[Chapter 30]

 
1 And in the first year of the sixth week [2143 A.M.] he went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace, in
2 the fourth month. And there they carried off Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, into the house of Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, and he lay with her and defiled her,
3 and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years. And he besought his father and her brothers that she might be given to him to wife. And Jacob and his sons were wroth because of the men of Shechem; for they had defiled Dinah, their sister, and they spake to them with evil intent and dealt
4 deceitfully with them and beguiled them. And Simeon and Levi came unexpectedly to Shechem and executed judgment on all the men of Shechem, and slew all the men whom they found in it, and left not a single one remaining in it: they slew all in torments because they had dishonoured
5 their sister Dinah. And thus let it not again be done from henceforth that a daughter of Israel be defiled; for judgment is ordained in heaven against them that they should destroy with the sword
6 all the men of the Shechemites because they had wrought shame in Israel. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of the sons of Jacob that they might exterminate them with the sword and execute judgment upon them, and that it might not thus again be done in Israel that a virgin of
7 Israel should be defiled. And if there is any man who wishes in Israel to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is of the seed of the Gentiles he shall surely die, and they shall stone him with stones; for he hath wrought shame in Israel; and they shall burn the woman with fire, because
8 she has dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she shall be rooted out of Israel. And let not an adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout all the days of the generations of the earth; for Israel is holy unto the Lord, and every man who has defiled (it) shall surely die:
9 they shall stone him with stones. For thus has it been ordained and written in the heavenly tablets regarding all the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) shall surely die, and he shall be stoned with
10 stones. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no remission, nor any atonement: but the man who has defiled his daughter shall be rooted out in the midst of all Israel, because he has given
11 of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to defile it. And do thou, Moses, command the children of Israel and exhort them not to give their daughters to the Gentiles, and not to take for
12 their sons any of the daughters of the Gentiles, for this is abominable before the Lord. For this reason I have written for thee in the words of the Law all the deeds of the Shechemites, which they wrought against Dinah, and how the sons of Jacob spake, saying: 'We will not give our daughter
13 to a man who is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us.' And it is a reproach to Israel, to those who live, and to those that take the daughters of the Gentiles; for this is unclean and
14 abominable to Israel. And Israel will not be free from this uncleanness if it has a wife of the daughters of the Gentiles, or has given any of its daughters to a man who is of any of the Gentiles.
15 For there will be plague upon plague, and curse upon curse, and every judgment and plague and curse will come : if he do this thing, or hide his eyes from those who commit uncleanness, or those who defile the sanctuary of the Lord, or those who profane His holy name, (then) will the
16 whole nation together be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of this man. And there will be no respect of persons [and no consideration of persons] and no receiving at his hands of fruits and offerings and burnt-offerings and fat, nor the fragrance of sweet savour, so as to accept it: and
17 so fare every man or woman in Israel who defiles the sanctuary. For this reason I have commanded thee, saying: 'Testify this testimony to Israel: see how the Shechemites fared and their sons: how they were delivered into the hands of two sons of Jacob, and they slew them under tortures, and it
18 was (reckoned) unto them for righteousness, and it is written down to them for righteousness. And the seed of Levi was chosen for the priesthood, and to be Levites, that they might minister before the Lord, as we, continually, and that Levi and his sons may be blessed for ever; for he was zealous
19 to execute righteousness and judgment and vengeance on all those who arose against Israel. And so they inscribe as a testimony in his favour on the heavenly tablets blessing and righteousness before
20 the God of all: And we remember the righteousness which the man fulfilled during his life, at all periods of the year; until a thousand generations they will record it, and it will come to him and to his descendants after him, and he has been recorded on the heavenly tablets as a friend and a righteous
21 man. All this account I have written for thee, and have commanded thee to say to the children of Israel, that they should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor break the covenant which
22 has been ordained for them, (but) that they should fulfil it and be recorded as friends. But if they transgress and work uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the heavenly tablets as adversaries, and they will be destroyed out of the book of life, and they will be recorded in the book of
23 those who will be destroyed and with those who will be rooted out of the earth. And on the day when the sons of Jacob slew Shechem a writing was recorded in their favour in heaven that they had executed righteousness and uprightness and vengeance on the sinners, and it was written for a blessing.
24 And they brought Dinah, their sister, out of the house of Shechem, and they took captive everything that was in Shechem, their sheep and their oxen and their asses, and all their wealth, and all their
25 flocks, and brought them all to Jacob their father. And he reproached them because they had put the city to the sword for he feared those who dwelt in the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites.
26 And the dread of the Lord was upon all the cities which are around about Shechem, and they did not rise to pursue after the sons of Jacob; for terror had fallen upon them.

