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

  38 And when Simeon and Levi had gone forth from the city, the two young men that were left, who had concealed themselves in the city and did not die among the people of the city, rose up; these young men went into the city and walked about in it, and found the city desolate without man, and only women weeping, and these young men cried out and said, Behold, this is the evil which the sons of Jacob the Hebrew did to this city in their having this day destroyed one of the Canaanitish cities, and were not afraid of their lives of all the land of Canaan.

  39 These men left the city and went to the city of Tapnach, and they came there and told the inhabitants of Tapnach all that had befallen them, and all that the sons of Jacob had done to the city of Shechem.

  40 The information reached Jashub king of Tapnach, and he sent men to the city of Shechem to see those young men, for the king did not believe them in this account, saying, How could two men lay waste such a large town as Shechem?

  41 The messengers of Jashub came back and told him, saying, We came to the city, and it is destroyed, there is not a man there; only weeping women; neither is any flock or cattle there, for all that was in the city the sons of Jacob took away.

  42 Jashub wondered at this, saying, How could two men do this thing to destroy so large a city, and not one man able to stand against them?

  43 For the like has not been from the days of Nimrod, and not even from the remotest time, has the like taken place; and Jashub, king of Tapnach, said to his people, Be courageous and we will go and fight against these Hebrews, and do to them as they did to the city; we will avenge the cause of the people of the city.

  44 Jashub, king of Tapnach, consulted with his counselors about this matter, and his advisers said to him, Alone you will not prevail over the Hebrews, for they must be powerful to do this work to the whole city.

  45 If two of them laid waste the whole city, and no one stood against them, certainly if you will go against them, they will all rise against us and destroy us likewise.

  46 But if you will send to all the kings that surround us, and let them come together, then we will go with them and fight against the sons of Jacob; then you will prevail against them.

  47 Jashub heard the words of his counselors, and their words pleased him and his people, and he did so; Jashub king of Tapnach sent to all the kings of the Amorites that surrounded Shechem and Tapnach, saying,

  48 Go up with me and assist me, and we will strike Jacob the Hebrew and all his sons, and destroy them from the earth, for thus did he do to the city of Shechem, and do you not know of it?

  49 And all the kings of the Amorites heard the evil that the sons of Jacob had done to the city of Shechem, and they were greatly astonished at them.

  50 The seven kings of the Amorites assembled with all their armies about ten thousand men with drawn swords, and they came to fight against the sons of Jacob; Jacob heard that the kings of the Amorites had assembled to fight against his sons, and Jacob was greatly afraid; it distressed him.

  51 And Jacob exclaimed against Simeon and Levi, saying, What is this act that you did? Why have you injured me, to bring against me all the children of Canaan to destroy me and my household? For I was at rest, even I and my household, and you have done this thing to me and provoked the inhabitants of the land against me by your proceedings.

  52 Judah answered his father, saying, Was it for naught my brothers Simeon and Levi killed all the inhabitants of Shechem? Certainly it was because Shechem had humbled our sister, and went contrary to the command of our God to Noah and his children, for Shechem took our sister away by force, and committed fornication with her.

  53 Shechem did all this evil and not one of the inhabitants of his city interfered with him, to say, Why will you do this? Certainly for this my brothers went and struck the city, and the Lord delivered it into their hands, because its inhabitants had gone contrary to the commands of our God. Is it then for naught that they have done all this?

  54 Now why are you afraid or distressed, and why are you displeased at my brothers, and why is your anger set ablaze against them?

  55 Certainly our God who delivered into their hand the city of Shechem and its people, he will also deliver into our hands all the Canaanitish kings who are coming against us, and we will do to them as my brothers did to Shechem.

  56 Now be tranquil about them and cast away your fears, but trust in the Lord our God, and pray to him to assist us and deliver us, and deliver our enemies into our hands.

  57 Judah called to one of his father's servants, Go now and see where those kings who are coming against us are situated with their armies.

  58 And the servant went and looked far off, and went up opposite Mount Sihon, and saw all the camps of the kings standing in the fields, and he returned to Judah and said, Behold the kings are situated in the field with all their camps, a people greatly numerous like the sand on the seashore.

  59 And Judah said to Simeon and Levi, and to all his brothers, Strengthen yourselves and be sons of valor, for the Lord our God is with us, do not fear them.

  60 Stand forth each man, equipped with his weapons of war, his bow and his sword, and we will go and fight against these uncircumcised men; the Lord is our God, He will save us.

  61 They rose up, and each put on his weapons of war, great and small, eleven sons of Jacob, and all the servants of Jacob with them.

  62 All the servants of Isaac who were with Isaac in Hebron, all came to them equipped in all sorts of war instruments, and the sons of Jacob and their servants, being one hundred and twelve men, went towards these kings, and Jacob also went with them.

