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

  56 Esau answered, saying to him, Bring the record; all that you will find in the record, so we will do.

  57 Joseph called to Naphtali his brother and said, Hurry quickly, stay not, and run I pray you to Egypt and bring all the records; the record of the purchase, the sealed record and the open record, and also all the first records in which all the transactions of the birthright are written, bring with you.

  58 You shall bring them to us here, that we may know from them all the words of Esau and his sons which they spoke this day.

  59 And Naphtali listened to the voice of Joseph and he hurried and ran to go down to Egypt, and Naphtali was lighter on foot than any of the stags that were on the wilderness, for he could go on ears of corn without crushing them.

  60 When Esau saw that Naphtali had gone to fetch the records, he and his sons increased their resistance against the cave, and Esau and all his people rose up against Joseph and his brothers to battle.

  61 All the sons of Jacob and the people of Egypt fought with Esau and his men, and the sons of Esau and his people were smitten before the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob killed of Esau's people forty men.

  62 Chushim the son of Dan, the son of Jacob, was at that time with Jacob's sons, but he was about a hundred cubits distant from the place of battle, for he remained with the children of Jacob's sons by Jacob's bier to guard it.

  63 And Chushim was dumb and deaf, still he understood the voice of consternation among men.

  64 And he asked, saying, Why do you not bury the dead, and what is this great consternation? They answered him the words of Esau and his sons and he ran to Esau in the midst of the battle; he killed Esau with a sword; he cut off his head and it sprang to a distance, and Esau fell among the people of the battle.

  65 When Chushim did this thing the sons of Jacob prevailed over the sons of Esau, and the sons of Jacob buried their father Jacob by force in the cave, and the sons of Esau watched it.

  66 Jacob was buried in Hebron, in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the sons of Heth for the possession of a burial place, and he was buried in very costly garments.

  67 No king had such honor paid him as Joseph paid to his father at his death, for he buried him with great honor like the burial of kings.

  68 And Joseph and his brothers made a mourning of seven days for their father.

  CHAPTER 57

  1 It was after this that the sons of Esau waged war with the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Esau fought with the sons of Jacob in Hebron, and Esau was still lying dead and not buried.

  2 The battle was heavy between them, and the sons of Esau were smitten before the sons of Jacob, and the sons of Jacob killed of the sons of Esau eighty men, and not one died of the people of the sons of Jacob; the hand of Joseph prevailed over all the people of the sons of Esau, and he took Zepho, the son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and fifty of his men captive; he bound them with chains of iron, and gave them into the hands of his servants to bring them to Egypt.

  3 It came to pass when the sons of Jacob had taken Zepho and his people captive, all those that remained were greatly afraid for their lives from the house of Esau, that they should also be taken captive; they all fled with Eliphaz the son of Esau and his people, with Esau's body, and they went on their road to Mount Seir.

  4 They came to Mount Seir and they buried Esau in Seir, but they had not brought his head with them to Seir, for it was buried in that place where the battle had been in Hebron.

  5 And it came to pass when the sons of Esau had fled from before the sons of Jacob, the sons of Jacob pursued them to the borders of Seir, but they did not kill a single man from among them when they pursued them, for Esau's body which they carried with them increased their confusion. So they fled and the sons of Jacob turned back from them and came up to the place where their brothers were in Hebron, and they remained there on that day, and on the next day until they rested from the battle.

  6 It came to pass on the third day they assembled all the sons of Seir the Horite, and they assembled all the children of the east, a multitude of people like the sand of the sea, and they went and came down to Egypt to fight with Joseph and his brothers in order to deliver their brothers.

  7 Joseph and all the sons of Jacob heard that the sons of Esau and the children of the east had come on them to do battle in order to deliver their brothers.

  8 Joseph and his brothers and the strong men of Egypt went forth and fought in the city of Rameses, and Joseph and his brothers dealt out a tremendous blow among the sons of Esau and the children of the east.

  9 They killed of them six hundred thousand men, and they killed among them all the mighty men of the children of Seir the Horite; there were only a few of them left, and they killed also a great many of the children of the east, and of the children of Esau; Eliphaz the son of Esau, and the children of the east all fled before Joseph and his brothers.

  10 Joseph and his brothers pursued them until they came to Succoth, and they yet killed of them in Succoth thirty men, and the rest escaped and they fled each to his city.

  11 And Joseph and his brothers and the mighty men of Egypt turned back from them with joy and cheerfulness of heart, for they had smitten all their enemies.

  12 Zepho the son of Eliphaz and his men were still slaves in Egypt to the sons of Jacob, and their pains increased.

  13 When the sons of Esau and the sons of Seir returned to their land, the sons of Seir saw that they had all fallen into the hands of the sons of Jacob and the people of Egypt, on account of the battle of the sons of Esau.

  14 And the sons of Seir said to the sons of Esau, You have seen and therefore you know that this camp was on your account, and not one mighty man or an adept one in war remaineth.

  15 So now go forth from our land, go from us to the land of Canaan to the land of the dwelling of your fathers; wherefore shall your children inherit the effects of our children in latter days?