[Chapter 31]

 
1 And on the new moon of the month Jacob spake to all the people of his house. saying: 'Purify yourselves and change your garments, and let us arise and go up to Bethel, where I vowed a vow to Him on the day when I fled from the face of Esau my brother, because he has been with me and
2 brought me into this land in peace, and put ye away the strange gods that arc among you.' And they gave up the strange gods and that which was in their ears and which was on their necks and the idols which Rachel stole from Laban her father she gave wholly to Jacob. And he burnt and brake them to pieces and destroyed them, and hid them under an oak which is in the land of
3 Shechem. And he went up on the new moon of the seventh month to Bethel. And he built an altar at the place where he had slept, and he set up a pillar there, and he sent word to his father
4 Isaac to come to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother Rebecca. And Isaac said: 'Let my son
5 Jacob come, and let me see him before I die.' And Jacob went to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca, to the house of his father Abraham, and he took two of his sons with him, Levi and Judah, and he came to his father Isaac and to his mother Rebecca.
6 And Rebecca came forth from the tower to the front of it to kiss Jacob and embrace him; for her spirit had revived when she heard: 'Behold Jacob thy son has come'; and she kissed
7 him. And she saw his two sons, and she recognised them, and said unto him: 'Are these thy sons, my son?' and she embraced them and kissed them, and blessed them, saying: 'In you shall the
8 seed of Abraham become illustrious, and ye shall prove a blessing on the earth.' And Jacob went in to Isaac his father, to the chamber where he lay, and his two sons were with him, and he took the hand of his father, and stooping down he kissed him, and Isaac clung to the neck of Jacob his son,
9 and wept upon his neck. And the darkness left the eyes of Isaac, and he saw the two sons of Jacob,
10 Levi, and Judah, and he said: 'Are these thy sons, my son? for they are like thee.' And he said unto him that they were truly his sons: 'And thou hast truly seen that they are truly my sons'.
11 And they came near to him, and he turned and kissed them and embraced them both together.
12 And the spirit of prophecy came down into his mouth, and he took Levi by his right hand and
13 Judah by his left. And he turned to Levi first, and began to bless him first, and said unto him:
May the God of all, the very Lord of all the ages, bless thee and thy children throughout all the
14 ages. And may the Lord give to thee and to thy seed greatness and great glory, and cause thee and thy seed, from among all flesh, to approach Him to serve in His sanctuary as the angels of the presence and as the holy ones. (Even) as they, shall the seed of thy sons be for glory and greatness
15 and holiness, and may He make them great unto all the ages. And they shall be judges and princes, and chiefs of all the seed of the sons of Jacob;

They shall speak the word of the Lord in righteousness,
And they shall judge all His judgments in righteousness.

And they shall declare My ways to Jacob
And My paths to Israel.

The blessing of the Lord shall be given in their mouths
To bless all the seed of the beloved.

16 Thy mother has called thy name Levi,
And justly has she called thy name;

Thou shalt be joined to the Lord
And be the companion of all the sons of Jacob;

Let His table be thine,
And do thou and thy sons eat thereof;

And may thy table be full unto all generations,
And thy food fail not unto all the ages.

17 And let all who hate thee fall down before thee,
And let all thy adversaries be rooted out and perish;

And blessed be he that blesses thee,
And cursed be every nation that curses thee.'

18 And to Judah he said:
'May the Lord give thee strength and power

To tread down all that hate thee;
A prince shalt thou be, thou and one of thy sons, over the sons of Jacob;

May thy name and the name of thy sons go forth and traverse every land and region.
Then shall the Gentiles fear before thy face,

And all the nations shall quake
[And all the peoples shall quake].

In thee shall be the help of Jacob,
And in thee be found the salvation of Israel.

20 And when thou sittest on the throne of honour of thy righteousness
There shall be great peace for all the seed of the sons of the beloved;

Blessed be he that blesseth thee,
And all that hate thee and afflict thee and curse thee
Shall be rooted out and destroyed from the earth and be accursed.'

21 And turning he kissed him again and embraced him, and rejoiced greatly; for he had seen the
22 sons of Jacob his son in very truth. And he went forth from between his feet and fell down and bowed down to him, and he blessed them and rested there with Isaac his father that night, and they
23 eat and drank with joy. And he made the two sons of Jacob sleep, the one on his right hand and the
24 other on his left, and it was counted to him for righteousness. And Jacob told his father everything during the night, how the Lord had shown him great mercy, and how he had prospered (him in) all
25 his ways, and protected him from all evil. And Isaac blessed the God of his father Abraham, who
26 had not withdrawn his mercy and his righteousness from the sons of his servant Isaac. And in the morning Jacob told his father Isaac the vow which he had vowed to the Lord, and the vision which he had seen, and that he had built an altar, and that everything was ready for the sacrifice to be
27 made before the Lord as he had vowed, and that he had come to set him on an ass. And Isaac said unto Jacob his son: 'I am not able to go with thee; for I am old and not able to bear the way: go, my son, in peace; for I am one hundred and sixty-five years this day; I am no longer able to
28 journey; set thy mother (on an ass) and let her go with thee. And I know, my son, that thou hast come on my account, and may this day be blessed on which thou hast seen me alive, and I also have
29 seen thee, my son. Mayest thou prosper and fulfil the vow which thou hast vowed; and put not off thy vow; for thou shalt be called to account as touching the vow; now therefore make haste to perform it, and may He be pleased who has made all things, to whom thou hast vowed the vow.'
30 And he said to Rebecca: 'Go with Jacob thy son'; and Rebecca went with Jacob her son, and
31 Deborah with her, and they came to Bethel. And Jacob remembered the prayer with which his father had blessed him and his two sons, Levi and Judah, and he rejoiced and blessed the God of his
32 fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And he said: 'Now I know that I have an eternal hope, and my sons also, before the God of all'; and thus is it ordained concerning the two; and they record it as an eternal testimony unto them on the heavenly tablets how Isaac blessed them.

