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

  4. At that point my heart was perplexed (troubled) and I thought that I could not put it back in its place by myself because of its weight, since it was made of large stones.

  5. So, I went and told my father, and he came in with me. When we both lifted it to put it in its place, its head fell off while I was holding it by its head.

  6. Then when my father saw that the head of his god Marumath had fallen.

  7. He yelled at me, saying, "Abraham!”

  8. And I said, "Here I am!" And he told me to bring me the axes and chisels from the house. So, I brought them to him from the house.

  9. Then he cut another Marumath without a head from another stone. He then smashed the head that had fallen off Marumath. He then crushed the rest of that (broken) Marumath.

  Chapter 2

  1. He created five more gods and gave them to me. He ordered me to sell them outside on the road to town.

  2. I saddled my father’s ass and loaded the gods on it and went out on the highway to sell them.

  3. The merchants from Phandana of Syria were coming with their camels, on their way to Egypt to buy kokonil from the Nile.

  4. I questioned them and they answered me. I walked along with them and talked with them. Then, one of their camels screamed and the ass was frightened and fled, throwing off the gods. Three of them were broken and two remained intact.

  5. Then the Syrians saw that I had gods, they said to me: "Why did you not tell us that you had gods? We would have bought them before the ass. heard the camel’s cry. You would had lost nothing.”

  6. Then they said, “Give us the gods that remain and we will give you a suitable price."

  7. I considered this and grieved. But they paid both for the smashed gods and the gods which remained. I had been worried how I would bring payment to my father.

  8. I threw the three broken gods into the water of the river Gur, which was in this place. And they sank deeply into the river Gur and were not seen again.

  Chapter 3

  1. As I was still walking on the road, my heart was disturbed and my mind was distracted.

  2. I thought, "What is this deed of inequality my father is doing?

  3. Is it not he who is god because his gods come into being through his sculpting, planning, and his skill (workmanship)?

  4. They ought to honor my father because the gods are his work. What reward does my father received for his works?

  5. Marumath fell and could not stand up in his (own) sanctuary, and could not I lift him myself until my father came and we stood him up (together). Even then we were not able to do it and his head fell off of him.

  7. Then he put another stone on it from another god, which he (my father) had made without a head. The other five gods which got smashed when they fell from the ass could not save themselves. They did not harm the ass (to avenge themselves) because it smashed them. Nor did their broken pieces come up out of the river.

  8. And I thought to myself, "If this is so, how can my father’s god Marumath, which has the head of one stone and is made from another stone, save a man, or hear a man’s prayer, or grant him any gift?"

  Chapter 4

  1. Thinking this way, I came to my father’s house. I watered the ass and fed the ass with hay. I took out the silver and placed it in my father Terah’s hand.

  2. And when he saw it, he was happy, and he said, "You are blessed, Abraham, by the god of my gods, since you have brought me the price for the gods, so that my labor was not empty (for nothing)."

  3. I answered and said to him, "Listen, father Terah! In you is the blessing of your gods, because you are the god of them, since you created them because their blessing is their hell and their power is empty.

  4. They did not help themselves; how then can they help you or bless me?

  5. I did well for you in this transaction, because through my good sense I brought you the silver for the broken gods."

  6. When he heard what I had to say he became violently angry with me, since I had spoken words harshly contrary to his gods.

  Chapter 5

  1. Having thought about my father’s anger, I left.

  2. And afterward when I had left, he called me saying, "Abraham!" I answered, "Here I am!"

  3. He said, " Gather these wood chips. I was making gods from fir before you came.

  4. I will use the chips to cook food when I prepared my midday meal."

  5. Then, when I was picking up the wooden chips, I found a small god among them which would fit in my left hand.

  6. On its forehead was written: god Barisat. Then, I put the chips on the fire in to prepare food for my father, and went out to ask him about the food, I put Barisat near the kindling for the fire.

  7. I spoke to him as if to threaten him. I said, "Barisat, watch that the fire does not go out before I come back!

  8. If the fire goes out, blow on it so it flares up." I went out and said nothing of this to anyone.

  9. When I returned I found Barisat fallen on his back. His feet were enveloped by fire and burning fiercely.

  10. When I saw it, I laughed and I said to myself, "Barisat, truly you know how to light a fire and cook food!"

  11. Then, while saying this in my laughter, I saw that he had burned up slowly with fire and turned to ashes.

  12. I carried the food to my father to eat.

  13. I gave him wine and milk, and he drank and he enjoyed himself and he thanked and spoke praise to Marumath his god.

  14. Then I said to him, "Father Terah, do not bless Marumath your god, do not praise him!

  15 Instead, praise your god Barisat, because he loved you enough that he threw himself into the fire in order to cook your food."

  16. Then my father said to me said, "Where is he now?" And I said, "He has burned in the flames of the fire and become dust." And he said, "Great is the power of Barisat! I will make another today, and tomorrow he will prepare my food."

