Book of Jubilees Reader

Thus the evil spirits were precluded from (hurting) the sons of Noah.

And he gave all that he had written to Shem, his eldest son; for he loved him exceedingly above all his sons.

And Noah slept with his fathers, and was buried on Mount Lûbâr in the land of Ararat.

Nine hundred and fifty years he completed in his life, nineteen jubilees and two weeks and five years.

And in his life on earth he excelled the children of men save Enoch because of the righteousness, wherein he was perfect.

For Enoch's office was ordained for a testimony to the generations of the world, so that he should recount all the deeds of generation unto generation, till the day of judgment.

And in the three and thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lômnâ the daughter of Sînâ’ar,

and she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu;

for he said: "Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves a city and a tower in the land of Shinar."

For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, "Go to, let us ascend thereby into heaven."

And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which cometh out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar.

And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray the children of the sons of Noah; and to make to err and destroy them.

And the Lord our God said unto us: "Behold, they are one people, and (this) they begin to do, and now nothing will be withholden from them.

Go to, let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech,

and they may be dispersed into cities and nations, and one purpose will no longer abide with them till the day of judgment."

And the Lord descended, and we descended with Him to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built.

And He confounded their language, and they no longer understood one another's speech, and they ceased then to build the city and the tower.

For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called Babel, because the Lord did there confound all the language of the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed into their cities, each according to his language and his nation.

And the Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the earth,

and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the land of Shinar, and they called its name "Overthrow."

In the fourth week in the first year in the beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of Shinar.

And Ham and his sons went into the land which he was to occupy, which he acquired as his portion in the land of the south.

And Canaan saw the land of Lebanon to the river of Egypt that it was very good, and he went not into the land of his inheritance to the west (that is to) the sea,

and he dwelt in the land of Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border of Jordan and from the border of the sea.

And Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim, his brothers, said unto him: "Thou hast settled in a land which is not thine, and which did not fall to us by lot:

do not do so; for if thou dost do so, thou and thy sons will fall in the land and (be) accursed through sedition;

for by sedition ye have settled, and by sedition will thy children fall, and thou shalt be rooted out for ever.

Dwell not in the dwelling of Shem; for to Shem and to his sons did it come by their lot.

Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the sons of Noah, by the curse by which we bound ourselves by an oath in the presence of the holy judge, and in the presence of Noah our father."

But he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to the entering of Egypt, he and his sons until this day. And for this reason that land is named Canaan.

And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion,

and Madai saw the land of the sea and it did not please him, and he begged a (portion) from Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad, his wife's brother,

and he dwelt in the land of Media, near to his wife's brother until this day. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the name of their father Madai.

And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Ôrâ, the daughter of ’Ûr, the son of Kêsêd,

and she bare him a son, and he called his name Sêrôḫ, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee.

And the sons of Noah began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood,

and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals (began) to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings of kingdoms,

and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all (began) to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war,

and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves.

And ’Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, built the city of ’Arâ of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father.

And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves,

and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness.

And the prince Mastêmâ exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the earth.

For this reason he called the name of Sêrôḫ, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression.

And he grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols,

and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof, and her name was Mêlkâ, the daughter of Kâbêr, the daughter of his father's brother.

And she bare him Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees,

and his father taught him the researches of the Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven.

And in the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Îjâskâ, the daughter of Nêstâg of the Chaldees. And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this week.

And the prince Mastêmâ sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours.

Before they could plough in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground.

And for this reason he called his name Terah, because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their seed.

And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the trees:

it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the earth in their days.

And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Êdnâ, the daughter of ’Arâm the daughter of his father's sister.

And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son.

And the child began to understand the errors of the earth that all went astray after graven images and after uncleanness,

and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks of years old, and he separated himself from his father that he might not worship idols with him.

And he began to pray to the Creator of all things that He might save him from the errors of the children of men, and that his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness and vileness.