[Chapter 32]

 
1 And he abode that night at Bethel, and Levi dreamed that they had ordained and made him the priest of the Most High God, him and his sons for ever; and he awoke from his sleep and blessed
2 the Lord. And Jacob rose early in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month, and he gave a tithe of all that came with him, both of men and cattle, both of gold and every vessel and garment,
3 yea, he gave tithes of all. And in those days Rachel became pregnant with her son Benjamin. And Jacob counted his sons from him upwards and Levi fell to the portion of the Lord, and his
4 father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and filled his hands. And on the fifteenth of this month, he brought to the altar fourteen oxen from amongst the cattle, and twenty-eight rams, and forty-nine sheep, and seven lambs, and twenty-one kids of the goats as a burnt-offering on the
5 altar of sacrifice, well pleasing for a sweet savour before God. This was his offering, in consequence of the vow which he had vowed that he would give a tenth, with their fruit-offerings and their drink-
6 offerings. And when the fire had consumed it, he burnt incense on the fire over the fire, and for a thank-offering two oxen and four rams and four sheep, four he-goats, and two sheep of a year old,
7 and two kids of the goats; and thus he did daily for seven days. And he and all his sons and his men were eating (this) with joy there during seven days and blessing and thanking the Lord, who
8 had delivered him out of all his tribulation and had given him his vow. And he tithed all the clean animals, and made a burnt sacrifice, but the unclean animals he gave (not) to Levi his son, and he
9 gave him all the souls of the men And Levi discharged the priestly office at Bethel before Jacob his father in preference to his ten brothers, and he was a priest there, and Jacob gave his vow: thus
10 he tithed again the tithe to the Lord and sanctified it, and it became holy unto Him. And for this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets as a law for the tithing again the tithe to eat before the Lord from year to year, in the place where it is chosen that His name should dwell, and to this law
11 there is no limit of days for ever. This ordinance is written that it may be fulfilled from year to year in eating the second tithe before the Lord in the place where it has been chosen, and nothing
12 shall remain over from it from this year to the year following. For in its year shall the seed be eaten till the days of the gathering of the seed of the year, and the wine till the days of the wine,
13 and the oil till the days of its season. And all that is left thereof and becomes old, let it be regarded
14 as polluted: let it be burnt with fire, for it is unclean. And thus let them eat it together in the
15 sanctuary, and let them not suffer it to become old. And all the tithes of the oxen and sheep shall be holy unto the Lord, and shall belong to his priests, which they will eat before Him from year to
16 year; for thus is it ordained and engraven regarding the tithe on the heavenly tablets. And on the following night, on the twenty-second day of this month, Jacob resolved to build that place, and to surround the court with a wall, and to sanctify it and make it holy for ever, for himself and his children
17 after him. And the Lord appeared to him by night and blessed him and said unto him: 'Thy name
18 shall not be called Jacob, but Israel shall they name thy name.' And He said unto him again: 'I am the Lord who created the heaven and the earth, and I will increase thee and multiply thee exceedingly, and kings shall come forth from thee, and they shall judge everywhere wherever the foot
19 of the sons of men has trodden. And I will give to thy seed all the earth which is under heaven, and they shall judge all the nations according to their desires, and after that they shall get possession
20 of the whole earth and inherit it for ever.' And He finished speaking with him, and He went up
21 from him. and Jacob looked till He had ascended into heaven. And he saw in a vision of the night, and behold an angel descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands, and he gave them to Jacob, and he read them and knew all that was written therein which would befall him and his sons
21 throughout all the ages. And he showed him all that was written on the tablets, and said unto him: 'Do not build this place, and do not make it an eternal sanctuary, and do not dwell here; for this is not the place. Go to the house of Abraham thy father and dwell with Isaac thy father until the day
23 of the death of thy father. For in Egypt thou shalt die in peace, and in this land thou shalt be buried
24 with honour in the sepulchre of thy fathers, with Abraham and Isaac. Fear not, for as thou hast seen and read it, thus shall it all be; and do thou write down everything as thou hast seen and read.'
25 And Jacob said: 'Lord, how can I remember all that I have read and seen? 'And he said unto
26 him: 'I will bring all things to thy remembrance.' And he went up from him, and he awoke from his sleep, and he remembered everything which he had read and seen, and he wrote down all the
27 words which he had read and seen. And he celebrated there yet another day, and he sacrificed thereon according to all that he sacrificed on the former days, and called its name 'Addition,' for
28 this day was added and the former days he called 'The Feast '. And thus it was manifested that it should be, and it is written on the heavenly tablets: wherefore it was revealed to him that he should
29 celebrate it, and add it to the seven days of the feast. And its name was called 'Addition,' because that it was recorded amongst the days of the feast days, according to the number of
30 the days of the year. And in the night, on the twenty-third of this month, Deborah Rebecca's nurse died, and they buried her beneath the city under the oak of the river, and he called the name of this
31 place, 'The river of Deborah,' and the oak, 'The oak of the mourning of Deborah.' And Rebecca went and returned to her house to his father Isaac, and Jacob sent by her hand rams and sheep and
32 he-goats that she should prepare a meal for his father such as he desired. And he went after his
33 mother till he came to the land of Kabratan, and he dwelt there. And Rachel bare a son in the night, and called his name 'Son of my sorrow '; for she suffered in giving him birth: but his father called his name Benjamin, on the eleventh of the eighth month in the first of the sixth week of this
34 jubilee. [2143 A.M.] And Rachel died there and she was buried in the land of Ephrath, the same is Bethlehem, and Jacob built a pillar on the grave of Rachel, on the road above her grave.

