GENESIS.

Chapter 1

1 In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was invisible and unfurnished and there was darkness over this abyss; and a breath of God was brought on above the water.

3 And God said, "Let there be Light;" and there was light.

4 And God saw the light that it was good. And God made a separation between the light and the darkness.

5 And God called the light day; and the darkness he called night. And there was an evening and there was a morning. The, first day.

6 Then God said, " Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water; and let it make a separation between water and water." And it was so.

7 God made the firmament; and God made a separation between the water which was below the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.

8 And God called the firmament, heaven. And God saw that it was good. And there was an evening and there was a morning. The second day.

9 Then God said, "Let the water which is below the heaven be gathered into one receptacle and let the dry land appear." And it was so. The waters which were below the heaven were gathered into their several collections, and the dry land appeared.

10 And God called the dry land, earth; and the collections of the waters he called, seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, " Let the earth produce the grassy plant with sowing seed according to kind and according to likeness, and the fruit bearing tree together with the fruit, the seed of which is in it according to kind, upon the earth." And it was so.

12 The earth indeed produced the grassy plant with sowing seed according to kind and according to likeness, and the fruit tree together with fruit, the seed of which is in it, according to kind, in the earth. And God saw that it was good.

13 And there was an evening and there was a morning. The third day.

14 Then God said, "Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, to give light on the earth; to make a separation between the day and the night: and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years;

15 and let them be for an illumination in the firmament of heaven so as to shine on the earth." And it was so.

16 God indeed made the two great luminaries, the greater luminary for the regulations of the day, and the lesser luminary, with the stars, for the regulations of the night.

17 And God placed them in the firmament of heaven so as to shine on the earth,

18 and to regulate the day and the night, and to make a division between the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 And there was an evening and there was a morning. The fourth day.

20 Then God said, "Let the waters produce moving creatures having life; and winged creatures flying above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." And it was so.

21 God indeed made the great sea monsters and every species of moving animals which the waters produced according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to kind. And God saw that they were good.

22 And God blessed them saying, " Increase and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let flying creatures be multiplied on the earth."

23 And there was an evening and there was a morning. The fifth day.

24 Then God said, " Let the earth produce animal life according to kind; four footed beasts and reptiles and wild beasts of the earth according to kind." And it was so.

25 God indeed made the wild beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the reptiles of the earth according to kind. And God saw that they were good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man after our image and after a likeness; and let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the cattle, ahd the whole earth, and all the reptiles which creep on the earth."

27 So God made man. After an image of God he made him. A male and a female he made them.

28 And God blessed them saying, "Increase and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all the cattle, and all the earth, and all the reptiles which creep on the earth."

29 Moreover God said, "Behold I have given you every seed bearing plant, the sowing seed which is on the whole earth, and every tree which hath in itself the fruit of seminal seed, you shall have for food:

30 And to all the beasts of the earth, and to all the birds of the air, and to every reptile on the earth, which hath in it animal life, I have also given every green herb for food." And it was so.

31 And God saw all the things which he had made, and behold they were very good. And there was an evening and there was a morning. The sixth day.

Chapter 2

1 Thus were finished the heaven and the earth and all the ar-

2 rangement of them. And God finished on the sixth day these his works which he made; and on the seventh day he desisted

3 from all these works of his which he made. And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it; because on it he rested from Sill these works of his which God had taken occasion to make.

4 This is the genealogy of heaven and earth. When they were

5 made,—on the day when the Lord God had made the heaven and the earth, and all the verdure of the field, before it was on the earth, and every herb of the field, before it sprang up, (for God

6 had not rained on the earth, nor was there a man to till it; but a fountain ascended out of the earth and watered the whole

7 face of the ground,) then God formed the man, dust from the earth, and breathed upon his face a breath of life, and the man

8 became a living soul. And God planted a garden in Eden towards the east and placed there the man whom he had made.

9 And God caused to spring up there also out of that ground every tree beautiful to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree for the purpose of knowing what was to be known of good and evil.

10 Now a river issueth out of Eden to water the garden:

11 thence it is divided into four heads. The name of the first is Physon. This is that which encircleth the whole country Evilat, where there is gold, and the gold of that country is good.

12 There also is the carbuncle and the Prasian stone. And the

13 name of the second river is Geon. This is that which encircleth

14 the whole country of Ethiopia. And the third river is Tigris. This is that which floweth down over against the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

13 And the Lord God took the man whom he had made, and placed him in this garden of pleasure to work it and to watch.

16 And the Lord God gave a charge to Adam, saying, " Of every tree which is in the garden for food, thou mightest have

17 eaten; but from this tree, that you may know good and evil, you must not eat of it. On the dav you eat of it, bv death vou shall

* * m f

die."

'18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone: let us make for him a helper correspondent

19 to himself." Now God had also formed out of the earth all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.

20 So Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to all the fowls of the air, and to all the wild beasts of the field. But for Adam there was

21 not found a helper like himself. Then God brought an ecttasy upon Adam and caused him to sleep, and took one of his ribs

22 and filled up flesh instead thereof. And God built up the rib, which he took from Adam, into a woman, and brought her to

23 Adam. And Adam said, " This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, let her be called Woman." Because she was

24 taken out of her man, therefore a man is to leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

III. Now the two, both Adam and his wife were naked, and were not ashamed. But the serpent was the wisest of all the beasts on the earth which the Lord God had made, and the serpent said to the woman, " Why hath God said, you must

2 not eat of every tree of the garden?" And the woman said

3 to the serpent, " Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God said, You shall not eat of it, nor touch it,

4 that you may not die." And the serpent said to the woman,

5 " You will not by death die. For God knew that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes would be opened and you would

fi be like gods knowing good and evil." And the woman saw that the tree was good for food; and that it is delightful to sec- with the eyes; and that to exercise understanding is comely, so having taken some of the fruit thereof, she ate and gave

7 also to her husband with her. And when they had eaten, the eyes of them both were opened, and they perceived that they were naked. And they sewed together fig leaves and made for

8 themselves girdles. And when they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening, both Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, among the trees of the garden.

9 And the Lord God called Adam and said to him, "Adam, where art thou ?" And he said to him, " I heard the sound of thee walking in the garden and I was afraid, because I am

11 naked, and I hid myself." And God said to him, "Who told thee that thou art naked, if so be thou hast not eaten of the tree of which alone I commanded thee not to eat of this?"

12 And Adam said, " The woman whom thou gavest to be with

13 me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat." And the Lord God said to the woman, " Why hast thou done this?" And

14 the woman said, " The serpent seduced me and I ate." And the Lord God said to the serpent, " Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed from all the cattle and from all the beasts which are upon the earth. Upon thy breast and belly thou

15 shalt go and shall eat earth all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman; and between thy

16 seed and her seed. He will wound thy head, and thou wilt wound his heel." And to the woman he said, " I will greatly multiply thy sorrows and thy anguish. With sorrows thou shalt bear children and to thy husband shall be thy recourse,

17 and he shall rule over thee." And to Adam he said, " Be- cause thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree of which alone I commanded thee not to eat, the ground is cursed by thy labours. With sorrows thou shalt

18 eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles it shall cause to spring up for thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the

19 field. By the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat thy bread until thou return into the earth out of which thou wast taken; for earth thou art and to earth thou shalt return."

20 And Adam called the name of his wife Life, because she

21 was to be the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and cloathed them.

22 And God said, "Behold Adam was made like one of us to know good and evil. And now perhaps he may stretch forth his hand and take of the tree of life and eat, so shall he live for

Q3 ever." So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of pleasure to till the ground out of which he was taken. And when he put Adam out he caused him to dwell over against the garden of pleasure and stationed the Cherubim and the whirling flame of fire to keep the way to the tree of life.

IV. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and

2 brought forth Cain, and said, " I have gotten a man from God." And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain tilled the ground.

3 And when in process of time Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord, and Abel also brought, he indeed of the firstlings of his flock even some of the fattest of them,

5 God looked upon Abel and on his gifts; but upon Cain and upon his sacrifices he did not look with regard. Thereupon Cain was exceedingly grieved and his countenance became

6 dejected. And the Lord God said to Cain, " Why art thou become sorrowful and why is thy countenance dejected ?"

7 Though thou hast offered right, yet if thou hast not rightly divided, hast thou not sinned ? Be composed. To thee shall be his recourse, and thou shalt rule over him."

8 Then Cain said to Abel his brother, " Let us go into the plain." And when they were in the plain, Cain rose upon Abel

9 his brother and slew him. And when the Lord God said to Cain, " Where is Abel thy brother?" he said I know not. Am

10 I my brother's keeper ? Then the Lord said, " What hast thou done ? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me

11 out of the ground. Now therefore thou art cursed from this land, which hath opened its mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand. When thou tillcst the ground, it will not henceforth yield thee its strength. Thou shalt be in a state

12 of anguish and terror in this land." And Cain said to the Lord God, "Is my fault too great to be forgiven"? If thou castest me out this day from the face of this land and I be hid from thy presence and be in a state of anguish and terror in the land, it will come to pass that whoever findeth me will kill me."

15 And the Lord said to him, " Not so. Whosoever killeth Cain shall suffer seven fold vengeance." And the Lord God gave a sign

16 to Cain, that whoever found him would not kill him. So Cain went out from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of

17 Naid over against Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Enoch. And he employed himself in building a city and he called the city Enoch after his son's

18 name. And to Enoch was born Gaidad; and Gaidad begot Malclecl, and Maleleel begot Mathousala. and Malhousala begot Lamech. And Lamech took to himself two wives. The

name of the first was Ada; and the name of the second Sella.

20 And Ada bore Jobel. He was the father of them who dwell in

tents, feeding cattle. And the name of his brother was Jou-

22 bal. He was the inventor of the psaltery and kithara. As for Sella, she also bore Thobel, and he was a smith, a manufacturer of brass and iron; and the sister of Thobel was Noe- ma. And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella,

23 " Hearken to my voice, ye wives of Lamech, " Listen attentively to my words.

" For have I slain a man that I should be wounded, " And a young man that I should be hurt?

24 " For seven fold vengeance was to be taken for Cain ; " But for Lamech will be taken seventy times seven."

25 And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and brought forth a son and called his name Seth, saying, " For God hath

26 raised up for me another seed in the place of Abel whom Cain slew." And Seth had a son; and he called his name Enos. He hoped that he would invoke the name of the Lord God.

V. This is the genealogy of men.

2 On the day God made Adam, he made him after an image of God. A male and a female he made them, and blessed them. And he called his name Adam on the day he made

3 them. And Adam lived two hundred and thirty years, and begot a son after his own likeness and after his own image,

4 and called his name Seth. And the days of Adam which he lived after he begot Seth were seven hundred years, and he

5 begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

6 And Seth lived two hundred and five years and begot Enos. And Seth lived after he begot Enos seven hundred and seven years and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

9 And Enos lived one hundred and ninety years and begot Kainan. And Enos lived after he begot Kainan seven him- dred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died. 12 And Kaiuan lived one hundred and seventy years and begot Maleleel. And Kainan lived after he begot Maleleel seven hundred and forty years and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Kainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15 And Maleleel lived one hundred and sixty five years and begot Jared. And Maleleel lived after he begot Jared seveftlmn- dred and thirty years and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Maleleel were eight hundred and ninety five years, and he died.

18 And Jared lived one hundred and sixty two years and begot Enoch. And Jared lived after he begot Enoch eight hundred years and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty two years, and he died.

21 And Enoch lived one hundred and sixty five years and begot Mathousala. And Enoch continued to please God after he begot Mathousala two hundred years and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years. And Enoch continued to please God and was not found, for God translated him.

25 And Mathousala lived one hundred and eighty seven years and begot Lamech. And Mathousala lived after he begot Lamech seven hundred and eighty two years and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Mathousala which he lived were nine hundred and sixty nine years, and he died.

28 And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty eight years and begot a son and called his name Noe, saying " This child will cause us to cease from our works and from the toils of our hands and from the earth which the Lord hath cursed. And Lamech lived after he begot Noe five hundred and sixty five years and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and fifty three years, and he died.

VI. And Noe was five hundred years old and he had three

sons, Sem, Cham, Japheth. And it came to pass when the

men began to be multiplied on the earth and daughters were

2 born to them, that the sons of God seeing the daughters of

men that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all whom

;3 they chose : then the Lord God said, " My breath must not

continue in these men to this age, because they are flesh ; their days however, shall be an hundred and twenty years." Now there were giants on the earth in those days, and after that when the sons of God went in unto the daughters of men and

5 they bore to them. These were the giants of old, the men of renown. So when the Lord God saw that the wickedness of the men on the earth was multiplied, and that every one was

6 in his heart studiously and continually bent upon evils, God

7 was grieved that he had made man on the earth. And God came to a determination and said, " I will blot out from the face of this earth the man I have made, both man and beast;

8 both reptiles and birds of the air. For I am grieved that I made them. But Noe found favour in the sight of the Lord God.

9 Now these are the generations of Noe. Noe was a just man; and being perfect in the tenor of his life, Noe pleased

10 God. And Noe had three sons, Sem, Cham, Japheth. Now

11 the earth was corrupt before God ; and the earth was filled

12 with iniquity. And God beheld the earth and it was corrupt. Because all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth;

13 therefore the Lord God said to Noe, " The time of every man is come before me. Because the earth is filled with iniquity by their means, therefore behold I am going to destroy them and the earth. Make therefore for thyself an ark of

14 squared timber. Thou shalt make the ark with small apart -

15 ments, and pitch it on the inside and outside with pitch. And in this manner thou shalt make the ark. Three hundred cubits shall be the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth,

16 and thirty cubits the height thereof. In building the ark thou shalt narrow the breadth and finish it above at a cubit. And thou shalt make the door of the ark out of the sides. With

17 lower, second and third stories thou shalt make it. Now behold I am going to bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven, and all that are on the earth shall die; and I will establish my

18 covenant with thee. Thou therefore shalt go into the ark, thou

19 and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee. And of all the cattle, and of all the reptiles, and of all the wild beasts, even of all flesh thou shalt bring into the ark a pair of

20 every sort, that thou mayest nourish them with thyself. They

vor.. i. B

shall be a male with a female. Of all the winged fowls according to kind, and of all the cattle according to kind, and of all the reptiles which creep on the earth according to their kind, pairs of every sort shall come to thee, a male with a fe-

21 male, to be fed with thee. Thou shall therefore take to thee of all the varieties of food which you eat, and collect it to thee, and it shall be for thee and for them to eat."

22 And Noe did all that the Lord God commanded him; VII. and when he had done so, the Lord God said to Noc,

" Go into the ark, thou and all thy family, for I have seen thee

2 righteous before me in this generation. And of all the cattle which are clean take thee seven pairs, a male with a female, and of all the cattle which are not clean, pairs, a male with a

3 female; and of the birds of the air which are clean, seven pairs, male and female, and of all the birds which are not clean,

4 pairs, male and female, to nourish seed on the earth. For yet seven days and I bring rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. And I will blot out from the face of the whole earth all the raised which I made."

5 And Noe did all that the Lord God commanded him.

6 Now Noe was six hundred years old when the deluge of water

7 came on the earth. And Noe and his sons and his wife and

8 his sons' wives with him went into the ark on account of the water of the deluge. And of the fowls which were clean and of the fowls which were not clean, and of the beasts which were clean and of the beasts which were not clean, and of all the rep-

9 tiles which creep on the earth, pairs went to Noe into the ark,

10 a male with a female as God commanded Noe. And it came to pass after the seven days that the water of the flood came on the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noe's life, the second month and twenty seventh day of the month, on tliat day all the foun-

12 tains of the abyss were burst open and the cataracts of heaven were opened, and there came rain on the earth forty

13 days and forty nights. On that day Noe, Sem, Cham, Japheth, the sons of Noe, and Noe's wife and the three wives of hib

14 sons with him went into the ark: And all the beasts according to kind, and all the cattle according to kind, and every

15 moving reptile on the earth according to its kind, and every kind of winged fowls went to Noe into the ark, two and two, a male and a female of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

16 And when they, that were going in, male and female of all flesh, had gone in as God commanded Noe, the Lord God

17 shut up the ark on the outside, and the deluge came on the earth forty days and forty nights. And the water increased exceedingly and lifted up the ark, and it was raised up from

18 the earth. And the water prevailed and was exceedingly in- creased on the earth : And the ark was borne up above the

19 water. Still die water prevailed more and more on the earth and covered all the high mountains which were under the

20 heaven. Fifteen cubits above was the water raised when it

21 had covered all the high mountains. And all animate flesh on the earth of fowls and cattle and wild beasts and every moving

22 reptile on the earth and every man died. Every thing which hath the breath of life, even every thing which was on the dry

23 land died. It swept away every thing raised up, which was on the face of the earth, man and cattle and reptiles and the fowls of the air. They were swept away from the earth, and Noe alone was left and they who were with him in the ark.

24 And the water was raised up above the earth a hundred and fiftv days.

«/

VIII. Now God had remembered Noe and all the beasts and all the cattle and all the fowls and all the reptiles which creep, even all that were with him in the ark ; and God brought a

2 wind over the earth and aswaged the water. And the fountains of the abyss were shut up and also the cataracts of heaven and the rain from heaven was stayed: and the water running

3 off from the earth subsided; so after a hundred and fifty days the water was lessened and the ark grounded in the seventh month and twenty seventh day of the month upon the moun-

4 tains of Ararat. Still the water continued to lessen till the

5 tenth month. And in the tenth month, on the first day of the

6 month, the tops of the mountains appeared. And after forty days Noe opened the window which he had made in the ark

7 and sent forth a raven ; and it having gone out did not return

8 till the water was dried up from the earth. So he sent out after

9 it the dove to see if the water was abated from the earth; and the dove finding no resting place for its feet, returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the whole face of the earth. Therefore he stretched out his hand and brought it to him in-

10 to the ark. And having waited yet other seven days, he again

11 sent forth the dove out of the ark, and towards evening the dove returned to him and it had an olive leaf, a dry leaf in its

12 bill. So Noe knew that the water was abated from the earth. And having waited yet other seven days he again sent out the dove, and it returned to him no more.

13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year of Noe's life, in the first month and the first day of the month, the water was gone from the earth; and Noe removed the covering of the ark which he had made, and he saw

14 that the water was gone from the face of the earth. And

15 in the second month and twenty seventh day of the month, when the ground was dry, the Lord God spoke to Noe saying,

16 " Go forth out of the ark, thou and thy wife and thy sons and thy sons' wives with thee, and all the beasts which are with

17 thee, even all flesh both of fowls and cattle. Take out also with thee every moving reptile on the earth, and be ye

18 fruitful and multiplied on the earth." So Noe and his wife

19 and his sons and his sons' wives with him went out. And all the beasts and all the cattle and every fowl and every moving reptile on the earth according to their kind, went forth out of

20 the ark. And Noe built an altar to the Lord, and took of all the cattle which are clean and of all the fowls which are clean,

21 and offered them up upon the altar for a whole homage offering. And the Lord God smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord God having come to a determination, said, " I will no more curse the ground on account of the works of men. Though the imagination of man is studiously bent upon evils from his youth, I will not on that account again smite all living flesh,

22 as I have done. While the earth continueth, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and spring, with a succession of day and night shall not cease."

IX. Then God blessed Noe and his sons and said to them,

(l Increase and multiply and replenish the earth and have do-

2 minion over it; and let the fear and the dread of you be upon

all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds of the air, and

on all that move on the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea.

To you I have subjected them and every reptile which hath

3 life. They shall be food for you. As tMe herb of grass I have

4 given you them all. But flesh with the blood of life you shall

5 not eat. For with regard to your blood of your lives, I will indeed make inquisition for it at the hand of the beasts. At the hand of a man's brother I will make inquisition for the life of

6 man. He who sheddeth man's blood shall for it have his own

7 blood poured out; for in an image of God Ihavemade man. As for you therefore be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and have dominion over it."