  16 And the children of Esau would not listen to the children of Seir, and the children of Seir considered to make war with them.

  17 The children of Esau sent secretly to Angeas king of Africa, the same is Dinhabah, saying,

  18 Send to us some of your men and let them come to us, and we will fight together with the children of Seir the Horite, for they have resolved to fight with us to drive us away from the land.

  19 And Angeas king of Dinhabah did so, for he was in those days friendly to the children of Esau, and Angeas sent five hundred valiant infantry to the children of Esau, and eight hundred cavalry.

  20 The children of Seir sent to the children of the east and to the children of Midian, saying, You have seen what the children of Esau have done to us, on whose account we are almost all destroyed in their battle with the sons of Jacob.

  21 So now come to us and assist us, and we will fight them together; we will drive them from the land and be avenged of the cause of our brothers who died for their sakes in their battle with their brothers the sons of Jacob.

  22 And all the children of the east listened to the children of Seir, and they came to them about eight hundred men with drawn swords, and the children of Esau fought with the children of Seir at that time in the wilderness of Paran.

  23 The children of Seir won over the sons of Esau, and the children of Seir killed on that day of the children of Esau in that battle about two hundred men of the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah.

  24 And on the second day the children of Esau came again to fight a second time with the children of Seir, and the battle was severe on the children of Esau this second time, and it troubled them greatly on account of the children of Seir.

  25 And when the children of Esau saw that the children of Seir were more powerful than they were, some men of the children of Esau turned and assisted the children of Seir their enemies.

  26 And there fell yet of the people of the children of Esau in the second battle fifty-eight men of the people at Angeas king of Dinhabah.

  27 And on the third day the
children of Esau heard that some of their brothers had turned from them to fight against them in the second battle; and the children of Esau mourned when they heard this thing.

  28 They said, What shall we do to our brothers who turned from us to assist the children of Seir our enemies? And the children of Esau again sent to Angeas king of Dinhabah, saying,

  29 Send to us again other men that with them we may fight with the children of Seir, for they have already twice been stronger than we were.

  30 And Angeas again sent to the children of Esau about six hundred valiant men, and they came to assist the children of Esau.

  31 In ten days' time the children of Esau again waged war with the children of Seir in the wilderness of Paran, and the battle was very severe on the children of Seir; the children of Esau won this time over the children of Seir, and the children of Seir were smitten before the children of Esau; the children of Esau killed from them about two thousand men.

  32 And all the mighty men of the children of Seir died in this battle, and there only remained their young children that were left in their cities.

  33 All Midian and the children of the east went themselves in flight from the battle, and they left the children of Seir and fled when they saw that the battle was severe on them; the children of Esau pursued all the children of the east until they reached their land.

  34 And the children of Esau killed yet of them about two hundred and fifty men and from the people of the children of Esau there fell in that battle about thirty men, but this evil came on them through their brothers turning from them to assist the children of Seir the Horite; the children of Esau again heard of the evil doings of their brothers, and they again mourned on account of this thing.

  35 It came to pass after the battle, the children of Esau turned back and came home to Seir, and the children of Esau killed those who had remained in the land of the children of Seir; they killed also their wives and little ones, they left not a soul alive except fifty young boys and girls whom they allowed to live; the children of Esau did not put them to death, and the boys became their slaves, and the girls they took for wives.

  36 The children of Esau lived in Seir in the place of the children of Seir, and they inherited their land and took possession of it.

  37 And the children of Esau took all belonging in the land to the children of Seir, also their flocks, their bullocks and their goods, and all belonging to the children of Seir did the children of Esau take. And the children of Esau lived in Seir in the place of the children of Seir to this day, and the children of Esau divided the land into divisions to the five sons of Esau, according to their families.

  38 It came to pass in those days that the children of Esau resolved to crown a king over them in the land of which they possessed. And they said to each other, Not so, for he shall reign over us in our land; we shall be under his counsel and he shall fight our battles against our enemies, and they did so.

  39 And all the children of Esau swore, saying, that none of their brothers should ever reign over them, but a strange man who is not of their brothers; for the souls of all the children of Esau were embittered every man against his son, brother and friend, on account of the evil they sustained from their brothers when they fought with the children of Seir.

  40 So then the sons of Esau swore, saying, from that day forward they would not choose a king from their brothers, but one from a strange land to this day.

  41 There was a man there from the people of Angeas king of Dinhabah; his name was Bela the son of Beor, who was a very valiant man, beautiful and admired and wise in all wisdom, and a man of sense and counsel; and there was none of the people of Angeas like him.

  42 And all the children of Esau took him and anointed him and they crowned him for a king; they bowed down to him, and said, May the king live, may the king live.

  43 They spread out the sheet, and they brought him each man earrings of gold and silver or rings or bracelets, and they made him very rich in silver and in gold, in onyx stones and bdellium, and they made him a royal throne; they placed a regal crown on his head and they built a palace for him and he lived therein, and he became king over all the children of Esau.