  63 And the sons of Jacob sent to their father Isaac the son of Abraham to Hebron, the same is Kireath-arba, saying,

  64 Pray we beseech you for us to the Lord our God, to protect us from the hands of the Canaanites who are coming against us, and to deliver them into our hands.

  65 Isaac the son of Abraham prayed to the Lord for his sons, and he said, O Lord God, you did promise my father, saying, I will reproduce your descendants as the stars of heaven, and you did also promise me, and establish you your word, now that the kings of Canaan are coming together, to make war with my children because they committed no violence.

  66 Now therefore, O Lord God, God of the whole earth, pervert, I pray you, the counsel of these kings that they may not fight against my sons.

  67 And impress the hearts of these kings and their people with the terror of my sons and bring down their pride, that they may turn away from my sons.

  68 With your strong hand and outstretched arm deliver my sons and their servants from them, for power and might are in your hands to do all this.

  69 And the sons of Jacob and their servants went toward these kings, and they trusted in the Lord their God, and while they were going, Jacob their father also prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord God, powerful and exalted God, who has reigned from days of old, from thence till now and forever;

  70 You are He who stirs up wars and causes them to cease, in your hand are power and might to exalt and to bring down; O may my prayer be acceptable before you that you may turn to me with your mercies, to impress the hearts of these kings and their people with the terror of my sons, and terrify them and their camps, and with your great kindness deliver all those that trust in you, for it is you who can bring people under us and reduce nations under our power.

  CHAPTER 35

  1 All the kings of the Amorites came and took their stand in the field to consult with their counselors what was to be done with the sons of Jacob, for they were still afraid of them, saying, Take notice that two of them killed the whole city of Shechem.

  2 And the Lord heard the prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and he filled the hearts of all these kings' advisers with great fear and terror that they unanimously exclaimed,

  3 Are you silly or is there no understanding in you, that you will fight with the Hebrews; why will you take delight in your own destruction this day?

  4 See, two of them came to the city of Shechem w
ithout fear or terror, and they killed all the inhabitants of the city, that no man stood up against them, and how will you be able to fight with them all?

  5 Certainly you know that their God is greatly fond of them and has done mighty things for them, such as have not been done from days of old and among all the gods of nations; there is none can do like his mighty deeds.

  6 Certainly he delivered their father Abraham, the Hebrew, from the hand of Nimrod, and from the hand of all his people who had many times sought to kill him.

  7 He delivered him also from the fire in which king Nimrod had cast him, and his God delivered him from it.

  8 And who else can do like this? Certainly it was Abraham who killed the five kings of Elam when they had touched his brother's son who in those days lived in Sodom.

  9 And took his servant that was faithful in his house and a few of his men, and they pursued the kings of Elam in one night and killed them; then restored to his brother's son all his property which they had taken from him.

  10 Certainly you know the God of these Hebrews is much delighted with them, and they are also delighted with him, for they know that he delivered them from all their enemies.

  11 And consider this, through his love toward his God, Abraham took his only and precious son and intended to bring him up as a burnt offering to his God; had it not been for God who prevented him from doing this, he would then have done it through his love to his God.

  12 God saw all his works and swore to him, and promised him that he would deliver his sons and all his descendants from every trouble that would befall them, because he had done this thing and through his love to his God stifled his compassion for his child.

  13 And have you not heard what their God did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to Abimelech king of Gerar through taking Abraham's wife, who said of her, She is my sister; that they might kill him on account of her and think of taking her for a wife? And God did to them and their people all that you heard of.

  14 And then, we ourselves saw with our own eyes that Esau, the brother of Jacob, came to him with four hundred men with the intention of slaying him, for he remembered that he had taken away from him his father's blessing.

  15 And he went to meet him when he came from Syria to strike the mother with the children, and who delivered him from his hands but his God in whom he trusted? He delivered him from the hand of his brother and also from the hands of his enemies, and certainly he again will protect them.

  16 Who does not know that it was their God who inspired them with strength to do to the town of Shechem the evil which you heard of?

  17 Could it then be with their own strength that two men could destroy such a large city as Shechem had it not been for their God in whom they trusted? He spoke and did to them all this to kill the inhabitants of the city in their city.

  18 And can you then prevail over them who have come forth together from your city to fight with all of them, even if a thousand times as many more should come to your assistance?

  19 Certainly you know and understand that you do not come to fight with them, but you come to war with their God who chose them, and you have therefore all come this day to be destroyed.

  20 So refrain from this evil which you are endeavoring to bring on yourselves, and it will be better for you not to go to battle with them, although they are but few in numbers, because their God is with them.

  21 When the kings of the Amorites heard all the words of their advisers, their hearts were filled with terror; they were afraid of the sons of Jacob and would not fight against them.

  22 They inclined to believe the words of their advisers and they listened to all their words. The words of the counselors greatly pleased the kings, and they did so.

