The Lost Books of the Bible: The Great Rejected Texts Page 55

  7 And all the king's servants, princes, lords, governors, and judges, and all the inhabitants of the land, about nine hundred thousand men, stood opposite the furnace to see Abram.

  8 And all the women and little ones crowded on the roofs and towers to see what was going on with Abram, and they all stood together at a distance; and there was not a man left that did not come that day to behold the scene.

  9 When Abram was come, the conjurors of the king and the sages saw Abram, and they cried out to the king, saying, Our sovereign lord, certainly this is the man whom we know to have been the child at whose birth the great star swallowed the four stars, which we declared to the king fifty years ago.

  10 And behold now his father has also gone contrary to your commands, and mocked you by bringing you another child, which you did kill.

  11 And when the king heard their words, he was greatly angered, and he ordered Terah to be brought before him.

  12 And the king said, Have you heard what the conjurors have spoken? Now tell me truly, how did you? If you shall speak truth you shall be acquitted.

  13 Seeing that the king's anger was so much set ablaze, Terah said to the king, My lord and king, you have heard the truth, and what the sages have spoken is right. And the king said, How could you do this thing, to go contrary to my orders and to give me a child that you did not beget, and to take value for him?

  14 Terah answered the king, Because my tender feelings were excited for my son, at that time, I took a son of my handmaid, and I brought him to the king.

  15 And the king said, Who advised you to do this? Tell me, do not hide anything from me, and then you shall not die.

  16 And Terah was greatly terrified in the king's presence, and he said to the king, It was Haran my eldest son who advised me to do this. Haran was in those days that Abram was born, two and thirty years old.

  17 But Haran did not advise his father to do anything, for Terah said this to the king in order to deliver his soul from the king, for he feared greatly. The king said to Terah, Haran your son who advised you to do this shall die through fire with Abram; for the sentence of death is on him for having rebelled against the king's desire in doing this thing.

  18 Haran at that time felt inclined to follow the ways of Abram, but he kept it within himself.

  19 And Haran said in his heart, Behold now the king has seized Abram on account of these things which Abram did, and it shall come to pass, that if Abram prevail over the king I will follow him, but if the king prevail I will go after the king.

  20 When Terah had spoken this to the king concerning Haran his son, the king ordered Haran to be seized with Abram.

  21 And they brought them both, Abram and Haran his brother, to cast them into the fire; and all the inhabitants of the land and the king's servants and princes and all the women and little ones were there standing over them that day.

  22 And the king's servants took Abram and his brother, and they stripped them of all their clothes excepting their lower garments which were on them.

  23 And they bound their hands and feet with linen cords, and the servants of the king lifted them up and cast them both into the furnace.

  24 The Lord loved Abram and he had compassion over him, and the Lord came down and delivered Abram from the fire and he was not burned.

  25 But all the cords with which they bound him were burned, while Abram remained and walked about in the fire.

  26 Haran died when they had cast him into the fire, and he was burned to ashes, for his heart was not perfect with the Lord; and those men who cast him into the fire, the flame of the fire spread over them, and they were burned, and twelve of them died.

  27 Abram walked in the midst of the fire three days and three nights, and all the servants of the king saw him walking in the fire, and they came and told the king, saying, Behold we have seen Abram walking about in the midst of the fire, and even the lower garments which are on him are not burned, but the cord with which he was bound is burned.

  28 When the king heard their words his heart fainted and he would not believe them; so he sent other faithful princes to see this matter, and they went and saw it and told it to the king. And the king rose to go and see it, and he saw Abram walking to and fro in the midst of the fire, and he saw Haran's body burned, and the king wondered greatly.

  29 The king ordered Abram to be taken out from the fire; and his servants approached to take him out and they could not, for the fire was round about and the flame ascending toward them from the furnace.

  30 The king's servants fled from it, and the king rebuked them, saying, Make haste and bring Abram out of the fire that you shall not die.

  31 The servants of the king again approached to bring Abram out, and the flames came on them and burned their faces so that eight of them died.

  32 When the king saw that his servants could not approach the fire that would burn them,, the king called to Abram, O servant of the God who is in heaven, go forth from amidst the fire and come here before me. And Abram listened to the voice of the king, and he went forth from the fire and came and stood before the king.

  33 When Abram came out, the king and all his servants saw Abram coming before the king with his lower garments on him that were not burned, but the cord with which he was bound was burned.

  34 And the king said to Abram, How is it that you were not burned in the fire?

  35 Abram said to the king, The God of heaven and earth in whom I trust and who has all in his power, he delivered me from the fire into which you did cast me.

  36 Haran the brother of Abram was burned to ashes, and they sought for his body; they found it consumed.

  37 Haran was eighty-two years old when he died in the fire of Casdim. And the king, princes, and inhabitants of the land, seeing that Abram was delivered from the fire, came and bowed down to Abram.

