to light. And I said to him, I beseech you, Lord, take also the rays with it. He said to me, There are twelve hours of the day, and then I shall take all the rays. As the shining man said this, I saw the sun of my house ascending into heaven, but that crown I saw no more, and that sun was like you my father. And Michael said to Abraham, Your son Isaac has spoken truth, for you shall go, and be taken up into the heavens, but your body shall remain on earth, until seven thousand ages are fulfilled, for then all flesh shall arise. Now therefore, Abraham, set your house in order, and your children, for you have heard fully what is decreed concerning you. Abraham answered and said to Michael, I beseech you, Lord, if I shall depart from my body, and I have desired to be taken up in my body that I may see the creatures that the Lord my God has created in heaven and on earth. Michael answered and said, This is not for me to do, but I shall go and tell the Lord of this, and if I am commanded I shall show you all these things.
  8. And Michael went up into heaven, and spoke before the Lord concerning Abraham, and the Lord answered Michael, Go and take up Abraham in the body, and show him all things, and whatsoever he shall say to you do to him as to my friend. So Michael went forth and took up Abraham in the body on a cloud, and brought him to the river of Ocean.
  9. And after Abraham had seen the place of judgment, the cloud took him down upon the firmament below, and Abraham, looking down upon the earth, saw a man committing adultery with a wedded woman. And Abraham turning said to Michael, Do you see this wickedness? But, Lord, send fire from heaven to consume them. And straightway there came down fire and consumed them, for the Lord had said to Michael, do whatever Abraham shall ask you to do for him. Abraham looked again, and saw other men railing at their companions, and said, Let the earth open and swallow them, and as he spoke the earth swallowed them alive. Again the cloud led him to another place, and Abraham saw some going into a desert place to commit murder, and he said to Michael, Do you see this wickedness? But let wild beasts come out of the desert, and tear them in pieces, and that same hour wild beasts came out of the desert, and devoured them. Then the Lord God spoke to Michael saying, Turn away Abraham to his own house, and let him not go round all the creation that I have made, because he has no compassion on sinners, but I have compassion on sinners that they may turn and live, and repent of their sins and be saved.
  10. And Abraham looked and saw two gates, the one small and the other large, and between the two gates sat a man upon a throne of great glory, and a multitude of angels round about him, and he was weeping, and again laughing, but his weeping exceeded his laughter seven-fold. And Abraham said to Michael, Who is this that sits between the two gates in great glory; sometimes he laughs, and sometimes he weeps, and his weeping exceeds his laughter seven-fold? And Michael said to Abraham, Do you not know who it is? And he said, No, Lord. And Michael said to Abraham, Do you see these two gates, the small and the great? These are they which lead to life and to destruction. This man that sits between them is Adam, the first man whom the Lord created, and set him in this place to see every soul that departs from the body, seeing that all are from him. When, therefore, you see him weeping, know that he has seen many souls being led to destruction, but when you see him laughing, he has seen many souls being led into life. Do you see how his weeping exceeds his laughter? Since he sees the greater part of the world being led away through the broad gate to destruction, therefore his weeping exceeds his laughter seven-fold.
  11. And Abraham said, And he that cannot enter through the narrow gate, can he not enter into life? Then Abraham wept, saying, Woe is me, what shall I do? For I am a man broad of body, and how shall I be able to enter by the narrow gate, by which a boy of fifteen years cannot enter? Michael answered and said to Abraham, Fear not, father, nor grieve, for you shall enter by it unhindered, and all those who are like you. And as Abraham stood and marveled, behold an angel of the Lord driving sixty thousand souls of sinners to destruction. And Abraham said to Michael, Do all these go into destruction? And Michael said to him, Yea, but let us go and search among these souls, if there is among them even one righteous. And when they went, they found an angel holding in his hand one soul of a woman from among these sixty thousand, because he had found her sins weighing equally with all her works, and they were neither in motion nor at rest, but in a state between; but the other souls he led away to destruction. Abraham said to Michael, Lord, is this the angel that removes the souls from the body or not? Michael answered and said, This is death, and he leads them into the place of judgment, that the judge may try them.