[Chapter 33]

 
1 And Jacob went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra'ef. And he went to his father Isaac, he
2 and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month. And Reuben saw Bilhah, Rachel's maid,
3 the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her. And he hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah [at night], and he found her sleeping alone on a bed in
4 her house. And he lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Reuben was lying with her in the bed, and she uncovered the border of her covering and seized him, and cried out, and discovered
5 that it was Reuben. And she was ashamed because of him, and released her hand from him, and he
6,7 fled. And she lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to any one. And when Jacob returned and sought her, she said unto him: 'I am not clean for thee, for I have been defiled as regards thee; for Reuben has defiled me, and has lain with me in the night, and I was
8 asleep, and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me.' And Jacob was exceedingly wroth with Reuben because he had lain with Bilhah, because he had uncovered his
9 father's skirt. And Jacob did not approach her again because Reuben had defiled her. And as for any man who uncovers his father's skirt his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before
10 the Lord. For this reason it is written and ordained on the heavenly tablets that a man should not lie with his father's wife, and should not uncover his father's skirt, for this is unclean: they shall surely die together, the man who lies with his father's wife and the woman also, for they have
11 wrought uncleanness on the earth. And there shall be nothing unclean before our God in the nation
12 which He has chosen for Himself as a possession. And again, it is written a second time: 'Cursed be he who lieth with the wife of his father, for he hath uncovered his father's shame'; and all the
13 holy ones of the Lord said 'So be it; so be it.' And do thou, Moses, command the children of Israel that they observe this word; for it (entails) a punishment of death; and it is unclean, and there is no atonement for ever to atone for the man who has committed this, but he is to be put to death and slain, and stoned with stones, and rooted out from the midst of the people of our God.
14 For to no man who does so in Israel is it permitted to remain alive a single day on the earth, for he
15 is abominable and unclean. And let them not say: to Reuben was granted life and forgiveness after he had lain with his father's concubine, and to her also though she had a husband, and her husband
16 Jacob, his father, was still alive. For until that time there had not been revealed the ordinance and judgment and law in its completeness for all, but in thy days (it has been revealed) as a law of
17 seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the everlasting generations. And for this law there is no consummation of days, and no atonement for it, but they must both be rooted out in the midst
18 of the nation: on the day whereon they committed it they shall slay them. And do thou, Moses, write (it) down for Israel that they may observe it, and do according to these words, and not commit a sin unto death; for the Lord our God is judge, who respects not persons and accepts not gifts. And tell them these words of the covenant, that they may hear and observe, and be on their guard with respect to them, and not be destroyed and rooted out of the land; for an uncleanness, and an abomination, and a contamination, and a pollution are all they who commit it on the earth before
20 our God. And there is no greater sin than the fornication which they commit on earth; for Israel is a holy nation unto the Lord its God, and a nation of inheritance, and a priestly and royal nation and for (His own) possession; and there shall no such uncleanness appear in the midst of the holy
21 nation. And in the third year of this sixth week [2145 A.M.] Jacob and all his sons went and dwelt in the house
22 of Abraham, near Isaac his father and Rebecca his mother. And these were the names of the sons of Jacob: the first-born Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, the sons of Leah; and the sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Gad and Asher; and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, the only daughter of Jacob. And they
23 came and bowed themselves to Isaac and Rebecca, and when they saw them they blessed Jacob and all his sons, and Isaac rejoiced exceedingly, for he saw the sons of Jacob, his younger son and he blessed them.

[Chapter 34]

