The Lost Books of the Bible: The Great Rejected Texts Page 67

  33 One of these animals approached Anah, struck him with his tail, and then fled from that place.

  34 And when he saw this work he was greatly afraid of his life, and he fled and escaped to the city.

  35 He related to his sons and brothers all that had happened to him, and many men went to seek the asses but could not find them. Anah and his brothers went no more to that place from that day on for they were greatly afraid for their lives.

  36 The children of Anah the son of Seir, were Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah; the children of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran; the children of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan, and the children of Dishon were Uz and Aran.

  37 These are the families of the children of Seir the Horite, according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.

  38 Esau and his children lived in the land of Seir the Horite, the inhabitant of the land, and they had possessions in it and were prolific and multiplied greatly. Jacob and his children and all belonging to them lived with their father Isaac in the land of Canaan, as the Lord had commanded Abraham their father.

  CHAPTER 37

  1 In the one hundred and fifth year of the life of Jacob, that is the ninth year of Jacob's dwelling with his children in the land of Canaan, he came from Padan-aram.

  2 And in those days Jacob journeyed with his children from Hebron; they went and returned to the city of Shechem, they and all belonging to them and they lived there, for the children of Jacob obtained good and fattening pasture land for their cattle in the city of Shechem, the city of Shechem having then been rebuilt; there were in it about three hundred men and women.

  3 Jacob and his children and all belonging to him lived in the part of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor the father of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram before Simeon and Levi had smitten the city.

  4 And all those kings of the Canaanites and Amorites that surrounded the city of Shechem heard that the sons of Jacob had again come to Shechem and lived there.

  5 They said, Shall the sons of Jacob the Hebrew again come to the city and dwell therein, after that they have smitten its inhabitants and driven them out? Shall they now return and also drive out those who are dwelling in the city or kill them?

  6 And all the kings of Canaan again assembled, and they came together to make war with Jacob and his sons.

  7 Jashub king of Tapnach sent also to all his neighboring kings, to Elan king of Gaash, and to Ihuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon king of Chazar, and to Susi king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Bethchoran, and to Shabir king of Othnay-mah, saying,

  8 Come up to me and assist me, and let us strike Jacob the Hebrew and his sons and all belonging to him, for they are again come to Shechem to possess it and to kill its inhabitants as before.

  9 And all these kings assembled together and came with all their camps, a people greatly plentiful like the sand on the seashore, and they were all opposite to Tapnach.

  10 Jashub king of Tapnach went forth to them with all his army, and he encamped with them opposite to Tapnach outside the city; all these kings they divided into seven divisions, being seven camps against the sons of Jacob.

  11 And they sent a declaration to Jacob and his son, saying, All of you come forth to us that we may have an interview together in the plain, and revenge the cause of the men of Shechem whom you killed in their city; you will now again return to the city of Shechem and dwell therein, and kill its inhabitants as before.

  12 The sons of Jacob heard this and their anger was set ablaze greatly at the words of the kings of Canaan, and ten of the sons of Jacob hurried and rose up, and each of them put on his weapons of war; and there were one hundred and two of their servants with them equipped in battle array.

  13 And all these men, the sons of Jacob with their servants, went toward these kings and Jacob their father was with them; they all stood on the heap of Shechem.

  14 Jacob prayed to the Lord for his sons, and he spread forth his hands to the Lord, and said, O God, you are an Almighty God, you are our father; you did form us and we are the works of your hands; I pray you deliver my sons through your mercy from the hand of their enemies who are this day coming to fight with them and save them from their hand, for in your hand is power and might to save the few from the many.

  15 And give to my sons, your servants, strength of heart and might to fight with their enemies, to subdue them, and to make their enemies fall before them. Let not my sons and their servants die through the hands of the children of Canaan.

  16 But if it seems good in your eyes to take away the lives of my sons and their servants, take them in your great mercy through the hands of your ministers, that they may not perish this day by the hands of the kings of the Amorites.

  17 When Jacob ceased praying to the Lord the earth shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and all these kings were terrified and a great consternation seized them.

  18 The Lord listened to the prayer of Jacob, and the Lord impressed the hearts of all the kings and their hosts with the terror and awe of the sons of Jacob.

  19 For the Lord caused them to hear the voice of chariots, and the voice of mighty horses from the sons of Jacob, and the voice of a great army accompanying them.

  20 And these kings were seized with great terror at the sons of Jacob; while they were standing in their quarters, behold the sons of Jacob advanced on them with one hundred and twelve men, with a great and tremendous shouting.

  21 And when the kings saw the sons of Jacob advancing toward them, they were still more panic stricken; they were inclined to retreat from before the sons of Jacob as at first and not to fight with them.

  22 But they did not retreat, saying, It would be a disgrace to us to retreat twice from before the Hebrews.

  23 The sons of Jacob came near and advanced against all these kings and their armies, and what they saw was a very mighty people, numerous as the sand of the sea.