  38 And Abram said to them, Do not bow down to me, but bow down to the God of the world who made you, and serve him, and go in his ways for it is he who delivered me from out of this fire; it is he who created the souls and spirits of all men, and formed man in his mother's womb, and brought him forth into the world; it is he who will deliver those who trust in him from all pain.

  39 This thing seemed very wonderful in the eyes of the king and princes, that Abram was saved from the fire and that Haran was burned. And the king gave Abram many presents and he gave him his two head servants from the king's house; the name of one was Oni and the name of the other was Eliezer.

  40 All the kings, princes and servants gave Abram many gifts of silver and gold and pearl, and the king and his princes sent him away, and he went in peace.

  41 Abram went forth from the king in peace, and many of the king's servants followed him, and about three hundred men joined him.

  42 And Abram returned on that day and went to his father's house, he and the men that followed him, and Abram served the Lord his God all the days of his life; he walked in his ways and followed his law.

  43 From that day forward Abram inclined the hearts of the sons of men to serve the Lord.

  44 At that time Nahor and Abram took to themselves wives, the daughters of their brother Haran; the wife of Nahor was Milca and the name of Abram's wife was Sarai. And Sarai, wife of Abram, was unable to conceive; she had no children in those days.

  45 At the expiration of two years from Abram's going out of the fire, that is in the fifty-second year of his life, behold king Nimrod sat in Babel on the throne, and the king fell asleep and dreamed that he was standing with his troops and hosts in a valley opposite the king's furnace.

  46 And he lifted up his eyes and saw a man in the likeness of Abram coming forth from the furnace; he came and stood before the king with his drawn sword, and then sprang to the king with his sword, when the king fled from the man, for he was afraid; while he was running, the man threw an egg on the king's head, and the egg became a great river.

  47 And the king dreamed that all his troops sank in that river and died, and the king took flight with
three men who were before him and he escaped.

  48 The king looked at these men and they were clothed in princely dresses as the garments of kings, and had the appearance and majesty of kings.

  49 And while they were running, the river again turned to an egg before the king; there came forth from the egg a young bird which came before the king, and flew at his head and plucked out the king's eye.

  50 The king was grieved at the sight, and he awoke out of his sleep and his spirit was agitated; he felt a great terror.

  51 In the morning the king rose from his couch in fear, and he ordered all the wise men and magicians to come before him, when the king related his dream to them.

  52 And a wise servant of the king, whose name was Anuki, answered the king, saying, This is nothing else but the evil of Abram and his offspring which will spring up against my Lord and king in the latter days.

  53 And behold the day will come when Abram and his offspring and the children of his household will war with my king, and they will strike all the king's hosts and his troops.

  54 And as to what you have said concerning three men which you did see like yourself, and which did escape, this means that only you will escape with three kings from the kings of the earth who will be with you in battle.

  55 And that which you saw of the river which turned to an egg as at first, and the young bird plucking out your eye, this means nothing else but the offspring of Abram which will kill the king in latter days.

  56 This is my king's dream, and this is its interpretation, and the dream is true, and the interpretation which your servant has given you is right.

  57 Now therefore my king, certainly you know that it is now fifty-two years since your sages saw this at the birth of Abram, and if my king will suffer Abram to live in the earth it will be to the injury of my lord and king, for all the days that Abram lives neither you nor your kingdom will be established, for this was known formerly at his birth; and why will not my king kill him, that his evil may be kept from you in latter days?

  58 And Nimrod listened to the voice of Anuki; he sent some of his servants in secret to go and seize Abram and bring him before the king to suffer death.

  59 Eliezer, Abram's servant whom the king had given him, was at that time in the presence of the king, and he heard what Anuki had advised the king, and what the king had said to cause Abram's death.

  60 Eliezer said to Abram, Hasten, rise up and save your soul, that you may not die through the hands of the king, for thus did he see in a dream concerning you, and thus did Anuki interpret it, and thus also did Anuki advise the king concerning you.

  61 Abram listened to the voice of Eliezer, and Abram hurried and ran for safety to the house of Noah and his son Shem, and he concealed himself there and found a place of safety; and the king's servants came to Abram's house to seek him, but they could not find him, and they searched throughout the country and he was not to be found; they went and searched in every direction and he was not to be met with.

  62 And when the king's servants could not find Abram they returned to the king, but the king's anger against Abram was stilled, as they did not find him, and the king drove from his mind this matter concerning Abram.

  63 Abram was concealed in Noah's house for one month, until the king had forgotten this matter, but Abram was still afraid of the king; and Terah came to see Abram his son secretly in the house of Noah, and Terah was very great in the eyes of the king.

  64 Abram said to his father, Do you not know that the king thinks to kill me, and to annihilate my name from the earth by the advice of his wicked counselors?

  65 Now whom have you here and what have you in this land? Arise, let us go together to the land of Canaan, that we may be delivered from his hand, that you not perish also through him in the latter days.