And the seed time came for the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect their seed against the ravens,

and Abram went forth with those that went, and the child was a lad of fourteen years. And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed,

and Abram ran to meet them before they settled on the ground, and cried to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said,

"Descend not: return to the place whence ye came," and they proceeded to turn back.

And he caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land where Abram was there settled there not so much as one.

And all who were with him throughout all the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became great in all the land of the Chaldees.

And there came to him this year all those that wished to sow, and he went with them until the time of sowing ceased:

and they sowed their land, and that year they brought enough grain home and ate and were satisfied.

And in the first year of the fifth week Abram taught those who made implements for oxen, the artificers in wood,

and they made a vessel above the ground, facing the frame of the plough, in order to put the seed thereon, and the seed fell down therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden in the earth,

and they no longer feared the ravens. And after this manner they made (vessels) above the ground on all the frames of the ploughs,

and they sowed and tilled all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and they no longer feared the birds.

And it came to pass in the sixth week, in the seventh year thereof, that Abram said to Terah his father, saying, "Father!" And he said, "Behold, here am I, my son."

And he said, "What help and profit have we from those idols which thou dost worship, And before which thou dost bow thyself? For there is no spirit in them, For they are dumb forms, and a misleading of the heart. Worship them not:

Worship the God of heaven, Who causeth the rain and the dew to descend on the earth, And doeth everything upon the earth, And hath created everything by His word, And all life is from before His face.

Why do ye worship things that have no spirit in them? For they are the work of (men's) hands, And on your shoulders do ye bear them,

And ye have no help from them, But they are a great cause of shame to those who make them, And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them: Worship them not."

And his father said unto him, "I also know it, my son, but what shall I do with a people who have made me to serve before them?

And if I tell them the truth, they will slay me; for their soul cleaveth to them to worship them and honour them. Keep silent, my son, lest they slay thee."

And these words he spake to his two brothers, and they were angry with him and he kept silent.

And in the fortieth jubilee, in the second week, in the seventh year thereof, Abram took to himself a wife, and her name was Sarai, the daughter of his father, and she became his wife.

And Haran, his brother, took to himself a wife in the third year of the third week, and she bare him a son in the seventh year of this week and he called his name Lot.

And in the sixtieth year of the life of Abram, that is, in the fourth week, in the fourth year thereof, Abram arose by night, and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in the house, and no man knew it.

And they arose in the night and sought to save their gods from the midst of the fire.

And Haran hasted to save them, but the fire flamed over him, and he was burnt in the fire, and he died in Ur of the Chaldees before Terah his father, and they buried him in Ur of the Chaldees.

And Terah went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, he and his sons, to go into the land of Lebanon and into the land of Canaan, and he dwelt in the land of Haran,

and Abram, dwelt with Terah his father in Haran two weeks of years.

And in the sixth week, in the fifth year thereof, Abram sat up throughout the night on the new moon of the seventh month to observe the stars from the evening to the morning, in order to see what would be the character of the year with regard to the rains,

and he was alone as he sat and observed. And a word came into his heart and he said: "All the signs of the stars, and the signs of the moon and of the sun are all in the hand of the Lord.

Why do I search (them) out? If He desireth, He causeth it to rain, morning and evening; And if He desireth, He withholdeth it, And all things are in His hand."

And he prayed that night and said "My God, God Most High, Thou alone art my God, And Thee and Thy dominion have I chosen. And Thou hast created all things, And all things that are are the work of Thy hands.

Deliver me from the hands of evil spirits who have sway over the thoughts of men's hearts, And let them not lead me astray from Thee, my God.

And stablish Thou me and my seed for ever That we go not astray from henceforth and for evermore."

And he said Shall I return unto Ur of the Chaldees who seek my face that I may return to them, or am I to remain here in this place?

The right path before Thee prosper it in the hands of Thy servant that he may fulfil (it) and that I may not walk in the deceitfulness of my heart, O my God."