8 Moreover God spoke to Noe and to his sons with him,

9 saying, " Behold I renew my covenant with you and with your

10 seed after you, and with every living creature Avith you both birds and cattle and with all the wild beasts of the earth which

11 are with you; even with all that went out of the ark. And this covenant of mine I will lay before you. All flesh shall no more die by the water of a deluge; nor shall there any more be a deluge of water to destroy the whole earth."

12 Moreover the Lord God said to Noe, " This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature which is with you for perpetual generations.

'13 This bow of mine I place in the clouds and it shall be for a

14 sign of the covenant between me and the earth, so that when

15 I cause clouds to gather upon the earth, the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember this my covenant, which is between me and you and every life living in all flesh, and the

16 water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. When this my bow shall be in the cloud, I will look that I may remember the everlasting covenant between me and the earth

17 and life living in all flesh which is on the earth. Therefore (said God to Noe) this is the sign of the covenant which I have made between me and all flesh which is on the earth."

18 Now these were the sons of Noe who went out of the ark,

19 Sem, Cham, and Japheth. And Cham was the father of Cha- naan. These three are the sons of Noe. From them men were disseminated over the whole earth.

20 Now Noe being a husbandman, began and planted a vine-

21 yard, and he drank of the wine and was intoxicated and un-

22 covered in his house. And Cham, the father of Chanaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and going out told his two brothers

23 without. Whereupon "Sem and Japheth took the garment and put it on both their shoulders, and went backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces being turned

24 from him, they did not see the nakedness of their father.

25 And when Noe recovered from the wine and knew what his younger son had done to him, he said,

" Ah devoted Chanaan !

" To his brethren he will be a domestic servant.

26 Moreover he said,

" Blessed be the Lord God of Sem:

" And let Chanaan be his domestic servant.

27 " God ma&e room for Japheth !

" And let him dwell in the tents of Sem,
" And let Chanaan become his servant."

28 And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty

29 years. So all the days of Noe were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

X. Now these are the generations of the sons of Noe, Sem, Cham, Japheth, to whom sons were born after the flood.

2 The sons of Japhetli, Gamer, and Magog and Madoi and

3 Jovan arid Elisa and Thobel and Mosoch and Theiras. And the sons of Gamer, Aschanaz and Riphath and Thorgama.

4 And the children of Jovan, Elisa, and the Tharsians, Ketians,

5 Rhodians. By these the islands of the nations were set apart in their land, each according to their language in their tribes and in their nations.

6 And the sons of Cham ; Chous, and Mesrain, Phoud and

7 Chanaan. And the children of Chous; Saba and Evila and Sa-

8 batha and Regma and Sabathaka. And the sons of Regma; Sa-

9 ba and Dadan. And Chous begot Nebrocl. He began to be a giant on the earth. He was a giant hunter before the Lord God. For this cause they say, " Like Ncbrod the giant hunter

10 before the Lord." And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon and Orech and Archad and Chalane in the land of

11 Senaar. From this land Assour went out and builded Ninive

12 and the city Rooboth and Chalach and Dase, between Ninive

13 and Chalach. This was the great city. And Mesrain begot the Loudieims and the Nephthaleims, and the Enemetieims, and

14 Labieims, and Patrosonieims, and. the Chasmonieims (from whom descended the Philistines) and the Gaphthorieims. And

15 Chanaan begot Sidon his first born, and Chettaius, and Jebou- saius and Amoraius and Gergasaius and Evaius and Arou- kaius and Asennaiusand AradiusandSamaraiusand Amathius.

19 And after this the tribes of the Chananites were dispersed. And the boundaries of the Chananites were from Sidon extending to Gerara and Gaza, thence extending to Sodom and

20 Gomorra, Adama and Seboin even to Dasa. These were the children of Cham in their tribes according to their languages in their countries and in their nations.

21 To Sem also children were born even to him who was the father of all the children of Eber and the brother of Japheth

22 who was older than he. The children of Sem were Elam and

23 Assour and Arphaxad and Loud and Aram and Kainan. And the children of Aram were Ouz and Oul and Gater and Mo-

24 soch. And Arphaxad begot Kainan; and Kainan begot Sala;

25 and Sala begot Eber; and to Eber were bom two sons, the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was

26 divided, and his brother's name was Jektan. And Jektan be-

27 got Elmodad and Saleth and Sarmoth and Jarach and Odorra

28 and Aibel and Dekla and Eval and Abimael and Saba and

29 Oupheir and Evila and Jobab. All these were the children of

30 Jektan, and their dwelling was from Massa extending to Sap-

31 hera a mountain of the east. These were the children of Sem in their tribes according to their tongues in their countries and in their nations.

32 These were the tribes of the children of Noe according to their descents and according to their nations. From these were peopled the different countries of the nations on the earth after the flood.

XL Now when the whole earth was of one lip and all had one

2 voice, it came to pass as they were moving from the east that they found a plain in the land of Sennaar and settled there.

3 And they said one to another, Come let us make bricks and bake them with fire. Now the bricks served them for stone

4 and their mortar was asphaltus. And they said, Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which shall be up to heaven; and let us make a name for ourselves before

5 we be scattered on the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came "down to see the city and the tower which die children

6 of men were building. And the Lord said, Behold they are all of one race and one lip. And this they have begun to do; and now nothing will fail of all which they may determine to do.

7 Come, let us go down and there confound their language that

8 they may not understand each other's voice. So the Lord dispersed them from that place over the face of the whole

9 earth, and they left off building the city and the tower. For this cause the name of it was called Confusion, because there the Lord confounded the lips of the whole earth, and dispersed them thence over the face of the whole earth.

10 Now these are the generations of Sem. Sem was an hun-

11 dred years old when he begot Arphaxad the second year after the flood. And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad five hundred years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

12 And Arphaxad lived a hundred and thirty five years and begot Kainan. And Arphaxad lived after he begot Kainan four hundred years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

13 And Kainan lived a hundred and thirty years and begot Sala; and Kainan lived after he begot Sala three hundred and thirty years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

14 And Sala lived a hundred and thirty years and begot Eber; and Sala lived after he begot Eber three hundred and thirty years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

16 And Eber lived a hundred and thirty four years and begot Phaleg; and Eber lived after he begot Phaleg two hundred and seventy years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

18 And Phaleg lived a hundred and thirty years and begot Ragau ; and Phaleg lived after he begot Ragau two hundred and nine years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

20 And Ragau lived a hundred and thirty two years and begot Serouch; and Ragau lived after he begot Serouch two hundred and seven years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

22 And Serouch lived a hundred and thirty years and begot Nachor; and Serouch lived after he begot Nachor two hundred years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

24 And Nachor lived a hundred and seventy nine years and

begot Tharra; and Nachor lived after he begot Tharra a hundred and twenty five years and begot sons and daughters, and died.

26 And Tharra lived seventy years and begot Abram and Nachor and Arran.

27 Now these are the generations of Tharra. Tharra begot

28 Abram and Nachor and Arran; and Arran begot Lot. And Arran died in the presence of his father Tharra in the land in

29 which he was born in the country of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nachor took themselves wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sara, and the name of Nachor's wife, Malcha, a daughter of Arran, who was the father of Malcha and the fa-

30 ther of Jescha. And Sara was barren and did not bear chil-

31 dren. And Tharra took Abram his son and Lot the son of Arran, his grand son, and Sara his daughter in law, the wife of his son Abram, and led them out of the country of the Chal-

32 dees to go to the land of Chanaan. But when they came to Charran he took up his abode there. And in the land of Char- ran, all the days of Tharra were two hundred and five years. And Tharra died in Charran.

XII. Now the Lord said to Abram, Depart from thy land and

from thy kindred and from the house of thy father and come

2 to the land which I will shew tliee, and I will make thec a great

5 nation; and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and

thou shaltbe blessed; and I will bless them, who bless thee;

and those who curse thee I will curse: and by thee all the tribes

4 of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went as the Lord commanded him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was

5 seventy five years old when he came out of Charran. And Abram took Sara his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance which they possessed, and every living creature which they had, and set out from Charran to go to the land of

6 Chanaan. And Abram travelled through the land lengthwise till he came to the place of Sychem to the lofty Oak.

7 Now the Chananites at that time inhabited that land. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, "To thy seed I will give this land." So Abram built there an altar to the Lord

8 who appeared to him. And from that place he went to the mountain east of Baithel and thero pitched his tent, having

Vol. i. c

Baithel on the west and Aggai on the east, and built there an

. 9 altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And

Abram removed and proceeding forward encamped in the wil-

10 derness. And there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, because the famine prevailed

11 in the land. And when Abram was near entering Egypt, he said to his wife Sara, I know that because thou art a beautiful

12 woman, it will therefore come to pass that when the Egyptians see thee, they will say, She is his wife, and they will kill me;

13 but thee they will save alive. Say thou therefore, I am his sister, that it may be well with me on thy account, and my life

14 will be preserved for thy sake. So when Abram came into Egypt the Egyptians beheld his wife, for she was very beau-

15 tiful; and when the princes of Pharaoh saw her they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was brought to Pharaoh's house.

16 And they treated Abram well for her sake, though he had sheep and oxen and asses and men servants and maid servants

17 and mules and camels. But God visited Pharaoh and his family with great and grievous plagues because of Sara the wife

18 of Abram. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, Why hast thou acted thus with me and didst not tell me that she is thy

19 wife? Why didst thou say, She is my sister? I indeed took her to be my wife, but now there is thy wife before thee.

20 Take her and begone. And Pharaoh gave strict orders to men touching Abram, to convoy away him and his wife and

. all that he had. So Abram went up out of Egypt with his wife and all his substance, and Lot with him, into the wilderness.

XIII. Now Abram was very rich in cattle and in silver and gold, therefore he proceeded on to the place from which he had come into the wilderness, even .to Baithel to the place \\ here his tent formerly was, between Baithel and Aggai, to the place of the altar which he had there built at the first, and there Abram invoked the name of the Lord.

5 Now Lot who accompanied Abram had flocks and herds

and tents, so that the land would not admit of their living to-

6 gether. Because their substance was great and the land did

not admit of their living together, and there was quarfelinsr

7 between the herdsmen of Abram's cuttle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle, and the Chananites and the Pherezites then inha-

8 bited that land; therefore Abram said to Lot, Let there be no quarreling between me and thee, and between my herdsmen

9 and thy herdsmen, for we are brethren. Behold is not the whole land before thee? Separate from me. If thou incline to the left, I will take the right. Or if thou go to the right, I

10 will go to the left. Then Lot raised his eyes and took a view of all the country bordering on the Jordan. For before God overthrew Sodom and Gomorra it was all watered till it reacheth Zogora, like the paradise of God, and like the land

11 of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself all the country bordering on the Jordan; and Lot removed to the eastern border. And

12 the brothers separated one from the other. And Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot dwelt in a city of the bor-

13 derers and pitched his tent among the Sodomites, though the men of Sodom were wicked and very great sinners in the sight of the Lord.

14 And God said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, Raise thy eyes and look from the place where thou now art,

15 to the north and south and east and west. For all the land which thou seest I will give to thee and thy seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed like the dust of the earth. If any can count the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be num-

17 bered. Arise and travel through the land, the length and the breadth thereof, for to thee I will give it and to thy seed

18 for ever. Then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt near the Oak of Mambre, which was by Chebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.

XIV. And it came to pass in the reign of Amarphal king of Sennaar, and of Arioch king of Ellasar, that Chodollogomar

2 king of Elam, and Thargal king of nations, made war on Balla king of Sodom, and on Barsa king of Gomorra, and on Sennaar king of Adama, and Sumobor king of Seboeim, and the

3 king of Balak which is Segor. All these met together on thp 1 salt vale, which is now the sea of salt. Twelve years they had

served Chodollogomar, but in the thirteenth year they revolt-

5 ed. And in the fourteenth year came Chodollogomar and the

kings with him, and having subdued the giants in Astaroth

' and Karnain, and mighty nations with them, namely,liie Om

6' maians who dwelt in the city Save, and the Chorrites on the mountain of Seir as far as the pine grove of Pharan, which is

7 in the wilderness, they turned and came to the fountain of Judgment, which is Kades, and smote the princes of Amalek

8 and the Amorites, who dwelt in Asasonthamar. Then marched out the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorra and the

9 king of Adama and the king of Seboeim and the king of Ba- lak, that is Segor, and drew up in array against them for battle in the salt vale, against Chodollogomar king of Elain and Thargal king of nations, and Amarphal king of Sennaar, and

10 Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. Now in this salt vale there were wells of Asphaltus. And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorra fled and fell there. And they

11 who were left fled to the hilly country. And they took all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorra and all their provisions and

12 departed. They took also Lot, Abram's brother's son and his substance, when they went oft', as he dwelt among the Sodo-

13 mites. And one of them who escaped, came and told Abram, the traveller, who then dwelt near the oak grove of Mambre the Amorite, the brother of Eschol, and the brother of Au-

14 nan, who were in alliance with Abram. And when Abram heard that his nephew Lot was carried away captive, he numbered his domestics, three hundred and eighteen men, and

15 pursued them to Dan. And in the night he and his servants fell upon them and smote them, and pursued them even to Choba,

16 on the left of Damascus. And he brought back all the cavalry of the Sodomites. He brought back also his nephew Lot and

17 all his substance and the women and the people. And on his return from the slaughter of Chodollogomar and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him, to the

18 valley of Sabu which was the king's dale. Melchisedek also the king of Salem carried out bread and wine. Now he was a priest

19 of the most High God, and he blessed Abram, and said, May Abram be blessed by God the Most High, who created the

20 heaven and the earth: And blessed be God the Most High who

21 hath delivered thy enemies into thy hands. And Abram gave him a tenth of all. And the king of Sodom said to Abram,

22 Give me the men, but take the horses for thyself. Whereupon Abram said to the king of Sodom, With this uplifted hand of

23 mine I swear by the Lord the God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth, that of all which belong to thee I will

24 not take from a thread to a shoe latchet; that thou mayest not say, I have made Abram rich; save only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of these men who went with me, namely, Eschol, Aunan, Mambre. Let them take a portion.

XV. After these things a word of the Lord came to Abfam in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I protect thee. Thy reward

2 shall be exceedingly great. Whereupon Abram said, O sovereign Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I die childless, and

3 the son of Masek my servant, this Damascus Eliezer—Then Abram said, seeing thou hast not given me seed, this servant

4 of mine is to be my heir. And immediately there came a voice of the Lord to him saying, He shall not be thy heir: but one

5 who shall spring from thee shall be thy heir. Then he led him out and said to him, Look up now to the heaven and count the

6 stars if thou canst number them. Then he said, So shall thy seed be. And Abram believed God and it was counted to him

7 for righteousness. Then he said to him, I am the God who brought thee out of the country of the Chaldees, that I might

8 give thee this land to inherit it. Whereupon he said, O sove-

9 reign Lord, how shall I know that I shall inherit it? And the Lord said to him, " Take for me a heifer of three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a tur-

10 tie dove and a pidgeon." So he took for him all these and divided them in halves and placed the halves opposite to one another,

11 but the birds he did not divide; but the birds alighted on the carcases, on the two halves of them, and Abram sat down with

12 them. And at the going down of the sun an ecstacy came on Abram, and lo! a great gloomy horror falleth upon him, and

13 it was said to Abram, Know assuredly that thy seed shall sojourn in a land not their own. And they shall be enslaved and

14 afflicted and humbled. Four hundred years. Butthe nation which they shall serve I will judge. And after that they shall come

15 out hither with much wealth. Thou indeed shall go to thy fa-

16 thers in peace, having been nourished in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall be brought back hither. For

17 the sins of the Amorites have not vet come to the full. And as the sun was setting there was a flash of fire, and lo! a smoking furnace and lamps of fire passed between the halved parts.

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying,

19 "To thy seed I will give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, the Kenites and the Kenezites, and

20 the Kedmonites and the Chettites and the Pherezites and the

21 Raphaeimsand the Amorites and the Chananites and the Evites and the Gergesites and the Jebusites.

XVI. Still Sara, the wife of Abram, did not bear him children;

2 so having an Egyptian servant whose name was Agar, Sara said to Abram, Behold the Lord hath shut me up that I may not

3 bear. Go in therefore to my maid that I may have children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sara. And Sara the wife of Abram took Agar her Egyptian maid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to Abram

4 her husband to be his wife. And he went in unto Agar and she conceived. And when she saw that she was with child, her mis-

5 tress was contemptible in her sight. Whereupon Sara said to Abram, I am injured on thy account. I gave thee this maid of mine into thy bosom, and when she seeth that she is with child,

6 I am contemptible in her sight. God judge between me and thee. And Abram said to Sara, Behold thy maid is in thy hands, treat her as it seemeth good to thee. Thereupon Sara

7 treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence. But an angel of the Lord found her at the fountain of water in the wil-

8 derness—at the fountain in the way to Sour. And the angel of the Lord said to her, Agar, thou servant of Sara, whence comest thou and whither art thou going? And she said I am

9 fleeing from the face of my mistress Sara. And the angel of the Lord said to her, Return to thy mistress and submit to her

10 authority. Moreover the angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply thy seed so that it shall not be numbered on account

11 of the multitude of it. Furthermore the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold thou art with child, and thou shalt bear a son and shalt call his name Ismael; for the Lord hath hearkened to

12 thy affliction. He will be a wild man. His hands will be against all,

13 and die hands of all, against him. And he shall dwell in front of all his brethren." So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, " Thou the God who lookest upon me;" for said 14 she, I saw plainly him who appeared to me; for this cause

15 she called the well, The-well before-which I saw. Lo! it is between Kades and Barad. And Agar bore Abram a son; and Abram called his son whom Agar bore to him Ismael.

XVII. Now Abram was eighty six years old when Agar bore Ismael

1 to Abram. And when Abram was ninety nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, " I am thy God.

2 Be well pleasing in my sight, and be blameless and I will establish that covenant of mine between me and thee and

3 multiply thee exceedingly." Whereupon Abram fell on his face,

4 and God spake to him saying, " On my part lo! this is my co-

5 venant with thee, Thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations, and thy name shall no more be called Abram but thy name shall be Abraham; because I have made thee the father of many

6 nations: And I will increase thee exceedingly, and cause thee to

7 become nations; andkings shall springfrom thee: And I will establish this my covenant with thee and thy seed after thee, throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be thy God

8 and the God of thy seed after thee. And I will give thee and thy seed after thee this land in which thou sojournest; even all the land of Chanaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be

9 their God." Moreover God said to Abraham, "On thy part thou shalt keep this my covenant; thou and thy seed after thee

10 throughout their generations. And this is the covenant which thou shalt keep between me and you, even thy seed after thee throughout their generations, Every male of you shall be cir-

11 cumcised. Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and

12 it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and you. And the child of eight days old shall be circumcised among you. Everjr male throughout your generations, including the home born servant, and him who is bought with money from any

13 stranger, not of thy seed. Thy home born servant and he who is bought shall surely be circumcised. And this my covenant shall

14 be on your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And with regard to the uncircumcised male, the flesh of whose foreskin shall not be circumcised on the eighth day, that soul shall be cut off from its family, because it hath broken my covenant."

15 Moreover God said to Abraham, "Sara thy wife shall not

16 be called Sara. Her name shall be Sarah. And I will bless her and give thee a son by her. And I will bless him. And he shall

17 become nations, and from him there shall be kings of nations/' Upon this Abraham fell on his face and smiled, and said in his

18 heart, To him who is in his hundredth year shall a son be born?

19 and shall Sarah bring forth in her ninetieth year? And Abraham said to God, Let this Ismael live before thee. Whereupon God said to Abraham, Nay, behold Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaak. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant to

20 be his God and the God of his seed after him. And as for 'Is- mael, lo! I have hearkened to thee and behold I have blessed him, and I will increase him and multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve nations, and I will make him a great na-

21 tion. But this covenant of mine I will establish with Isaak whom Sarah shall bear about this time next year."