 
1 And in the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth jubilee [2148 A.M.] Jacob sent his sons to pasture their
2 sheep, and his servants with them to the pastures of Shechem. And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and
3 to take their cattle as a prey. And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were in the house with Isaac their father; for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him: and Benjamin was
4 the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father. And there came the king[s] of Taphu and the king[s] of 'Aresa, and the king[s] of Seragan, and the king[s] of Selo, and the king[s] of Ga'as, and the king of Bethoron, and the king of Ma'anisakir, and all those who dwell in these
5 mountains (and) who dwell in the woods in the land of Canaan. And they announced this to Jacob saying: 'Behold, the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons, and plundered their herds.'
6 And he arose from his house, he and his three sons and all the servants of his father, and his own
7 servants, and he went against them with six thousand men, who carried swords. And he slew them in the pastures of Shechem, and pursued those who fled, and he slew them with the edge of the sword, and he slew 'Aresa and Taphu and Saregan and Selo and 'Amani-
8 sakir and Ga[ga]'as, and he recovered his herds. And he prevailed over them, and imposed tribute on them that they should pay him tribute, five fruit products of their land, and he built Robel
9 and Tamnatares. And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they became his
10 servants, until the day that he and his sons went down into Egypt. And in the seventh year of this week [2149 A.M.] he sent Joseph to learn about the welfare of his brothers from his house to the land of Shechem,
11 and he found them in the land of Dothan. And they dealt treacherously with him, and formed a plot against him to slay him, but changing their minds, they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him down into Egypt, and they sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the
12 chief of the cooks, priest of the city of 'Elew. And the sons of Jacob slaughtered a kid, and dipped the coat of Joseph in the blood, and sent (it) to Jacob their father on the tenth of the seventh month.
13 And he mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening, and he became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: 'An evil beast hath devoured Joseph'; and all the members of his house [mourned with him that day, and they] were grieving and mourning with
14 him all that day. And his sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be
15 comforted for his son. And on that day Bilhah heard that Joseph had perished, and she died mourning him, and she was living in Qafratef, and Dinah also, his daughter, died after Joseph had
16 perished. And there came these three mournings upon Israel in one month. And they buried
17 Bilhah over against the tomb of Rachel, and Dinah also. his daughter, they buried there. And he mourned for Joseph one year, and did not cease, for he said 'Let me go down to the grave mourning
18 for my son'. For this reason it is ordained for the children of Israel that they should afflict themselves on the tenth of the seventh month -on the day that the news which made him weep for Joseph came to Jacob his father- that they should make atonement for themselves thereon with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the
19 affection of their father regarding Joseph his son. And this day has been ordained that they should grieve thereon for their sins, and for all their transgressions and for all their errors, so that they
20 might cleanse themselves on that day once a year. And after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob took unto themselves wives. The name of Reuben's wife is 'Ada; and the name of Simeon's wife is 'Adlba'a, a Canaanite; and the name of Levi's wife is Melka, of the daughters of Aram, of the seed of the sons of Terah; and the name of Judah's wife, Betasu'el, a Canaanite; and the name of Issachar's wife, Hezaqa: and the name of Zabulon's wife, Ni'iman; and the name of Dan's wife, 'Egla; and the name of Naphtali's wife, Rasu'u, of Mesopotamia; and the name of Gad's wife, Maka; and the name of Asher's wife, 'Ijona; and the name of Joseph's wife, Asenath, the Egyptian; and the name
21 of Benjamin's wife, 'Ijasaka. And Simeon repented, and took a second wife from Mesopotamia as his brothers.

[Chapter 35]

 
1 And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth jubilee [2157 A.M.] Rebecca called Jacob, her son, and commanded him regarding his father and regarding his brother, that he should honour them all the
2 days of his life. And Jacob said: 'I will do everything as thou hast commanded me; for this thing will be honour and greatness to me, and righteousness before the Lord, that I should honour them.
3 And thou too, mother, knowest from the time I was born until this day, all my deeds and all that is in
4 my heart, that I always think good concerning all. And how should I not do this thing which thou
5 hast commanded me, that I should honour my father and my brother! Tell me, mother, what
6 perversity hast thou seen in me and I shall turn away from it, and mercy will be upon me.' And she said unto him: 'My son, I have not seen in thee all my days any perverse but (only) upright deeds. And yet I will tell thee the truth, my son: I shall die this year, and I shall not survive this year in my life; for I have seen in a dream the day of my death, that I should not live beyond a hundred and fifty-five years: and behold I have completed all the days of my life which I am to
7 live.' And Jacob laughed at the words of his mother. because his mother had said unto him that she should die; and she was sitting opposite to him in possession of her strength, and she was not infirm in her strength; for she went in and out and saw, and her teeth were strong, and no ailment
8 had touched her all the days of her life. And Jacob said unto her: 'Blessed am I, mother, if my days approach the days of thy life, and my strength remain with me thus as thy strength: and thou
9 wilt not die, for thou art jesting idly with me regarding thy death.' And she went in to Isaac and said unto him: 'One petition I make unto thee: make Esau swear that he will not injure Jacob, nor pursue him with enmity; for thou knowest Esau's thoughts that they are perverse from his youth,
10 and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after thy death to kill him. And thou knowest all that he has done since the day Jacob his brother went to Haran until this day: how he has forsaken us with his whole heart, and has done evil to us; thy flocks he has taken to himself, and carried off
11 all thy possessions from before thy face. And when we implored and besought him for what was
12 our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us. And he is bitter against thee because thou didst bless Jacob thy perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only goodness in him, and since he came from Haran unto this day he has not robbed us of aught, for he brings us everything in its season always, and rejoices with all his heart when we take at his hands and he blesses us, and has not parted from us since he came from Haran until this day, and he remains with us continually
13 at home honouring us.' And Isaac said unto her: 'I, too, know and see the deeds of Jacob who is with us, how that with all his heart he honours us; but I loved Esau formerly more than Jacob, because he was the firstborn; but now I love Jacob more than Esau, for he has done manifold evil deeds, and there is no righteousness in him, for all his ways are unrighteousness and violence, [and
14 there is no righteousness around him.] And now my heart is troubled because of all his deeds, and neither he nor his seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be destroyed from the earth and who will be rooted out from under heaven, for he has forsaken the God of Abraham and gone
15 after his wives and after their uncleanness and after their error, he and his children. And thou dost bid me make him swear that he will not slay Jacob his brother; even if he swear he will not abide
16 by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only. But if he desires to slay Jacob, his brother, into Jacob's hands will he be given, and he will not escape from his hands, [for he will descend into his
17 hands.] And fear thou not on account of Jacob; for the guardian of Jacob is great and powerful
18 and honoured, and praised more than the guardian of Esau.' And Rebecca sent and called Esau and he came to her, and she said unto him: 'I have a petition, my son, to make unto thee, and do
19 thou promise to do it, my son.' And he said: 'I will do everything that thou sayest unto me, and
20 I will not refuse thy petition.' And she said unto him: 'I ask you that the day I die, thou wilt take me in and bury me near Sarah, thy father's mother, and that thou and Jacob will love each other and that neither will desire evil against the other, but mutual love only, and (so) ye will prosper, my sons, and be honoured in the midst of the land, and no enemy will rejoice over you, and ye will be
21 a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love you.' And he said: 'I will do all that thou hast told me, and I shall bury thee on the day thou diest near Sarah, my father's mother, as
22 thou hast desired that her bones may be near thy bones. And Jacob, my brother, also, I shall love above all flesh; for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only: and this is no great merit for me if I love him; for he is my brother, and we were sown together in thy body, and together came
23 we forth from thy womb, and if I do not love my brother, whom shall I love? And I, myself, beg thee to exhort Jacob concerning me and concerning my sons, for I know that he will assuredly be king over me and my sons, for on the day my father blessed him he made him the higher and me
24 the lower. And I swear unto thee that I shall love him, and not desire evil against him all the
25 days of my life but good only.' And he sware unto her regarding all this matter. And she called Jacob before the eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the words which
26 she had spoken to Esau. And he said: 'I shall do thy pleasure; believe me that no evil will proceed from me or from my sons against Esau, and I shall be first in naught save in love only.'
27 And they eat and drank, she and her sons that night, and she died, three jubilees and one week and one year old, on that night, and her two sons, Esau and Jacob, buried her in the double cave near Sarah, their father's mother.

