Introduction
Introduction to Sefer Yovlim (The Book of Jubilees)
Within the Framework of the Ivri Heritage Bible
The text presented here is an authentic rendering of Sefer Yalom (the Book of Jubilees), historically recognized as the Little Genesis or the Apocalypse of Moses. Positioned as a critical prophetic anchor within The Ivri Heritage Bible, this book acts as a majestic covenantal blueprint and historical chronicle for the assembly (Kehillah) that faithfully observes the Shabbats, New Moons, and Appointed Times laid out by the Most High. Delivered directly by the Malakh Ha'Panim (Angel of the Presence) to Moshe (Moses) during his forty days and forty nights upon Mount Sinai, these divine dictations transform primeval and patriarchal history into a strict structural, mathematical, and priestly constitution.
Textual Methodology: Restoring the Ancient Path
As a foundational book within The Ivri Heritage Bible, this edition of Sefer Yovlim utilizes a meticulous comparative textual methodology designed to strip away centuries of Western, Greco-Roman, and Eurocentric theological varnish.
The Historical Authority of the Septuagint and Regional Traditions
During the 3rd through 5th centuries AD, the Septuagint reached its peak influence, transitioning from a Jewish translation into the official Old Testament of the Christian Church. This era was characterized by major textual revisions, the creation of the first bound Bibles, and the translation of the Septuagint into other regional languages. Understanding this era is vital, as these early regional movements and translations preserved independent text-types that align profoundly with the chronology and calendar found in Sefer Yovlim:
Major Textual Revisions (3rd Century): By the 3rd century, numerous regional variations of the Greek text existed. Scholars attempted to standardize it: o Origen's Hexapla (c. 240 AD): The Christian scholar Origen created a massive, six- column parallel Bible. It compared the Hebrew text, Greek transliterations, three rival Jewish Greek translations (Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion), and the Septuagint. He used symbols to correct and align the Septuagint with the Hebrew text of his day. o Regional Recensions: Other scholars created standard regional editions of the Septuagint that dominated specific areas by the 4th century. Hesychius revised the text used in Egypt, while Lucian of Antioch revised the text used in Syria and Asia Minor.
The Great Uncial Codices (4th & 5th Centuries): Before this era, early biblical texts existed only as scattered papyrus scrolls. With the legalization of Christianity and the invention of the codex (the modern book format), the first complete, bound collections of Scripture were produced: o Codex Vaticanus (c. 325–350 AD): One of the oldest surviving near-complete Greek Bibles. o Codex Sinaiticus (c. 330–360 AD): A magnificent 4th-century manuscript containing the ancient text line. o Codex Alexandrinus (c. 400–440 AD): A 5th-century manuscript providing a primary foundation for later ecclesiastical texts.
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Daughter Translations (Translations from the Septuagint): As expansion continued beyond Greek-speaking regions, missionaries used early manuscript traditions as the source text to translate the scriptures into local vernaculars: o The Vetus Latina (Old Latin): Translated gradually starting in the 2nd and 3rd centuries directly from early Greek texts. o The Vulgate (c. 382–405 AD): St. Jerome's Latin revision, which initially utilized early textual layers before shifting to late Hebrew texts, yet still retained significant early influence. o Coptic and Ethiopic (Ge'ez): Translated in the 3rd and 4th centuries to serve the flourishing churches of Egypt and East Africa. The Ethiopic tradition (Ge'ez) in East Africa notably became the sole primary repository to preserve the complete text of Sefer Yovlim intact across millennia, rescuing it from Western suppression. o Gothic and Armenian: Translated in the 4th and 5th centuries respectively, utilizing regional recensions.
Correcting the Omissions of the Masoretic Text
A critical reason The Ivri Heritage Bible prioritizes ancient witnesses like Sefer Yovlim, the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), and early textual families is that late rabbinic copyists systematically altered, truncated, or deleted key passages in the standard Masoretic Text (MT) to diminish the original, supernatural framework of the text. Multiple stark examples of these missing vital elements are exposed and corrected through the light of this book: 1. Deuteronomy 32:8 — The MT alters the text to read "sons of Israel," whereas the ancient pre- Masoretic readings preserved in the DSS, Sefer Yovlim, and the early layers of the Septuagint tradition restore the true cosmic reality: "...he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of Elohim." 2. Deuteronomy 32:43 — The standard Masoretic version severely truncates the climactic conclusion of the Song of Moshe, stripping out multiple parallel lines of prophetic praise. This edition restores the missing vital elements: "Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the angels of Elohim worship him..." 3. The Intertestamental Timeline and Chronology — The Masoretic Text compresses the patriarchal timelines. Sefer Yovlim repairs this by providing the definitive, uncorrupted chronological framework, explicitly demonstrating that one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens. This explains why Adam, dying at 930 years of age, did not complete the single "day" of 1,000 years in which he was warned he would die for eating of the tree of knowledge.
Hebraic Messianic Nazarene Wordings
While adhering to the pristine layout of the ancient witnesses, this translation completely eliminates Westernized, church-centric nomenclature. By implementing a strictly Hebraic Messianic Nazarene vocabulary, the narrative restores the original Lashon Khodesh (the Holy Tongue) context directly to the reader. Artificial terms and Hellenized titles are completely discarded, replacing them with the true, restored names and terms:
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Yahuah: The personal, eternal Covenant Name of the Almighty. Elohim: The True God / The Creator. Beriyt: The binding legal and spiritual covenant. Torah: The foundational instruction, law, and heavenly tables. Malakh Ha'Panim: The Angel of the Presence.
Core Theological Themes and Structural Blueprint
The fifty chapters of Sefer Yovlim form a complete mathematical and structural manual for a set-apart society. Within this edition, the text is organized around four major spiritual and administrative pillars:
1. The Cosmic Clock: The 364-Day Solar Calendar and Jubilees (Chapters 1–2)
The narrative opens with Yahuah commanding the Angel of the Presence to dictate the exact divisions of the years, weeks of years, and Yovlim (Jubilees) unto eternity. It firmly establishes a perfect 364-day solar year divided into exactly 52 weeks. This solar system ensures that all Mo'adim (Appointed Times) and Shabbats fall on their precise, unmovable days from year to year. The book issues a severe prophetic warning against following lunar reckonings, stating that looking to the moon disturbs the seasons and causes the nations to confound the holy days with the unclean.