  12. And Abraham said, My Lord, I beseech you to lead me to the place of judgment so that I too may see how they are judged. Then Michael took Abraham upon a cloud, and led him into Paradise, and when he came to the place where the judge was, the angel came and gave that soul to the judge. And the soul said, Lord have mercy on me. And the judge said, How shall I have mercy upon you, when you had no mercy upon your daughter which you had, the fruit of your womb? Wherefore did you slay her? It answered, Nay, Lord, slaughter has not been done by me, but my daughter has lied upon me. But the judge commanded him to come that wrote down the records, and behold cherubim carrying two books. And there was with them a man of exceeding great stature, having on his head three crowns, and the one crown was higher than the other two. These are called the crowns of witness. And the man had in his hand a golden pen, and the judge said to him, Exhibit the sin of this soul. And that man, opening one of the books of the cherubim, sought out the sin of the woman’s soul and found it. And the judge said, O wretched soul, why do you say that you have not done murder? Did you not, after the death of your husband, go and commit adultery with your daughter’s husband, and kill her? And he convicted her also of her other sins, whatsoever she had done from her youth. Hearing these things the woman cried out, saying, Woe is me, all the sins that I did in the world I forgot, but here they were not forgotten. Then they took her away also and gave her over to the tormentors.
  13. And Abraham said to Michael, Lord, who is this judge, and who is the other, who convicts the sins? And Michael said to Abraham, Do you see the judge? This is Abel, who first testified, and God brought him hither to judge, and he that bears witness here is the teacher of heaven and earth, and the scribe of righteousness, Enoch, for the Lord sent them hither to write down the sins and righteousnesses of each one. Abraham said, And how can Enoch bear the weight of the souls, not having seen death? Or how can he give sentence to all the souls? Michael said, If he gives sentence concerning the souls, it is not permitted; but Enoch himself does not give sentence, but it is the Lord who does so, and he has no more to do than only to write. For Enoch prayed to the Lord saying, I desire not, Lord, to give sentence on the souls, lest I be grievous to anyone; and the Lord said to Enoch, I shall command you to write down the sins of the soul that makes atonement and it shall enter into life, and if the soul make not atonement and repent, you shall find its sins written down and it shall be cast into punishment. And about the ninth hour Michael brought Abraham back to his house. But Sarah his wife, not seeing what had become of Abraham, was consumed with grief, and gave up the ghost, and after the return of Abraham he found her dead, and buried her.
  14. But when the day of the death of Abraham drew near, the Lord God said to Michael, Death will not dare to go near to take away the soul of my servant, because he is my friend, but go and adorn Death with great beauty, and send him thus to Abraham, that he may see him with his eyes. And Michael straightway, as he was commanded, adorned Death with great beauty, and sent him thus to Abraham that he might see him. And he sat down near to Abraham, and Abraham seeing Death sitting near to him was afraid with a great fear. And Death said to Abraham, Hail, holy soul! Hail, friend of the Lord God! Hail, consolation and entertainment of travelers! And Abraham said, You are welcome, servant of the Most High. God. I beseech you, tell me who you are; and entering into my house partake of food and drink, and depart from me, for since I have seen you sitting near to me my soul has been troubled. For I am not at all worthy to come near you, for you are an exalted spirit and I am flesh and blood, and therefore I cannot bear your glory, for I see that your beauty is not of this world. And Death said to Abraham, I tell you, in all the creation that God has made, there has not been found one like you, for even the Lord himself by searching has not found such an one upon the whole earth. And Abraham said to Death, How dare you lie? For I see that your beauty is not of this world. And Death said to Abraham, Think not, Abraham, that this beauty is mine, or that I come thus to every man. Nay, but if anyone is righteous like you, I thus take crowns and come to him, but if it is a sinner I come in great corruption, and out of their sin I make a crown for my head, and I shake them with great fear, so that they are dismayed. Abraham therefore said to him, And whence comes your beauty? And Death said, There is none other more full of corruption than I am. Abraham said to him, And are you indeed he that is called Death? He answered him and said, I am the bitter name. I am weeping….
  15. And Abraham said to Death, Show us your corruption. And Death made manifest his corruption; and he had two heads, the one had the face of a serpent and by it some die at once by asps, and the other head was like a sword; by it some die by the sword as by bows. In that day the servants of Abraham died through fear of Death, and Abraham seeing them prayed to the Lord, and he raised them up. But God returned and removed the soul of Abraham as in a dream, and the archangel Michael took it up into the heavens. And Isaac buried his father beside his mother Sarah, glorifying and praising God, for to him is due glory, honor and worship, of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, now and always and to all eternity. Amen.