And he made an end of speaking and praying, and behold the word of the Lord was sent to him through me, saying:

"Get thee up from thy country, and from thy kindred and from the house of thy father unto a land which I shall show thee,

and I shall make thee a great and numerous nation. And I shall bless thee And I shall make thy name great, And thou wilt be blessed in the earth,

And in thee will all families of the earth be blessed, And I shall bless them that bless thee, And curse them that curse thee.

And I shall be a God to thee and thy son, and to thy son's son, and to all thy seed:

fear not, from henceforth and unto all generations of the earth I am thy God."

And the Lord God said: "Open his mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth, with the language which hath been revealed"; for it had ceased from the mouths of all the children of men from the day of the overthrow (of Babel). And I opened his mouth, and his ears and his lips, and I began to speak with him in Hebrew in the tongue of the creation.

And he took the books of his fathers, and these were written in Hebrew and he transcribed them, and he began from henceforth to study them, and I made known to him that which he could not (understand), and he studied them during the six rainy months.

And it came to pass in the seventh year of the sixth week that he spoke to his father, and informed him that he would leave Haran to go into the land of Canaan to see it and return to him.

And Terah his father said unto him; "Go in peace: May the eternal God make thy path straight, And the Lord [(be) with thee, and] protect thee from all evil,

And grant unto thee grace, mercy and favour before those who see thee, And may none of the children of men have power over thee to harm thee; Go in peace.

And if thou seest a land pleasant to thy eyes to dwell in, then arise and take me to thee and take Lot with thee, the son of Haran thy brother, as thine own son: the Lord be with thee. And Nahor thy brother leave with me till thou returnest in peace, and we go with thee all together."

And Abram journeyed from Haran, and he took Sarai, his wife, and Lot his brother Haran's son, to the land of Canaan, and he came into Asshur,

and proceeded to Shechem, and dwelt near a lofty oak. And he saw, and, behold, the land was very pleasant from the entering of Hamath to the lofty oak.

And the Lord said to him: "To thee and to thy seed will I give this land." And he built an altar there, and he offered thereon a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

And he removed from thence unto the mountain... Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and pitched his tent there.

And he saw and behold, the land was very wide and good, and everything grew thereon

--vines and figs and pomegranates, oaks and ilexes, and terebinths and oil trees, and cedars and cypresses and date trees, and all trees of the field, and there was water on the mountains.

And he blessed the Lord who had led him out of Ur of the Chaldees, and had brought him to this land.

And it came to pass in the first year, in the seventh week, on the new moon of the first month, that he built an altar on this mountain, and called on the name of the Lord: "Thou, the eternal God, art my God."

And he offered on the altar a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord that He should be with him and not forsake him all the days of his life.

And he removed from thence and went towards the south, and he came to Hebron, and Hebron was built at, that time, and he dwelt there two years, and he went (thence) into the land of the south, to Bealoth and there was a famine in the land.

And Abram went into Egypt in the third year of the week, and he dwelt in Egypt five years before his wife was torn away from him.

NOW Tanais in Egypt was at that time built--seven years after Hebron.

And it came to pass when Pharaoh seized Sarai, the wife of Abram, that the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

And Abram was very glorious by reason of possessions in sheep, and cattle, and asses, and horses, and camels, and menservants, and maidservants, and in silver and gold exceedingly.

And Pharaoh gave back Sarai, the wife of Abram, and he sent him out of the land of Egypt, and he journeyed to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, to the place of the altar, with Ai on the east, and Bethel on the west, and he blessed the Lord his God who had brought him back in peace.

And it came to pass in the forty-first jubilee, in the third year of the first week, that he returned to this place and offered thereon a burnt sacrifice, and called on the name of the Lord, and said: "Thou, the most high God, art my God for ever and ever."

And in the fourth year of this week Lot parted from him,

and Lot dwelt in Sodom, and the men of Sodom were sinners exceedingly.

