The Lost Books of the Bible: The Great Rejected Texts Read online

  Chapter XXXIV

  1 On the morning of the forty-third day, they came out of the cave, sorrowful and crying. Their bodies were lean, and they were parched from hunger and thirst, from fasting and praying, and from their heavy sorrow because of their transgression. 2 And when they had come out of the cave they went up the mountain to the west of the garden. 3 There they stood and prayed and asked God to grant them forgiveness of their sins. 4 And after their prayers Adam began to beg God, saying, "O my Lord, my God, and my Creator, You commanded the four elements to be gathered together, and they were gathered together by Your order. 5 Then You spread Your hand and created me out of one element, that of dust of the earth. You brought me into the garden at the third hour, on a Friday, and informed me of it in the cave. 6 Then, at first, I knew neither night nor day, because I had a bright nature so that the light in which I lived ever left me to know night or day. 7 Then, again, O Lord, in that third hour in which You created me, You brought to me all beasts, and lions, and ostriches, and fowls of the air, and all things that move in the earth, which You had created at the first hour before me of the Friday. 8 And Your will was that I should name them all, one by one, with a suitable name. But You gave me understanding and knowledge and a pure heart and a right mind from you, that I should name them after Your own mind regarding the naming of them. 9 O God, You made them obedient to me and ordered that not one of them break from my control according to Your commandment and to the dominion which You had given me over them. But now they are all estranged from me. 10 Then it was in that third hour of Friday, in which You created me, and commanded me concerning the tree, to which I was neither to go near, nor to eat from; because You said to me in the garden, 'When you eat of it, from death you shall die.' 11 But if You had punished me as You said, with death, I should have died that very moment. 12 When You commanded me regarding the tree, that I was neither to approach nor to eat of it, Eve was not with me. You had not yet created her, neither had You yet taken her out of my side, so had she yet heard this order from you. 13 Then, at the end of the third hour of that Friday, O Lord, You caused a sleep to come over me, and I slept, and was overwhelmed in sleep. 14 Then You took a rib out of my side and You created her after my own likeness and image. Then I awoke and when I saw her and knew who she was, I said, 'This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. From now on she shall be called woman.' 15 It was of Your good will, O God, that You brought a sleep over me and that You quickly drew Eve out of my side until she was fully out, so that I did not see how she was made, neither could I witness. O my Lord, Your goodness and glory are awful and great. 16 And of Your goodwill, O Lord, You made us both with bodies of a bright nature, and You made the two of us one. You gave us Your grace and filled us with praises of the Holy Spirit that we should be neither hungry nor thirsty nor know what sorrow is, nor know faintness of heart, neither suffering, fasting nor weariness. 17 But now, O God, since we transgressed Your commandment and broke Your law, You have brought us out into a strange land, and have caused suffering, faintness, hunger and thirst to come over us. 18 Now, therefore, O God, we pray you, give us something to eat from the garden, to satisfy our hunger with it, and something wherewith to quench our thirst. 19 For, behold, many days, O God, we have tasted nothing and drunk nothing, and our flesh has dried up and our strength is wasted. Sleep is gone from our eyes from faintness and crying. 20 Then, O God, we dare not gather anything from the fruit of trees, from fear of you. For when we transgress the first time You spared us and did not make us die. 21 But now, we thought in our hearts that if we eat the fruit of the trees without God's order He will destroy us this time and will remove us from the earth. 22 And if we drink of this water without God's order He will make an end of us and root us up at once. 23 Now, therefore, O God, I have come to this place with Eve, and we beg You to give us some fruit from the garden so that we may be satisfied with it. 24 For we desire the fruit that is on the earth and all else that we lack in it."

  Author’s note: The four elements referred to are earth, air, fire, and water. Man was formed from dust, or earth.

  Chapter XXXV

  1 Then God looked again at Adam and his crying and groaning, and the Word of God came to him, and said to him: 2 "Adam, when you were in My garden, you knew neither eating nor drinking, faintness nor suffering, leanness of flesh, nor change; neither did sleep depart from your eyes. But since you transgressed and came into this strange land all these trials have come over you."

  Author’s note: It is unclear as to if this implies that Adam did not sleep or if he had no trouble sleeping while in the garden. Other verses seem to hint at the fact that his “bright nature and the perpetual glory of God shining in the garden provided no need nor place for sleep. While in the garden, Adam may not have needed sleep.