  Chapter 6

  1. When I, Abraham, heard these words from my father, I laughed to myself and I groaned from the disgust and anger in my heart.

  2. I said, "How can a piece of a body made (by Terah) help my father, Terah?

  3. How can he have enslaved his body to his soul (will or desire), and allowed his soul (will or desire) to be enslaved by a spirit (not his spirit but “a” spirit), when the spirit is stupid and ignorant?"

  4. And I said, "It is only proper to withstand this evil that I may compel my mind toward purity. I will lay my thoughts out before him clearly.

  5. " I answered and said, "Father Terah, no matter which of these gods you praise, your thoughts err.

  6. Don’t you see that the gods of my brother Nahor which stand in the holy sanctuary are more worthy than yours?

  7. Look! Zouchaios, my brother Nahor’s god is more worthy than your god Marumath because he is made of gold, which is valued by man.

  8. And if Zouchaios grows old with time, he will be remolded, whereas, if Marumath deteriorates or is broken, he will not be renewed, because he is made of stone.

  9. What about Ioav, the other god who stands with Zouchaios? He is also more worthy than the god Barisat.

  10. He, Ioay, is carved from wood and then forged from silver; because he too is made of something that is given with love (comparison), and is valued by man according to their outward experience.

  11. But Barisat, your god, is rooted in the earth. When he was large (great) it is a wonder because he had branches and flowers and was worth praise when he was still not carved.

  12. But then you shaped him with an axe and you created (him as) a god by your skill.

  13. Look! He has already dried up.

  14. His substance (fruit/fatness) has perished.

  15. From the height he has fallen to the earth.

  16. He descended from greatness to a lowly state, and his face and appearance has wasted (withered) away.

  17. He was burned up by the fire and he turned into ashes and disappeared.

  18. Then you
say, ”Let me make another and tomorrow he will prepare my food for me.” He was destroyed and no power (strength) was left in him (because of or to prevent) his own destruction.

  Chapter 7

  1. This I say: Fire is more valuable in the formation of things because even the untamable things are subdued in (by) it, and it laughs at those things which are destroyed easily by its burning.

  3. But neither is it worthy (valuable), because it is subject to the water.

  4. But water is more worthy (venerable/powerful) than fire because water overcomes fire and sweetens the earth with fruit.

  5. But I would not call water a god either because water is taken under the earth and water is subject to the earth.

  6. I will not call earth a goddess either because it is dried by the sun and was made for man for his work.

  7. I think the sun is more worthy among the gods, because with its rays it illuminates the entire universe and all the air.

  8. But I will would not place the sun among the gods because there are those who obscure his course. They are the moon and the clouds.

  9. I will not call the moon or the stars gods, because at times during the night they also dim their light.

  10. Listen, Terah my father, I will seek the God who created all the other gods we have thought exist.

  11. I seek who or what is it that made the heavens red and the sun golden and who has given light to the moon and the stars and who has dried the earth in the midst of the many waters. I will seek who it is that has set you yourself among the things and who has sought me out in the of my thoughts of questioning.

  12. God will reveal himself by himself to us!"

  Chapter 8

  1. Then, I was thinking about my father Terah being in the court of my house when the voice of the Mighty One came down from the heavens in a stream of fire and it called to me saying, "Abraham, Abraham!"

  2. And I said, "Here I am."

  3. Then he said, "You are searching in the wisdom of your heart for the God of gods, the Creator? I am he.

  4. Get out from Terah, your father, and go away from the house, that you too may not be killed because of the sins of your father’s house."

  5. Then, as I went out and I was not outside the entrance of the court yet, the sound of a tremendous thunder came and burned him and his house and everything in his house to the ground for a space of forty cubits.

  Chapter 9

  1. Then a voice spoke to me twice: "Abraham, Abraham!"

  2 I said, "Here I am!" And He said, "Look! It is I, fear not for I am with you because I AM before the ages, I am the Mighty God who created the first light of the world. I am your protection (shield) and your helper."

  3. He continued and said, "Behold, it is I, Fear not because I am Before the World Was, I Am Mighty, the God who has created all, I am the light of the age.

  4. I am your protector and your helper.

  5. Go, get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon.

  6. Go, take me a young heifer of three years, and a female goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtledove and a pigeon, and bring me a pure sacrifice.

  7. In this sacrifice I will lay before (make known to) you the ages to come, and tell you what is in store, and you will see great things which you have not seen before.

  8. I will tell you things kept guarded and you will see great things which you have not seen, because you desired me and searched for me, and so I called you my beloved.

  9. But for forty days abstain from every kind of food cooked by fire, and from drinking because you have loved to search me out, and I have named you “my friend.”

  10 And also abstain from anointing yourself with oil for forty days, and then give me the sacrifice which I have commanded you, in a place which I will show you high on a mountain, and there I will reveal to you the ages which have been created and established by my word.

  11. (And there I will show you the things which were made in the ages and by my word that affirmed and created, and renewed.) I will make known to you what will come to pass for them who have done evil and for those who have done righteousness (just deeds) in the generations of men.”