22 And when God had finished talking with him, and had

23 ascended from him, Abraham took his son Ismael and all the servants born in his family and all those who were bought with money, even every male of the men in Abraham's family and circumcised their foreskins that very day, as God had ordered

24 him. Now Abraham was ninety nine years old when he was

25 circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ismael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of

26 his foreskin. In one and the same day were circumcised Abraham and his son Ismael and all the men of his household, both his home born servants and those bought from foreign nations.

XVIII. Again God appeared to him at the Oak grove of Mambre. As he was sitting at the door of his tent at noon, he raised his eyes

2 and looked, and lo! three men stood above him. And whenhesaw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent; and having

3 made obeisance to the ground, he said, My Lord, if I have

4 found favour in thy sight, pass not by thy sen-ant. Let water, I pray thee, be brought and let your feet be washed; and re-

5 fresh yourselves under this tree; and I will fetch bread that you may eat. And after that you may proceed on your journey, in as much as you have turned aside to your servant.

6 Whereupon he said, Do as thou hast said. Then Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said to her, Haste, and mix up three measures of fine flour and make cakes on the hearth.

7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf tender and good.

8 and gave it to a servant and urged him to dress it quickly. And "he took butter and milk and the calf which he had dressed and set it before them, and they ate, and he stood by them under the

9 tree. And he said to Abraham, Where is Sarah thy wife? And

10 Abraham said, Behold! in the tent. Then he said, I will return and come to thee about this time twelve month, and Sarah thy wife

11 will Have a son. And Sarah heard, being at the door of the tent behind them. (Now Abraham and Sarah were far advanced in life, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.)

12 And Sarah smiled within herself, saying, It hath never been-

13 so with me even to this time, and my lord is old. And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah smile within herself, saying,

14 Shall I indeed bring forth? I who am old? Can any thing be impossible with God? About this time twelve month I will re-

15 turn to thee, and Sarah,shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I did not smile, for she was terrified. And he said to her, Nay,1 but thou didst smile.

16 Tlien the men aros^ and directed their course towards Soilom and Gomorra, and Abraham went with them to conduct

17 them on the way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from my

18 servant Abraham, what I am going to do? Abraham shall indeed become a nation great and numerous; and by him all the

19 nations of the earth are to.be blessed. For I know that he will command his children and his household after him, who are to keep the ways of the Lord, to execute judgment and justice, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham all that he hath spoken to him. ,x .,.,..- >

20 Then the Lord s44, The . cry of Sodom and Gomorra hath been multipnea before me, and their sins are exceedingly

21 great, therefore 1 am come down, to see whether they do to each other according to tjie cry which is come/to me; and if

22 not, that I may know. Now the^ men had turned thence and were gone on to Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before

23 the Lord. And Abraham drew near and S£u(i, Thou wouldst not destroy a righteous with a wicked man! Shall a righteous

24 man be as the wicked? Should there be fifty righteous men in the city, wilt thou destroy .them?..Wilt thou not spare the whole city for the sake of fifty righteous, if they be there?

2U Thou canst ftot do such a thing as this to slay the righteous

VOL. I. D

with the wicked. Shall the righteous be as the wicked? No, no; Thou who judgest the whole earth; wilt not thou execute

26 judgment? And the Lord said, If there be among the Sodomites fifty righteous men in the city, I will spare the whole

27 city and the whole place for their sake. Then Abraham answered and said, Now I have taken upon me to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes! But if the fifty righteous be lessened to forty five wilt thou for want of the five destroy

28 the whole city? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find

29 there forty five. And Abraham proceeded farther to speak to

30 him and said, But if there be found there forty? And he said For the sake of the forty I will not destroy it. Then Abra* ham said, Wilt thou, O Lord, be offended if I speak? But if

31 there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it, for the sake of the thirty. Again Abraham said, Since I am permitted to speak to the Lord, If twenty be found there?

32 And he said I will not destroy it, if I find twenty there. And Abraham said, Wilt thou, O Lord, be offended, if I speak yet once more? But if ten be found there? And he said, For the sake of ten I will not destroy it. Then 1:he Lord having done speaking to Abraham departed, and Abi-aham returned to his place.

XIX. Now in the evening the two angels catne to Sodom, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom, and upon seeing them, Lot arose to meet them, and made obeisance with his face to

2 the ground, and said, I intreat you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and rising early in the morning, you may proceed on

3 your journey. And they said, No, we will lodge in the street. Then he pressed them, and they went home with him. And when they came to his house, he made an entertainment for them; and baked for them unleavened cakes, and they did eat.

4 But before they went to rest, the men of the city, the Sodomites, surrounded the house, both young and old—all the

5 people in a body. And they called out Lot and said to him, Where are the men who came to thee this nig;ht? Bring them

6 out to us that we may.know them. Whereupon Lot went out to

7 them into the porch and shut the door after him: And he said to them, You must not brethren, commit such wickedness.

8 I have two daughters who have not known man; Let me bring out these to you, and use them as you please; only do no injury to these men in as much as they have come under the shelter of

9 my roof. And they said to him, Begone there 1 Thou earnest to sojourn, didst thou also, to be our judge? Now therefore we will treat thee worse than them. And they pressed violently against the man, Lot; and came n^ar to break open the

10 door. Then the men stretched forth their hands and pulled Lot to them into the house and shut the door of the house, and

11 smote with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they were tired seeking

12 the door. Then the men said to Lot, Hast thou here sons in law, or sons or daughters? or if thou hast any other in this city take them out of this place, for we are going to destroy this

13 place. For their cry is come up before the Lord, and the Lord

14 hath sent us to destroy it. Upon this Lot went out and spoke to his sons in law, who had bethrothed his daughters and said, Arise and depart from this place; for the Lord is going to destroy this city. But he seemed to his sons in law to be

15 mocking. Now when it was break of day the angels hurried Lot, saying, Arise and take thy wife and thy two daughters whom thou hast, and get away, lest thou also perish for the

16 iniquities of this city. But they were confounded. So the angels took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the

17 hands of his two daughters, as the Lord spared him. And having led them out they said, Escape for thy life. Look not back, nor stop in any part of the plain around. Escape to the

18 mountains, lest peradventure thou be overtaken. Thereupon

19 Lot said to them, I beseech thee, O Lord, since thy servant hath found favour in thy sight and thou hast magnified thy

20 kindness in what thou dost for me to save my life. I cannot escape to the mountains. Peradventure the calamity may over- take me and I shall die. Behold that city is nigh for me to flee to. It is little and thither I can escape. Is it not little? And

!l my soul shall live by thy means. And he said, Behold I have indulged thee also in this matter, so as not to destroy that city

12 of which thou hast spoken. Haste therefore to escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou get there. For this cause he called the name of that city, Segor,

23 The sun was risen on the earth when Lot entered Segor;

24 and the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorra brimstone

25 and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthre\y these cities, and all the circumjacent country, and all the inhar bitants of those cities, and all the productions of the ground,

26 And Lot's wife having looked back was turned into a pillar of salt. ,

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place.

28 where he had stood before the Lord, and he looked towards Sodom and Gomorra and towards the circumjacent plain, and he beheld and lo! a flame ascended out of the earth like the

29 smoke of a furnace. But when God destroyed all the cities of that neighbourhood he remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out from that destruction.

Now when the Lord had destroyed those cities in which

30 Lot had dwelt, Lot went up out of Segor, and he and his two daughters with him settled in the mountains; for he was afraid to dwell in Segor. So he and his two daughters with him took

31 up their abode in a cave. And the elder said to the younger, Our father is old and there is none in this land who will come

32 in unto us, as is customary in all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him that we may

33 raise up seed from our father. So they made their father drink wine that very night, and the elder having gone in lay with her father that night, and he knew not when she lay down, nor when

34 she arose, And on the next night the elder said to the younger, Lo! I lay with our father last night, let us make him drink, wine this night also, and do thou go'in and lie with him and

35 let us raise up seed from our father. So they made their father, drink wine that night also, and the younger went in and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when

36 she arose. Thus the two daughters of Lot conceived by their

37 father. And the eldest bore a son and called his name Moab, saying From my father. He is the Father of the present Moa-

38 bites. And the youngest also bore a son and called his name Amman saying, Son of the same as I. He is the father of the present Ammanites.

XX. Now Abraham had removed thence into the south country, and made his abode between Kades and Sour, and sojourned

'",- * I /' rit'' r-f * -*1--'

2 among the Gerarites. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. For he was afraid to say, She is my wife,

3 lest the men of the city should kill him on her account.; And Abimelech the king of the Gerarites sent and took Sarah. Aim! God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said, Behold thou diest for this woman, whom thou hast taken; for

4 she is the man's wife. Now Abimelech had not touched her. And Abimelech said, O Lord, wilt thou destroy an un-

5 knowing and righteous nation? Did he not tell me, She is my sister? And did not she say to me, He is my brother? With

6 a pure heart and innocent hands I have done this. And God said to him in a dream, I know indeed that with a pure heart thou hast done this, and out of compassion I withheld thee from

7 sinning against me. For this cause I suffered thee not to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a pix>T phet; and he will pray for thee and thou shall live. But if thou restore not, be assured that thou and all belonging to thee

8 shall die. And Abimelech arose early next morning and called all his servants and related all these things in their hearing.

9 And all the men were exceedingly terrified. Then Abimelech sent for Abraham and said to him, Why hast thou dealt thus with us? Have we in any respect sinned against thee, that thou shouldst bring upon me and upon my kingdom this great sin?

10 Thou hast done to me what no one should do. Moreover Abimelech said to Abraham, What didst thou see that thou

11 shouldst do this? And Abraham said, I indeed thought, as there is no worship of God in this place, they will kill me for

12 my wife's sake. And indeed of a truth she is my sister by the same father but not of the same mother, so she became my wife.

13 And when God led me out from my father's house I said to. her, Thou wilt do me this kindness. To what place soever w-e

14 come say of me, He is my brother. Then Abimelech took a thousand didrachms and sheep and oxen and men servants and maid servants and gave them to Abraham, and restored to

15 him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said to Abraham, Behold

16 my land is before thee; dwell wherever it may please thee. And to Sarah he said, Behold I have given thy brother a thousand didrachms. Let these therefore be for thee to adorn thy countenance and for all the women with thee. Make thou

17 therefore all things hereafter accord with truth. Then Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife

18 and his maid servants and they bore children. For the Lord had shut up every womb in Abimelech's family on the account of Sarah the wife of Abraham.

XXI. Now the Lord visited Sarah as he had said. And the Lord

2 did for Sarah as he had spoken, and she conceived and bare a son to Abraham in old age at the set time, of which the Lord

3 had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son

4 who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaak. And Abraham circumcised Isaak on the eighth day, asGodhad com-

5 manded him. Now Abraham was a hundred years old when

6 his son Isaak was born to him. And Sarah said, The Lord hath made laughter for me; for whoever shall hear will rejoice

7 with me. And she said, Who will tell Abraham that Sarah is

8 suckling a child—that I have born a son in my old age! And the child grew and was weaned and Abraham made a great en-

9 tertainment on the day his son Isaak was weaned. And when Sarah saw the son of Agar the Egyptian who was born to Abraham sporting with her son Isaak, she said to Abraham,

10 Send away this girl and her son; for the son of this girl shall

11 not be heir with my son Isaak. And the thing appeared very

12 hard in Abraham's view, touching his son. But God said to Abraham, Let not this respecting thy son and respecting the handmaid appear hard in thy view. Hearken to the voice of

13 Sarah in whatever she may have said to thee. For in Isaak a seed shall be called for thee. Nevertheless I will make the son

14 of this handmaid a great nation, because he is thy seed. So Abraham arose early the next morning and took loaves and a skin full of water, and when he had put them on her shoulder he gave the boy to Agar and sent her away. And she departing

15 lost her way between the wilderness and Well of the Oath; And the water in the skin being spent she laid the boy 'under the first pine tree and going away sat down over against him at the

16 distance of about a bow shot. For she said, I cannot behold the death of my son. So she sat over against him and the lad wept

17 with a loud voice. And God heard the voice of the lad from the place where he was. And an angel of God called to Agar out of heaven and said, What is the matter, Agar? Fear not. For God hath heard the voice of the lad from the place where

18 he is. Arise and take up the boy and support him with thy

19 hand; for I will make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of spring water. So she went and

20 filled the vessel with water and gave the boy drink. And God was with the lad and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and

21 became a bowman. Thus he dwelt in the wilderness, and his mother took for him a wife from Pharan of Egypt.

22 Now it happened at that time that Abimelech, accompanied with Ochozath his chamberlain and Phichol the general of his

23 army, spoke to Abraham saying, God is with thee in all that thou dost. Now therefore swear to me by God, that thou wilt not injure me nor my seed nor my name; but that according to the kindness with which I have treated thee, thou wilt deal

24 with me and this land in which thou hast sojourned. And Abra-

25 ham said, I swear. Then Abraham expostulated with Abimelech touching the wells of water which the servants of Abime-

26 lech had taken. And Abimelech said to him, I did not know that any one had done this to thee. Thqu didst not tell me, nor

27 did I hear of it till this day. Then Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech; and they both made a co-

28 venant. Now Abraham had set seven ewe lambs by thcm-

29 selves; And Abimelech said to Abraham, What are these se-

30 ven ewe lambs jvhich thou hast set by themselves? Upon which Abraham said, These seven ewe lambs thou wilt take of me that they may be a witness for me, that I digged this well.

31 For this cause he called the name of that place, Well of the Oath, because both of them swore there and made a covenant

32 at Well of the Oath. Then arose Abimelech and Ochozath his chamberlain and Phichol the general of his army and returned

33 to the land of the Philistines; and Abraham planted a field at Well of the Oath and there invoked the name of the Lord, the

34 everlasting God. And Abraham eojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

XXII. And it came to pass after these things that God tried

Abraham and said to him, Abraham! Abraham! And he said,

2 Here I am. And he said, Take thy son, thy dear son whom thou

hast loved—Isaak; and go to the hilly country and offer him up

there for a whole homage offering on one of the hills which I 3 -will point out to thee. So Abraham arose in the morning and

saddled his ass and took with him two servants and his son

Isaak: and having split wood for the whole homage offering he

set out on the journey and came to the place which God

- 4 told him on the third day. Now when Abraham raised his eyes

5 and saw the place at a distance he said to his servants, Stay here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder, and when

6 we have worshipped we will return to you. Then Abraham took the wood of the whole homage offering and laid it on his son Isaak; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and

7 they both proceeded on together. And Isaak said to his father Abraham, Father. And he said, What is the matter, son? And Isaak said, Here is the fire and the wood; where is the

8 sheep for a whole homage offering? And Abraham said, My son! God will provide for himself a sheep for a whole homage

9 offering. So they both proceeded on together and came to the place which God told'him. And Abraham built there the altar, and placed thereon the wood; and having bound his son Isaak

10 he laid him on the altar above the wood. And when Abraham stretched forth his hand to take hold of the knife to slay his

11 son, the angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven and said,

12 Abraham! Abraham! And he said, Here I am. And he said, Lay not thy hand on the lad, nor do any thing to him; for now I know that thou fearest God and on my account hast not spared

13 thy darling son. Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and lo! a rum caught by the horns in a sabek bush. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for an homage offer-

14 ing instead of his son Isaak. And Abraham called the name of that place, The Lof& hath seen, that at this day they might

15 say, On this mountain, The Lord was seen. Then the angel

16 of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,

17 saying, By myself I have sworn, saith the Lord,. Because thou hast done this, and for my sake hast not spared thy beloved son; with blessings I will indeed bless thee; and I will multiply thy seed abundantly as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the sea shore: and thy seed shall inherit the cities of their

18 adversaries; and by the seed of thee all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because thou hast hearkened to my voice.

19 Then Abraham returned to his servants and they arose an,d i% * came together to Well of the Oath, for Abraham lived at Well

20 of the Oath. And after these things it was told Abraham saying, With regard to Melcha, behold she also hath born sons to

21 thy brother Nachor, Ouz the first born, and Baux his brother,

22 and Hamuel, the father of the Syrians, and Chazad and Azau,

23 and Phaldes and Jeldaph and Bathuel; and Bathuel begot Re- bekka. These were the eight sons, whom Melcha bore to Na-

24 chor the brother of Abraham. And his concubine whose name was Reuma bore also Tabek and Gaam and Tochos and Mocha.

XXIII. Now the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty seven 2 years. And Sarah died in the city Arbok, which is in the vale,

the same is Chebron in the land of Chanaan. And Abraham went 5 to mourn for Sarah and to make lamentation. And Abraham

arose from before his dead and spoke to the children of diet,

4 saying, I am a stranger and sojourner among you, give me therefore the possession of a burying place among you, that I

5 may bury my dead from before me. And the children of Chet answered and said to Abraham, Nay, Sir, rather hearken to us.

6 Thou art a king from God among us. In the choice of our tombs bury thy dead; for there is none of us who will deny

7 thee his tomb to bury there thy dead. Then Abraham standing up made obeisance to the people of the land—the children

8 of Chet. And Abraham spoke to them saying, If it be your wish that I should bury this my dead out of my sight, hearken

9 to me and speak for me to Ephron the son of Saar. AncHct him give me the double cave which belongeth to him—that which is in a part of his field. Let him give it to me for the full value.

10 of it, among you, for a possession of a burying place. Now Ephron was sitting among the children of Chet; And Ephron the Chettite answered Abraham and said in the hearing of the children of Chet and of all coming into the city, Attend, Sir,

11 and hearken to me. The field and the cave which is in it I give thee. In the presence of my fellow citizens I have given them

12 to thee. Bury thy dead. And when Abraham had made obeisance before all the people of the land, he said to Ephron in the

13 hearing of all the people of the land, As thou art here before me, hearken to me. Take of me in silver the value of the field

14 and I will bury my dead there. Whereupon Ephron answered

Vol. i. r.

15 Abraham, saying, Nay, Sir, I have indeed heard that the land is worth four hundred didrachms of silver; but what can that

16 be between me and thee? But bury thou thy dead. And Abraham hearkened to Epliron; and Abraham paid down to Ephron the money which he mentioned in the hearing of the children of Chet, four hundred didrachms of silver current among mer-

17 chants. So the field of Ephron including the double cave which is situate before Mambre, the field and the cave in it and all the wood in the field and all within the bounds thereof round about

18 were conveyed to Abraham for a possession in the presence of

19 the children of Chet and of all who entered the city. After this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the double cave of the field which is over against Mambre (the same is Chebron in the land

20 of Chanaan.) And the property of the field and the cave in it was confirmed to Abraham for a possession ©f a burying "place by the children of Chet.