  44 And the people of Angeas took their wages for their battle from the children of Esau, and they went and returned at that time to their master in Dinhabah.

  45 And Bela reigned over the children of Esau thirty years, and the children of Esau lived in the land instead of the children of Seir, and they lived securely in their stead to this day.

  CHAPTER 58

  1 It came to pass in the thirty-second year of the Israelites going down to Egypt, that is in the seventy-first year of the life of Joseph, in that year died Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Magron his son reigned in his stead.

  2 And Pharaoh commanded Joseph before his death to be a father to his son, Magron, and that Magron should be under the care of Joseph and under his counsel.

  3 All Egypt consented to this thing that Joseph should be king over them, for all the Egyptians loved Joseph as before, only Magron the son of Pharaoh sat on his father's throne, and he became king in those days in his father's stead.

  4 Magron was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and forty years he reigned in Egypt, and all Egypt called his name Pharaoh after the name of his father, as it was their custom to do in Egypt to every king that reigned over them.

  5 And it came to pass when Pharaoh reigned in his father's stead, he placed the laws of Egypt and all the affairs of government in the hand of Joseph, as his father had commanded him.

  6 Joseph became king over Egypt, for he superintended over all Egypt, and all Egypt was under his care and under his counsel, for all Egypt inclined to Joseph after the death of Pharaoh; they loved him greatly to reign over them.

  7 But there were some people among them who did not like him, saying, No stranger shall reign over us. Still the whole government of Egypt was passed in those days onto Joseph, after the death of Pharaoh, he being the regulator, doing as he liked throughout the land without anyone interfering.

  8 And all Egypt was under the care of Joseph, and Joseph made war with all his surrounding enemies, and he subdued them; also all the land and all the Philistines, to the borders of Canaan, did Joseph subdue; they were all under his power and they gave a yearly tax to Joseph.

  9 Pharaoh king of Egypt sat on his throne in his father's stead, but he was under the control and counsel of Joseph, as he was at first under the control of his father.

  10 Neither did he reign but in the land of Egypt only, under the counsel of Joseph, but Joseph reigned over the whole country at that time, from Egypt to the great river Perath.

  11 And Joseph was successful in all his ways and the Lord was with him, and the Lord gave Joseph additional wisdom, and honor, and glory, and love toward him in the hearts of the Egyptians and throughout the land; Joseph reigned over the whole country forty years.

  12 And all the countries of the Philistines and Canaan and Zidon, and on the other side of Jordan, brought presents to Joseph all his days, and the whole country was in the hands of Joseph, and they brought to him a yearly tribute as it was regulated, for Joseph had fought against all his surrounding enemies and subdued them; the whole country was in the hands of Joseph, and Joseph sat securely on his throne in Egypt.

  13 Also all his brothers the sons of Jacob lived securely in the land, all the days of Joseph, and they were prolific and multiplied greatly in the land; they served the Lord all their days as their father Jacob had commanded them.

  14 It came to pass at the end of many days and years, when the children of Esau were dwelling quietly in their land with Bela their king, that the children of Esau were prolific and multiplied in the land; they resolved to go and fight with the sons of Jacob and all Egypt, and to deliver their brother Zepho, the son of Eliphaz, and his men, for they were yet in those days slaves to Joseph.

  15 The children of Esau sent to all the children of the east and they made peace with them, and all the chi
ldren of the east came to them to go with the children of Esau to Egypt to battle.

  16 There came also to them of the people of Angeas, king of Dinhabah; they also sent to the children of Ishmael and they also came to them.

  17 And all this people assembled and came to Seir to assist the children of Esau in their battle, and this camp was very large and strong with people, numerous as the sand of the sea, about eight hundred thousand men, infantry and cavalry, and all these troops went down to Egypt to fight with the sons of Jacob; they encamped by Rameses.

  18 And Joseph went forth with his brothers with the mighty men of Egypt, about six hundred men, and they fought with them in the land of Rameses; the sons of Jacob at that time again fought with the children of Esau, in the fiftieth year of the sons of Jacob going down to Egypt, that is the thirtieth year of the reign of Bela over the children of Esau in Seir.

  19 And the Lord gave all the mighty men of Esau and the children of the east into the hand of Joseph and his brothers, and the people of the children of Esau and the children of the east were smitten before Joseph.

  20 Of the people of Esau and the children of the east that were slain, there fell before the sons of Jacob about two hundred thousand men, and their king Bela the son of Beor fell with them in the battle. When the children of Esau saw that their king had fallen in battle and was dead, their hands became weak in the combat.

  21 Joseph and his brothers and all Egypt were still smiting the people of the house of Esau, and all Esau's people were afraid of the sons of Jacob and fled from before them.

  22 Joseph and his brothers and all Egypt pursued them a day's journey, and they killed yet from them about three hundred men, continuing to strike them in the road; they afterward turned back from them.

  23 Joseph and all his brothers returned to Egypt, not one man was missing from them, but of the Egyptians there fell twelve men.

  24 And when Joseph returned to Egypt he ordered Zepho and his men to be additionally bound, and they bound them in irons and they increased their grief.