2. Patriarchal Halakhah and the Heavenly Tablets (Chapters 3–21)
Sefer Yovlim reveals that the Torah did not begin at Sinai; rather, the underlying laws were practiced by the patriarchs and are eternally engraved upon the Heavenly Tablets. It provides deep historical context for: The Garden of Eden and Ritual Purity: Detailing the specific timelines of creation and explaining that the laws of purification after childbirth (seven days for a male, fourteen for a female) are modeled directly after the timing of Adam and Chawah's entry into the sacred Garden. The Origin of Evil and Mastema: Explaining that the Flood was brought due to the corruption of the Irin (Watchers) who defiled themselves with mankind. Following the flood, when unclean spirits began to destroy Noah's grandsons, Yahuah bound nine-tenths of the demons in the place of condemnation, leaving a tenth part under the authority of Prince Mastema (the Adversary) to test the unrighteous. The Separation from Nations: Preserving the strict ancestral commands given by Avraham to Ya'akov to remain entirely separate from the Goyim (Gentiles), to never eat with them, nor take wives from the daughters of Kena'an.
3. The Judicial and Civil Constitution of Israel (Chapters 22–45)
This segment establishes the legal, civil, and land-right frameworks required to maintain a clean camp: The Division of the Earth: Outlining the binding oaths taken by the sons of Noah, showing that the middle of the earth (including Jerusalem, Mount Zion, and the Levant) fell by lot exclusively to Shem. It exposes Kena'an's illegal, violent seizure of Shem's territory, providing the legal and spiritual justification for Israel's later re-entry into the land.
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The Elevation of Levi and Yehudah: Revealing the exact night at Beit-El where Yitzchak, under the Ruach HaNevu'ah (Spirit of Prophecy), blessed Levi to hold the eternal priesthood and keys of judgment, and blessed Yehudah to hold the royal scepter and throne of righteousness over all Israel. Strict Statutes on Moral Conduct: Detailing the absolute judgments written on the heavenly tables regarding incest, defilement, and the prohibition of giving daughters to uncircumcised nations, using the historical examples of Dinah at Shechem and Re'uven's transgression.
4. Prophetic Liturgy, Exodus, and the Passover Ordinance (Chapters 46–50)
The book culminates in the dramatic reporting of the cosmic warfare between Israel and Egypt, revealing that Prince Mastema actively empowered the Egyptian sorcerers and sought to slay Moshe on his return journey. It outlines the structural protocols for the Pesach (Passover), mandating that it must be killed between the evenings and eaten strictly before the sanctuary (Mikdash) of Yahuah. The final chapter closes by repeating the unchanging nature of the Shabbat, stating that any man who journeys, tills a farm, lights a fire, or fasts upon the seventh day shall surely die eternally.
Glossary of Key Restored Terms
To grasp the authentic covenantal depth of Sefer Yovlim within The Ivri Heritage Bible, the reader should understand the following key terms: Yahuah: The personal, covenantal Name of the Most High Elohim. Yovel / Yovlim: Jubilee / Jubilees; cycles of 49 years used to measure the grand timeline of creation. Rosh Chodesh: The New Moon or head of the month; key markers for the four divisions of the year. Chag HaShavuot / Chag HaBikkurim: The Feast of Weeks / Feast of Firstfruits; the unmovable annual day of covenant renewal celebrated in heaven since creation. Mastema / Satan: The Prince of the evil spirits, permitted to execute authority over the children of disobedience. Irin: The Watchers; the angelic class whose fallen members corrupted early mankind. Shedim: Demons; the disembodied spirits of the Nefilim (giants) who corrupt and lead men astray. Am Kadosh: A set-apart, holy nation dedicated exclusively to Yahuah, over whom no angel or spirit is placed in authority.
Through this restored, Hebraic, and pre-Masoretic lens, Sefer Yovlim ceases to be an obscured, external work. It stands revealed as the active, authoritative, and chronological blueprint for the restoration of the House of Truth, the preservation of our genuine heritage, and the realization of righteousness under the unchanging clock of Yahuah.
Chapter 1 Elohim's Revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai; God Commands the Angel of the Presence to Write the Divisions of the Years; Prophecy of Israel's Rebellion, Exile, and Final Restoration
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And it came to pass in the first year of the exodus of the children of Yisra’el (Israel) out of Mitzrayim (Egypt), in the third month, on the sixteenth day of the month, that Elohim (God) spake to Moshe (Moses), saying: "Come up to Me on the Mount, and I will give thee two tables of stone of the Torah (law) and of the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayst teach them."
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And Moshe went up into the mount of Elohim , and the glory of Yahuah (the Lord) abode on Mount Sinai , and a cloud overshadowed it six days.
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And He called to Moshe on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of Yahuah was like a flaming fire on the top of the Mount.
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And Moshe was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and Elohim taught him the earlier and the later history of the division of all the days of the Torah and of the testimony.
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And He said, "Incline thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on this Mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the berit (covenant) which I establish between Me and thee for their generations this day on Mount Sinai .
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And thus it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognize that I am more righteous than they in all their judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognize that I have been truly with them.
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And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to Avraham (Abraham) and to Yitzchak (Isaac) and to Ya’akov (Jacob), saying: 'Unto your seed will I give a land flowing with milk and honey.'
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And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange elohim (gods), to (gods) which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulation: and this witness shall be heard for a witness against them.
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For they will forget all My commandments, (even) all that I command them, and they will walk after the Goyim (Gentiles), and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their elohim , and these will prove unto them an offense and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare.
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And many will perish, and they will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy, because they have forsaken My ordinances and My commandments, and the festivals of My berit , and My Shabbatot (sabbaths), and My holy place, which I have hallowed for Myself in their midst, and My Mishkan (tabernacle), and My sanctuary, which I have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I should set My name upon it, and that it should dwell (there).
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And they will make to themselves high places and asherim (groves) and graven images, and they will worship, each his own (graven image), so as to go astray, and they will sacrifice their children to shedim (demons), and to all the works of the error of their hearts.