Letters of Christ and Abgarus

Introduction

Our earliest Greek text of these -which are found in many forms- is that given by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (i. 13), extracted, as he says, by him from the archives of Edessa relating to Abgar and translated from Syriac word for word:


A copy of a letter written by Abgarus the toparch to Jesus, and sent to him by means of Ananias the runner, to Jerusalem.

Abgarus Uchama the toparch to Jesus the good Saviour that hath appeared in the parts (place) of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard concerning thee and thy cures, that they are done of thee without drugs or herbs: for, as the report goes, thou makest blind men to see again, lame to walk, and cleansest lepers, and castest out unclean spirits and devils, and those that are afflicted with long sickness thou healest, and raisest the dead.

And having heard all this of thee, I had determined one of two things, either that thou art God come down from heaven, and so doest these things or art a Son of God that doest these things.

Therefore now have I written and entreated thee to trouble thyself to come to me and heal the affliction which I have. or indeed I have heard that the Jews even murmur against thee and wish to do thee hurt. And I have a very little city but (and) comely (reverend), which is sufficient for us both.

The answer, written by Jesus, sent by Ananias the runner to Abgarus the toparch.

Blessed art thou that hast believed in me, not having seen me.

For it is written concerning me that they that have seen me shall not believe in me, and that they that have not seen me shall believe and live. But concerning that which thou hast written to me, to come unto thee; it must needs be that I fulfil all things for the which I was sent here, and after fulfilling them should then be taken up unto him that sent me.

And when I am taken up, I will send thee one of my disciples, to heal thine affliction and give life to thee and them that are with thee.

Later texts add a promise that where this letter is, no enemy shall prevail: and so we find the letter copied and used as an amulet. It was regarded naturally as the palladium of Edessa, but was also thought to act as a protection to individuals.

The letters form an integral part of the story of the mission of Thaddaeus and conversion of Edessa, and part of that legend is that Jesus gave the messenger of Abgarus a handkerchief miraculously imprinted with the picture of his face. Into all this we cannot enter.

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Inscription of Abercius

Quasten gives this translation in Patrology, v. 1, p. 172.

1. The citizens of an eminent city, I made this (tomb)
2. In my lifetime, that I might have here a resting-place for my body.
3. Abercius by name, I am a disciple of the chaste shepherd,
4. Who feedeth His flocks of sheep on mountains and plains,
5. Who hath great eyes that look on all sides.
6. He taught me . . . faithful writings.
7. He sent me to Rome, to behold a kingdom
8. And to see a queen with golden robe and golden shoes.
9. There I saw a people bearing the splended seal.
10. And I saw the plain of Syria and all the cities, even Nisibis,
11. Having crossed the Euphrates. And everywhere I had associates
12. Having Paul as a companion, everywhere faith led the way
13. And set before me food the fish from the spring
14. Mighty and pure, whom a spotless Virgin caught,
15. And gave this to friends to eat, always
16. Having sweet wine and giving the mixed cup with bread.
17. These words, I, Abercius, standing by, ordered to be inscribed.
18. In truth, I was in the course of my seventy-second year.
19. Let him who understands and believes this pray for Abercius.
20. But no man shall place another tomb upon mine.
21. If one do so, he shall pay to the treasury of the Romans two thousand pieces of gold,
22. And to my beloved fatherland Hieropolis, one thousand pieces of gold.