XXIV. Now Abraham was old and far advanced in years, and the

2 Lord had blessed him in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his family and who was ruler over all

3 that he had, Put thy hand under my thigh, and let me cause thee to swear by the Lord the God of heaven and the God of earth, that thou wilt not take a wife for my son Isaak, of the

4 daughters of the Chananites among whom I dwell; but that thou wilt go to the land where I was born, and to my tribe and

5 take thence a wife for my son Isaak. And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to come with me

6 to this land; shall I take back thy son to the land from which thou earnest"? Whereupon Abraham said to him, Beware that

7 thou take not back my son thither. The Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my nativity; who spoke to me, and who sware to me saying, " To thee I will give this land and to thy seed;" he will send his angel before tnee, and thou shalt take

8 thence a wife for my son. But if the woman will not come with thee into thisland,thou shalt be absolved from this myoath,

9 save that thou must not take my son back thither. Then the servant put his hand under his master Abraham's thigh, and

10 sivoiv to him respecting this matter. And the servant took tc:i camels of the camels of his nuuter; and of all the goods of h-s master which were in his charge, and arose and went to Me-

11 sopotamia to the city of Nachor. And he made his camels lie down without the city, by the well of water, in the evening,

12 when the women come out to draw water; and said, O Lord the God of my master Abraham, prosper the way before me

13 this day; and shew thy kindness to my master Abraham. Behold I stand by this well of water and the daughters of the in-

14 habitants of the city will come out to draw water. Now let the virgin to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher that I may drink; and who shall say, Drink thou, and I will give water also to thy camels till they have all done drinking; let her be the woman whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaak. And by this I shall know that thou hast dealt mercifully with

15 my master Abraham. And before he had finished this mental speech, lo! Rebekka the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Mel- cha, the wife of Nachor, Abraham's brother, came out with

16 her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the damsel was of a very beautiful countenance and was a virgin. No man had known her. So when she had gone down to the well and filled her

17 pitcher and came up, the servant ran to meet her and said, Let

18 me drink a little water out of thy pitcher. Upon which she said, Drink, my lord, and hastened to let down the pitcher on

19 her arm and let him drink till he was satisfied. Then she said, I will draw water for thy camels also until they shall have all

20 drunk. And she hasted and emptied the pitcher into the watering trough and ran to the well to draw more and drew water

21 for all the camels. And the man observed her attentively and held his peace, that he might know whether the Lord had

22 prospered his journey or not. And when all the camels had done drinking, the man took ear rings of gold of about a drachm weight, and a pair of bracelets for her hands, the weight of which was ten pieces of gold, and he asked her saying, Whose

23 daughter art thou ? Tell me, Is there room at thy father's house

24 for us to lodge ? And she said, I am the daughter of Bathuel,

25 the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor. Moreover she said to him, We have plenty of straw and provender and room

26 to lodge in. Then the man being satisfied, worshipped the Lord and said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not withdrawn his kindness and his truth from

\

27 my master. The Lord hath indeed given me a prosperous

28 journey to the house of my master's brother. Upon this the damsel ran to her mother's house and told all these things.

29 Now Rcbekka had a brother whose name was Laban. And La-

30 ban ran out tt> the man at the well. When he saw the ear rings and bracelets in his sister's hands and heard all the words of

31 Rebekka his sister, saying, Thus spake the man to me, he went to the man who \vas standing by his camels at the well and said to him, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord, why hast thou tar-

32 ricd without? {"have the house ready and a place for the camels. So the man went in to the family, and Laban unsaddled the camels, and gave straw and provender to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with

33 him, and set bread before them to eat. But the man said I can- not eat till I'have told my business. And Laban said, speak.

34 Thereupon the man said, I am Abraham's servant, The Lord indeed hath blessed my master exceedingly, so that he is be-

35 come great. He hath given him flocks and herds and silver and gold, men servants and maid servants, camels and asses.

36 And Sarah, the* Avife of my master, hath born one son to my master when he was old, and he hath given him all that be-

37 longed to him. And my master made me sware saying, Thou shalt not take a wife for my son from among the daughters of

38 the Chananites in whose land I sojourn; but thou shalt go to the house of my father and to my tribe and take thence a

39 wife for my son. Whereupon I said to my master, Perhaps

40 the woman will not come with me. And he said to me, The Lord God, to whom I have been well pleasing in his sight, will send his angel with thee, and make thy journey prosperous, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from my tribe and from my

41 father's house. On this condition only thou shalt be absolved from my curse; when thou hast gone to my tribe, if they will

42 not give thee, then shalt thou be clear from my oath. Now, when I came to day to the well, I said, O Lord the God of my master Abraham, if thou prospercst the journey in which I am

43 now engaged, Behold I have stopped at this well of water, and. i the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw

44 water, Let the virgin to whom I shall say, Let me drink a little water out of thy pitcher; and who shall say to me, Drink thou, and I will draw water for thy camels; Let her be the wife whom the Lord hath provided for his servant Isaak; and by this I shall know that thou hast dealt mercifully with' mv- master

45 Abraham. And before I had finished this my address in thou ght, straightway Rebekka came with the pitcher on ner shoulder and went down to the well and drew wafer, and I sajtl to her,

46 Let me drink. Upon which she speedily let down the pitcher on her arm, and said, Drink thou, and I *ill water thy camels. So I drank. And when she had watered the camels, I asked her

47 saying, Whose daughter ar^thou? Tell me. Aihdshe said, I am the daughter of Bathucl the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. Then I put the ear rings on her mid the bracelets on

48 her hands, and being well pleased, I. worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord the God of my master Abraliajn, who had prospered me in the right way to take the daughter of my

49 master's brother for his son. Now therefore, TFyou deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me; that I may

50 turn either to the right or left. In reply to which, Laban and Bathuel said, This matter hath proceeded from the Lord. We

51 cannot gainsay thce, be it good or bad. Belvfld Rebekka. is before thee. Take her and go and let her be the wife of thy

52 master's son, as the Lord hath spoken. And when Abraham's servant heard these words, he worshipped the Lord on the

53 ground. Then the servant brought out jewels of silver and gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekka, and made presents to

54 her brother and to her mother. And when he and the men who were with him had eaten and drank, they went to rest. And he arose early next morning and said, Dismiss me that

55 I may return to my master. But her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel stay with us about ten days and then she

56 shall go. And he said to them, Do not detain me, seeing the Lord hath prospered my journey as far as it respecteth me.

57 Send me away that I may go back to my master. Whereupon

58 they said, Let us call our child and ask what she saitli. So they called Rebekka and said to her, Wilt thou go with this

59 man? And she said, I will go. Then they sent away their sister Rebekka and what belonged to her, and the servant of

60 Abraham and his attendants. And they blessed Rebekka and said to her, Thou art our sister. Mayest thou become thou-

M

i

' Sslncls of myriads and may thy seed inherit the 'cities of their

61 enemies. Then arose Rebekka and her maids, and mounting the camels they went with the man. And the servant took Rebekka and departed. . *

62 Now Isaak had travelled through the wilderness to the well

63 of Vision, and dwelt in the south country. And in the evening Isaak went out into the plain to meditate ; and raising his

64 eyes he saw camels coming. Rebekka also having raised her

65 eyes, saw Isaak and alighted from her camel. She had said to the servant, What man is that coming in the plain to meet us?

. And the servant said, It is my master. Whereupon she took

66 her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaak all that he had done. And Isaak went to his mother's" house and took Rebeljka, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaak was comforted for the loss of his mother Sarah.

XXV. Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was

2 Chettura and she bore to him Zembran and Jesan and Madal

3 and Madiam and Jesbok and Soie. And Jesan begot Saba and Dedan. And the children of Dedan were Assurieim and

4 Latusieim and'Laomeim. And the children of Madiam were

5 Gephar and Apheir and Enoch and Abeida and Eldaga. All these were children of Chettura. But Abraham gave to his son

6 Isaak all his possessions, and to the children of his concubines Abraham gave gifts and sent them, while he was yet living, towards the east, into the eastern country from his son Isaak.

7 Now these were the years of the days of Abraham's life which

8 he lived, one hundred and seventy five years. And Abraham declining died in a good old age, an old man and full of days and

9 he was added to his people. And his sons Isaak and Ismael buried him in the double cave in the field of Ephron the son

10 of Saar the Chettite, which is over against Mambre — in the field and the cave which Abraham bought of the children of Chet, there they buried Abraham with Sarah his wife. And after

11 the death of Abraham God blessed his son Isaak ; and Isaak dwelt at the well of Vision.

12 Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Ismael

13 whom Agar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham ; and these are the names of the children of Ismael according to the

14 names of his families. The first born of Ismael was Nabaioth, i

15 then Kedar and Nabdael and Massam" and Masma and Duma and Masse and Choddan and Thaiman and Jetur and

16 Naphes and Kedma. These are the children of Ismael and these are their names in their tef ts and in their habitations;

A

17 twelve chiefs of their respective nations. And these were the years of the life of Ismael, one hundred and thirty seven years,

18 and he declining died and was added to his race. Now he inhabited the country from Evilat to Sour which is in front of Egypt, all the way to the Assyrians. In front of all his brethren was his habitation.

19: And these are the generations of Isaak the son of Abraham.

20 Abraham begot Isaak. And Isaak was forty years old when he took tb wife Rebekka the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian

21 of Syro Mesopotamia the sister of Labanthe Syrian. And Isaak intreated the Lord for Rebekka his wife because she was bar-

22 ren, and the*" Lord hearkened to him; And Rebekka his wife conceived and the children struggled within her and she said; If it is to be so with me, what doth this portend? So she went to

23 inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, Two nations arc in thy womb and two peoples shall be separated from thy belly, and the one people will excel the other and the elder shall

24 serve the younger. So when her days to be delivered were ful-

25 filled there were twins in her womb. And the first born came forth red all over hairy like a hide and she called his name

26 Esau; and after that came forth his brother and his hand had

27 hold of Esau's heel, and she called his name Jacob. Now Isaak was sixty years old when Rebekka bore them. And when they grew up to be young men, Esau was a man skilled in hunting and fond of the field; but Jacob was a man of plain

28 manners and lived at home. And Isaak loved Esau, because

29 his game was his food; But Rebekka loved Jacob. Now when

30 Jacob was boiling pottage Esau came from the field fainty. And Esau said to Jacob, Let me taste some of that red pottage, for I am

31 fainty. For this cause his name was called Edom. And Jacob said to Esau, give me this day in exchange thy rights of primo-

32 geniture. And Esau said, Lo! I am going to die, what then are

33 these rights of primogeniture to me? And Jacob said to him. Swear now to me. So he swore to him. Thus were Esau's

34 rights of primogeniture transferred to Jacob. Then Jaeob gave

Esau bread and lentil pottage. And when he had eaten and drunk he arose and went away. Thus did Esau undervalue the rights of primogeniture.

XXVI. Now there had been a famine in the land besides the former famine which happened in the time of Abraham. And Isaak went'to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

2 For the Lord had appeared to him and said, Go not down into

3 Egypt, but dwell in the land which I will tell thee. Sojourn in this land and I will be with thee and bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all this land. And I will establish my oath which I sware to thy father Abraham and multiply

4 thy seed like the stars of heaven. And to thy seed I will give

5 all this land; and by thy seed all the nations of tfie earth shall be blessed; because Abraham thy father hearkened to my voice and kept my ordinances and my commandments and my

6 rules of rectitude and my rites. And while Isaak dwelt at Gerar the men of the place made inquiry respecting his wife

7 Rebckka; and he said, She is my sister, for he was afraid to say, She is my wife, lest perad venture the men of the place should kill

8 him for Rebekka's sake, for she was of a very beautiful countenance. However he continued there a long time; for Abimelech king of the Gerarites happening to look through a window saw

9 Isaak dallying with Rebekka his wife. Whereupon Abimelech called Isaak and said to him certainly she is thy wife. Why then didst thou say, She is my sister? And Isaak said to him, Be-

10 cause I thought I might perhaps die for her. And Abimelech said to him, Why hast thou dealt thus with us? In a little while some person of my family might have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldst have brought guilt upon us through ignorance.

11 Then Abimelech gave a strict charge to all his people saying, Whoever toucheth this man or his wife shall be liable to death.

12 And Isaak sowed in that land and got that year an hundred

13 fold of barley. And the Lord blessed him and the man was exalted and prospered more and more till he became exceed-

14 ing great. And he had flocks and herds of cattle and many

15 fields under cultivation. And the Philistines envied him; and all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the time of his father, the Philistines stopped UP and filled them with

16 earth. And Abimelech said to Isaak, Depart from us, for thou

17 art become far mightier than we. Upon this Isaak departed thence and took up his abode in the valley of Gerar and dwelt

18 there. And Isaak digged again the wells of water, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged and which the Philistines had stopped up, after the death of his father Abraham. And he called them by the same names, by which his father

19 had named them. Isaak's servants also digged in the valley of

20 Gerar, and found there a well of spring water. But the shepherds of the Gerarites contended with Isaak's shepherds, saying the water was theirs. So he called the name of that well In-

21 justice: because they did him injustice. Then he removed thence and digged another well; and about this also they con-

22 tended; so he called its name Enmity. And he removed thence and digged another well; and about this they did not contend; So he called the name of it, Room-enough; saying, For now the Lord hath made room for us, though he hath increased us in the land.

23 And he went up thence to Well of the Oath; and the Lord

24 appeared to him that night and said, I am the God of thy father Abraham; Fear not; for I am with thee; and I will bless thee

25 and multiply thy seed for the sake of thy father Abraham. So he built there an altar and invoked the name of the Lord and

26 fixed his tent there. And while the servants of Isaak were digging a well there in the valley of Gerar, Abimelech came to him from Gerar, accompanied with Ochozath his chamberlain

27 and Phichol the general of his army. And Isaak said to them, Why are you come to me, seeing you have hated me and sent

28 me away from you? And they said, We saw plainly that the Lord is with thee; therefore we said, Let there be an oath be-

29 tween us and thee; and we will make a covenant with thee that thou wilt not do us an injury, as we have not hated thee but used thee well and sent thee away in peace, and thou art now

30 blessed of the Lord. Then he made an entertainment for them

31 and they ate and drank. And early next morning they arose and swore one to the other. And Isaak dismissed them and

32 they departed from him in peace. And it happened that on that very day the servants of Isaak came and told him of the well which they had been digging and said, We have found water.

33 So he called it, Oath. For this cause they call the name of the city, WettofOath, even at this day,

VOL. I. F

34 Now when Esau was forty years old he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beoch the Chettite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Chettite, and they were at strife with Isaak and Rebekka.

XXVII. And after Isaak grew old, when his eyes were so dimmed that he could not see he called Esau his eldest son and said

2 to him. My Son. And he said here I am. And he said, Behold I am grown old and do not know the day of my dissolution;

3 now therefore take thy arms—the quiver and the bow; and go

4 out into the field and hunt game for me and make me savory meat such as I love and bring it to me, that I may eat; that

5 my soul may bless thee before I die. Now Rebekka heard Isaak speaking to his son Esau. So when Esau was gone to

6 the field to hunt game for his father, Rebekka said to Jacob her younger son. Lo! I heard thy father speaking to thy bro-

7 ther Esau saying, Bring me game and make me savory meat that I may eat and bless thee in the presence of the Lord be-

8 fore I die. Now therefore, my son, hearken to me as I com-

9 mand thee, and go to the flock and fetch me thence two kids tender and good, and I will make them savory meat for thy fa-

10 ther such as he loveth and thou shalt carry it to thy father that

11 he may eat; that thy father may bless thee before he die. And Jacob said to his mother Rebekka, My brother Esau is a

12 hairy man and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father may feel me, and I shall be before him as a deceiver, so I shall bring

l5 upon myself a curse and not a blessing. And his mother said

to him, Upon me, my son, be thy curse. Only hearken to my

. 14 voice; and go and bring me them. So he went and took and

brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory meat

15 such as his father loved. And Rebekka took the robe of Esau

her eldest son, the robe of dignity which was with her in the

.16 house and put it on her younger son Jacob. And she put the

17 skins of the kids on his arms and the naked parts of his neck;

18 and gave the savory meat and cakes which she had baked, into the hands of her son Jacob; and he took them to his father and

. 19 said, Father!. And he said, Here I am. Who art thou, my son?

And Jacob said to his father. I am Esau, thy first born. I have 20 done as thou badest me. Arise, sit up, and eat of my game that

thy soul may bless me. And Isaak said to his son, What is this,

21 myson, which thou hast found so quickly? Andhesaid, It is what the Lord thy God presented to my view. And Isaak said to Jacob, Come near my son and let me feel thee, whether thou be

22 my son Esau or not. And Jacob went near to his father Isaak. And when he had felt him he said, The voice indeed is the voice

23 of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. So he did not discover him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his

24 brother Esau, when he blessed him. Then he said. Art thou

25 my son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me and I will eat of thy game, my son, that my soul may bless thee. So he brought it near to him and he ate. And he brought

26 wine and he drank. And Isaak his father said to him, Come

27 near me my son and kiss me. And when he came near and kissed him; he smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him and said, Behold the fragrance of my son is like the fra-

28 grance of a full field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore God give thee from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the land plenty of corn and wine. May nations serve thee; and

29 princes bow down to thee. Be thou lord of thy brother. And let the children of thy father pay thee homage. Cursed be he who curseth thee; and let him who blesseth thee be blessed.

30 Now after Isaak had finished blessing his son Jacob, when Jacob had but just withdrawn from the presence of his father

31 Isaak, Esau his brother came from the chace. He also had made savory meat and he brought it to his father and said to him, Arise my father and eat thy son's venison, that thy soul

32 may bless me. And Isaak his father said to him, Who art

33 thou ? And he said I am thy son, thy first born Esau. Then was Isaak absorpt in great amazement and said, Who then is he who hath hunted game and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before thou earnest and have blessed him, and he

34 will be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father Isaak he cried with a loud and very bitter cry and said, Bless,

351 beseech thee, me also, O Father. And he said to him, Thy brother hath come deceitfully and taken thy blessing. And

36 Esau said, His name is rightly called Jacob; for lo! he hath now supplanted me a second time. He took from me my rights of

37 primogeniture; and now he hath taken my blessing. Then

Esau said to his father, Hast them not, O father, reserved a blessing for me? And Isaak in reply said to Esau, Seeing I have made him thy lord and made all his brethren his servants and have also supported him with corn and wine, what can I

38 do for thee, my son? And Esau said to his father, Hast thou but one blessing, father? Bless, I beseech thee, me also, O father. And Isaak being deeply affected, Esau raised his voice

39 and wept. And Isaak his father answered and said to him, Behold thy dwelling shall border on the fatness of the earth and on the dew of heaven from above. By thy sword thou shalt

40 live and thou shalt serve thy brother. But the time will come when thou mayst shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.

41 So Esau harboured a rooted hatred against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And in this agitation of his mind Esau said, O! that the days of mourning for my father were come that I may kill my brother

42 Jacob. And when the words of Esau her eldest son were told to Rebekka she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him,

43 Behold thy brother Esau threateneth to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, hearken to my voice and arise and flee to Meso-

44 potamia to my brother Laban at Charran, and dwell with him, for some time till the fury and the anger of thy brother turn,

45 away from thee, and until he forget what thou hast done to him, then I will send for thee from that place. Perhaps I may

46 be bereaved of you both in one day. Then Rebekka said to Isaak, I am weary of my life on account of the daughters of the children of Chet. If Jacob should take a wife of the daugh-

XXVIII. ters of this land what would life be to me? Upon this Isaak called Jacob to him and blessed him and charged him saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of the Cha-

2 nanites. Arise and go to Mesopotamia and to the house of Bathuel thy mother's father, and take thence a wife for thyself

3 of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. And may my God bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that

4 thou mayst become a multitude of nations. And may he give thee the blessing of my father Abraham, to thee and thy seed after thee, to inherit this land of thy sojourning, which God

5 gave to Abraham. So Isaak sent away Jacob and he went to Mesopotamia to Laban the son of Bathuel the Syrian the brother of Rebekka who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 When Esau saw that Isaak had blessed Jacob and sent him to Syro Mesopotamia to take there a wife for himself, and that when he blessed him he charged him saying, Thou shalt not

7 take a wife of the daughters of the Chananites; and that Jacob hearkened to his father and mother and was gone to Syrian

8 Mesopotamia, Esau seeing that the daughters of the Chananites

9 were displeasing in the sight of his father Isaak, went to Is- mael and in addition to his other wives took to wife Maeleth the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabaioth.