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And I will send witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and they will persecute those who seek the Torah , and they will abrogate and change everything so as to work evil before My eyes.
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And I shall hide My face from them, and I shall deliver them into the hand of the Goyim for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and I shall remove them from the midst of the land, and I shall scatter them amongst the Goyim .
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And they will forget all My Torah and all My commandments and all My judgments, and will go astray as to new moons, and Shabbatot , and festivals, and yovlim (jubilees), and ordinances.
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And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Goyim with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I shall gather them from amongst all the Goyim , and they will seek Me, so that I shall be found of them, when they seek Me with all their heart and with all their soul.
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And I shall disclose to them abounding peace with righteousness, and I shall remove them the plant of uprightness, with all My heart and with all My soul, and they will be for a blessing and not for a curse, and they will be the head and not the tail.
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And I shall build My sanctuary in their midst, and I shall dwell with them, and I shall be their Elohim , and they will be My people in truth and righteousness.
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And I shall not forsake them nor fail them, for I am Yahuah their Elohim ."
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And Moshe fell on his face and prayed and said, "O Yahuah my Elohim , do not forsake Thy people and Thy inheritance, so that they should wander in the error of their hearts, and do not deliver them into the hands of their enemies, the Goyim , lest they should rule over them and cause them to sin against Thee.
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Let Thy mercy, O Yahuah , be lifted up upon Thy people, and create in them an upright spirit, and let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to ensnare them from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may perish from before Thy face.
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But they are Thy people and Thy inheritance, which Thou hast delivered with Thy great power from the hands of the Mitzrim (Egyptians): create in them a clean heart and a holy Ruach (Spirit), and let them not be ensnared in their sins from henceforth until eternity."
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And Yahuah said unto Moshe , "I know their contrariness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess their own sin and the sin of their fathers.
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And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I shall circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I shall create in them a holy Ruach , and I shall cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity.
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And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfil My commandments, and I shall be their Father and they will be My children.
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And they will all be called children of the living Elohim , and every angel and every spirit will know, yea, they will know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them.
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And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the Torah and in the testimony and in the weeks and the yovlim (jubilees) unto eternity, until I descend and dwell with them throughout eternity."
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And He said to the malakh ha’panim (angel of the presence), "Write for Moshe from the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity.
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And Yahuah will appear to the eyes of all, and all will know that I am the Elohim of Yisra’el and the Father of all the children of Ya’akov , and King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) will be holy."
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And the malakh ha’panim who went before the camp of Yisra’el took the tables of the divisions of the years — from the time of the creation — of the Torah and of the testimony of the weeks, of the yovlim , according to the individual years, according to all the number of the yovlim [according to the individual years], from the day of the [new] creation when the heavens and the earth shall be renewed, and all their creation according to the powers of the heaven, and according to all the creation of the earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Yerushalayim on Mount Zion , and all the luminaries be renewed for healing and for peace and for blessing for all the elect of Yisra’el , and that thus it may be from that day and unto all the days of the earth.
Chapter 2 The Angel dictates to Moses the Primeval History: the Creation of the World and Institution of the Sabbath
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And the malakh ha’panim (angel of the presence) spake to Moshe (Moses) according to the word of Yahuah (the Lord), saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days Yahuah Elohim finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Shabbat (Sabbath) on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works.
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For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters and all the ruchim (spirits) which serve before Him — the malakhei ha’panim (angels of the presence), and the malakhei ha’kodesh (angels of sanctification), and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer, and of all the spirits of His creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth, (He created) the tehomot (abysses) and the darkness, eventide (and night), and the light, dawn and day, which He hath prepared in the knowledge of His lev (heart).
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And thereupon we saw His works, and praised Him, and lauded before Him on account of all His works; for seven great works did He create on the first day.
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And on the second day He created the firmament in the midst of the waters, and the waters were divided on that day — half of them went up above and half of them went down below the firmament (that was) in the midst over the face of the whole earth. And this was the only work Elohim created on the second day.
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And on the third day He commanded the waters to pass from off the face of the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to appear.
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And the waters did so as He commanded them, and they retired from off the face of the earth into one place outside of this firmament, and the dry land appeared.
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And on that day He created for them all the seas according to their separate gatheringplaces, and all the rivers, and the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and on all the earth, and all the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which is sown, and all sprouting things, and fruitbearing trees, and trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden , in Eden, and all (plants after their kind). These four great works Elohim created on the third day.
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And on the fourth day He created the Sun and the Moon and the Stars, and set them in the firmament of the heavens, to give light upon all the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, and divide the light from the darkness.
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And Elohim appointed the Sun to be a great sign on the earth for days and for Shabbatot (sabbaths) and for months and for mo’adim (feasts) and for years and for shemitot (sabbaths of years) and for yovlim (jubilees) and for all seasons of the years.
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And it divideth the light from the darkness [and] for prosperity, that all things may prosper which shoot and grow on the earth. These three kinds He made on the fourth day.
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And on the fifth day He created great sea monsters in the depths of the waters, for these were the first things of flesh that were created by His hands, the fish and everything that moves in the waters, and everything that flies, the birds and all their kind.
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And the sun rose above them to prosper (them), and above everything that was on the earth, everything that shoots out of the earth, and all fruitbearing trees, and all flesh. These three kinds He created on the fifth day.
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And on the sixth day He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle, and everything that moves on the earth.
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And after all this He created man, a man and a woman created He them, and gave him dominion over all that is upon the earth, and in the seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and over cattle, and over everything that moves on the earth, and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave him dominion. And these four kinds He created on the sixth day.
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And there were altogether two and twenty kinds.
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And He finished all His work on the sixth day — all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the darkness, and in everything.
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And He gave us a great sign, the Shabbat day, that we should work six days, but keep Shabbat on the seventh day from all work.
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And all the malakhei ha’panim , and all the malakhei ha’kodesh , these two great classes — He hath bidden us to keep the Shabbat with Him in heaven and on earth.
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And He said unto us: "Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from among all the peoples, and these will keep the Shabbat day, and I will sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them; as I have sanctified the Shabbat day and do sanctify (it) unto Myself, even so shall I bless them, and they will be My people and I shall be their Elohim .