Lightfoot gives this edition of the Greek text in the life of Abercius by Symeon Metaphrastes in The Apostolic Fathers, pt. II, vol. I, pp. 493-494. Lightfoot makes the note: “Various readings of the MSS are given in Spicil. Solesm. III. p. 532 sq (1855), Anal. Solesm. II. p. 169 sq (1884). I have selected those readings which accord with our other sources of infromation—the fragment of the actual tomb of Abercius, and the inscription on the tomb of Alexander.”

ἐκλεκτῆς πόλεως πολίτης τοῦτ’ ἐποίησα ζῶν ἵν’ ἔχω καιρῷ σώματος ἐνθάδε θέσιν. οὔνομα Ἀβέρκιος ὁ ὧν μαθητὴς ποιμένος ἁγνοῦ, ὃς βόσκει προβάτων ἀγέλας ὄρεσι πεδίοις τέ, ὀφθαλμοὺς ὃς ἔχει μεγάλους πάντῃ καθορῶντας. οὗτος γάρ με ἐδίδαξε γράμματα πιστά· εἰς ῥώμην ὃς ἔπεμψεν ἐμὲ βασιλείαν ἀθρῆσαι, καὶ βασίλισσαν ἰδεῖν χρυσόστολον χρυσοπέδιλον· λαὸν δ’ εἶδον ἐκεῖ λαμπρὰν σφραγῖδα ἔχοντα. καὶ συρίης πεδον εἶδον καὶ ἄστεα πάντα Νίσιβιν, Εὐφράτην διαβάς, πάντα δ’ ἔσχον συνομηγύρους, παῦλον ἔσωθεν· πίστις πάντη δὲ προῆγε, καὶ παρέθηκε τροφὴν ἰχθὺν ἀπὸ πηγῆς παμμεγέθη καθαρὸν, ὃν ἐδράξατο παρθένος ἁγνή, καὶ τοῦτον ἐπέδωκε φίλοις ἐσθίειν διὰ παντός, οἶνον χρηστὸν ἔχουσα, κέρασμα δίδοῦσα μετ’ ἄρτου. ταῦτα παρεστὼς εἶπον Ἀβέρκιος ὧδε γραφῆναι, ἑβδομήκοστον ἔτος καὶ δεύτερον ἦγον ἀληθῶς. ταῦθ’ ὁ νοῶν εὔξαιτο ὑπὲρ ἀβερκίου πᾶς ὁ συνῳδός. οὐ μέντοι τύμβῳ τις ἐμῷ ἕτερον ἐπάνω θήσει. εἰ δ’ οὖν, Ρ ωμαίων ταμείῳ θήσει δισχίλια χρυσᾶ καὶ χρηστῇ πατρίδι Ἰεροπόλει χίλια χρυσᾶ.

Here is the same text in Beta Code transliteration.