  66 Do you not know or have you not heard, that it is not through love that Nimrod gives you all this honor, but it is only for his benefit that he bestows all this good on you?

  67 And if he does to you greater good than this, certainly these are only vanities of the world, for wealth and riches cannot avail in the day of wrath and anger.

  68 Now therefore listen to my voice, and let us arise and go to the land of Canaan, out of the reach of injury from Nimrod; and serve the Lord who created you in the earth and it will be well with you; and cast away all the vain things which you pursue.

  69 And Abram ceased to speak when Noah and his son Shem answered Terah, saying, True is the word which Abram hath said to you.

  70 And Terah listened to the voice of his son Abram, and Terah did all that Abram said, for this was from the Lord that the king should not cause Abram's death.

  CHAPTER 13

  1 Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram, and all the souls of his household and went with them from Ur Casdim to go to the land of Canaan. And when they came as far as the land of Haran they remained there, for it was very good land for pasture, and of sufficient territory for those who accompanied them.

  2 And the people of the land of Haran saw that Abram was good and upright with God and men, and that the Lord his God was with him. Some of the people of the land of Haran came and joined Abram, and he taught them the instruction of the Lord and his ways; these men remained with Abram in his house and they adhered to him.

  3 Abram remained in the land three years, and at the expiration of three years the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him; I am the Lord who brought you forth from Ur Casdim, and delivered you from the hands of all your enemies.

  4 Now therefore if you will listen to my voice and keep my commandments, my statutes and my laws, I will cause your enemies to fall before you. I will reproduce your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will send my blessing on all the works of your hands, and you shall lack nothing.

  5 Arise now, take your wife and all belonging to you and go to the land of Canaan and remain there. And I, God, will be there for you and I will bless you. And Abram rose and took his wife and all belonging to him, and he went to the land of Canaan as the Lord had told him; and Abram was fifty years old when he went from Haran.

  6 Abram came to the land of Canaan and lived in the midst of the city, and there he pitched his tent among the children of Canaan, inhabitants of the land.

  7 The Lord appeared to Abram when he came to the land of Canaan, and said to him, This is the land which I gave to you and to your descendants after you forever, and I will make them like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all the lands which you see for an inheritance.

  8 And Abram built an altar in the place where God had spoken to him, and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

  9 At that time, at the end of three years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, in that year Noah died, which was the fifty-eighth year of the life of Abram; all the days that Noah lived were nine hundred and fifty years and he died.

  10 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, he, his wife, and all belonging to him, and all those that accompanied him, together with those that joined him from the people of the land; but Nahor, Abram's brother, and Terah his father, and Lot the son of Haran and all belonging to them lived in Haran.

  11 In the fifth year of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the cities of the plain revolted from the power of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; for all the kings of the cities of the plain had served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and given him a yearly tax, but in those days in the thirteenth year, they rebelled against him.

  12 In the tenth year of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan there was war between Nimrod king of Shinar and Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Nimrod came to fight with Chedorlaomer and to subdue him.

  13 For Chedorlaomer was at that time one of the princes of the hosts of Nimrod, and when all the people at the tower were dispersed and those that remained were also scattered on the face of the earth, Chedorlaomer went to the land of Elam
and reigned over it and rebelled against his lord.

  14 In those days when Nimrod saw that the cities of the plain had rebelled, he came with pride and anger to war with Chedorlaomer, and Nimrod assembled all his princes and subjects, about seven hundred thousand men, and went against Chedorlaomer, and Chedorlaomer went out to meet him with five thousand men, and they prepared for battle in the valley of Babel which is between Elam and Shinar.

  15 All those kings fought there, and Nimrod and his people were smitten before the people of Chedorlaomer, and there fell from Nimrod's men about six hundred thousand, and Mardon the king's son fell among them.

  16 And Nimrod fled and returned in shame and disgrace to his land, and he was under subjection to Chedorlaomer for a long time, and Chedorlaomer returned to his land and sent princes of his host to the kings that lived around him, to Arioch king of Elasar, and to Tidal king of Goyim, and made a covenant with them, and they were all obedient to his commands.

  17 It was in the fifteenth year of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, which is the seventieth year of the life of Abram, the Lord appeared to Abram in that year and said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur Casdim to give you this land for an inheritance.

  18 Now therefore walk before me and be perfect and keep my commands, for to you and to your descendants I will give this land for an inheritance, from the river Mitzraim to the great river Euphrates.

  19 And you shall come to your fathers in peace and in good age, and the fourth generation shall return here in this land and shall inherit it forever. And Abram built an altar, and he called on the name of the Lord who appeared to him, and he brought up sacrifices on the altar to the Lord.

  20 At that time Abram returned and went to Haran to see his father and mother, and his father's household, and Abram and his wife and all belonging to him returned to Haran; Abram lived in Haran five years.

  21 And many of the people of Haran, about seventy-two men, followed Abram and Abram taught them the instruction of the Lord and his ways, and he taught them to know the Lord.