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And I have chosen the seed of Ya’akov (Jacob) from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as My firstborn son, and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the Shabbat day, that they may keep Shabbat thereon from all work."
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And thus He created therein a sign in accordance with which they should keep Shabbat with us on the seventh day, to eat and to drink, and to bless Him who hath created all things as He hath blessed and sanctified unto Himself a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should keep Shabbat together with us.
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And He caused His commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him all the days.
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There (were) two and twenty heads of mankind from Adam to Ya’akov , and two and twenty kinds of work were made until the seventh day; this is blessed and holy; and the former also is blessed and holy; and this one serves with that one for sanctification and blessing.
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And to this ( Ya’akov and his seed) it was granted that they should always be the blessed and holy ones of the first testimony and Torah (law), even as He had sanctified and blessed the Shabbat day on the seventh day.
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He created heaven and earth and everything that He created in six days, and Elohim made the seventh day holy, for all His works; therefore He commanded on its behalf that, whoever doth any work thereon shall die, and that he who defileth it shall surely die.
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Wherefore do thou command the children of Yisra’el (Israel) to observe this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any work, and not to defile it, as it is holier than all other days.
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And whoever profaneth it shall surely die, and whoever doeth thereon any work shall surely die eternally, that the children of Yisra’el may observe this day throughout their generations, and not be rooted out of the land; for it is a holy day and a blessed day.
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And every one who observeth it and keepeth Shabbat thereon from all his work, will be holy and blessed throughout all days like unto us.
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Declare and say to the children of Yisra’el the Torah of this day both that they should keep Shabbat thereon, and that they should not forsake it in the error of their hearts; (and) that it is not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly, to do thereon their own pleasure, and that they should not prepare thereon anything to be eaten or drunk, and (that it is not lawful) to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon through their gates any burden, which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth day in their dwellings.
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And they shall not bring in nor take out from house to house on that day; for that day is more holy and blessed than any jubilee day of the yovlim : on this we kept Shabbat in the heavens before it was made known to any flesh to keep Shabbat thereon on the earth.
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And the Creator of all things blessed it, but He did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Shabbat thereon, but Yisra’el alone: them alone He permitted to eat and drink and to keep Shabbat thereon on the earth.
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And the Creator of all things blessed this day which He had created for a blessing and a sanctification and a glory above all days.
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This Torah and testimony was given to the children of Yisra’el as a Torah forever unto their generations.
Chapter 3 Paradise and the Fall
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And on the six days of the second week we brought, according to the word of Elohim (God), unto Adam all the beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moveth on the earth, and everything that moveth in the water, according to their kinds, and according to their types: the beasts on the first day; the cattle on the second day; the birds on the third day; and all that which moveth on the earth on the fourth day; and that which moveth in the water on the fifth day.
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And Adam named them all by their respective names, and as he called them, so was their name.
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And on these five days Adam saw all these, male and female, according to every kind that was on the earth, but he was alone and found no helpmeet for him.
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And Yahuah (the Lord) said unto us: "It is not good that the man should be alone: let us make a helpmeet for him."
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And Yahuah our Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and he slept, and He took for the woman one rib from amongst his ribs, and this rib was the origin of the woman from amongst his ribs, and He built up the flesh in its stead, and built the woman.
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And He awaked Adam out of his sleep and on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to him, and he knew her, and said unto her: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called [my] wife; because she was taken from her husband."
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Therefore shall man and wife be one, and therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
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In the first week was Adam created, and the rib — his wife: in the second week He showed her unto him: and for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their defilement, for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days.
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And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, we brought him into the Garden of Eden to till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the Garden of Eden .
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And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tables in regard to her that giveth birth: "if she beareth a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness seven days according to the first week of days, and thirty and three days shall she remain in the blood of her purifying, and she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplisheth these days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child.
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But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks, and sixtysix days in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days."
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And when she had completed these eighty days we brought her into the Garden of Eden , for it is holier than all the earth besides, and every tree that is planted in it is holy.
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Therefore, there was ordained regarding her who beareth a male or a female child the statute of those days that she should touch no hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or female child are accomplished.
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This is the Torah (law) and testimony which was written down for Yisra’el (Israel), in order that they should observe (it) all the days.
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And in the first week of the first jubilee, Adam and his wife were in the Garden of Eden for seven years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we instructed him to do everything that is suitable for tillage.
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And he tilled (the garden), and was naked and knew it not, and was not ashamed, and he protected the garden from the birds and beasts and cattle, and gathered its fruit, and ate, and put aside the residue for himself and for his wife [and put aside that which was being kept].
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And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the month), the serpent came and approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman, "Hath Elohim commanded you, saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
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And she said to it, "Of all the fruit of the trees of the garden Elohim hath said unto us, Eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden Elohim hath said unto us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
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And the serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not surely die: for Elohim doth know that on the day ye shall eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as gods, and ye will know good and evil."
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And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit was good for food, and she took thereof and ate.
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And when she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he ate, and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was naked.
22
And he took figleaves and sewed (them) together, and made an apron for himself, and covered his shame.
23
And Elohim cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it forever.
24
And He was wroth with the woman, because she hearkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her: "I shall greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee."
25
And to Adam also He said, "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake: thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return."
26
And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from the Garden of Eden .
27
And on that day on which Adam went forth from the garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame.
28
And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walketh, and of whatever moveth, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.
29
And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden , and all flesh was scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places which had been created for them.
30
And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and cattle.
31
On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly tables as touching all those who know the judgment of the Torah , that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the Goyim (Gentiles) uncover themselves.
32
And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went forth from the Garden of Eden , and they dwelt in the land of ’Eldâ , in the land of their creation.
33
And Adam called the name of his wife Chawah (Eve).
34
And they had no son till the first jubilee, and after this he knew her.
35
Now he tilled the land as he had been instructed in the Garden of Eden .
Chapter 4 Cain and Abel. The Patriarchs from Adam to Noah; Life of Enoch; Death of Adam and Cain.
1
And in the third week in the second jubilee she gave birth to Qayin (Cain), and in the fourth she gave birth to Hevel (Abel), and in the fifth she gave birth to her daughter ’Âwân .