  Chapter 10

  1. Then, I heard the voice telling me such things.

  2. And I heard the voice of Him who spoke these words to me, and I looked around (for Him).

  3. I found I could not breathe, and fear seized my spirit. My soul seemed to leave me and I fell down like a stone, like a dead man falls to the earth, and I had no strength to stand.

  4. I was laying with my face down to the earth when I heard the voice of the Holy One speaking, "Go, Jaoel, and by the power of my ineffable name raise up man, that man over there and strengthen him , so that he recovers from his trembling.

  5. Consecrate this man for me and strengthen him against his trembling."

  6. The angel he sent to me in the likeness of a man came, and he took me by my right (hand) and set me up upon my feet and said to me, “Stand up Abraham, friend of God who loves you. Do not let your trembling seize you! For look! I have been sent to you to strengthen you and bless you in the name of God, who loves you. He is the Creator of the heaven and the Earth. Do not fear but and run to Him.

  7. I am called Jaoel by Him who gives life to those who exist with me on the seventh level of heaven. It is done by the power of the goodness of the ineffable name that is dwelling in me.

  8. I am the one who has been given (the authority) to restrain the threats and attacks of the Living One’s Cherubim against one another, and to teach those who have Him within them, the song of the seventh hour of the night of man, according to His commandment. (I teach those who carry the song through man’s night of the seventh hour.)

  9. I am the one who ordered your father’s house to be burned with him because he honored the dead (gods).

  10. I am given authority to restrain the Leviathan (serpent/reptiles) because every attack and menace of every Leviathan (serpent/reptile) are subject to me.

  11. I am he who has been given power to loosen Hades, and destroy him who watches over the dead.

  12. I have been sent to bless you and your land now, for the Eternal One whom you have invoked has prepared for you. For your sake I have ventured my way upon earth.

  13. Stand up, Abraham, go boldly, be very joyful and rejoice. And I (also rejoice) with you because you are venerable and I am with you! For everlasting honor has been prepared for you by the Eternal One.

  14. Go, and do the sacrifices commanded. For I, and with me Michael, blesses you forever.

  15. I have been commanded to be with you, and with the generations that will spring from you, Be of good cheer and go!"

  Chapter 11

  1.. And I stood up and saw him who had grasped me by the right hand and set me on my feet.

  2. The appearance of his body was like sapphire, and the look of his appearance was like peridot, and the hair of his head was like snow.

  3. A kidaris ( a Scythian hat with long flaps usually worn by kings) was on his head and its look was like that of a rainbow.

  4. His garments were purple and a golden staff was in his right hand.

  5. And he said to me, "Abraham," And I said, "Here is your servant!"

  6. He said, "Do not let my appearance frighten you. Nor should you let my speech trouble your soul.

  7. Come with me, and I will be with you visibly until the sacrifice, but after the sacrifice I will be invisible forever more.

  8. Be of good cheer, and come!"

  Chapter 12

  1. The two of us went together for forty days and nights, and I ate no bread and drank no water because my food and my drink was to see the angel who was with me, and to hear his voice.

  2. We came to the Mount of God, Mount Horeb, and I said to the angel, “Singer to the Eternal One! I have no sacrifice and I do not know of a place with an altar on the mountain.

  3. How can I bring a sacrifice?
"

  4. And he said to me, "Look around you." And when I looked around, there following us were all the required animals, the young heifer, the female goat, the ram, the turtle dove and the pigeon.

  5. And the angel said to me, "Abraham!" And I said, "Here am I."

  6. And he said, “Slaughter all these animals, and divide them into halves, place the one half against (across from/facing) the other, but do not divide (sever) the birds.

  7. Give these to the men whom I will show you (that are) standing by you because these are the altar upon the Mountain, to offer a sacrifice to the Eternal (One).

  8. But, the turtledove and the pigeon you will give to me because I will ascend on the wings of the birds to show you what is in the heavens, on the earth, in the sea, in the abyss, in the lower depths, in the garden of Eden, in its rivers, and in the fullness of the universe. And you will see its circles in all."

  Chapter 13

  1. I did everything commanded me by the angel, and I gave the angels who had come to us the divided animals, but the angel Jaoel took the birds.

  2. Then I waited until the evening sacrifice. Then and there an unclean bird flew down upon the carcasses, and I drove it away.

  3. The unclean bird spoke to me and said, "Abraham, what are you doing upon these holy heights where no man eats or drinks and there is no food for man here but these heavenly beings consume everything with fire and will burn you up?

  4. Forsake the man who is with you and run away because if you ascend into the heights they will destroy (kill/make an end of) you."

  5. Then, when I saw the bird speaking I said to the angel: "What is this, my lord?"

  6. And he said, "This is ungodliness; this is Azazel."

  7. And he said to it (the bird), "Disgrace upon you, Azazel! For Abraham’s portion is in heaven, but yours is upon the earth because you have chosen this for the dwelling place of your uncleanness and you have loved it.