[Chapter 36]

 
1 And in the sixth year of this week [2162 A.M.] Isaac called his two sons Esau and Jacob, and they came to him, and he said unto them: 'My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house
2 where my fathers are. Wherefore bury me near Abraham my father, in the double cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulchre to bury in; in the sepulchre which
3 I digged for myself, there bury me. And this I command you, my sons, that ye practise righteousness and uprightness on the earth, so that the Lord may bring upon you all that the Lord said that
4 he would do to Abraham and to his seed. And love one another, my sons, your brothers as a man who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and act together on the earth; and let them love each other as their own souls. And concerning the question of idols, I command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and love them not, for they are full
6 of deception for those that worship them and for those that bow down to them. Remember ye, my sons, the Lord God of Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude, and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness which will not be rooted
7 out unto all the generations for ever. And now I shall make you swear a great oath -for there is no oath which is greater than it by the name glorious and honoured and great and splendid and wonderful and mighty, which created the heavens and the earth and all things together- that ye will
8 fear Him and worship Him. And that each will love his brother with affection and righteousness, and that neither will desire evil against his brother from henceforth for ever all the days of your life
9 so that ye may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed. And if either of you devises evil against his brother, know that from henceforth everyone that devises evil against his brother shall fall into his hand, and shall be rooted out of the land of the living, and his seed shall be destroyed from
10 under heaven. But on the day of turbulence and execration and indignation and anger, with flaming devouring fire as He burnt Sodom, so likewise will He burn his land and his city and all that is his, and he shall be blotted out of the book of the discipline of the children of men, and not be recorded in the book of life, but in that which is appointed to destruction, and he shall depart into eternal execration; so that their condemnation may be always renewed in hate and in execration and in wrath and in torment and in indignation and in plagues and in disease for ever. I say and testify to you, my sons, according to the judgment which shall come upon the man who wishes to
12 injure his brother. And he divided all his possessions between the two on that day and he gave the larger portion to him that was the first-born, and the tower and all that was about it, and all that
13 Abraham possessed at the Well of the Oath. And he said: 'This larger portion I will give to the
14 firstborn.' And Esau said, 'I have sold to Jacob and given my birthright to Jacob; to him let it be
15 given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his.' And Isaac said, May a blessing rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for ye have given me rest, and my heart is not
16 pained concerning the birthright, lest thou shouldest work wickedness on account of it. May the
17 Most High God bless the man that worketh righteousness, him and his seed for ever.' And he ended commanding them and blessing them, and they eat and drank together before him, and he rejoiced because there was one mind between them, and they went forth from him and rested that day and
18 slept. And Isaac slept on his bed that day rejoicing; and he slept the eternal sleep, and died one hundred and eighty years old. He completed twenty-five weeks and five years; and his two sons
19 Esau and Jacob buried him. And Esau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of Seir, and
20 dwelt there. And Jacob dwelt in the mountains of Hebron, in the tower of the land of the sojournings of his father Abraham, and he worshipped the Lord with all his heart and according to the visible
21 commands according as He had divided the days of his generations. And Leah his wife died in the fourth year of the second week of the forty-fifth jubilee, [2167 A.M.] and he buried her in the double cave
23 near Rebecca his mother to the left of the grave of Sarah, his father's mother and all her sons and his sons came to mourn over Leah his wife with him and to comfort him regarding her, for he
24 was lamenting her for he loved her exceedingly after Rachel her sister died; for she was perfect and upright in all her ways and honoured Jacob,and all the days that she lived with him he did not hear from her mouth a harsh word, for she was gentle and peaceable and upright and honourable
24 And he remembered all her deeds which she had done during her life and he lamented her exceedingly; for he loved her with all his heart and with all his soul.