2
And in the first (year) of the third jubilee, Qayin slew Hevel because Elohim (God) accepted the sacrifice of Hevel , and did not accept the offering of Qayin .
3
And he slew him in the field: and his blood cried from the ground to heaven, complaining because he had slain him.
4
And Yahuah (the Lord) reproved Qayin because of Hevel , because he had slain him, and he made him a fugitive on the earth because of the blood of his brother, and he cursed him upon the earth.
5
And on this account it is written on the heavenly tables, "Cursed is he who smiteth his neighbour treacherously, and let all who have seen and heard say, Amen (So be it); and the man who hath seen and not declared (it), let him be accursed as the other."
6
And for this reason we announce when we come before Yahuah our Elohim all the sin which is committed in heaven and on earth, and in light and in darkness, and everywhere.
7
And Adam and his wife mourned for Hevel four weeks of years, and in the fourth year of the fifth week they became joyful, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Shet (Seth); for he said " Elohim hath raised up a second seed unto us on the earth instead of Hevel ; for Qayin slew him."
8
And in the sixth week he begat his daughter ’Azûrâ .
9
And Qayin took ’Âwân his sister to be his wife and she bare him Chanokh (Enoch) at the close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Qayin built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Chanokh .
10
And Adam knew Chawah (Eve), his wife and she bare yet nine sons.
11
And in the fifth week of the fifth jubilee Shet took ’Azûrâ his sister to be his wife, and in the fourth (year of the sixth week) she bare him Enosh (Enos).
12
He began to call on the name of Yahuah on the earth.
13
And in the seventh jubilee in the third week Enosh took Nô‘âm his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the third year of the fifth week, and he called his name Qenan (Kenan).
14
And at the close of the eighth jubilee Qenan took Mualeleth his sister to be his wife, and she bare him a son in the ninth jubilee, in the first week in the third year of this week, and he called his name Mahalalel .
15
And in the second week of the tenth jubilee Mahalalel took unto him to wife Dînâh , the daughter of Barâkî’êl the daughter of his father's brother, and she bare him a son in the third week in the sixth year, and he called his name Yered (Jared); for in his days the malakhei Yahuah (angels of the Lord) descended on the earth, those who are named the Irin (Watchers), that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth.
16
And in the eleventh jubilee Yered took to himself a wife, and her name was Bâraka , the daughter of Râsûjâl , a daughter of his father's brother, in the fourth week of this jubilee, and she bare him a son in the fifth week, in the fourth year of the jubilee, and he called his name Chanokh (Enoch).
17
And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months.
18
And he was the first to write a testimony, and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the yovlim (jubilees), and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Shabbatot (Sabbaths) of the years as we made (them) known to him.
19
And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men and for their generations.
20
And in the twelfth jubilee, in the seventh week thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Ednî , the daughter of Dânêl , the daughter of his father's brother, and in the sixth year in this week she bare him a son and he called his name Metushelach (Methuselah).
21
And he was moreover with the malakhei Elohim (angels of God) these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun, and he wrote down everything.
22
And he testified to the Irin (Watchers), who had sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of men, and Chanokh testified against (them) all.
23
And he was taken from amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he writeth down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of men.
24
And on account of it Elohim brought the waters of the flood upon all the land of Eden ; for there he was set as a sign and that he should testify against all the children of men, that he should recount all the deeds of the generations until the day of condemnation.
25
And he burnt the incense of the sanctuary, (even) sweet spices, acceptable before Yahuah on the Mount.
26
For Yahuah hath four places on the earth, the Garden of Eden , and the Mount of the East, and this mountain on which thou art this day, Mount Sinai , and Mount Zion (which) will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from all (its) guilt and its uncleanness throughout the generations of the world.
27
And in the fourteenth jubilee Metushelach took unto himself a wife, Ednâ the daughter of ’Âzrîâl , the daughter of his father's brother, in the third week, in the first year of this week, and he begat a son and called his name Lemekh (Lamech).
28
And in the fifteenth jubilee in the third week Lemekh took to himself a wife, and her name was Bêtênôs the daughter of Bârâkî’îl , the daughter of his father's brother, and in this week she bare him a son and he called his name Noach (Noah), saying, "This one will comfort me for my trouble and all my work, and for the ground which Yahuah hath cursed."
29
And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth.
30
And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: "On the day that ye eat thereof ye will die." For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.
31
At the close of this jubilee Qayin was killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones, for with a stone he had killed Hevel , and by a stone was he killed in righteous judgment.
32
For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tables: "With the instrument with which a man killeth his neighbour with the same shall he be killed; after the manner that he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him."
33
And in the twentyfifth jubilee Noach took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Ĕmzârâ , the daughter of Râkê’êl , the daughter of his father's brother, in the first year in the fifth week: and in the third year thereof she bare him Shem , in the fifth year thereof she bare him Cham (Ham), and in the first year in the sixth week she bare him Yefet (Japheth).
Chapter 5 The Fall of the Angels and their Punishment; the Deluge foretold. The Building of the Ark; the Flood
1
And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the malakhei Elohim (angels of God) saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons, and they were Nefilim (giants).
2
And lawlessness increased on the earth, and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walketh on the earth—all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually.
3
And Elohim looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil before His eyes.
4
And He said, "I shall destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth which I have created."
5
But Noach (Noah) found grace before the eyes of Yahuah (the Lord).
6
And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate.
7
And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven.
8
And He said, "Thy spirit will not always abide on man; for they also are flesh, and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years."
9
And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth.
10
And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruction), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth forever, until the day of the great condemnation when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before Yahuah .
11
And He †destroyed† all from their places, and there †was† not left one of them whom He judged not according to all their wickedness.
12
And He †made† for all His works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their whole nature forever but should be all righteous, each in his kind always.
13
And the judgment of all is ordained and written on the heavenly tables in righteousness—even (the judgment of) all who depart from the path which is ordained for them to walk in; and if they walk not therein, judgment is written down for every creature and for every kind.
14
And there is nothing in heaven or on earth, or in light or in darkness, or in Sheol or in the depth, or in the place of darkness (which is not judged); and all their judgments are ordained and written and engraved.