  24 And the sons of Jacob called to the Lord and said, Help us O Lord, help us and answer us, for we trust in you, and let us not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men who this day have come against us.

  25 The sons of Jacob put on their weapons of war and they took in their hands each man his shield and his javelin, and they approached to do battle.

  26 And Judah, the son of Jacob, ran first before his brothers and ten of his servants with him, and he went toward these kings.

  27 Jashub, king of Tapnach, also came forth first with his army before Judah, and Judah saw Jashub and his army coming toward him, and Judah's wrath was set ablaze; his anger burned within him, and he approached to the fight in which Judah ventured his life.

  28 Jashub and all his army were advancing toward Judah and he was riding on a very strong and powerful horse; Jashub was a very valiant man, and covered with iron and brass from head to foot.

  29 And while he was on the horse, he shot arrows with both hands from before and behind, as was his manner in all his battles; he never missed the place to which he aimed his arrows.

  30 When Jashub came to fight with Judah and was darting many arrows against Judah, the Lord bound the hand of Jashub and all the arrows that he shot rebounded on his own men.

  31 And in spite of this Jashub kept advancing toward Judah, to challenge him with the arrows, but the distance between them was about thirty cubits. When Judah saw Jashub darting forth his arrows against him, he ran to him with his wrath-excited strength.

  32 Judah took up a large stone from the ground, its weight was sixty shekels, and Judah ran toward Jashub and with the stone struck him on his shield, so that Jashub was stunned with the blow and fell off his horse to the ground.

  33 The shield burst asunder out of the hand of Jashub, and through the force of the blow sprang to the distance of about fifteen cubits, and the shield fell before the second camp.

  34 The kings that came with Jashub saw at a distance the strength of Judah, the son of Jacob, and what he had done to Jashub; they were terribly afraid of Judah.

 
35 And they assembled near Jashub's camp, seeing his confusion, and Judah drew his sword and struck forty-two men of the camp of Jashub, and the whole of Jashub's camp fled before Judah. No man stood against him and they left Jashub and fled from him, and Jashub was still prostrate on the ground.

  36 Jashub, seeing that all the men of his camp had fled from him, hurried and rose up with terror against Judah and stood on his legs opposite Judah.

  37 And Jashub had a single combat with Judah, placing shield toward shield, and Jashub's men all fled for they were greatly afraid of Judah.

  38 Jashub took his spear in his hand to strike Judah on his head, but Judah had quickly placed his shield to his head against Jashub's spear so that the shield of Judah received the blow from Jashub's spear, and the shield was split in two.

  39 And when Judah saw that his shield was split, he hastily drew his sword and struck Jashub at his ankles and cut off his feet, so that Jashub fell on the ground and the spear fell from his hand.

  40 Judah hastily picked up Jashub's spear with which he severed his head and cast it next to his feet.

  41 When the sons of Jacob saw what Judah had done to Jashub, they all ran into the ranks of the other kings and the sons of Jacob fought with the army of Jashub and the armies of all the kings that were there.

  42 The sons of Jacob caused fifteen thousand of their men to fall, and they struck them as if smiting at gourds, and the rest fled for their lives.

  43 Judah was still standing by the body of Jashub and stripped Jashub of his coat of mail.

  44 Judah also took off the iron and brass that were around Jashub, and then nine men of the captains of Jashub came along to fight against Judah.

  45 Judah hurried and took up a stone from the ground, and with it struck one of them on the head; his skull was fractured and the body also fell from the horse to the ground.

  46 And the eight captains that remained, seeing the strength of Judah, were greatly afraid and they fled; Judah with his ten men pursued them and they overtook them and killed them.

  47 The sons of Jacob were still smiting the armies of the kings, and they killed many of them, but those kings daringly kept their stand with their captains and did not retreat from their places; they shouted against those of their armies that fled from before the sons of Jacob, but none would listen to them, for they were afraid for their lives that they should die.

  48 And all the sons of Jacob, after having smitten the armies of the kings, returned and came before Judah; Judah was still slaying the eight captains of Jashub and stripping off their garments.

  49 And Levi saw Elon, king of Gaash, advancing toward him with his fourteen captains to strike him, but Levi did not know it for certain.

  50 Elon with his captains approached nearer, and Levi looked back and saw that battle was coming to him from the rear. Levi ran with twelve of his servants, and they went and killed Elon and his captains with the edge of the sword.

  CHAPTER 38

  1 Ihuri king of Shiloh came up to assist Elon and he approached Jacob, when Jacob drew his bow that was in his hand and with an arrow struck Ihuri, which caused his death.

  2 And when Ihuri king of Shiloh was dead, the four remaining kings fled from their station with the rest of the captains; they endeavored to retreat, saying, We have no more strength with the Hebrews after their having killed the three kings and their captains who were more powerful than we are.

  3 When the sons of Jacob saw that the remaining kings had left their station, they pursued them and Jacob also came from the heap of Shechem from the place where he was standing; they went after the kings and they approached them with their servants.