10 Now when Jacob set out from Well of the Oath, and was

11 proceeding on his journey to Charran he came to a place and went to rest there, for the sun was setting. Having taken one of the stones of the place and put it at his head he composed

12 himself to rest in that place and dreamed; and lo! a ladder set on the earth, the top of which reached up to heaven and the an-

13 gels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord leaned over it and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaak. Fear not. To thee and to thy

14 seed I will give the land in which thou art sleeping. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and shall spread abroad to the west and the south, and the north and the east. And by thee all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed, namely by the

15 seed of thee. And lo hi am with thee watching over thee in all the way thou goest and I will bring thee back to this land: for I will not leave thee until I have done all that I have spoken

16 to thee. And when Jacob awoke from his sleep he said, Surely

17 the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. And he was terrified and said, How awful is this place; This is no other than

18 the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. So when Jacob arose in the morning he took the stone which he had

19 there put at his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it; and called the name of that place House of God.

20 But the first name of this city was Oulamluz. And Jacob made a vow saying, If the Lord God will be with me and watch over me in the way in which I am going and give me bread to

21 eat and raiment to clothe me and bring me back safely to my

22 father's house, The Lord shall be my God. And this stone which I have set up as a pillar shall be for a house of God. And of all that thou mayst give me I will set apart a tenth for thee.

XXIX. Then Jacob proceeded on, and went to the land of the east to Laban the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, the brother of

2 Rebekka who was Jacob and Esau's mother. And looking, he saw a well in the plain and there were three flocks of sheep

3 lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. Now there was a great stone on the mouth of the well, and when all the flocks were collected there, the shepherds rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep; and then put the stone again in its place on the mouth of the well.

4 And Jacob said to them, Brethren, whence are you ? And

5 they said, We are of Charran. And he said to them, Do you

6 know Laban the son of Nachor ? And they said, We know him. And he said to them, Is he well ? And they said, He is well. And lo yonder is Rachel his daughter! She was coming

7 with the sheep. Then Jacob said to them, There is yet much day. It is not yet time for the cattle to be folded. Water the

8 flocks and lead them off to feed. But they said, We cannot, till all the shepherds are come together. Then they will roll the stone from the mouth of the well; and we will water the flocks.

9 While he was yet speaking with them, lo! Rachel the daughter of Laban came with her father's sheep; for she tended her

10 father's flock. And when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's bro-

11 ther. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and raising his voice he wept

12 and told Rachel that he was her father's brother; and that he was the son of Rebekka. Whereupon she ran and told her

13 father the news. And when Laban heard the name of Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, and having embraced him he kissed him, and brought him to his house. And Jacob re-

14 lated to him all these circumstances. And Laban said to him, Thou art of my bones and of my flesh. And when Jacob had

15 been with him a month, Laban said to Jacob, Because thou art indeed my brother, thou shalt not serve me for nothing.

16 Tell me what must be thy wages. Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the eldest was Leia; and the name of the

17 youngest, Rachel. Leia's eyes were weak, but Rachel was of

18 a beautiful countenance, and a very comely person. And Jacob loved Rachel, therefore he said, I will serve thee seven

19 years for Rachel thy youngest daughter. And Laban said to him, It is better for me to give her to thee than to give her to

20 another man. Abide with me. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they appeared to him as a few days, because

21 he loved her. Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife,

22 for the days are completed, that I may go in unto her. Whereupon Laban collected all the men of the place, and made a

23 wedding feast. And in the evening he took his daughter Leia

24 and brought her to Jacob; and Jacob went in unto her. And Laban gave his maid Zelpha to his daughter Leia, to be her

25 handmaid. And in the morning, when Jacob saw it was Leia, he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done to me? Did I not serve thee for Rachel? Why then hast thou deceived me?

26 And Laban answered, It is not customary with us in this place

27 to give the younger before the elder. Finish therefore this one's week, and I will give thee the other for the service which thou

28 mayst perform for me yet other seven years. And Jacob did so. And when he had finished this one's week, Laban gave

29 him to wife his daughter Rachel; and Laban gave to his daugh-

30 ter Rachel, his maid Balla to be her handmaid. And Jacob went in unto Rachel, and loved Rachel more than Leia, and

31 served him other seven years. Now when the Lord God saw that Leia was slighted, he opened her womb, but Rachel was

32 barren. And Leia conceived and bore Jacob a son and called his name Reuben; saying, Because the Lord hath seen my affliction; therefore he hath given me a son. Now therefore my

33 husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bore to Jacob another son, and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I am slighted, he hath given me this son also; so she called his

34 name Symeon. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, Now will my husband abide with me for I have born him

-35 three sons; therefore she called his name Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, Now for this also I will praise the Lord, therefore she called his name Judas. Then she ceased from bearing.

XXX. Now when Rachel saw that she bore no children to Jacob, she envied her sister and said to Jacob, Give me children, 2 else I shall die. And Jacob was angry with Rachel and said to her, Am I in God's stead, who hath deprived thee of the fruit

3 of the womb? Then Rachel said to Jacob, There is my maid Balla; go in unto her, and she shall bring forth on my knees,

4 so I also shall be supplied with children by her means. So she gave him her maid Balla for a wife; and Jacob went in unto

5 her, And Balla Rachel's maid conceived and bore Jacob a son.

6 And Rachel said, God hath judged forme and hath heard my voice and given me a son: for this cause she called his name

7 Dan. And Balla, Rachel's maid conceived again and bore to

8 Jacob another son. Whereupon Rachel said, God helped me when I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed. So she called his name Nephthaleim.

9 Now when Leia saw that she had ceased from bearing,, she also took her maid Zelpha and gave her to Jacob for a wife,

10 and he went in unto her. And Zelpha, Leia's maid conceived

11 and bore Jacob a son. Whereupon Leia said, Good luck. So

12 she called his name Gad. And Zelpha, Leia's maid conceived again and bore Jacob another son. Upon which Leia said,

13 Happy am I; for the women will call me happy. So she called his name Aser.

14 And at the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found in the field mandragore apples and brought them to his

15 mother Leia. And Rachel said to her sister Leia, Give me some of thy son's mandragores. And Leia said, Is it not enough for thee that thou hast taken my husband ? Wouldst thou take also my son's mandragores? And Rachel said, Shall I not have them on this condition? Let him be with thee to

16 night for thy son's mandragores. So when Jacob was coming from the field in the evening, Leia went out to meet him and said, Thou must come in to me today; for I have hired thee

17 for my son's mandragores. And he lay with her that night, and God hearkened to Leia and she having conceived bore to

18 Jacob a fifth son. And Leia said, God hath given me my re-

19 ward for having given my maid to my husband. So she called his name Issachar, that is Reward. And Leia conceived again

20 and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Whereupon Leia said, God hath now endowed me with a good dowry. My husband will

21 make choice of me, for I have born him six sons. So she called his name Zabulon. And after this she bore a daughter and called her name Deina.

22 Now God had remembered Rachel and God hearkened to

23 her and opened her womb. And she having conceived bore Jacob a son. Whereupon she said, God hath taken away my

24 reproach. So she called his name Joseph, saying, May God add to me another son.

25 And when Rachel had born Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place and to my own

26 country. Give me up my wives and my children for whom I have served thee, that I may go away: for thou knowest the

27 service which I have done thee. Upon which Laban said to him, If I have found favour in thy sight, I .would avert this evil:

28 for God hath blessed me by thy coining. State to me thy \va.

29 ges and I will give it. And Jacob said, Thou knowest what service I have done thee, and how many cattle belonging to

30 thee are now with me. Thy stock was small before I came; but it is increased to a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed thee by my attendance. Now then, when shall I provide a

31 house for myself. And Laban said, What shall I give thee? To which Jacob replied, Thou shall not give me any thing. If thou wilt do this for me, I will again feed thy flock and

32 keep watch. Let all thy flocks this day pass in review and separate thou from them every grizly sheep among the lambs,

33 and every one speckled and spotted among the goats. Such shall be my hire and my righteousness shall answer for me in time to come; for my wages are apparent to thee. Whatever is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and grizly among the sheep, if found with me, let it be deemed stolen.

34 And Laban said to him, Let it be according to thy proposal.

35 And that very day he separated the goats which were speckled and spotted, both male and female, and every one among the lambs which was grizly and every one in which there was a mixture of white, and delivered Jthem into the hands of his

36 sons, and set three days journey between them and Jacob.

37 And Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. And Jacob took Him rods of the styrax and almond and plane-tree and peeled off the white bark, and twisting it round the green, the white

38 which he peeled off -appeared speckled. And he placed the rods which he had peeled, in the watering troughs, in order that, when the flocks came to drink, they might engender at

VOL. I. G

39 the rods, while they were drinking, with the rods in view. So the flocks engendered at the rods and brought forth cattle

40 streaked and spotted and ash coloured. And when Jacob had separated the lambs and placed before the ewes a spotted ram and all that had spots among the lambs, then he kept the flocks which were for himself apart by themselves and did

41 not mix them with the flocks of Laban. And at the. season when the sheep were engendering and conceiving, Jacob put the rods in the troughs before some, that they might engender before the rods; but before others that had lambed he did not

42 place them. Thus the indifferent became Laban's but the

43 choicest were Jacob's. And the man became very rich and had much cattle and herds and men servants and maid ser-

XXXI. vants and camels and asses. And Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons saying, Jacob hath taken all that belonged to our father, and with our father's substance he hath

2 acquired all this glory. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and lo! it was not towards him as heretofore.

3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, Return to thy father's land

4 and to thy kindred and I will be with thee. Thereupon Jacob sent for Leia and Rachel to the field where the flocks were

5 and said to them, I see that the countenance of your father is

6 not toAvards me as heretofore. Though the God of my father

7 was with me; and you also know that with all my ability 1 have served your father; yet your father hath dealt deceitfully with me, and at the ten lambings hath changed my wages.

8 But God suffered him not to hurt me. When he said the speckled shall be thy wages, then all the cattle brought forth speckled. And when he said, The white shall be thy wages.

9 Then all the cattle brought forth white. So the Lord hath

10 taken all the cattle of your father and given them to me. Indeed when the flocks engendered I beheld with my eyes in a dream, and lo! the he-goats and the rams, which leaped upon the sheep and the goats were ring-streaked, spotted and ash

11 coloured. Moreover an angel of God said to me in a dream,

12 Jacob ! And I said, What is the matter. And he said, Lift up thy eyes and behold the he-goats and the rams which are leaping on the sheep and the goats! They are ring-streaked, speckled and ash coloured; for I have seen what Laban is do-

13 ing to thee. I am the God who appeared to thee at the place of God, where thou didst anoint for me a pillar and where thou didst make a vow. Now therefore arise and depart from this land and go to the land of thy nativity, and I will be with

14 thee. In reply to which Rachel and Leia said to him, Have we

15 any more a portion or an inheritance in our father's house? Are we not accounted by him as strangers? For he hath sold us

16 and spent the money he got for us. Now since all the riches and glory which God hath taken from our father shall be ours and our children's, do then what God hath commanded thee.

17 So Jacob arose and put his wives and his children on camels,

18 and carried off all his substance, and all the goods which he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and all that belonged to him, to go to his father Isaak in the land of Chanaan.

19 Now Laban being gone to sheer his sheep, Rachel stole

20 her father's idols. And Jacob concealed his design from Laban

21 the Syrian by not telling him that he was going away. And he departed with all that belonged to him and crossed the river

22 and bent his course to mount Galaad. But on the third day news was brought to Laban the Syrian, that Jacob was fled.

23 Whereupon taking with him his brethren he pursued him se-

24 ven days journey and overtook him at mount Galaad. But God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him,

25 Take care that thou speak not evil to Jacob. Now when Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent on the mount. So

26 Laban halted his brethren at mount Galaad. And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done? Why didst thou flee away secretly, and steal off without my knowledge, and carry away

27 my daughters as if captivated by the sword? Hadst thou told me I might have sent thee away with joy and musick, with

23 timbrels and the kithara. But I have not been thought worthy

29 to kiss my children and my daughters. Now therefore thou hast acted foolishly; and it is now in my power to punish thee. But the God of thy father spoke to me last night saying, Take

30 care that thou speak not evil to Jacob. Now grant that thou hast gone because thou hadst a longing desire to return to thy father's house, yet why hast thou stolen my Gods?

31 In reply to this Jacob said to Laban, I was afraid; for I thought that thou perhaps wouldst take from me thy daughters

32 and all that are mine: but said Jacob, with'whomsoever thou findest thy Gods, let him not live. In the presence of our brethren, examine what there is of thine with me and take it. He

33 knew of nothing with him. Now Jacob did not know that his wife Rachel had stolen them. So when Laban had gone in and searched Leia's tent and found them not; and from Leia's tent had gone and searched the tent of Jacob and in the tent

34 of the two handmaids but did not find them. Then he went in also to Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the idols and put

35 them in the camel's furniture and sat upon them, and she said to her father, Be not offended my lord, I cannot rise before thec, for the custom of women is upon me. So when Laban

36 had searched the whole tent but did not find the idols, Jacob was inflamed with resentment and remonstrated against Laban. And Jacob addressing Laban said, What is my crime, and what my offence that thou hast pursued me? And that thou

37 hast searched all the goods of my house? What hast thou found of all the goods of thy house? Set it here before thy brethren and my brethren and let them judge between us both.

38 These twenty years that I have been with thee, thy sheep and thy goats have not cast their young; nor have I devoured the

39 rams of thy flock. What was torn by wild beasts I brought not to thee. I made up at my own expence the loss of what was

40 stolen by day or by night. I have borne the sultry heat of the day and the frost of the night, and sleep departed from my

41 eyes. I have been in thy family these twenty years. I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters; and six years for thy flocks; though thou didst change my wages at the ten lamb-

42 ings. Had not the God of my father Abraham and the fear of Isaak been with me, thou wouldst now have sent me away empty. God hath seen my affliction and the labour of my

43 hands, therefore he rebuked thee last night. In reply to this Laban said to Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and the children are my children, and the cattle are my cattle. Even all that thou seest are mine and my daughters. What

44 now can I do to them and their children whom they have born ? Now therefore come and let us make a covenant, lx>th I and thou. And let it be for a memorial between me and thee. And he said to him, Behold there is none with us; God a witness

i

45 between me and thee hath seen. Then Jacob took a stone and

46 set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said to his brethren. Collect stones. And when they had collected stones and made a heap,

47 they eat thereon. Then Laban said to him, This heap is this day a witness between me and thee; so Laban called it, The

48 heap of -witness; but Jacob called it Heap witness. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap and this pillar which I have set between me and thee! This heap witnesseth and this pillar witnesseth (for this cause its name was called Heap wit-

49 nesseth and the sight, which said he, God would see between me and thee, because we shall be separated one from the

50 other) if thou afflict my daughters, if thou take other wives besides my daughters, look I though there be none with us to

51 see, God is a witness between me and thee. Moreover Laban

52 said to Jacob, Behold; this heap is a witness and this pillar also, that if I pass not to thee neither shall thou pass to me bc-

53 yond this heap and this pillar for harm. The God of Abraham

54 and the God of Nachor judge between us. And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaak. Then he offered a sacrifice upon the mount and invited his brethren and they ate and drank

55 and slept on the mount. And in the morning Laban arose and XXXII. kissed his daughters and blessed them. And Laban

departed and went to his place and Jacob proceeded on his journey. And raising his eyes he saw a camp of God pitched

2 and messengers of God were coming to meet him. And when Jacob saw them he said. That is a camp of God, So he called the name of that place Camps.

3 Now Jacob had sent messengers before him to his brother Esau, to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom, and had

4 given them a charge, saying, Thus shall you say to my lord

5 Esau, Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with La- ban and staid till now. And I have got oxen and asses and sheep and men servants and maid servants. And I have sent to give notice to my lord Esau, that thy servant may find fa-

6 vour in thy sight. So the messengers returned to Jacob and said, We have been to thy brother Esau; and lo! he is coming

7 to meet thee; and four hundred men with him. Thereupon Jacob was greatly terrified and distressed. And he divided the people who were with him and the cattle and the camels and

8 the flocks into two camps. And Jacob said, If Er.au come to the first camp and smite it, there will be another camp to

9 escape. Then Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and the God of my father Isaak, Thou, O Lord, who saidst to me, Return to the land of thy nativity, and I will deal well with

10 thee; let me be satisfied with all the kindness and with all the truth which thou hast shewn to thy servant. For with this staff of mine I crossed the Jordan, but now I am become two

11 camps. Deliver me from the hand of my brother—from the hand of Esau; for I am afraid of him. Peradventure he may

12 come and smite me and the mother with the children. But thou hast said, I will deal well with thee and make thy seed like the sand of the sea,, which, for multitude cannot be num-

13 bered. So he halted there that night and took presents of what

14 he had brought and sent to his brother Esau two him-

15 dred she-goats and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes and twenty rams; thirty milch camels with their thirty colts; forty

16 cows and ten bulls; twenty asses and ten foles. These he delivered to his servants, each drove by itself, and he said to his servants, Go on before me and make a small distance between

17 drove and drove. And he gave orders to the first saying, If my brother Esau meet thee and ask thee saying, To whom dost thou belong, and whither art thou going? And whose are

18 these before thee? thou shalt say, They belong to thy servant Jacob—presents which he hath sent to my lord Esau.

19 And lo! he is behind us. This charge he gave to the first, and to the second, and to the third, and to all who went before him after their droves, saying, In this manner speak to Esau when

20 you meet him. Moreover ye shall say, Behold thy servant Jacob is coming behind us. For he said, I will appease him with these previous gifts, and afterwards I will look him in the face, perhaps he will receive me favourably.

21 So the presents went on before him; but he lay that night

22 in the camp. And he arose in the night and took his two wives with the two handmaids and his eleven sons and crossed the

23 ford of Jabok. And when he had taken and conducted them over the brook he caused all belonging to him to cross over;

24 and Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him till

25 the morning. And when he saw that he could not prevail against him he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh became numb, in wrestling with him.

26 And he said to him, Let me go: for the dawn approached.

27 But Jacob said I will not let thee go unless thou bless me. And he said to him what is thy name? to which he replied, Jacob.

28 Thereupon he said to him, Thy name shall no more be Jacob only, but Israel also shall be thy name. Since thou hast been enabled to prevail with God, therefore with men thou shall be

29 mighty. Then Jacob asked him saying, Tell me thy name.

30 And he said why dost thou ask my name ? Then he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place, Face of God: for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserv-

31 ed. Now the sun was risen when he departed from Face of

32 God: and he limped with his thigh. For this cause even to this day the children of Israel do not eat the sinew which is in the hollow of the thigh which was numbed; lor he had touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew and it was numbed.

XXXIII. Now when Jacob looked up and saw with his eyes, that lo! Esau his brother was coming and with him four hun-

2 dred men; thereupon Jacob divided his children to Leia, and Rachel, and the two maids. And he put the two maids and . their children foremost, and Leia and her children next, and

3 Rachel and Joseph hindmost. And he himself went before them; and he made a low obeisance to the ground seven times

4 until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell upon his neck and kissed him and

5 they both wept. And when Esau looked up and saw the women and the children he said, What! Are these thine! To which Jacob replied, These are the children with which God

6 hath favoured thy servant. Then the maids and their children

7 came near and made obeisance; next Leia and her children came near and made obeisance; and after that Rachel came near with Joseph; and when they had made obeisance he said,

8 What is the meaning of all those droves which I met? And Jacob said, That thy servant may find favour in the sight of

9 thee my lord. Whereupon Esau said, I have enough, my 10 brother; keep thou thine own. But Jacob replied, If I have

found favour in thy sight, receive these presents at my hands.

because I have seen thy face as one would see the face of God;

31 and thou wilt oblige me. Receive these my blessings which

I have brought thee; because God hath dealt bountifully with

12 me, and is all things to me. So he pressed him and he took them. Then he said, Let us depart and march on straightway.

13 But Jacob said to him, My lord perceiveth that the children are tender, and the sheep and cows with me have just had young. If therefore I over drive them one day, all the cattle

14 will die. Let my lord go on before his servant, mid I will recruit them on the way by a leisurely march as fast as the

15 young can walk, until 1 come to my lord at Scir. Then Esau said, Let me leave with thee some of the people who are with me. To which Jacob replied, What need is there? It is sufficient that I have found favour in the sight of thee, my lord.