E)KLEKTH=S PO/LEWS POLI/THS TOU=T’ E)POI/HSA ZW=N I(/N’ E)/XW KAIRW=| SW/MATOS E)NQA/DE QE/SIN. OU)/NOMA *A)BE/RKIOS O( W(=N MAQHTH\S POIME/NOS A(GNOU=, O(\S BO/SKEI PROBA/TWN A)GE/LAS O)/RESI PEDI/OIS TE/, O)FQALMOU\S O(\S E)/XEI MEGA/LOUS PA/NTH| KAQORW=NTAS. OU(=TOS GA/R ME E)DI/DACE GRA/MMATA PISTA/: EI)S R(W/MHN O(\S E)/PEMYEN E)ME\ BASILEI/AN A)QRH=SAI, KAI\ BASI/LISSAN I)DEI=N XRUSO/STOLON XRUSOPE/DILON: LAO\N D’ EI)=DON E)KEI= LAMPRA\N SFRAGI=DA E)/XONTA. KAI\ SURI/HS PED/ON EI)=DON KAI\ A)/STEA PA/NTA *NI/SIBIN, *EU)FRA/THN DIABA/S, PA/NTA D’ E)/SXON SUNOMHGU/ROUS, PAU=LON E)/SWQEN: PI/STIS PA/NTH DE\ PROH=GE, KAI\ PARE/QHKE TROFH\N I)XQU\N A)PO\ PHGH=S PAMMEGE/QH KAQARO\N, O(\N E)DRA/CATO PARQE/NOS A(GNH/, KAI\ TOU=TON E)PE/DWKE FI/LOIS E)SQI/EIN DIA\ PANTO/S, OI)=NON XRHSTO\N E)/XOUSA, KE/RASMA DI/DOU=SA MET’ A)/RTOU. TAU=TA PARESTW\S EI)=PON *A)BE/RKIOS W(=DE GRAFH=NAI, E(BDOMH/KOSTON E)/TOS KAI\ DEU/TERON H)=GON A)LHQW=S. TAU=Q’ O( NOW=N EU)/CAITO U(PE\R A)BERKI/OU PA=S O( SUNW|DO/S. OU) ME/NTOI TU/MBW| TIS E)MW=| E(/TERON E)PA/NW QH/SEI. EI) D’ OU)=N, *R(WMAI/WN TAMEI/W| QH/SEI DISXI/LIA XRUSA= KAI\ XRHSTH=| PATRI/DI *I(EROPO/LEI XI/LIA XRUSA=.

Lightfoot gives the following English translation of the inscription (The Apostolic Fathers, pt. II, vol. I, pp. 496-497).

The citizen of a notable city I made this (tomb) in my life-time; that in due season I imght have here a resting-place for my body. Abercius by name, I am a disciple of the pure Shepherd, who feedeth His flocks of sheep on mountains and plains, who hath great eyes looking on all sides; for He taught me faithful writings. He also sent me to royal Rome to behold it and to see the golden-robed, golden-slippered Queen. And there I saw a people bearing the splendid seal. And I saw the plain of Syria and all the cities, even Nisibis, crossing over the Euphrates. And everywhere I had associates. In company with Paul I followed, while everywhere faith led the way, and set before me for food the fish from the fountain, mighty and stainless (whom a pure virgin grasped), and gave this to friends to eat always, having good wine and giving the mixed cup with bread. These words I Abercius, standing by, ordered to be inscribed. In sooth I was in the course of my seventy-second year. Let every friend who observeth this, pray for me. But no man shall place another tomb above mine. If otherwise, he then shall pay two thousand pieces of gold to the treasury of the Romans, and a thousand pieces of gold ot my good fatherland Hierapolis.

Lightfoot reconstructs the Greek of the inscription as follows (The Apostolic Fathers, pt. II, vol. I, p. 496).