  4 And the kings and the captains with the rest of their armies, seeing that the sons of Jacob approached them, were afraid for their lives and fled till they reached the city of Chazar.

  5 The sons of Jacob pursued them to the gate of the city of Chazar, and they struck a great smiting among the kings and their armies, about four thousand men. While they were smiting the army of the kings, Jacob was occupied with his bow, confining himself to smiting the kings and killed them all.

  6 And he killed Parathon king of Chazar at the gate of the city of Chazar and afterward struck Susi king of Sarton, and Laban king of Bethchorin, and Shabir king of Machnaymah; he killed them all with arrows, an arrow to each of them, and they died.

  7 The sons of Jacob, seeing that all the kings were dead and that they were broken up and retreating, continued to carry on the battle with the armies of the kings opposite the gate of Chazar, and they still struck about four hundred of their men.

  8 Three men of the servants of Jacob fell in that battle and when Judah saw that three of his servants had died, it grieved him greatly and his anger burned within him against the Amorites.

  9 And all the men that remained of the armies of the kings were greatly afraid for their lives, and they ran and broke the gate of the walls of the city of Chazar; they all entered the city for safety.

  10 They concealed themselves in the midst of the city of Chazar, for the city of Chazar was very large and extensive, and when all these armies had entered the city, the sons of Jacob ran after them to the city.

  11 Four mighty men, experienced in battle, went forth from the city and stood against the entrance of the city with drawn swords and spears in their hands; they placed themselves opposite the sons of Jacob and would not let them enter the city.

  12 Naphtali ran and came between them and with his sword struck two of them, and cut off their heads at one stroke.

  13 He turned to the other two and saw that they had fled; he pursued them, overtook them, struck them and killed them.

  14 When the sons of Jacob came to the city and saw there was another wall to the city, they sought for the gate of the wall and could not find it; Judah sprang on the top of the wall and Simeon and Levi followed him, and they all three descended from the wall into the city.

  15 Simeon and Levi killed all the men who ran for safety into the city and also the inhabitants of the city with their wives and little ones they killed with the edge of the sword, and the cries of the city ascended up to heaven.

  16 And Dan and Naphtali sprang on the wall to see what caused the noise of the wailing, for the sons of Jacob felt anxious about their brothers; they heard the inhabitants of the city speaking with weeping and pleas, saying, Take all that we possess in the city and go away, only do not put us to death.

  17 When Judah, Simeon, and Levi had ceased smiting the inhabitants of the city, they ascended the wall and called to Dan and Naphtali, who were on the wall, and to the rest of their brothers; Simeon and Levi informed them of the entrance into the city, and all the sons of Jacob came to gather the spoil.

  18 And the sons of Jacob took the spoil of the city of Chazar, the flocks and herds, and the property, and they took all that could be captured, and went away that day from the city.

  19 On the next day the sons of Jacob went to Sarton, for they heard that the men of Sarton who had remained in the city were assembling to fight with them for having slain their king. Sarton was a very high and fortified city, and it had a deep rampart surrounding the city.

  20 And the pillar of the rampart was about fifty cubits and its breadth forty cubits; there was no place for a man to enter the city on account of the rampart. The sons of Jacob saw the rampart of the city, and they sought an entrance in it but could not find it.

  21 For the entrance to the city was at the rear, and every man that wished to come into the city came by that road and went around the whole city, and afterwards entered the city.

  22 The sons of Jacob seeing they could not find the way into the city, their anger was set ablaze greatly, and the inhabitants of the city seeing that the sons of Jacob were coming to them were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar.

  23 And the inhabitants of the city of Sarton could not go out toward the sons of Jacob after having assembled in the city to fight against
them, that they might thereby not get into the city. But when they saw that they were coming toward them, they were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar.

  24 So the inhabitants of Sarton speedily took away the bridge of the road of the city from its place, before the sons of Jacob came, and they brought it into the city.

  25 The sons of Jacob came and sought the way into the city, and could not find it and the inhabitants of the city went up to the top of the wall, and saw that the sons of Jacob were seeking an entrance into the city.

  26 The inhabitants of the city reproached the sons of Jacob from the top of the wall and they cursed them, and the sons of Jacob heard the reproaches and they were greatly incensed; their anger burned within them.

  27 The sons of Jacob were provoked at them, and they all rose and sprang over the rampart with the force of their strength, and through their might passed the forty cubits' breadth of the rampart.

  28 And when they had passed the rampart they stood under the wall of the city, and they found all the gates of the city enclosed with iron doors.

  29 The sons of Jacob came near to break open the doors of the gates of the city, and the inhabitants did not let them, for from the top of the wall they were casting stones and arrows on them.

  30 And the number of the people that were on the wall was about four hundred men, and when the sons of Jacob saw that the men of the city would not let them open the gates of the city, they sprang and ascended the top of the wall, and Judah went up first to the east part of the city.

  31 And Gad and Asher went up after him to the west corner of the city, and Simeon and Levi to the north, and Dan and Reuben to the south.