15
In regard to all, He will judge, the great according to his greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each according to his way.
16
And He is not one who will regard the person (of any), nor is He one who will receive gifts, if He saith that He will execute judgment on each, if one gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his hands, for He is a righteous judge.
17
And of the children of Yisra’el (Israel) it hath been written and ordained: If they turn to Him in righteousness, He will forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins.
18
It is written and ordained that He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each year.
19
And as for all those who corrupted their ways and their thoughts before the flood, no man's person was accepted save that of Noach alone; for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom Elohim saved from the waters of the flood on his account; for his heart was righteous in all his ways, according as it was commanded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught that was ordained for him.
20
And Yahuah said that He would destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men and cattle, and beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on the earth.
21
And He commanded Noach to make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters of the flood.
22
And Noach made the ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the twentyseventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week in the fifth year (on the new moon of the first month).
23
And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, in the second month, on the new moon of the second month, till the sixteenth; and he entered, and all that we brought to him, into the ark, and Yahuah closed it from without on the seventeenth evening.
24
And Yahuah opened seven floodgates of heaven, and the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in number.
25
And the floodgates began to pour down water from the heaven forty days and forty nights, and the fountains of the deep also sent up waters, until the whole world was full of water.
26
And the waters increased upon the earth: fifteen cubits did the waters rise above all the high mountains, and the ark was lift up above the earth, and it moved upon the face of the waters.
27
And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five months—one hundred and fifty days.
28
And the ark went and rested on the top of Lûbâr , one of the mountains of Ararat .
29
And (on the new moon) in the fourth month, the fountains of the great deep were closed, and the floodgates of heaven were restrained; and on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the deep below.
30
And on the new moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new moon of the first month the earth became visible.
31
And the waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the seventh year thereof, and on the seventeenth day in the second month the earth was dry.
32
And on the twentyseventh thereof, he opened the ark, and sent forth from it beasts, and cattle, and birds, and every moving thing.
Chapter 6 Noah's Sacrifice; Elohim's Covenant with him. Instructions to Moses about eating of Blood, the Feast of Weeks, and Division of the Year
1
And on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the third month he went forth from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain.
2
And he made kippur (atonement) for the earth, and took a kid and made kippur by its blood for all the guilt of the earth; for everything that had been on it had been destroyed, save those that were in the ark with Noach (Noah).
3
And he placed the fat thereof on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat, and a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a dove, and placed a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a goodly savour to arise, acceptable before Yahuah .
4
And Yahuah smelt the goodly savour, and He made a berit (covenant) with him that there should not be any more a flood to destroy the earth; that all the days of the earth seedtime and harvest should never cease; cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not change their order, nor cease forever.
5
"And you, increase ye and multiply upon the earth, and become many upon it, and be a blessing upon it. The fear of you and the dread of you I shall inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea.
6
And behold I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged things, and everything that moveth on the earth, and the fish in the waters, and all things for food; as the green herbs, I have given you all things to eat.
7
But flesh, with the life thereof, with the blood, ye shall not eat; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of your lives be required. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every (beast), shall I require the blood of man.
8
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of Elohim (God) made He man.
9
And you, increase ye, and multiply on the earth."
10
And Noach and his sons swore that they would not eat any blood that was in any flesh, and he made a berit before Yahuah Elohim forever throughout all the generations of the earth in this month.
11
On this account He spake to thee that thou shouldst make a berit with the children of Yisra’el (Israel) in this month upon the mountain with an oath, and that thou shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of all the words of the berit , which Yahuah made with them forever.
12
And this testimony is written concerning you that you should observe it continually, so that you should not eat on any day any blood of beasts or birds or cattle during all the days of the earth, and the man who eateth the blood of beast or of cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth, he and his seed shall be rooted out of the land.
13
And do thou command the children of Yisra’el to eat no blood, so that their names and their seed may be before Yahuah our Elohim continually.
14
And for this Torah (law) there is no limit of days, for it is forever. They shall observe it throughout their generations so that they may continue supplicating on your behalf with blood before the altar; every day and at the time of morning and evening they shall seek forgiveness on your behalf perpetually before Yahuah that they may keep it and not be rooted out.
15
And He gave to Noach and his sons a sign that there should not again be a flood on the earth.
16
He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal berit that there should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth.
17
For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tables, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks, Chag ha’Shavuot , in this month once a year, to renew the berit every year.
18
And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noach —twentysix jubilees and five weeks of years: and Noach and his sons observed it for seven jubilees and one week of years, till the day of Noach 's death, and from the day of Noach 's death his sons did away with (it) until the days of Avraham (Abraham), and they ate blood.
19
But Avraham observed it, and Yitzchak (Isaac) and Ya’akov (Jacob) and his children observed it up to thy days, and in thy days the children of Yisra’el forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain.
20
And do thou command the children of Yisra’el to observe this festival in all their generations for a commandment unto them: one day in the year in this month they shall celebrate the festival.
21
For it is the feast of weeks and the feast of firstfruits: this feast is twofold and of a double nature: according to what is written and engraven concerning it celebrate it.
22
For I have written in the book of the first Torah , in that which I have written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season, one day in the year, and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of Yisra’el should remember and should celebrate it throughout their generations in this month, one day in every year.
23
And on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the first month, and on the Rosh Chodesh of the fourth month, and on the Rosh Chodesh of the seventh month, and on the Rosh Chodesh of the tenth month are the days of remembrance, and the days of the seasons in the four divisions of the year. These are written and ordained as a testimony for ever.
24
And Noach ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations forever, so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him.
25
And on the Rosh Chodesh of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that (day) the earth became dry and he opened (the ark) and saw the earth.
26
And on the Rosh Chodesh of the fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abysses beneath were closed. And on the Rosh Chodesh of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them.
27
And on the Rosh Chodesh of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and Noach was glad.
28
And on this account he ordained them for himself as feasts for a memorial forever, and thus are they ordained.
29
And they placed them on the heavenly tables, each had thirteen weeks; from one to another (passed) their memorial, from the first to the second, and from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth.
30
And all the days of the commandment will be two and fifty weeks of days, and (these will make) the entire year complete.