ἐκλεκτῆς πόλεως ὁ πολίτης τοῦτ’ ἐποίησα
ζῶν ἵν’ ἔχω καιρῷ σώματος ἐνθα θέσιν.
οὔνομ’ Α βέρκιος εἰμι μαθητὴς ποιμένος ἁγνοῦ,
ὃς βόσκει προβάτων ἀγέλας ὄρεσιν πεδίοις τέ,
ὀφθαλμοὺς ὃς ἔχει μεγάλους πάντη καθορῶντας.
οὗτος γάρ με ἐδίδαξε…γράμματα πιστά·
εἰς Ῥώμην ὃς ἔπεμψεν ἐμὲν βασιληαν ἀθρῆσαι
καὶ βασίλισσαν ἰδεῖν χρυσόστολον χρυσοπέδιλον.
λαὸν δ’ εἶδον ἐκεῖ λαμπρὰν σφραγεῖσαν ἔχοντα·
καὶ συρίης πεδον εἶδα καὶ ἄστεα πάντα, Νίσιβιν,
Εὐφράτην διαβάς· πάντη δ’ ἔσχον συνομίλους·
παῦλον ἔχων ἑπό[μην]· πίστις πάντη δὲ προῆγε,
καὶ παρέθηκε τροφὴν πάντη ἰχθὺν ἀπὸ πηγῆς
παμμεγέθῇ, καθαρόν, ὃν ἐδράξατο παρθένος ἁγνή·
καὶ τοῦτον ἐπέδωκε φίλοις ἔσθειν διὰ παντός,
οἶνον χρηστὸν ἔχουσα, κέρασμα δίδοῦσα μετ’ ἄρτου.
ταῦτα παρεστὼς εἶπον Α βέρκιος ὧδε γραφῆναί·
ἑβδομήκοστον ἔτος καὶ δεύτερον ἦγον ἀληθῶς.
ταῦθ’ ὁ νοῶν εὔξαιτο ὑπὲρ μοῦ πᾶς ὁ συνῳδός.
οὐ μέντοι τύμβῳ τις ἐμῷ ἕτερον ἐπιθήσει·
εἰ δ’ οὖν, Ρ ωμαίων ταμείῳ θήσει δισχίλια χρυσᾶ,
καὶ χρηστῇ πατρίδι Ι εροπόλει χίλια χρυσᾶ.

Here is the same text in Beta Code transliteration.

E)KLEKTH=S PO/LEWS O( POLI/THS TOU=T’ E)POI/HSA
ZW=N I(/N’ E)/XW KAIRW=| SW/MATOS E)NQA QE/SIN.
OU)/NOM’ *A)BE/RKIOS EI)MI MAQHTH\S POIME/NOS A(GNOU=,
O(\S BO/SKEI PROBA/TWN A)GE/LAS O)/RESIN PEDI/OIS TE/,
O)FQALMOU\S O(\S E)/XEI MEGA/LOUS PA/NTH KAQORW=NTAS.
OU(=TOS GA/R ME E)DI/DACE…GRA/MMATA PISTA/:
EI)S *(RW/MHN O(\S E)/PEMYEN E)ME\N BASILHAN A)QRH=SAI
KAI\ BASI/LISSAN I)DEI=N XRUSO/STOLON XRUSOPE/DILON.
LAO\N D’ EI)=DON E)KEI= LAMPRA\N SFRAGEI=SAN E)/XONTA:
KAI\ SURI/HS PED/ON EI)=DA KAI\ A)/STEA PA/NTA, *NI/SIBIN,
*EU)FRA/THN DIABA/S: PA/NTH D’ E)/SXON SUNOMI/LOUS:
PAU=LON E)/XWN E(PO/[MHN]: PI/STIS PA/NTH DE\ PROH=GE,
KAI\ PARE/QHKE TROFH\N PA/NTH I)XQU\N A)PO\ PHGH=S
PAMMEGE/QH=|, KAQARO/N, O(\N E)DRA/CATO PARQE/NOS A(GNH/:
KAI\ TOU=TON E)PE/DWKE FI/LOIS E)/SQEIN DIA\ PANTO/S,
OI)=NON XRHSTO\N E)/XOUSA, KE/RASMA DI/DOU=SA MET’ A)/RTOU.
TAU=TA PARESTW\S EI)=PON *A)BE/RKIOS W(=DE GRAFH=NAI/:
E(BDOMH/KOSTON E)/TOS KAI\ DEU/TERON H)=GON A)LHQW=S.
TAU=Q’ O( NOW=N EU)/CAITO U(PE\R MOU= PA=S O( SUNW|DO/S.
OU) ME/NTOI TU/MBW| TIS E)MW=| E(/TERON E)PIQH/SEI:
EI) D’ OU)=N, *R(WMAI/WN TAMEI/W| QH/SEI DISXI/LIA XRUSA=,
KAI\ XRHSTH=| PATRI/DI *I(EROPO/LEI XI/LIA XRUSA=.

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The Records of the Seers

Numbers 21:10 And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth.
11 And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Ijeabarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising.
12 From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.
13 From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
14 Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
15 And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab.