16 So Esau set out that day on his return to Seir and Jacob march-

17 ed on to Booths, and there built houses for himself and booths for his cattle, for which cause he called the name of that place Booths.

18 And when Jacob came from Syrian Mesopotamia he went to Salem a city of the Sekimites which is in the land of Chanaan,

19 and encamped before the city, and purchased of Emmor, the

20 father of Sychem, the part of the field where he had pitched his tent for a hundred lambs and he erected there an Altar and

XXXIV. invoked the God of Israel. And Deina the daughter of Leia, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to make an ac-

2 quaintance with the daughters of the neighbours. And Sychem the son of Emmor the Evite, who was the prince of the country, saw her and took her and lay with her and humbled her.

3 And having applied himself to gain the affections of Deina the daughter of Jacob, for he loved the virgin, and having spoken

4 to her according to the wishes of the virgin, Sychem said to

5 his father Emmor, Get me this young woman for a wife. Now Jacob had heard that the son of Emmor had defiled his daughter Deina; but as his sons were with the cattle in the field

6 Jacob held his peace till they came. So Emmor the father of

7 Sychem went out to Jacob to speak to him; and Jacob's sons came from the plain. And when the men heard, they were stung to the quick; and it was exceedingly painful to them, that he had brought dishonour on Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter.

8 and it should not pass so. And Emmor spoke to them saying, My son Sychem hath a passionate fondness for your daughter, therefore give her to him for a wife, and unite yourselves to

9 us by the ties of affinity. Give us your daughters and take

10 our daughters for your sons and dwell among us. Behold the land before you is spacious. Dwell and trade therein and pur-

11 chase possessions in it. Sychem also said to her father and to her brothers, Let me find favour in your sight; and what-

12 ever you say we will give. Make the dower ever so great I will give whatever you tell me, so you give me this damsel

13 for a wife. But the sons of Jacob answered Sychem and Em-

14 mor his father deceitfully. And because their sister had been defiled, Symeon and Levi the brothers of Deinu spoke to them and said, We cannot do this thing to give our sister to a man

15 who is uncircumcised; for that with us is a reproach. On this condition only will we coalesce with you and dwell with you—

16 if you become like us by every male of you being circumcised, then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters

17 for wives, and dwell among you and be as one race. But if you will not hearken to us to be circumcised, we will take

18 our daughter and depart. And the proposal pleased Emmor

19 and Sychem the son of Emmor. And the young man made no delay to carry this into execution, for he was passionately fond of Jacob's daughter.

20 Now he was the most honourable of all his father's family: so Emmor and his son Sychem went to the gate of their city

21 and spoke to the men of their city saying. These are peaceable men; let them dwell with' us in the land and use it for the purposes of trade. Behold the land before them is spacious. Let us take their daughters for our wives and give them our

22 daughters. Only on this condition will these men dwell with us so as to be one people—that every male among us be cir-

23 cumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their cattle and four

24 footed beasts and all their substance become ours? Let us only be like them in this, and they will dwell with us. Accordingly all who went in at the gate of their city hearkened to Emmor and his son Sychem and were every male of them, circum-

25 cised. And on the third day when they were in pain, the two sons of Jacob, Symeon and Levi the brothe-rs of Deina took,

VOL. I. H

each his sword and entered the city without danger and slew

26 every male. They slew both Emmor and Sychem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Deina out of Sychem's

27 house and went away. And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain and rifled the city in which their sister Deina had been defiled; and took their flocks and their herds and their asses, both all that was in the city and all that was in the field, and took captive all their servants and all their children and their wives and plundered what was in the city and what was in the

SO houses. Thereupon Jacob said to Symeon and Levi, You have made me an object of hatred so as to be deemed a mortal enemy to all the inhabitants of the land, both to the Chana- nites and the Pherezites. Now as I am few in number they will assemble against me and fall upon me, and I and my

31 house shall be utterly destroyed. And they said, But shall they treat our sister like a harlot ?

XXXV. Then God said to Jacob, arise and go to the place

Bethel and dwell there. And erect there an altar to the God

who appeared to thee, when thou wast fleeing from the face

2 of thy brother Esau. Thereupon Jacob said to his family and

to all who were with him, Put away the strange gods which

are with you and purify yourselves and change your gar-

3. ments; and let us arise and go to Bethel and build there an

altar to the God who hearkened to me in a day of distress—

who was with me and preserved me in the way in which I

4 went; So they gave Jacob the strange gods, which were in their hands and the ear rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them in the pine grove, which was in the country

5 of the Sekimites and destroyed them even to this day. Then Israel removed from the country of the Sekimites; and a terror of God was on all the cities around them, so that they

6 did not pursue the children of Israel. And when Jacob came to Louza which is in the land of Chanaan, the same isBaithel,

7 he and all the people who were with him, he built there an altar, and called the name of the place Baithel; because God appeared to him there, when he was fleeing from the face of

8 his brother Esau. And Debbora the nurse of Rebekka died and was buried under the Oak below Baithel. So Jacob called

9 its name Oak of mourning. And God appeared to Jacob again at Louza after he came from Syrian Mesopotamia, and God

10 blessed him and God said to him, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob; but Israel shall be thy name. So he called

11 his name Israel. And God said to him, I am thy God. In. crease and multiply. Of thee shall be nations and collections

12 of nations; and kings shall spring from thy loins. And this land, Avhich I gave to Abraham and Isaak, I have given to thee. To thee it shall belong: and to thy seed after thee I

13 will give this land. And when God ascended from him—from

14 the place where he had spoken with him, Jacob set up a pillar—a stone pillar in the place where God spoke to him; and

15 he made a libation thereon and poured oil upon it. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Baithel.

16 And Jacob removed from Baithel and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Gader. And when he was near Chabratha on the way to Ephratha, Rachel was taken in labour and had

17 a hard delivery. And when she was in the sharp pangs of child birth, the midwife said to her, Courage; for this also is

18 a son for thee. And just as she was departing (for she died) she called his name Son of my sorrow; but his father called

19 his name Benjamin. And Rachel died and was buried in the

20 race ground of Ephratha, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob erected a pillar over her grave. The same is the pillar of

21 Rachel's grave even to this day. And while Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben went and lay with Balla the concubine of his father Jacob, and Israel heard of it, and it appeared evil in his sight.

22 Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. The sons of Leia, Reuben, Jacob's first born, Symeon, Levi, Judas, Issachar, Zabulon: and the sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Balla, Rachel's handmaid, Dan and Nephthaleim: and the sons of Zelpha, Leia's handmaid, Gad and Aser.

26 These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Syrian Mesopotamia. Then Jacob went to his father Isaak, to Mambre, a city of the plain, the same is Chebron in the land

28 of Chanaan, where Abraham and Isaak had sojourned. Now the days which Isaak lived were one hundred and eighty- years. And Isaak fainting away died and was added to his race being an old man and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

XXXVI. Now these are the families of Esau, the same is Edom. Esau took to himself wives from the daughters of the Chananites—Ada the daughter of Ailom the Chettite; and Olibema the daughter of Ana, the son of Sebegon the Evite; 3 and Basemath, Ismael's daughter, the sister of Nabaioth. And Ada bore him Eliphas; and Basemath bore Raguel; and Oli-

5 bema bore Jeous and Jeglom and Kore. These were the sons of Esau who were bom to him in the land of Chanaan.

6 And Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all the persons belonging to his family, and all his substance, and all his cattle, and all that he possessed, and all that he had gotten in the land of Chanaan, and went out from the land of

7 Chanaan, from the face of his brother Jacob: for their substance -was too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they sojourned could not support them on account of the abundance of their stock. And Esau made his abode on mount Seir. Esau is the same as Edom.

9 Now these are the families of Esau, the father of the Edom- ites, on mount Seir. And these are the names of Esau's sons —Eliphas son of Ada, Esau's wife; and Raguel, son of Base- math, Esau's wife.

11 And the sons of Eliphas were Thaiman, Omar, Sophar,

12 Gotham and Kenez. And Thamna was a concubine of Eliphas, the son of Esau, and she bore to Eliphas, Amalek. These were the children of Ada the wife of Esau.

13 And these are the sons of Raguel, Nachoth, Zare, Some and Mose. These were the children of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

14 And these are the children of Olibema the daughter of Ana, the son of Sebegon, the wife of Esau. She bore to Esau, Jeous and Jeglom and Kore.

15 These were the emirs of son Esau. The sons of Eliphas, Esau's first born. Emir Thaiman, emir Omar, emir Sophar, emir Kenez, emir Kore, emir Gothom, emir Amelek. These were the emirs of Eliphas in the land of Idumea. These were

17 the children of Ada. And these were sons of Raguel, son of Esau, emir Nachoth, emir Zare, emir Some, emir Mose.

These were the emirs of Raguel in the land of Edom. These

18 were the children of Basemath, the wife of Esau. And these

were the sons of Olibema the wife of Esau, emir Jeous, emir

Jeglom, emir Kore. These were the emirs of Olibema, the

daughter of Ana, Esau's wife. These were the children of

Esau and these their Emirs. They are the Edomites.

20 Now these were sons of Seir the Chorrite, the inhabitant

of the land, Lotan, Sobal, Sebegon, Ana, and Deson, and Asar,

and Rison. These were the emirs of the Chorrite—of son Seir

22 in the land of Edom. And these were the sons of Lotan, Chor-

23 ri and Aiman, and the sister of Lotan, Thamna. And these were the sons of Sobal, Golam and Manachath and Gaibel and

24 Sophar and Omar. And these were the sons of Sebegon, Aie and Ana. This is that Ana who found the Jameins in the wil-

25 derness, when he was feeding his father Sebegon's asses. And these were sons of Ana; Deson and Olibema a daughter of

26 Ana: And these were the sons of Deson, Amada and Asban

27 and Ithran and Charran. And these were the sons of Asar,

28 Balaam and Zoukam and Joukam. And these were the sons Rison, Os and Aran.

29 And these were the emirs of the Chorrites, emir Lotan, emir Sobal, emir Sebegon, emir Ana, emir Deson, emir Asar, emir Rison. These were the emirs of the Chorrites in their clans in the land of Edom.

31 And these were the kings who reigned in Edom before a

32 king reigned in Israel; Balak son of Beor reigned in Edom 53 and the name of his city was Donnaba; and when Balak died,

34 Jobab son of Zara of Bosorra reigned in his stead; and when Jobab died, Asom of the land of the Thaimanites reigned in

35 his stead; and when Asom died, Adad son of Barad who smote Madiam in the plain of Moab reigned in his stead and

36 the name of his city was Gethaim. And when Adad died, Sa-

37 mada of Masekka reigned in his stead; and when Samada died, Saul of Rooboth which is by the river reigned in his

38 stead; and when Saul died, Ballenon son of Achobar reigned in his stead; and when Ballenon son of Achobar died,

39 Arad son of Barad reigned in his stead; and the name of his cky was Phogor, and his wife's name, Metebeel. She was a daughter of Matraith, son of Maizoob.

40 These are the names of the emirs of Esau in their tribes according to their place in their countries and their nations;

41 Emir of Thamna, emir of Gola, emir of Jether, emir of Olibe-

42 mas, emir of Elas; emir of Phinon, emir of Kenez, emir of Thaiman, emir of Mazar, emir of Magediel, emir of Zaphoin.

43 These are the emirs of Edom in their respective abodes in the land of their possession. Esau and father Edom is the same.

XXXVII. Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father had sojourned in the land of Chanaan ; and this is the history of

2 Jacob's posterity. When Joseph was seventeen years of age and feeding his father's sheep with his brothers, as he was young, namely with the sons of Balla and the sons of Zclpha his father's wives, they carried an ill report against Joseph to

3 Israel their father. Now Jacob loved Joseph above all his children because he was the son of his old age; and he had made

4 him a robe of different colours. So when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his sons, they hated him

5 and could not speak peaceably to him. Besides Joseph having dreamed a dream told it to his brothers and said to them,

6 Hear this dream which I have dreamed. I thought we were

7 binding sheaves in the middle of a field ; and my sheaf arose and stood upright, and your sheaves being ranged around

8 made obeisance to my sheaf. Upon which his brothers said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us or have dominion over

9 us? So they hated him still more for his dreams and for his words. And he had another dream and told this to his father and his brothers and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream, as if the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obei-

10 sance to me. Upon which his father rebuked him saying, What is this dream which thou hast dreamed? What! Shall I and thy mother and thy brothers come and bow down to thee

11 on the ground? So his brothers envied him; but his father pon-

12 dered the matter. After this his brothers having gone to Sy-

13 chem to feed their father's flocks, Israel said to Joseph, Are not thy brothers tending the flocks at Sychem? Come, let me send thee to them. And he said, I am ready. Whereupon Israel said to him, Go and see if thy brothers and the flocks be well

14 and bring me word. So he despatched him from the valley of Chebron and he went to Sychem: and a man found him wand-

15 ering in the plain. And the man asked him saying, What art

16 diou seeking? To which he replied, I am seeking my brothers,

17 tell me where they are feeding. And the man said to him, They have removed from this place; for I heard them say, Let us go

18 to Dothaim. So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothaim. Now when they saw him at a great distance before he came near them, they wickedly thought of killing him

19 and said one to another, Behold the dreamer is coming. Now

20 therefore come let us kill him and throw him into one of these ' 21 pits, and we will say a savage beast hath devoured him. And let

us see what will become of his dreams. But when Reuben heard he rescued him out of their hands and said, Let us not touch his

22 life. Reuben indeed said to them, Shed not blood. Throw him into one of these pits in the wilderness, but lay not a hand on him, in order that he might rescue him out of their hands

23 and deliver him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers they stripped him of the variegated robe which he had

24 on and took him and threw him into the pit. But the pit was

25 empty. It had no water. Then they sat down to eat bread. And raising their eyes they looked; and lo! Ismaelite travellers were coming out of Galaad and their camels were loaded with spiceries, with balm and stacte, which they were carry-

26 ing to Egypt. Thereupon Judas said to his brothers, What advantage will it be though we slay our brother and conceal

27 his blood? Come let us sell him to these Ismaelites and let not our hands be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.

28 So his brothers hearkened to him. And when the Madienite merchants came, they drew him up. They lifted Joseph up out of the pit and sold him to the Ismaelites for twenty pieces

29 of gold; and they carried Joseph down to Egypt. Now when

30 Reuben came back to the pit and did not see Joseph in it, he rent his cloaths and returned to his brothers and said, The

31 boy is gone. And as for me where now am I to go? Then they took Joseph's coat, and having killed a kid of the goats they besmeared the coat with the blood and sent away the variegated robe and had it carried to his father and said, This we

1 32 found. Examine whether it be thy son's robe or not. And he i, S3 knew it and said, It is my son's robe. An evil beast huth de-

34 voured him. A wild beast hath torn Joseph. Then Jacob rent his cloaths and put on sackcloth on his loins and mourned for

35 his son many days. And all his sons and daughters assembled and came to comfort him, but he would not be comforted saying, I will go to my son mourning, to the mansion of the dead.

36 Thus his father mourned for him. But the Madienites sold Joseph in Egypt to Petephres the chamberlain of Pharao, the captain of the guards.

XXXVIII. Now at that time Judas went down from his brothers and came to a certain Odollamite whose name was

2 Eiras. And Judas saw there a daughter of a Chananite, her

3 name was Sava. And he took her and went in unto her and

4 she conceived and bore a son and called his name Er. And she conceived again and bore a son and called his name Au-

5 nan. And she bore another son and called his name Selom.

6 Now she was at Chasbi when she bore them. And for Er his

7 first born Judas took a wife whose name was Thamar. But Er the first born of Judas was wicked in the sight of the Lord,

8 and God slew him. Whereupon Judas said to Aunan, Go in unto thy brother's wife and be a husband to her and raise up

9 a seed for thy brother. But when Aunan knew that the seed would not be his, it came to pass that when he went in unto his brother's wife he shed it on the ground; that he might not

10 give seed to his brother. And it appeared evil in the sight of God that he had done this, therefore he caused him also to die.

11 Then Judas said to Thamar his daughter in law, Continue a widow in thy father's house till my son Selom grow up. For

12 he said, Pcradventure he also may die as his brothers did. So Thamar went and dwelt at her father's house. But the time was prolonged and Sava the wife of Judas died. And when Judas was comforted he went up to his sheep shearers, he and his

13 shepherd Eiras the Odollamite, to Thamna. And it was told Thamar his daughter in law saying, Lo! thy father in law is

14 going up to Thamna to shear his sheep. Whereupon she put off" the robes of her widowhood and put on a veil and adorned her- self and sat near the gates of Ainan in the way to Thamna. For she saw that Selom was grown up and that he had not

15 given her to him for a wife. And when Judas saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face and he

16 did not know her. So he turned aside to her and said to her, Let me come in unto thee. For he did not know that she was

17 his daughter in law. And she said, What wilt thou give me if thou come in unto me ? To which he replied, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give

18 me a pledge, till thou send it? And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy ring and bracelet and the staff in thy hand. So he gave them to her, and went in unto her, and

19 she conceived by him. Then she arose and went away, and took off her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Judas sent the kid of the goats by the hands of his shepherd the Odollamite to receive from the woman the pledge.

21 But he not finding her asked the men of the place, Where is the harlot that was at Ainan by the way side ? And they said,

22 There was not a harlot there. Thereupon he returned to Judas and said, I have not found her. And the men of the place

23 said there was not a harlot there. Then Judas said, Let her keep them. But perhaps we may be laughed at. I indeed sent

24 the kid. Thou however hast not found her. Now after three months it was told Judas saying, Thamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot, and lo! she is with child by her whoredom. Whereupon Judas said, Bring her out and let her be

25 burned. And when she was brought out she sent to her father in law saying, By the man to whom these belong I am with child. Moreover she said, Examine, whose is this ring and

26 this bracelet and this staff? And Judas acknowledged them and said, Thamar hath more justice on her side than I, because I did not give her to my son Selom. And he proceeded

27 no more to have knowledge of her. And when the time of

28 her delivery came she had twins. And when she was in child birth, one put forth its hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread about its hand, saying, This will be the first

29 born. But when it had drawn back its hand, his brother immediately came forth. Whereupon she said, What! Hath there been a breach made for thee ? So she called his name

30 Phares. And after this his brother came forth, on whose hand was the scarlet thread. So she called his name Zara.

XXXIX. Now when Joseph was brought ro Egypt, Pete- phres the chamberlain of Pharao, the captain of the guards, vol. i. i

an Egyptian, bought him at the hands of the Ismaelites, who had

2 brought him thither. And the Lord was with Joseph, so that he was a fortunate man and was in the same house with his

3 master the Egyptian. And his master perceived that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord prospered in his hands what-

4 ever he did. So Joseph found favour in the sight of his master; and he was pleased with him and set him over his household and committed all that he had to Joseph's charge.

5 And after he had made him overseer of his household, and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake; and there was a blessing of the Lord on

6 all his substance, in his house and in his field. So he left to Joseph's management all that he had, and knew not any thing he had save the bread which he ate.

7 Now Joseph was a comely person and of a very beautiful countenance, and after these things his master's wife cast her

8 eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me; but he refused and said to his master's wife, Seeing my lord, on account of his confidence in me, knoweth not any thing in his house, and

9 hath committed to my charge all that he hath and there is none in the family superior to me, nor any thing withheld from me, except thyself because thou art his wife; how then can I do this

10 wicked act and commit sin in the presence of God. And when she had spoken to Joseph day after day and he hearkened not

11 to her to lie down with her to have commerce with her, it came to pass that one day when Joseph went into the house to

12 transact his business and none of the domestics were within,

13 she took hold of his mantle saying, Lie with me. But he leaving his mantle in her hands fled and went out. And when she saw that he had left his mantle in her hands and had fled and

14 was gone, she called those who were in the house and spoke to them saying, See ! He hath brought in amongst us a Hebrew slave to insult us. He came to me saying, Lie with me.