31
Thus it is engraven and ordained on the heavenly tables. And there is no neglecting (this commandment) for a single year or from year to year.
32
And command thou the children of Yisra’el that they observe the years according to this reckoning—three hundred and sixtyfour days, and (these) will constitute a complete year, and they will not disturb its time from its days and from its feasts; for everything will fall out in them according to their testimony, and they will not leave out any day nor disturb any feasts.
33
But if they do neglect and do not observe them according to His commandment, then they will disturb all their seasons, and the years will be dislodged from this (order), [and they will disturb the seasons and the years will be dislodged] and they will neglect their ordinances.
34
And all the children of Yisra’el will forget and will not find the path of the years, and will forget the new moons, and seasons, and Shabbatot (sabbaths), and they will go wrong as to all the order of the years.
35
For I know, and from henceforth shall I declare it unto thee, and it is not of my own devising; for the book (lieth) written before me, and on the heavenly tables the division of days is ordained, lest they forget the feasts of the beriyt and walk according to the feasts of the Goyim (Gentiles) after their error and after their ignorance.
36
For there will be those who will assuredly make observations of the moon—now (it) disturbeth the seasons and cometh in from year to year ten days too soon.
37
For this reason the years will come upon them when they will disturb (the order), and make an abominable (day) the day of testimony, and an unclean day a feast day, and they will confound all the days, the holy with the unclean, and the unclean day with the holy; for they will go wrong as to the months and Shabbatot and feasts and yovlim (jubilees).
38
For this reason I command and testify to thee that thou mayest testify to them; for after thy death thy children will disturb (them), so that they will not make the year three hundred and sixtyfour days only, and for this reason they will go wrong as to the new moons and seasons and Shabbatot and festivals, and they will eat all kinds of blood with all kinds of flesh.
Chapter 7 Noach Offers Sacrifice; The Cursing of Kena‘an; Noach's Sons and Grandsons and Their Cities; Noach's Admonitions
1
In the seventh week, in the first year thereof, in this Yovel (Jubilee), Noach (Noah) planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lubar, one of the Ararat mountains. They produced fruit in the fourth year, and he guarded their fruit and gathered it in this year in the seventh month.
2
He made wine from it, put it into a vessel, and kept it until the fifth year, until the first day, on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the first month.
3
He celebrated with joy the day of this feast, and made a burnt sacrifice to Yahuah (the Lord): one young ox, one ram, seven sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make kippur (atonement) thereby for himself and his sons.
4
He prepared the kid first, placed some of its blood on the flesh that was on the altar which he had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he made the burnt sacrifice. The ox, the ram, and the sheep—he laid all their flesh upon the altar.
5
He placed all their offerings mingled with oil upon it. Afterward, he sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously made on the altar, and placed incense on the altar, causing a sweet savor to ascend acceptable before Yahuah his Elohim (God).
6
He rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and his children with joy.
7
It was evening, and he went into his tent. Being drunk, he lay down and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept.
8
Cham (Ham) saw Noach, his father, naked, went out, and told his two brothers outside.
9
Shem took his garment, and he and Yafet (Japheth) arose. They placed the garment on their shoulders, went backward, and covered the shame of their father, with their faces turned backward.
10
Noach awoke from his sleep and knew all that his younger son had done to him. He cursed his son and said: "Cursed be Kena‘an (Canaan); an enslaved servant shall he be to his brothers."
11
He blessed Shem and said: "Blessed be Yahuah, the Elohim of Shem, and Kena‘an shall be his servant.
12
Elohim shall enlarge Yafet, and Elohim shall dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Kena‘an shall be his servant."
13
Cham knew that his father had cursed his younger son, and he was displeased that he had cursed his son. He parted from his father, he and his sons with him: Cush, Mitzrayim (Egypt), Put, and Kena‘an .
14
He built a city for himself and called its name after the name of his wife Ne‘elatama’uk .
15
Yafet saw it and became envious of his brother. He too built a city for himself and called its name after the name of his wife Adataneses .
16
Shem dwelt with his father Noach . He built a city close to his father on the mountain and called its name after the name of his wife Sedeqetelbab .
17
Behold, these three cities are near Mount Lubar: Sedeqetelbab fronting the mountain on its east, Ne‘elatama’uk on the south, and Adataneses toward the west.
18
These are the sons of Shem : Elam , Ashur , Arpachshad (this son was born two years after the flood), Lud , and Aram .
19
The sons of Yafet : Gomer , Magog , Madai , Yavan , Tubal , Meshech , and Tiras . These are the sons of Noach .
20
In the twenty-eighth Yovel , Noach began to enjoin upon his sons’ sons the ordinances, commandments, and all the judgments that he knew. He exhorted his sons to observe tzedakah (righteousness), to cover the shame of their flesh, to bless their Creator, honor father and mother, love their neighbor, and guard their souls from zenut (fornication), uncleanness, and all iniquity.
21
For owing to three things, the flood came upon the earth: owing to the fornication wherein the Irin (Watchers) against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men and took themselves wives of all which they chose, making the beginning of uncleanness.
22
They begat sons, the Nefilim (giants), and they were all unlike, and they devoured one another. The Giants slew the Nefil , and the Nefil slew the Eljo , and the Eljo slew mankind, and one man another.
23
Everyone sold himself to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled with iniquity.
24
After this they sinned against the beasts, birds, and all that moves and walks on the earth. Much blood was shed on the earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil continually.
25
Yahuah destroyed everything from off the face of the earth because of the wickedness of their deeds and because of the blood which they had shed in the midst of the earth.
26
"We were left—I and you, my sons—and everything that entered with us into the ark. Behold, I see your works before me: that you do not walk in righteousness. For in the path of destruction you have begun to walk. You are parting one from another, envious one of another, and so it comes that you are not in harmony, my sons, each with his brother.
27
For I see that the shedim (demons) have begun their seductions against you and against your children. Now I fear on your behalf that after my death you will shed the blood of men upon the earth, and that you too will be destroyed from the face of the earth.
28
For whoever sheds man's blood, and whoever eats the blood of any flesh, will all be destroyed from the earth.