  Chapter XXXVI

  1 Then God commanded the cherub, who guarded the gate of the garden with a sword of fire in his hand, to take some of the fruit of the fig-tree and to give it to Adam. 2 The cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God and went into the garden and brought two figs on two twigs, each fig hanging to its leaf. They were from two of the trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves when God went to walk in the garden and the Word of God came to Adam and Eve and said to them, "Adam! Adam! Where are you?" 3 And Adam answered, "O God, here I am. When I heard the sound of You and Your voice, I hid myself, because I am naked." 4 Then the cherub took two figs and brought them to Adam and Eve. But he threw the figs to them from a distance because they would not come near the cherub, for their flesh that could not come near the fire. 5 At first, angels trembled at the presence of Adam and were afraid of him. But now Adam trembled before the angels and was afraid of them. 6 Then Adam came closer and took one fig, and Eve also came in turn and took the other. 7 And as they took them up in their hands they looked at them and knew they were from the trees among which they had hidden themselves.

  Chapter XXXVII

  1 Then Adam said to Eve, "Do you not see these figs and their leaves with which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright nature? But now, we do not know what misery and suffering may come to us from eating them. 2 Now, therefore, Eve, let us restrain ourselves and not eat them. Let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life." 3 So Adam and Eve restrained themselves and did not eat these figs. 4 But Adam began to pray to God and to beg Him to give him of the fruit of the Tree of Life, saying: "O God, when we transgressed Your commandment at the sixth hour of Friday, we were stripped of the bright nature we had, and did not continue in the garden after our transgression more than three hours. 5 But in the evening You made us come out of it. O God, we transgressed against You one hour and all these trials and sorrows have come over us until this day. 6 And those days together with this the forty-third days do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed! 7 O God, look at us with an eye of pity, and do not avenge us according to our transgression of Your commandment in Your presence. 8 O God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life that we may eat it and live and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble in this earth, for You are God. 9 When we transgressed Your commandment You made us come out of the garden and sent a cherub to keep the Tree of Life so that we should not eat thereof and live and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed. 10 But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these days and have borne sufferings. Make these forty-three days an equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed."

  Author’s note: The day begins at sundown, or about 6 P.M. This would mean that is the sin occurred in the sixth hour it would have been midnight in the garden. If Adam and Eve were removed three hours afterward it would have been 3 A.M.

  Chapter XXXVIII

  1 After these things the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him: 2 "Adam, as to the fruit on the Tree of Life that you have asked for, I will not give it to you now, but only when the 5,500 years are fulfilled. At that time I will give you fruit from the Tree of Life and you will eat and live forever, both you and Eve, and a
lso your righteous descendants. 3 But these forty-three days cannot make amends for the hour in which you transgressed My commandment. 4 Adam, I gave you the fruit of the fig-tree in which you hid yourself for you to eat. So, you and Eve go and eat it. 5 I will not deny your request; neither will I disappoint your hope. Therefore, endure until the fulfillment of the covenant I made with you." 6 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.

  Chapter XXXIX

  1 Then Adam returned to Eve and said to her, "Get up, and take a fig for yourself, and I will take the other; and let us go to our cave." 2 Then Adam and Eve each took a fig and went toward the cave. The time was about the setting of the sun and their thoughts made them long to eat of the fruit. 3 But Adam said to Eve, "I am afraid to eat of this fig. I do not know what may come over me from it." 4 So Adam cried and stood praying before God saying, "Satisfy my hunger, without my having to eat this fig because after I have eaten it, what will it profit me? And what shall I desire and ask of you, O God, when it is gone?" 5 And he said again, "I am afraid to eat of it; for I do not know what will befall me through it."

  Chapter XL

  1 Then the Word of God came to Adam and said to him, "Adam, why didn't you have this trepidation, or this will to fast, or this care before now? And why didn't you have this fear before you transgressed? 2 But when you came to live in this strange land your animal body could not survive on earth without earthly food to strengthen it and to restore its powers." 3 And God withdrew His Word for Adam.

  Chapter XLI

  1 Then Adam took the fig and laid it on the golden rods. Eve also took her fig and put it on the incense. 2 And the weight of each fig was that of a water-melon; for the fruit of the garden was much larger than the fruit of this land. 3 But Adam and Eve remained standing and fasting the entirety of that night until the morning dawned. 4 When the sun rose they were still praying, but after they had finished praying Adam said to Eve: 5 "Eve, come, let us go to the border of the garden looking south to the place from where the river flows and is parted into four heads. There we will pray to God and ask Him to give us some of the Water of Life to drink. 6 For God has not fed us with the Tree of Life in order that we may not live. Therefore, we will ask him to give us some of the Water of Life to quench our thirst with it, rather than with a drink of water of this land." 7 When Eve heard these words from Adam she agreed, and they both got up and came to the southern border of the garden, at the edge of the river of water a short distance from the garden. 8 And they stood and prayed before the Lord, and asked Him to look at them and for this one time to forgive them, and to grant them their request. 9 After this prayer from both of them, Adam began to pray with his voice before God, and said; 10 "O Lord, when I was in the garden and saw the water that flowed from under the Tree of Life, my heart did not desire, neither did my body require to drink of it. I did not know thirst, because I was living, and above that which I am now. 11 So that in order to live I did not require any Food of Life nor did I need to drink of the Water of Life. 12 But now, O God, I am dead and my flesh is parched with thirst. Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink of it and live. 13 O God, through Your mercy save me from these plagues and trials, and bring me into another land different from this. Let me live in Your garden."