  23 And the kings turned and refrained from the sons of Jacob, for they dared not approach them to make war with them; they were greatly afraid of them, and their hearts melted within them from their fear.

  24 For this proceeded from the Lord to them; he heard the prayers of his servants Isaac and Jacob, for they trusted in him. And all these kings returned with their camps on that day, each to his own city, and they did not at that time fight with the sons of Jacob.

  25 The sons of Jacob kept their station that day till evening opposite mount Sihon, and seeing that these kings did not come to fight against them, the sons of Jacob returned home.

  CHAPTER 36

  1 At that time the Lord appeared to Jacob saying, Arise, go to Bethel and remain there; make there an altar to the Lord who appears to you, who delivered you and your sons from affliction.

  2 And Jacob rose up with his sons and all belonging to him; they went and came to Bethel according to the word of the Lord.

  3 Jacob was ninety-nine years old when he went up to Bethel, and Jacob and his sons and all the people that were with him remained in Bethel in Luz; he built an altar there to the Lord who appeared to him, and Jacob and his sons remained in Bethel six months.

  4 At that time Deborah the daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Jacob died and Jacob buried her beneath Bethel under an oak that was there.

  5 And Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the mother of Jacob, also died at that time in Hebron, the same is Kireath-arba. She was buried in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth.

  6 And the life of Rebecca was one hundred and thirty-three years, and she died. When Jacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead he wept bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her and for Deborah her nurse beneath the oak. He called the name of that place Allon-bachuth.

  7 Laban the Syrian died in those days, for God struck him because he went contrary to the covenant that existed between him and Jacob.

  8 Jacob was a hundred years old when the Lord appeared to him and blessed him and called his name Israel, and Rachel the wife of Jacob conceived in those days.

  9 At that time Jacob and all belonging to him journeyed from Bethel to go to his father's house, to Hebron.

  10 And while they were going on the road, and there was yet but a little way to come to Ephrath, Rachel gave birth to a son; she had hard labor and died.

  11 Jacob buried her on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar on her grave which is there to this day; the days of Rachel were forty-five years when she died.

  12 Jacob called the name of his son that was born to him, which Rachel gave birth to, Benjamin, for he was born to him in the land on the right hand.

  13 It was after the death of Rachel that Jacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.

  14 And Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah on account of this; he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and entered the tent of Bilhah and then removed his father's bed.

  15 At that time the portion of birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben for he had profaned his father's bed; the birthright was given to Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father's bed.

  16 These are the generations of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-aram, and the sons of Jacob were twelve:

  17 The sons of Leah were Reuben the first born, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their sister Dinah; and the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

  18 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, were Gad and Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali; these are the sons of Jacob which were born to him in Padan-aram.

  19 Jacob and his sons and all belonging to him journeyed and came to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that is in Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned; Jacob with his sons and all belonging to him lived with his father in Hebron.

  20 His brother Esau, his sons and all belonging to him went to the land of Seir and lived there and had possessions in the land of Seir, and the children of Esau were prolific and multiplied greatly in the land of Seir.

  21 These are the generations of Esau tha
t were born to him in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Esau were five:

  22 And Adah gave birth to, to Esau, his first born Eliphaz, and she also gave birth to, to him, Reuel, and Ahlibamah gave birth to, to him, Jeush, Yaalam and Korah.

  23 These are the children of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan; the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalex; the sons of Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah and Mizzah.

  24 The sons of Jeush were Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth; the sons of Yaalam were Alah, Phinor and Kenaz.

  25 And the sons of Korah were Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Eram; these are the families of the sons of Esau according to their territories in the land of Seir.

  26 These are the names of the sons of Seir the Horite, inhabitants of the land of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishan, Ezer and Dishon, being seven sons.

  27 The children of Lotan were Hori, Heman and their sister Timna, that is Timna who came to Jacob and his sons; they would not give ear to her and she became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau; she gave birth to, to him, Amalek.

  28 And the sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam, and the sons of Zibeon were Ajah, and Anah; this was that Anah who found the Yemim in the wilderness when he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

  29 And while he was feeding his father's asses he led them to the wilderness at different times to feed them.

  30 There was a day that he brought them to one of the deserts on the seashore, opposite the wilderness of the people, and while he was feeding them, suddenly a very heavy storm came from the other side of the sea and rested on the asses that were feeding there, and they all stood still.

  31 Afterward about one hundred and twenty great and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at the other side of the sea; they all came to the place where the asses were, and they placed themselves there.

  32 And those animals, from their middle downward, were in the shape of the children of men; from their middle upward, some had the likeness of bears, and some the likeness of the keephas, with tails behind them from between their shoulders reaching down to the earth, like the tails of the ducheephath. These animals came and mounted and rode on these asses, and led them away, and they went away to this day.