15 But I cried with a loud voice. And when he heard that I raised mv voice and cried aloud he left his mantle with me,

16 fled and went out. And she kept the garment by her till his

17 master came home and spoke to him in like terms saying, The Hebrew slave whom thou hast brought in amongst us came in to me to insult me and said to me, Let me lie with thee. 18 But when he heard that I raised my voice and cried aloud ;

19 leaving his mantle with me he fled and went out. When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke saying, In this manner did thy slave treat me, he was greatly incensed.

20 So Joseph's master took and cast him into prison—into the

21 place where the king's prisoners were confined. But in the prison the Lord was with Joseph, and continued his kindness and gave him favour in the sight of the principal keeper of the

22 prison. And tlie principal keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's care the prison and all the prisoners who were in the prison. And whatever was done there, he was the person

23 who caused it to be done. The principal keeper took no cognizance of any thing himself; for all things were committed to Joseph's management, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord prospered in his hands whatever he did.

XL. Now after these things it happened that the chief butler of the king of Egypt and the chief baker offended their lord the

2 king of Egypt. And Pharao was incensed against his two offi-

3 cers, against the chief butler and against the chief baker and sent them under a guard to prison—to the place to which Jo-

4 seph had been sent. And the keeper of the prison committed

5 them to Joseph and he attended them. And when they had been there some days in prison, they both had a dream, in the same night. And the appearance of the dream both of the chief butler and the chief baker, who belonged to the king of Egypt

6 and were in prison, was similar. And in the morning when

7 Joseph went in to them he saw that they were troubled. Whereupon he asked the officers of Pharao who were confined with him at his master's, saying, Why are your countenances sad

8 to day? And they said to him, We have had a dream and there is none to interpret it. And Joseph said, Is not the inter-

9 pretation thereof from God? Therefore tell me. So the chief butler told Joseph his dream and said, In my sleep there was a

10 vine before me, and on the vine three branches and one was flourishing and had produced clusters, and the grapes of one

11 cluster were ripe. And I had in my hand the cup of Pharao. So I took the bunch and squeezed it into the cup and gave the

12 cup into Pharao's hand. Thereupon Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it. The three branches are three days.

13 Three days hence Pharao will take cognizance of thy administration and restore thee to thy office of cup bearer, and thou shalt give Pharao's cup into his hand according to thy former dignity,

14 when thou wast butler. But think of me by thy own case, when it shall be well with thee; and do me the favour to men-

15 tion me to Pharao and release me from this prison. For I have been stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and here I have done nothing, yet they have thrown me into this dungeon.

16 And when the chief baker saw that he interpreted well he said to Joseph, I also had a dream, I thought I was carrying on my head three baskets of cakes, and in the uppermost basket,

17 pastry of all the sorts which Pharao eateth. And the birds of the air devoured those in the uppermost basket on my head.

18 And Joseph answered and said to him, This is the interpretation thereof. The three baskets are three days. Three days

19 hence Pharao will take off thy head and hang thee on a gibbet

20 and the birds of the air will devour thy flesh. Accordingly it fell out, that the third day was Pharao's birth day, and he made an entertainment for all his servants and took cognizance of the administration of the butler, and the administration of

21 the baker in the midst of his servants. And he restored the butler to his office, and he gave the cup into Pharao's hand. But the chief baker he hanged as Joseph had interpreted to

22 them. Yet the chief butler made no mention of Joseph, but passed him over in oblivion.

XLI. But it happened that at the end of two years Pharao had

2 a dream. He thought he was standing by the river; and lo! there came up out of the river seven cows of a beautiful figure

3 and very fat; and they fed on the sedge. And seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and lean;

A and they fed near the other cows on the bank of the river; and the seven ill favoured and lean cows devoured the seven cows which were of a beautiful figure and full of flesh. And Pharao awoke.

5 Again he dreamed a second time; and lo! seven ears of

6 corn sprang upon one stalk, choice and good: and lo! seven

7 ears thin and blasted sprang up after them. And the seven thin and blasted ears devoured the seven ears which were choice

8 and full. And Pharao awoke; and it was a dream. And in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent for all the interpreters of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof, and told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharao. 9 Upon this the chief butler spoke to Pharao, saying, I this day

10 acknowledge my fault. Pharao was angry with his servants, and ordered us to be confined in the house of the captain of

11 the guards—both me and the chief baker. And both I and he had a dream the same night, each had a dream regarding him-

12 self. And there was there with us a youth, a Hebrew servant of the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpret-

13 ed to us. And it fell out as he interpreted to us—I was restor-

14 ed to my office; but he was hanged. Upon this Pharao sent for Joseph, and they brought him out of the prison. And when they had shaved him and changed his raiment, he came to

15 Pharao. And Pharao said to Joseph, I have had a dream and there is none "who can interpret it. But I have heard people say of thee, that upon hearing dreams thou canst interpret

16 them. In reply to which, Joseph said to Pharao, Without God

17 no answer of peace can be given to Pharao. Then Pharao spoke to Joseph saying, In my sleep I thought I was standing

18 near the edge of the river; and there came up as it were out of the river, seven cows of a beautiful figure, and very fat; and

19 they fed on the sedge. And lo! seven other cows came up after them, out of the river, ugly and ill favoured and lean of flesh; such that I never saw worse in all the land of Egypt.

20 And the seven ill favoured and lean cows devoured the first se-

21 ven cows which were choice and good. But though they devoured them, they gave no sign of fulness. Their appearance was as ugly as before.

22 Then I awoke and again went to sleep, and in my sleep I again saw as if seven ears of corn sprang up, on one stalk, full

23 and good; and adjoining them seven other ears sprang up,

24 thin and blasted. And the seven thin and blasted ears devour. ed the seven ears which were full and good. Now I have told the interpreters; but there is not one who can interpret this to

25 me. Then Joseph said to Pharao, The dream of Pharao is one.

26 God hath shewn Pharao what he is about to do. The seven beautiful cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are

27 seven years. The dream of Pharao is onft. The seven lean cows also which came up after them are seven years; and the seven thin and blasted ears are seven years. There shall be

28 seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have said to

29 Pharao, God hath shewn Pharao what he is about to do. Behold seven years are coming of great plenty in all the land of

30 Egypt. But after these there will come seven years of famine. And they will cause the coming plenty to be forgotten in all

31 Egypt. And the famine will consume the land, so that the plenty will not be known in the land, by reason of the famine

32 which will come after it: for it will be very great. And in as much as the dream of Pharao was doubled, the thing which God had determined will surely come to pass; and God is

33 hasting to do it. Now therefore look out for a man of prudence and understanding, and set him over the land of Egypt.

34 And let Pharao appoint and set governors of districts over the whole land, and let them send in a fifth of all the products of

35 the land of Egypt, during the seven years of plenty, and collect all the eatables of those seven good years which are coming. And let food be collected under the care of Pharao, and

36 eatables stored in the cities. So shall food be kept in the country, against the seven years of famine which will be in the land of Egypt, and the country will not be wasted with the famine.

37 And the advice was agreeable in the view of Pharao and in

38 the view of all his servants. And Pharao said to all his servants, Can we find such a man as this who hath in him the

39 spirit of God? Then Pharao said to Joseph, Seeing God hath shewn thee all these things, there is none more prudent and

40 wise than thou thyself. Thou shalt be over my household and to thy command all my people shall pay obedience. Only on

41 the throne will I be greater than thou. Moreover Pharao said to Joseph, Behold I have set thee this day over all the land of

42 Egypt. And Pharao took off the ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him with a cotton robe, and put a chain of gold about his neck; and caused him to

43 mount a chariot next to that of his own. And a herald made proclamation before him. And when he had set him over all

44 the land of Egypt, Pharao said to Joseph, I am Pharao. Without thee no man shall lift up his hand in all the land of Egypt.

45 And Pharao called* Joseph's name Psonthomphanech and gave

him Aseneth a daughter of Petephres the priest of Heliopolis to be his wife.

46 Now Joseph was thirty years old, when he stood before Pha- rao king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence

47 of Pharao and went through all the land of Egypt. And in the seven years of plenty the land produced in vast abundance and

48 he collected all the varieties of food of those seven years, in which there was plenty in the land of Egypt and stored it in

49 the cities. In every city he stored the eatable productions of the fields around. So Joseph collected food like the sand of the sea in great abundance until it could not be numbered, for it

50 was innumerable. Now before the seven years of famine Joseph had two sons, whom Aseneth the daughter of Petephres the

51 priest of Heliopolis bore to him. And Joseph called the name of his first born Manasses, because God hath made me forget

52 all my troubles and all my father's family. And the name of his second son he called Ephraim, because God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.

53 And when the seven years of plenty which had been iu the land of Egypt were past, the seven years of famine began

54 to come as Joseph said. And there was a famine in the whole

55 earth, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt began to be in want and the people cried to Pharao for bread, Pharao said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph and do whatever he saith to you.

56 As the famine was over the face of the whole earth, when Joseph opened all his granaries and sold to all the Egyptians, all the countries came to Egypt to buy of Joseph, for the fa-

XLII. mine was great in the whole earth. And when Jacob found that there was a sale in Egypt he said to his sons, Why

2 sit ye still? Behold I have heard that there is corn in Egypt; go down thither and buy us a little food that we may live and

3 not die. So Joseph's ten brothers went down to purchase corn from Egypt: but Benjamin the brother of Joseph he did not

4 send with his brothers; for he said, Perhaps some misfortune may happen to him.

5 Now when the sons of Israel went to buy in company with others who were going, for the famine was in the land of Cha-

6 naan, Joseph was the governor of the country; he sold to ail

the people of that land. So when Joseph's brothers came they

7 made obeisance to him with their face to the ground. And when Joseph saw his brothers he knew them and was reserved and spoke harshly to them and said to them, Whence come you? And they said, From the land of Chanaan to buy food.

8 Now Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.

9 And Joseph remembered the dreams, which he had dreamed and said to them, You are spies. You are come to examine

10 the ways into this country. And they said, No, my lord. We

11 thy servants are come to buy food. We are all the sons of one

12 man. We are men of peace. Thy servants are not spies. But he said, Nay, you are come for no other purpose, but to ex-

13 amine the ways into this country. Then they said, Thy servants were twelve brothers in the land of Chanaan. And lo! the youngest is now with our father; but the other is no more.

14 Upon this Joseph said, It is as I said, you are spies. By this

15 you shall be proved. By the health of Pharao you shall not

16 depart hence unless your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you and bring your brother; but you must be confined, until your words be proved whether you speak true or

17 not. If not, by the health of Pharao you are certainly spies.

18 So he committed them to prison three days. And on the third

19 day he said to them, Do this and live; for I fear God. If you are men of peace let one brother of you be kept in confinement.

20 As for the rest, go and carry back your purchase of provisions and bring your younger brother to me, so shall your words be

21 believed. Unless you do this you shall die. On this occasion they acted thus—they said one to another, We indeed are to blame in respect to our brother. Because we disregarded the

22 anguish of his soul, when he intreated us and we would not hear him; for this cause therefore this affliction is come upon us. And Reuben in reply said to them, Did I not speak to you saying, Do the lad no injury, but you hearkened not to

23 me. Now behold inquisition is made for his blood. They indeed did not know that Joseph heard; for there was one to

24 interpret between them. On this Joseph withdrew from them and wept. Then he came to them again and spoke to them and he took Symeon from among them and bound him before

25 their eyes. Then Joseph gave orders to fill their sacks with corn and to put every one's money in his bag and to furnish

26 them with provisions for the journey. So this being done for them they loaded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

27 And one of them having loosed his bag to give his asses pro- vender at a place where they lodged saw his roll of money, for

28 it was in the mouth of his bag, and said to his brothers, The money is returned to me. See, here it is in my bag. Whereupon their heart fainted and they were alarmed and said one

29 to another, What is this which God hath done to us? And when they came to their father Jacob to the land of Chanaan,

30 they told him all that had happened to them and said, The man the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and put us in

31 prison as coming to spy the country; and we told him, We

32 are men of peace, We are not spies. We are twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more. And the youngest is now

33 with our father in the land of Chanaan. Upon which the man the lord of the country said to us, By this I shall know that you are men of peace. Leave here with me one brother; and taking the corn purchased for your family go and bring me

34 your younger brother, then I shall know that you are not spies; but men of peace. And I will restore to you your bro-

35 ther and you may traffick in the land. And when they emptied their sacks every one's roll of money was in their several sacks. And when they and their father saw their rolls of money they

56 were terrified. And Jacob their father said to them, Me you have bereaved of children. Joseph is gone. Symeon is gone. And will you take away Benjamin? All these things are against

37 me. Then Reuben spoke to their father saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not back to thee. Commit him to my

38 charge and I will bring him back to thee. But he said, My son shall not go down with you. For his brother is dead and he alone is left. If any mischief should happen to him in the way you are going, you will bring down my old age with sorrow to the mansion of the dead.

XLIII. Still the famine prevailed in the land. So when they had

2 eaten up the com which they brought from Egypt their father

3 said to them, Go again and buy for us a little food. Whereupon Judas spoke to him and said, The man who is the lord of the country solemnly protested saying, You shall not see my

VOL. I. K

4 face, unless your youngest brother be with you. If therefore thou wilt send our brother with us we will go down and buy thee food. But if thou wilt not send our brother with us we

5 will not go. For the man spoke to us saying, You shall not see C my face unless your youngest brother be with you. And Israel said, Why did you do me this ill in telling the man that

7 you had a brother? And they said, The man examined us strictly touching our family and said, Is your father alive ? And have you a brother? And we answered him according to this examination. Could we know that he would say, Bring your

8 brother? Moreover Judas said to his father Israel, Send thy son with me and we will arise and go that we may live and not

9 die, both we and thou and all that we have. I undertake the charge-of him. At my hand require him. If I bring him not back to thce and set him before thee let me be a sinner against

10 thee for ever. For if we had not been delayed we might have

11 now been back a second time. Then Israel their father said to them, If it must be so, do this, Take of all the fruits of this land in your vessels and carry down for the man presents of balm and honey and incense both stacte and terebinthus and

12 almonds. Take also double money in your hands and carry back the money "which was returned in your sacks; perhaps it

13 was a mistake. And take your brother and arise and go down

14 to the man. And may my God grant you favour in the sight of the man that he may send back your brother with Benjamin. As for me I am bereaved of children as I have been bereaved.

15 So the men took the presents and the double money in their hands and Benjamin and arose and went down to Egypt and

16 stood before Joseph. And when Joseph saw them and Benjamin his brother by the same mother he said to his steward, conduct these men into the house and kill victims and make

17 ready, for these men are to dine with me at noon. So the man did as Joseph ordered and conducted them to Joseph's house.

18 And when the men saw that they Avere conducted to Joseph's house, they said, On account of the money which was returned in our bags in the former journey we are brought in for the purpose of accusing us and charging us with it, that he may

19 make us slaves and take our asses. Therefore they went near to the man the steward of Joseph's house and spoke to him at 20 the gate of the house saying, Sir, we came down for the first

21 time to purchase provisions, but when we came to the lodging place and opened our bags every man's money was in his bag. This money we have nowbrought back in our hands in full weight. And we have brought with us other money to buy provisions—

22 Who put the money into our bags we do not know. Upon

23 which he said to them, Peace be to you: fear not, your God and the God of your fathers loath given you treasures in your bags. But as for your money, with perfect good will I decline

24 receiving it. Then he brought out Symeon to them and brought them water to wash their feet and gave provender to

25 their asses. And they were employed in making ready the presents until Joseph came at noon, for they heard that he was to

2G dine there. So when Joseph came home they brought him the presents which they had in their hands into the house and made

27 obeisance to him with their face on the ground. And he asked

28 them of their welfare and said to them, Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke ? Is he still living? And they said, Thy servant, our father is well. He is still alive. And he said, Blessed of God is that man. Whereupon they bowed

29 down and made obeisance to him. And when Joseph raised his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother by the same mother, he said, This is your youngest brother whom you promised to bring to me ? Then he said, God be gracious to thee, my son.

50 And Joseph was discomposed, for his bowels yearned towards his brother; so he sought where to weep and went into his

>1 chamber and wept there. And when he had washed his face and come out he restrained himself and said, Serve up dinner.

>2 So they served up for him by himself and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians who dined with him, by themselves. For the Egyptians could not cat bread with the Hc- 3 brews. For that to the Egyptians is an abomination. And they sat before him, the first born according to his birth right and the youngest according to his youth. And the men were asto-

> I nished, one at another. And when they received their several messes from him, the mess of Benjamin was five times larger than any of theirs.

XLIV. And when they had drank and been plentifully regaled with him Joseph gave orders to the steward of his house saying, Fill the bags of these men with corn, as much as they

2 can carry, and put every one's money in the mouth of his bag, and put my silver cup in the bag of the youngest along with

3 the price of his corn. And Joseph's orders being punctually executed; the next morning as soon as it was light the men

4 were sent away they and their asses. And when they were gone out of the city, but had not got far off, Joseph said to his steward, Arise and pursue those men; and when thou shalt over-

5 take them, say to them, Why have you returned evil for good ? Why have you stolen my silver cup ? Is not this it out of which my lord drinketh. By it indeed he divineth. You have done

6 evil in so doing. So when he overtook them he spoke to them

7 in these tenns. Upon which they said to him, Why doth my lord speak in such terms as these: Far be it from thy servants

8 to do such an act. If we indeed brought back to thee from the land of Chanaan the money which we found in our bags, how should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?

9 With whomsoever of thy servants thou shalt find the cup, let

10 him die, and we will be our lord's slaves. And he said, Well; Let it be as you say thus far—With whomsoever the cup be

11 found, he shall be my slave; but you shall be blameless. Then they hasted, and set down, every one his bag on the ground,

12 and opened, every one his bag. And he searched beginning at the eldest till he came to the youngest; and he found the cup

13 in Benjamin's bag. Whereupon they rent their cloaths and put

14 every one his bag on his ass and returned to the city. And Judas with his brothers went in to Joseph who was still there;

15 and they fell on the ground before him. And Joseph said to them, What is this you have done? Did you not know that

16 such a man as I can divine? And Judas said, What answer can we make to my lord? Or what can we say? Or how can we justify ourselves? God hath indeed found out the iniquity of thy servants. Behold we are slaves to our lord—both

17 we and-he with whom the cup was found. And Joseph said, Far be it from me to do such a thing. The man with whom the cup was found shall be my servant; but as for you go up

18 in peace to your father. Upon this Judas came near to him and said, O my lord, let thy servant speak a word in thy presence and be not angry with thy servant, for thou art next to 19 Pharao. Thou my lord didst ask thy servants saying, Have

20 you a father or a brother? And we said to my lord, We have a father an old man; and he hath a younger son of his old age. His brother is dead, and as he is the only one of his mother

21 left; his father loveth him. Thenthou saidst to thy servants,

22 Bring him down to me and I will take care of him. And we said to my lord, This son cannot leave his father; for if he

23 were to leave him, his father would die. Then thou saidst to thy servants, Unless your younger brother come down with

24 you, you shall no more be admitted to see my face. So when we went up to thy servant our father, we told him the words

25 of our lord. And when our father said, Go again and buy for

26 us a little food; we said, We cannot go. If indeed our youngest brother will go down with us, we will go down. For we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother be with

27 us. Thereupon thy servant our father said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons; and that one went out from

28 me and you said he was devoured by a wild beast and I have

29 not seen him since. If therefore you take this one also from me and any misfortune happen to him on the journey, you will

30 bring down my old age with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore if I should go to thy servant our father and this son be not with us, as his life dependeth on the life of this son, it will come to pass that when he shall see that this son is not with

31 us he will die. Thus will thy servants bring down the old age

32 of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. Besides as thy servant received this son from his father and said, If I bring him not back to thee and set him before thee, let me be as a

33 sinner against my father for ever; now therefore let me stay with thee instead of him as a slave to my lord, and let this son

34 go up with his brothers (for how can I go up to my father and this son not with us?) that I may not see the evils which will befal my father.