[Chapter 37]

 
1 And on the day that Isaac the father of Jacob and Esau died, [2162 A.M.] the sons of Esau heard that Isaac
2 had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Jacob and they were very angry. And they strove with their father, saying 'Why has thy father given Jacob the portion of the elder and passed
3 over thee, although thou art the elder and Jacob the younger?' And he said unto them 'Because I sold my birthright to Jacob for a small mess of lentils, and on the day my father sent me to hunt and catch and bring him something that he should eat and bless me, he came with guile and brought
4 my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and put me under his hand. And now our father has caused us to swear, me and him, that we shall not mutually devise evil, either against his brother, and that we shall continue in love and in peace each with his brother and not make our ways
5 corrupt.' And they said unto him, 'We shall not hearken unto thee to make peace with him; for our strength is greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he; we shall go against him and slay him, and destroy him and his sons. And if thou wilt not go with us, we shall do hurt
6 to thee also. And now hearken unto us: Let us send to Aram and Philistia and Moab and Ammon, and let us choose for ourselves chosen men who are ardent for battle, and let us go against him and do battle with him, and let us exterminate him from the earth before he grows strong.'
7 And their father said unto them, 'Do not go and do not make war with him lest ye fall before him.'
8 And they said unto him, 'This too, is exactly thy mode of action from thy youth until this day, and
9 thou art putting thy neck under his yoke. We shall not hearken to these words.' And they sent to Aram, and to 'Aduram to the friend of their father, and they hired along with them one thousand
10 fighting men, chosen men of war. And there came to them from Moab and from the children of Ammon, those who were hired, one thousand chosen men, and from Philistia, one thousand chosen men of war, and from Edom and from the Horites one thousand chosen fighting men, and from the
11 Kittim mighty men of war. And they said unto their father: Go forth with them and lead them,
12 else we shall slay thee.' And he was filled with wrath and indignation on seeing that his sons were forcing him to go before (them) to lead them against Jacob his brother. But afterward he remem-
13 bered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Jacob his brother; and he remembered not the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother that he would devise no evil all his days
14 against Jacob his brother. And notwithstanding all this, Jacob knew not that they were coming against him to battle, and he was mourning for Leah, his wife, until they approached very near to the
15 tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war And the men of Hebron sent to him saying, 'Behold thy brother has come against thee, to fight thee, with four thousand girt with the sword, and they carry shields and weapons'; for they loved Jacob more than Esau. So they told him; for
16 Jacob was a more liberal and merciful man than Esau. But Jacob would not believe until they came
17 very near to the tower. And he closed the gates of the tower; and he stood on the battlements and spake to his brother Esau and said, 'Noble is the comfort wherewith thou hast come to comfort me for my wife who has died. Is this the oath that thou didst swear to thy father and again to thy mother before they died? Thou hast broken the oath, and on the moment that thou didst swear to
18 thy father wast thou condemned.' And then Esau answered and said unto him, 'Neither the children of men nor the beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in swearing they have sworn (an oath valid) for ever; but every day they devise evil one against another, and how each
19 may slay his adversary and foe. And thou dost hate me and my children for ever. And there is
20 no observing the tie of brotherhood with thee. Hear these words which I declare unto thee,

If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool,
Or if it can cause horns to sprout forth on its head like the horns of a stag or of a sheep,
Then will I observe the tie of brotherhood with thee
And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother, for thou hast not been a brother to me.
21 And if the wolves make peace with the lambs so as not to devour or do them violence,
And if their hearts are towards them for good,
Then there shall be peace in my heart towards thee

22 And if the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes peace with him
And if he is bound under one yoke with him and ploughs with him,
Then will I make peace with thee.
23 And when the raven becomes white as the raza,
Then know that I have loved thee
And shall make peace with thee
Thou shalt be rooted out,
And thy sons shall be rooted out,
And there shall be no peace for thee'

24 And when Jacob saw that he was (so) evilly disposed towards him with his heart, and with all his soul as to slay him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which comes upon
25 the spear that pierces and kills it, and recoils not from it; then he spake to his own and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.