  Author’s note: One could extrapolate the size of the fruit, knowing that the size of the fig leaves were large enough to fashion loincloths from them. (See Genesis 3:7) Later, we are told the size of a fig was that of a watermelon.

  Chapter XLII

  1 Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him: 2 "Adam, you said, 'Bring me into a land where there is rest.' Another land than this will not bring you rest. It is the kingdom of heaven alone where there is rest. 3 But you cannot enter into it at present, but only after your judgment is past and fulfilled. 4 Then will I make you go up into the kingdom of heaven, you and your righteous descendants; and I will give you and them the rest you ask for now. 5 And if you said, 'Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink and live,' it cannot be this day, but on the day that I shall descend into hell, and break the gates of brass, and crush into pieces the kingdoms of iron. 6 Then I will, through mercy, save your soul and the souls of the righteous, and thus give them rest in My garden. That shall be when the end of the world is come. 7 And the Water of Life you seek will not be granted you this day, but on the day that I shall shed My blood on your head in the land of Golgotha. 8 For My blood shall be the Water of Life to you at that time, and not to just you alone but to all your descendants who shall believe in Me. This will be rest to them for forever." 9 The Lord said again to Adam, "Adam, when you were in the garden these trials did not come to you. 10 But since you transgressed My commandment, all these sufferings have covered you. 11 Now, also, your flesh requires food and drink. So drink then of that water that flows by you on the face of the earth. 12 Then God withdrew His Word from Adam. 13 And Adam and Eve worshipped the Lord, and returned from the river of water to the cave. It was noon when they drew near to the cave, they saw a large fire by it.

  Author’s note: The kingdom of iron refers to Rome.

  Jesus was fixed to the cross above the ground and the people, (raised up so that all would be brought to Him) and the blood flowed from above and fell on the people below on Golgotha (goal-goth-uh), which was the hill outside the walls of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. See John 6:25 and 7:38

  Chapter XLIII

  1 Then Adam and Eve were afraid, and stood still. And Adam said to Eve, "What is that fire by our cave? We have done nothing in it to cause this fire. 2 We neither have bread to bake, nor broth to cook there. We have never known anything like this fire, and we do not know what to call it. 3 But ever since God sent the cherub with a sword of fire that flashed in his hand and had lightning coming from it we fell down and were like corpses from fear and we have not seen the like. 4 But now, Eve, look, this is the same fire that was in the cherub's hand, which God has sent to keep the cave in which we live. 5 O Eve, it is because God is angry with us and will drive us from it. 6 Eve, we have transgressed His commandment again in that cave, so that He had sent this fire to burn around it and prevent us from going into it. 7 If this is really the case, Eve, where shall we live? And where shall we flee to be away from the face of the Lord? Since, like it is with the garden, He will not let us live in it, and He has deprived us of the good things of it. But He has placed us in this cave, in which we have endured darkness, tests and hardships until at last we have found comfort in it. 8 But now that He has brought us out into another land, who knows what may happen in it? And who knows but that the darkness of that land may be far greater than the darkness of this land? 9 Who knows what may happen in that land by day or by night? And who knows whether it will be far or near, Eve? Do you think it will please God to put us far from the garden, Eve? Where will God put us to prevent us from beholding Him, because we have transgressed His commandment, and because we have made requests of Him all the time? 10 Eve, if God will bring us into a strange land other than this, in which we find consolation, it must be to put our souls to death, and blot out our name from the face of the earth. 11 O Eve, if we are further alienated from the garden and from God, where shall we find Him again, and ask Him to give us gold, incense, myrrh, and some fruit of the fig-tree? 12 Where shall we find Him to comfort us a second time? Where shall we find Him so that He may think of us regarding the covenant He has made on our behalf?" 13 Then Adam said nothing else more. And they kept looking, he and Eve, towards the cave, and at the fire that flared up around it. 14 But that fire was from Satan. For he had gathered trees and dry grasses, and had carried and brought them to the cave, and had set fire to them, in order to consume the cave and what was in it. 15 So that Adam and Eve should be left in sorrow, and he should cut off their trust in God, and make them deny Him. 16 But by the mercy of God he could not burn the cave because God sent His angel to the cave to guard it from this fire, until it went out. 17 And this fire lasted from noon until the break of the next day. That was the forty-fifth
day.

  Chapter XLIV