XLV. Upon this Joseph could not restrain himself before all his attendants, but said, Dismiss all from me. So there was

2 no attendant with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers, but in weeping he raised his voice so that all the Egyptians heard and the news was carried to Pharao's house.

3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Is my father still alive? But his brothers could not answer him; for they

4 were confounded. Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me? And when they came near; he said, I am Joseph

5 your brother whom you sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor let it afflict you that you sold me hither;

6 for God sent me before you for life. For this is but the second year of famine on the earth and there will be yet five years, in

7 which there will be neither tillage nor harvest, so that God hath sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on the earth

8 and to nourish your great remnant. Now therefore it was not you who sent me hither, but it was God. And he hath made me like a father to Pharao, and lord of all his house and governor of all

9 the land of Egypt. Haste therefore and go up to my father and say to him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me ruler of all the land of Egypt. Come down therefore to me and

10 tarry not. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gesem-Arabia and be near me; both thou and thy sons and thy grandsons,

11 thy flocks and thy herds and all that thou hast. And I will nourish thee there, (for the famine will continue five years longer) that thou and thy sons and all that belong to thee may

12 not be consumed. Behold your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth which speaketh to you.

13 Therefore tell my father all my glory in Egypt and all that you

14 see; and make haste and bring my father down hither. Then he fell upon the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept upon

15 him. And Benjamin wept on his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. And after that his brothers conversed with him.

16 Now when the news spread to Pharao's house saying, Joseph's brothers are come, Pharao and his servants were re-

17 joiced. And Pharao said to Joseph, Say to thy brothers, Do

18 this, Load your beasts and goto the land of Chanaan and take up your father and all that you have and come to me and I will give you of all the good things of Egypt, and ye shall eat

19 the fat of the land. And do thou issue these orders, Take with you from the land of Egypt waggons for your children

20 and your wives and take up your father and come; and pay no regard to your furniture, for all the good things of Egypt

21 shall be yours. And the sons of Israel did so. And Joseph

22 gave them waggons as Pharao the king commanded. He gave them also provisions for the journey. And to all he gave two suits of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces

23 of gold and five distinguished suits of raiment. And he sent the like presents to his father together with ten asses which carried some of all the good things of Egypt, and ten mules

24 loaded with bread for his father on the journey. Arid he dismissed them: And as they were departing, he said to them, See that

25 you do not fall out by the way. So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Chanaan to their father Jacob and told

26 him saying. Thy son Joseph is alive and he is the governor of all the land of Egypt. Whereupon Jacob was absorpt in

27 thought, for he could not believe them. But when they told him all that Joseph had commanded them, and he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Ja-

28 cob their father revived. And Israel said, It is a great thing for me that my son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him, before I die.

XLVI. Then Israel removed with all that he had and went to Well of the Oat/i, and offered a sacrifice to the God of his fa-

2 ther Isaak. And God spoke to Israel in a vision of the night

3 and said, Jacob! Jacob! And he said, Here I am. And God said to him, I am the God of thy fathers. Fear not to go down

4 into Egypt; for I will make thee there a great nation. I indeed will go down with thee into Egypt and I will at last cause thee to come up, when Joseph shall have put his hands on

5 thy eyes. Then Jacob arose from Well of the Oath and the sons of Israel put their father, and the baggage and their wives in the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him;

6 and taking their stock and all their effects which they had

7 gotten in the land of Chanaan, Jacob and all his seed with him, his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters with him went to Egypt. So he brought all his offspring to Egypt.

8 Now these are the names of Israel's children who went down to Egypt with their father Jacob.

Jacob and Ins Children.

9 The first born of Jacob was Reuben, and the sons of Reuben, Enoch and Phallus, Asron and Charmi.

10 And the suns of Symeon, Jemuel and Jamin and Aod and Achin and Saar and Saul the son of a Chananitish woman.

11 And the sons of Levi, Gerson, Kaath and Merari.

12 And the sons of Judas were Er and Aunan and Selom and Phares and Zara but Er and Aunan died in the land of Cha- naan. And the sons of Phares were Esron and Jemuel.

13 And the sons of Issachar were Thola and Phua and Asum and Sambran.

14 And the sons of Zabulon, Sered and Allon and Achoel.

15 These were the sons of Leia whom she bore to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia with Deina his daughter. All the souls, sons and daughters were thirty three.

16 And the sons of Gad ; Saphon and Aggis and Sannis and Thasoban and Aodeis and Aroedeis and Areeleis.

17 And the sons of Aser; Jemna and Jessua and Jens and

18 Baria with Sara their sister. And the sons of Baria; Chobar and Melchiil. These were the children of Zelpha whom La- ban gave to his daughter Leia and she bore them to Jacob. Sixteen souls.

19 And the children of Rachel the wife of Jacob were Joseph

20 and Benjamin. And to Joseph children were born in the land of Egypt, whom Aseneth the daughter of Petephres, the priest of Heliopolis, bore to him, namely, Manasses and Ephraim. And to Manasses, there were sons born, whom his concubine Syra bore to him, namely, Machir. And Machir begot Galaad. And the sons of Ephraim the brother of Manasses were Sou- talaam and Taam. And the sons of Soutalaam, Edom.

21 And the sons of Benjamin were Bala and Bochor and As- bel. And to Bala there were sons bom, namely, Gera and Noe- man and Achis and Ros and Mamphim, and Gera begot Arad.

22 These were the children of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob. All the souls were eighteen.

23 And the sons of Dan ; Asom. And the sons of Nephtha-

24 leim ; Asicl and Goni and Issaar and Sellem. These were the

25 children of Balla whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel,

26 and she bore them to Jacob. All the souls, seven. So all the souls who went with Jacob into Egypt, even all who sprung from him, exclusive of the wives of Jacob's children—All the

27 souls were sixty six. And including the children of Joseph who were born to him in.the land of Egypt, being nine, all the souls of Jacob's house who came with Jacob into Egypt were seventy five.

28 Now he had sent Judas before him to Joseph, that he

29 might meet him at Heroopolis, in the land of Harnesses. And Joseph having got ready his chariots, went up to meet his father Israel at Heroopolis. And when he saw him he fell on his

30 neck and wept abundantly. And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, for thou art still alive.

31 Then Joseph said to his brothers, I will go up and inform Pha- rao, and tell him that my brothers, my father's family who

32 were in the land of Chanaan, are come to me; but the men are shepherds; for their occupation hath been to feed cattle, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they

33 have. If therefore Pharao send for you and say to you, What

34 is your occupation? you will say, We thy servants are feeders of cattle from our youth even to this time, as well as our fathers; that you may dwell in Gesem-Arabia. For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.

XLVII. So Joseph went and told Pharao saying, My father and my brothers with their flocks and their herds and all that belong to them are come from the land of Chanaan; and lo 1

2 they are in the land of Gesem. And he took of his brothers

3 five men and presented them before Pharao. And Pharao said to Joseph's brothers, What is your occupation? and they said to Pharao, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and our fa-

4 there. Moreover they said to Pharao, We are come to sojourn in this land, because there is no pasture for thy servants' cattle, for the famine hath been great in the land of Chanaan. Now therefore let us sojourn in the land of Gesem. And Pharao said to Joseph, Let them dwell in the land of Gesem; and if thou knowest any men of ability among them, make them overseers of my cattle.

5 Now when Jacob and his sons came into Egypt to Joseph, and Pharao king of Egypt heard of it he said to Joseph, Thy

6 father and thy brothers are come to thee, behold the land of Egypt is before thee, settle thy father and thy brothers in the

7 best of the land. And when Joseph introduced his lather Jacob and presented him before Pharao and Jacob had blessed

Vol. r. L

8 Pharao, Pharao said to Jacob, How many are the years of the

9 days of thy life? And Jacob said to Pharao, The days of the years of my life which I am now sojourning are a hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. They have not reached to the days of the years of the

10 life of my fathers which they sojourned. And when Jacob had

11 blessed Pharao he went out from him. And Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land of Harnesses, as Pharao

12 had ordered. And Joseph supplied his father and his brothers and all his father's household with a certain portion of corn for each person.

13 Now there was no food in the land, for the famine prevailed exceedingly; and both the land of Egypt and the land

14 of Chanaan fainted by reason of the famine. And Joseph collected all the money which was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Chanaan for the corn which they bought

15 and which he dealt out to them. And Joseph brought all the money to Pharao's house. And when all the money was gone, out of the land of Egypt and out of the land of Chanaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us bread. Must

16 we die in thy presence because we have no money? Thereupon Joseph said to them, Bring your cattle, and I will give

17 you bread for your cattle if your money be gone. So they brought their cattle to Joseph, and he gave them bread for their horses and for their flocks and for their herds and for their asses and supplied them with bread that year for all their cattle.

18 When that year was ended they came to him the next year and said, Perhaps we may be rejected by our lord: for as our money is gone and our stock and cattle are transferred to thee our lord, there is indeed nothing left us in the presence of our

19 lord, but our persons and our lands. That we therefore may not die in thy presence and the land become a waste, purchase us and our land for bread, and we with our lands will be servants to Pharao. Give us seed that we may sow and live and

20 not die. So the land will not become desolate. Upon this Joseph purchased all the land of the Egyptians for Pharao. For the Egyptians sold their land to Pharao, because the famine pre- 21 vailed over them. Thus the land became Pharao's, and he reduced the people to a state of vassalage from one border of

22 Egypt to the other, save the land of the priests only. This Joseph did not buy; because Pharao had assigned them a gratuitous portion, and they ate the portion which Pharao assign-

23 ed them. Therefore they did not sell their land. Then Joseph said to all the Egyptians, Behold I have this day purchased

24 you and your land for Pharao. Take seed and sow the land. And of the products thereof you shall give Pharao the fifth. And the other four parts shall be your own to sow the land,

25 and to be food for you and all your families. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives. We have found favour in the sight

26 of our lord, and we will be servants to Pharao. So Joseph enjoined upon them the giving a fifth to Pharao as a statute which continueth even to this day in all the land of Egypt, excepting only the land of the priests. That did not belong to Pharao.

27 Thus Israel became sojourners in the land of Egypt in the district of Gesem, and they had possessions therein and in-

28 creased and multiplied exceedingly. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. And all the days of the years of his life were a hundred and forty seven years.

29 Now when the time of Israel's death drew nigh he sent for his son Joseph and said to him, If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh and thou shalt deal kindly

30 and truly with me, that thou wilt not bury me in Egypt; but let me sleep with my fathers. Therefore thou shalt carry me

31 out of Egypt and bury me in their sepulchre. And he said I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear to me. So he swore to him. And Israel bowed down on the head of his staff.

XLVIII. After this when it was told Joseph, Thy father is sick, he took his two sons Manasses and Ephraim and went to

2 Jacob. And when they told Jacob saying, Behold thy son Joseph is coming to thee, Israel strengthened himself and sat

3 upon the bed. And Jacob said to Joseph, My God appeared to me at Louza in the land of Chanaan and blessed me and

4 said, Behold I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee and make thee a multitude of nations, and I will give thee this land

5 even to thy seed after thee for a perpetual possession. Now therefore thy two sons, who have been bom to thee in the land of Egypt, before I came to thee into Egypt, are mine. Ephraim

6 and Manasses, like Reuben and Symeon, shall be mine. And the issue which thou mayst have after this shall go by the name of their brothers. They shall be enrolled in their inhe-

7 ritances. Now when I came out of Syrian Mesopotamia Rachel thy mother died ii) the land of Chanaan, just as I drew near the race ground of Chabratha on the way to Ephratha. So I buried her in the way of the race ground the same is Bethle-

8 hem. Then Israel seeing the sons of Joseph said, Who are

9 these with thee? And Joseph said to his father, They are my

10 sons, whom God hath given me here. Whereupon Jacob said, Bring them near to me that I may bless them. Now Israel's eyes were dim by reason of old age and he could not see clearly. And when he brought them near to him, he kissed them and

11 embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, Lo! was I not deprived of thy presence? yet behold God hath shewn me even

12 thy seed. Then Joseph took them from his knees; and when

13 they had made obeisance to him with their face to the ground, Joseph taking his two sons, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left and Manasses in his left hand towards Israel's right,

14 brought them near to him. But Israel stretching out his right hand laid it on Ephraim's head (now he was the youngest) and

15 his left hand on Manasses' head crossing his hands. And he blessed them and said, The God whom my fathers Abraham and Isaak worshipped—the God who hath fed me from my

16 youth to this day—the Angel who delivered me from all evils, bless these children! And let them be called by my name and by the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaak; and may they be increased to a great multitude on the earth!

17 Now when Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim's head, it appeared amiss to him; and he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to the

] 8 head of Manasses. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father: for this is the first born, put thy right hand on his head.

19 But he refused and said, I know; my son; I know. This indeed will be a people and will be exalted. But his younger bro- thei« will be greater than he; and his seed will be a multitude of

20 nations. And he blessed them that day and said, By you Israel will bless saying, God make thee like Ephraim and Manasses.

21 So he put Ephraim before, Manasses. Then Israel said to Jo-

seph, Lo I die. But God will be with you and bring you back 22 to the land of your fathers. Now to thee exclusively above thy brothers, I give Sikima, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow. XLIX. Then Jacob called his sons and said to them, Assemble that I may tell you what will happen to you in the latter days.

2 Assemble and hear me, ye sons of Jacob: Hearken to Israel; hearken to your father.

3 Reuben my first born!

Thou my strength and the head of my children.!

4 Too imperious and too self sufficient! In the excess of thy insolence,

Thou shouldst not have burst forth like water.

For thou wentest up to thy father's bed,

Then thou pollutedst the couch to which thou wentest up.

5 Symeon and Levi are brothers.

They accomplished their iniquitous purpose.

6 O my soul, come not into their council;

And in their conspiracy let not my passions be engaged.
Because in their wrath they slew men,
And in their rage ham-strung a bull;

7 Cursed be their wrath, for it was headstrong;
And their enmity, for it was bitter.

I will parcel them out in Jacob
And scatter them among Israel.

8 Judas ! Let thy brethren praise thee:

Thy hands will be on the back of thy enemies.
The sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

9 Judas is a lion's whelp.

From a vigorous stem, my son, thou art sprung.
Couching down thou art gone to sleep
Like a young lion : Who dare rouse him!

10 A chief shall not fail from Judas.
Nor a leader from his loins;

Till the things reserved for him shall come—
Evei\ He, the expectation of nations.

11 Binding his colt to a vine

And his asses colt to theyoun^ vine,

He will \vash his robe in wine,

And his mantle in the blood of the grape.

12 His eyesore more exhilarating than wine, And his teeth are whiter than milk.

13 Zabulon shall dwell by the sea;

And he will be near the haven of ships,
And will extend as far as Sidon.

14 Issachar desired earnestly what was good,
Halting between two choices.

15. But seeing the resting place, that it was good,
And the land, that it was fertile,
He bowed his shoulder to labour
And became a husbandman.

16 Dan will judge his people
And be like a tribe in Israel.

17 Let Dan be indeed a serpent in the way, Lying in watch in a path,

Biting the horse's heel,

That the horseman may fall backwards ;

18 Waiting continually the salvation of the Lord.

19 Gad: Troops of plunderers will plunder him; And he to his utmost, will plunder them.

20 Aser. His meat will be fat

And he will furnish dainties for princes.

21 Nephthaleim is a spreading stock,
Super-adding beauty by its product.

22 Joseph is a fruitful son.
My fruitful son was envied.
Abide with me, my younger son,

Against whom calumniators brought false accusations.

23 Though the masters of bows took aim at him;
Yet their bows and their strength were broken,
And the sinewy arms of their hands enfeebled
By the hand of the mighty One of Jacob.

24 Thence he who hath strengthened Israel
Is from the God of thy father;

25 And My God hath helped thee; and blessed thee With the blessing of heaven from above,

And with the blessing of a land having all things,

By reason of the blessing of breasts and womb,

26 He hath made the blessings of thy father and mother,
More durable than the blessings of perpetual mountains,
And more permanent than the blessings of everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph

And on the crown of the head of brothers
Of whom he was the leader.

27 Benjamin is a ravening wolf.

In the morning he is still eating,

And for the evening he provideth food.

28 All these were the twelve sons of Jacob. And these were the words which their father spoke to them when he blessed

29 them, each according to his peculiar blessing. And when he had blessed them he said, I am going to be added to my peo-

30 pie, and you shall bury me with my fathers, in the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Chettite, in the double cave which is over against Mambre in the land of Chanaan—the cave

31 which Abraham bought of Ephron the Chettite for the possses- sion of a burying place. "There they buried Abraham and Sa-

32 rah his wife. There they buried Isaak and Rebekka his wife. There Leia was buried—in the field namely in the cave in it,

33 which was purchased of the children of Chet. And when Jacob had finished this charge to his sons he drew up his feet into the bed and gave up the ghost and was added to his people.

L. Then Joseph fell upon his lather's face and bewailed him

2 and kissed him. And Joseph gave orders to his servants the

3 embalmers to embalm his father. And when the embalmers had embalmed Israel, and compleated his forty days; (tor this is the time allowed for embalming) the Egyptians mourned

4 for him seventy days. And when the days ol mourning were over, Joseph spoke to the princes of Pharao saying, II I have found favour in your sight, speak for me to Pharao and say,

5 My father adjured me saying, In the tomb which 1 cut out for myself in the land of Chanaan there thou shalt bury .me. Now therefore let me go up and bury my father and I will return

6 again. And Pharao said to Joseph, Go up and bury thy lather

7 as he adjured thee. So Joseph went up to bury his father. And there went up with him all the servants of Pharao and the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all

Joseph's family and his brothers and all his father's household

8 and his kindred. But their flocks and herds they left in the

9 land of Gesem. There went up also with him chariots and

10 horsemen, so that the camp was very large. And when they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is on the bank of the Jordan, they mourned for him with a very great and sore lamentation. And he continued the mourningfor his father

11 seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land of Chanaan saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, This is a great grief to the Egyptians. For this cause they called its name Grief of Egypt. It is on the bank of the Jordan.

12 When his sons had done this for him—when they had carried him to the land of Chanaan and buried him in the double

13 cave—the cave which Abraham bought for the possession of a

14 burying place from Epliron the Chettite over against Mambre, then Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brethren and those who went up with him to bury his father.

15 Now when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, Perhaps Joseph may bear us a grudge and requite

16 us for all the ills which we have done to him. So they came to Joseph and said, Our father before he died adjured us saying,

17 Thus shall you say to Joseph, Forgive them their iniquity and their sin for having done thee evil. Now therefore forgive the

18 iniquity of the servants of the God of thy father. And while they were speaking to him, Joseph wept. And they came near to him and said, We are thy servants, upon which Joseph said

19 to them, Fear not, for I am God's servant. You indeed con-

20 suited against me for evil: but God determined concerning me for good, to bring to pass as at this day, that much people

21 might be nourished. Moreover he said to them, Be not afraid. I will continue to nourish you and your families. So he com-

22 forted them, and spoke affectionately to them. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his brothers and all his father's family.

23 And when Joseph had lived a hundred and ten years and saw Ephraim's children to the third generation; and the children of Machir the son of Manasses were also dandled on his knees;

24 Joseph spoke to his brothers, saying, I die, but God will assuredly visit you and conduct you out of this land into ,the land which God with an oath gave to our fathers, Abraham,

25 Isaak and Jacob. And Joseph adjured the children of Isratl saying, In the visitation wherewith God will visit you, you shall

26 cany my bones hence with you. So Joseph died being a hundred and ten years old, and when they had embalmed him they put him into a coffin in Egypt.