[Chapter 38]

 
1 And after that Judah spake to Jacob, his father, and said unto him: 'Bend thy bow, father, and send forth thy arrows and cast down the adversary and slay the enemy; and mayst thou have the power, for we shall not slay thy brother, for he is such as thou, and he is like thee let us give him
2 (this) honour.' Then Jacob bent his bow and sent forth the arrow and struck Esau, his brother (on
3 his right breast) and slew him. And again he sent forth an arrow and struck 'Adoran the Aramaean,
4 on the left breast, and drove him backward and slew him And then went forth the sons of Jacob,
5 they and their servants, dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower. And Judah went forth in front, and Naphtali and Gad with him and fifty servants with him on the south side of the tower, and they slew all they found before them, and not one individual of them escaped.
6 And Levi and Dan and Asher went forth on the east side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them,
7 and they slew the fighting men of Moab and Ammon. And Reuben and Issachar and Zebulon went forth on the north side of the tower, and fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the
8 Philistines. And Simeon and Benjamin and Enoch, Reuben's son, went forth on the west side of the tower, and fifty (men) with them, and they slew of Edom and of the Horites four hundred men, stout warriors; and six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esau fled with them, and left their father
9 lying slain, as he had fallen on the hill which is in 'Aduram. And the sons of Jacob pursued after them to the mountains of Seir. And Jacob buried his brother on the hill which is in 'Aduram, and
10 he returned to his house. And the sons of Jacob pressed hard upon the sons of Esau in the moun-
11 tains of Seir, and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Jacob. And they
12 sent to their father (to inquire) whether they should make peace with them or slay them. And Jacob sent word to his sons that they should make peace, and they made peace with them, and placed the
13 yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Jacob and to his sons always. And they
14 continued to pay tribute to Jacob until the day that he went down into Egypt. And the sons of Edom have not got quit of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Jacob had imposed on
15 them until this day. And these are the kings that reigned in Edom before there reigned any king
16 over the children of Israel [until this day] in the land of Edom. And Balaq, the son of Beor, reigned
17 in Edom, and the name of his city was Danaba. And Balaq died, and Jobab, the son of Zara of
18 Boser, reigned in his stead. And Jobab died, and 'Asam, of the land of Teman, reigned in his stead.
19 And 'Asam died, and 'Adath, the son of Barad, who slew Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his
20 stead, and the name of his city was Avith. And 'Adath died, and Salman, from 'Amaseqa, reigned
21,22 in his stead. And Salman died,and Saul of Ra'aboth (by the) river, reigned in his stead. And Saul
23 died, and Ba'elunan, the son of Achbor, reigned in his stead. And Ba'elunan, the son of Achbor died, and 'Adath reigned in his stead, and the name of his wife was Maitabith, the daughter of
25 Matarat, the daughter of Metabedza'ab. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom.

[Chapter 39]

 
1,2 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down into
3 the land of Egypt, and Potiphar, an eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief cook bought him. And he set Joseph over all his house and the blessing of the Lord came upon the house of the Egyptian on
4 account of Joseph, and the Lord prospered him in all that he did. And the Egyptian committed everything into the hands of Joseph; for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the
5 Lord prospered him in all that he did. And Joseph's appearance was comely [and very beautiful was his appearance], and his master's wife lifted up her eyes and saw Joseph, and she loved him
6 and besought him to lie with her. But he did not surrender his soul, and he remembered the Lord and the words which Jacob, his father, used to read from amongst the words of Abraham, that no man should commit fornication with a woman who has a husband; that for him the punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God, and the sin
7 will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord. And Joseph
8 remembered these words and refused to lie with her. And she besought him for a year, but he
9 refused and would not listen. But she embraced him and held him fast in the house in order to force him to lie with her, and closed the doors of the house and held him fast; but he left
10 his garment in her hands and broke through the door and fled without from her presence. And the woman saw that he would not lie with her, and she calumniated him in the presence of his lord, saying 'Thy Hebrew servant, whom thou lovest, sought to force me so that he might lie with me; and it came to pass when I lifted up my voice that he fled and left his garment in
11 my hands when I held him, and he brake through the door.' And the Egyptian saw the garment of Joseph and the broken door, and heard the words of his wife, and cast Joseph into
12 prison into the place where the prisoners were kept whom the king imprisoned. And he was there in the prison; and the Lord gave Joseph favour in the sight of the chief of the prison guards and compassion before him, for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord
13 made all that he did to prosper. And he committed all things into his hands, and the chief of the prison guards knew of nothing that was with him, for Joseph did every thing, and the
14 Lord perfected it. And he remained there two years. And in those days Pharaoh, king of Egypt was wroth against his two eunuchs, against the chief butler, and against the chief baker, and he put
15 them in ward in the house of the chief cook, in the prison where Joseph was kept. And the chief of
16 the prison guards appointed Joseph to serve them; and he served before them. And they both
17 dreamed a dream, the chief butler and the chief baker, and they told it to Joseph. And as he interpreted to them so it befell them, and Pharaoh restored the chief butler to his office and the
18 (chief) baker he slew, as Joseph had interpreted to them. But the chief butler forgot Joseph in the prison, although he had informed him what would befall him, and did not remember to inform Pharaoh how Joseph had told him, for he forgot.

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