And it grieved him in his heart that his brother's son had parted from him; for he had no children.

In that year when Lot was taken captive, the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot had parted from him, in the fourth year of this week:

"Lift up thine eyes from the place where thou art dwelling, northward and southward, and westward and eastward. For all the land which thou seest I shall give to thee and to thy seed for ever, and I shall make thy seed as the sand of the sea: though a man may number the dust of the earth, yet thy seed shall not be numbered. Arise, walk (through the land) in the length of it and the breadth of it, and see it all; for to thy seed shall I give it."

And in this year came Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Sêllâsar and Têrgâl, king of nations,

and slew the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Sodom fled, and many fell through wounds in the vale of Siddim, by the Salt Sea. And they took captive Sodom and Adam and Zeboim,

and they took captive Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, and all his possessions, and they went to Dan.

And one who had escaped came and told Abram that his brother's son

had been taken captive and (Abram) armed his household servants.

for Abram, and for his seed, a tenth of the first-fruits to the Lord, and the Lord ordained it as an ordinance for ever that they should give it to the priests who served before Him, that they should possess it for ever.

And to this law there is no limit of days; for He hath ordained it for the generations for ever that they should give to the Lord the tenth of everything, of the seed and of the wine and of the oil and of the cattle and of the sheep.

And He gave (it) unto His priests to eat and to drink with joy before Him.

And the king of Sodom came to him and bowed himself before him, and said: "Our Lord Abram, give unto us the souls which thou hast rescued, but let the booty be thine."

And Abram said unto him: "I lift up my hands to the Most High God,

that from a thread to a shoe-latchet I shall not take aught that is thine, lest thou shouldst say I have made Abram rich;

save only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me--Aner, Eschol, and Mamre. These will take their portion."

After these things, in the fourth year of this week, on the new moon of the third month, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a dream, saying:

"Fear not, Abram; I am thy defender, and thy reward will be exceeding great."

And he said: "Lord, Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go hence childless, and the son of Mâsêq, the son of my handmaid, is the Dammasek Eliezer: he will be my heir, and to me thou hast given no seed."

And He said unto him: "This (man) will not be thy heir, but one that will come out of thine own bowels; he will be thine heir."

And He brought him forth abroad, and said unto him: "Look toward heaven and number the stars, if thou art able to number them."

And he looked toward heaven, and beheld the stars. And He said unto him: "So shall thy seed be."

And he believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for righteousness.

And He said unto him: "I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee the land of the Canaanites to possess it for ever;

and I shall be God unto thee and to thy seed after thee."

And he said: "Lord, Lord, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit (it)?"

And he said unto him: "Take Me an heifer of three years, and a goat of three years, and a sheep of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a pigeon."

and he dwelt at the oak of Mamre, which is near Hebron.

And he built there an altar, and sacrificed all these; and he poured their blood upon the altar, and divided them in the midst, and laid them over against each other; but the birds divided he not.

And birds came down upon the pieces, and Abram drove them away, and did not suffer the birds to touch them.

And it came to pass, when the sun had set, that an ecstasy fell upon Abram, and lo! an horror of great darkness fell upon him,

and it was said unto Abram: "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land (that is) not theirs, and they will bring them into bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

And the nation also to whom they will be in bondage shall I judge, and after that they will come forth thence with much substance.

And thou wilt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

But in the fourth generation they will return hither; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."

And he awoke from his sleep, and he arose, and the sun had set;

and there was a flame, and behold! a furnace was smoking, and a flame of fire passed between the pieces.

And on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates,

the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, the Phakorites, and the Hivites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

And the day passed, and Abram offered the pieces, and the birds, and their fruit-offerings, and their drink-offerings, and the fire devoured them.

And on that day we made a covenant with Abram, according as we had covenanted with Noah in this month;

and Abram renewed the festival and ordinance for himself for ever.