Joshua 10:12 Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.

2 Samuel 1:17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:
18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
19 The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!

1 Kings 11:41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

1 Chronicles 29:29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
30 With all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

2 Chronicles 9:29 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat?

2 Chronicles 12:15 Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.

2 Chronicles 13:22 And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways, and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo.

2 Chronicles 20:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

2 Chronicles 26:22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.

2 Chronicles 33:18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
19 His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers [NIV: the records of the seers].

Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

The Prophecy of Abdias

ABDIAS, whose name is interpreted THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, is believed to have prophesied about the same time as OSEE, JOEL, and AMOS: though some of the Hebrews, who believe him to be the same with ACHAB’s steward, make him much more ancient. His prophecy is the shortest of any in number of words, but yields to none in the sublimity of mysteries, says Saint Jerome. It contains but one chapter.

Abdias Chapter 1

The destruction of Edom for their pride: and the wrongs they did to Jacob: the salvation and victory of Israel.

1:1. The vision of Abdias. Thus saith the Lord God to Edom:We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and he hath sent an ambassador to the nations: Arise, and let us rise up to battle against him.1:2. Behold I have made thee small among the nations: thou art exceeding contemptible.

1:3. The pride of thy heart hath lifted thee up, who dwellest in the clefts of the rocks, and settest up thy throne on high: who sayest in thy heart: Who shall bring me down to the ground?

1:4. Though thou be exalted as an eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars: thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.

1:5. If thieves had gone in to thee, if robbers by night, how wouldst thou have held thy peace? would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers had come in to thee, would they not have left thee at the least a cluster?

1:6. How have they searched Esau, how have they sought out his hidden things?

1:7. They have sent thee out even to the border: all the men of thy confederacy have deceived thee: the men of thy peace have prevailed against thee: they that eat with thee shall lay snares under thee: there is no wisdom in him.

1:8. Shall not I in that day, saith the Lord, destroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

1:9. And thy valiant men of the south shall be afraid, that man may be cut off from the mount of Esau.

1:10. For the slaughter, and for the iniquity against thy brother Jacob, confusion shall cover thee, and thou shalt perish for ever.

1:11. In the day when thou stoodest against him, when strangers carried away his army captive, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem: thou also wast as one of them.

1:12. But thou shalt not look on in the day of thy brother, in the day of his leaving his country: and thou shalt not rejoice over the children of Juda, in the day of their destruction: and thou shalt not magnify thy mouth in the day of distress.

Thou shalt not look, etcetera or, thou shouldst not, etcetera. It is a reprehension for what they had done, and at the same time a declaration that these things should not pass unpunished.-Ibid. Thou shalt not magnify thy mouth… That is, thou shalt not speak arrogantly against the children of Juda as insulting them in their distress.

1:13. Neither shalt thou enter into the gate of my people in the day of their ruin: neither shalt thou also look on in his evils in the day of his calamity: and thou shalt not be sent out against his army in the day of his desolation.

1:14. Neither shalt thou stand in the crossways to kill them that flee: and thou shalt not shut up them that remain of him in the day of tribulation.

1:15. For the day of the Lord is at hand upon all nations: as thou hast done, so shall it be done to thee: he will turn thy reward upon thy own head.

1:16. For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so all nations shall drink continually: and they shall drink, and sup up, and they shall be as though they were not.

1:17. And in mount Sion shall be salvation, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess those that possessed them.

1:18. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble: and they shall be kindled in them, and shall devour them: and there shall be no remains of the house of Esau, for the Lord hath spoken it.

1:19. And they that are toward the south, shall inherit the mount of Esau, and they that are in the plains, the Philistines: and they shall possess the country of Ephraim, and the country of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Galaad.

1:20. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, all the places of the Chanaanites even to Sarepta: and the captivity of Jerusalem that is in Bosphorus, shall possess the cities of the south.

1:21. And saviours shall come up into mount Sion to judge the mount of Esau: and the kingdom shall be for the Lord.