29
There will not be left any man who eats blood or who sheds the blood of man on the earth. Nor will there be left to him any seed or descendants living under heaven; for into Sheol will they go, and into the place of condemnation will they descend. Into the darkness of the deep will they all be removed by a violent death.
30
There shall be no blood seen upon you of all the blood there shall be, all the days in which you have killed any beasts or cattle or whatever flies upon the earth. Work a good work to your souls by covering that which has been shed on the face of the earth.
31
You shall not be like him who eats with blood, but guard yourselves that none may eat blood before you. Cover the blood, for thus have I been commanded to testify to you and your children, together with all flesh.
32
Do not permit the soul to be eaten with the flesh, that your blood, which is your life, may not be required at the hand of any flesh that sheds it on the earth.
33
For the earth will not be clean from the blood which has been shed upon it; for only through the blood of him that shed it will the earth be purified throughout all its generations.
34
Now, my children, listen: work mishpat (judgment) and tzedakah (righteousness) that you may be planted in righteousness over the face of the whole earth, and your glory lifted up before my Elohim , who saved me from the waters of the flood.
35
Behold, you will go and build cities for yourselves, and plant in them all the plants that are upon the earth, and moreover all fruit-bearing trees.
36
For three years, the fruit of everything that is eaten will not be gathered. In the fourth year, its fruit will be accounted holy, and they will offer the firstfruits, acceptable before El Elyon (the Most High God), who created heaven and earth and all things. Let them offer in abundance the first of the wine and oil as firstfruits on the altar of Yahuah , who receives it. What is left, let the servants of the house of Yahuah eat before the altar which receives it.
37
In the fifth year, make the release so that you release it in righteousness and uprightness, and you will be righteous, and all that you plant will prosper.
38
For thus did Chanokh (Enoch), the father of your father, command Metushelach (Methuselah) his son, and Metushelach commanded Lemech (Lamech) his son, and Lemech commanded me all the things which his fathers commanded him.
39
I also will give you commandment, my sons, as Chanokh commanded his son in the first Yovelim (Jubilees). While still living, the seventh in his generation, he commanded and testified to his son and to his sons’ sons until the day of his death."
Chapter 8 Genealogy of the Descendants of Shem: Noah and his Sons divide the Earth
1
In the twenty-ninth Yovel (jubilee), in the first week, in the beginning thereof, Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Râsû‘ĕjâ , [the daughter of Sûsân ,] the daughter of Elam , and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, and he called his name Kâinâm .
2
And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city.
3
And he found a writing which former (generations) had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it, for it contained the teaching of the Irin (Watchers) in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of heaven.
4
And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noach (Noah) about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it.
5
And in the thirtieth Yovel , in the second week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Mêlkâ , the daughter of Madai , the son of Yafet (Japheth), and in the fourth year he begat a son, and called his name Shelach ; for he said: "Truly I have been sent."
6
[And in the fourth year he was born], and Shelach grew up and took to himself a wife, and her name was Mû‘ak , the daughter of Kêsêd , his father's brother, in the one and thirtieth Yovel , in the fifth week, in the first year thereof.
7
And she bare him a son in the fifth year thereof, and he called his name Ever (Eber): and he took unto himself a wife, and her name was ’Azûrâd the daughter of Nebrôd , in the thirty-second Yovel , in the seventh week, in the third year thereof.
8
And in the sixth year thereof, she bare him a son, and he called his name Peleg ; for in the days when he was born the children of Noach began to divide the earth amongst themselves: for this reason he called his name Peleg .
9
And they divided (it) secretly amongst themselves, and told it to Noach .
10
And it came to pass in the beginning of the thirty-third Yovel that they divided the earth into three parts for Shem and Cham (Ham) and Yafet , according to the inheritance of each, in the first year in the first week, when one of us, who had been sent, was with them.
11
And he called his sons, and they drew nigh to him, they and their children, and he divided the earth into the lots, which his three sons were to take in possession, and they reached forth their hands, and took the writing out of the bosom of Noach , their father.
12
And there came forth on the writing as Shem 's lot the middle of the earth which he should take as an inheritance for himself and for his sons for the generations of eternity, from the middle of the mountain range of Râfâ , from the mouth of the water from the river Tînâ , and his portion goeth towards the west through the midst of this river, and it extendeth till it reacheth the water of the abysses, out of which this river goeth forth and poureth its waters into the sea Mê’at , and this river floweth into the great sea. And all that is towards the north is Yafet 's, and all that is towards the south belongeth to Shem .
13
And it extendeth till it reacheth Kârâsô : this is in the bosom of the tongue which looketh towards the south.
14
And his portion extendeth along the great sea, and it extendeth in a straight line till it reacheth the west of the tongue which looketh towards the south; for this sea is named the tongue of the Mitzrayim (Egyptian) Sea.
15
And it turneth from here towards the south towards the mouth of the great sea on the shore of (its) waters, and it extendeth to the west to ‘Afrâ and it extendeth till it reacheth the waters of the river Gihon , and to the south of the waters of Gihon , to the banks of this river.
16
And it extendeth towards the east, till it reacheth the Garden of Eden , to the south thereof, [to the south] and from the east of the whole land of Eden and of the whole east, it turneth to the †east,† and proceedeth till it reacheth the east of the mountain named Râfâ , and it descendeth to the bank of the mouth of the river Tînâ .
17
This portion came forth by lot for Shem and his sons, that they should possess it for ever unto his generations for evermore.
18
And Noach rejoiced that this portion came forth for Shem and for his sons, and he remembered all that he had spoken with his mouth in prophecy; for he had said: "Blessed be Yahuah Elohim (the Lord God) of Shem , And may the Lord dwell in the dwelling of Shem ."
19
And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the dwelling of Yahuah , and Mount Sinai the centre of the desert, and Mount Zion —the centre of the navel of the earth: these three were created as holy places facing each other.
20
And he blessed the El of elohim (God of gods), who had put the word of Yahuah into his mouth, and the Lord for evermore.
21
And he knew that a blessed portion and a blessing had come to Shem and his sons unto the generations for ever—the whole land of Eden and the whole land of the Red Sea, and the whole land of the east, and India, and on the Red Sea and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bashan , and all the land of Levanon (Lebanon) and the islands of Kaftûr , and all the mountains of Sanîr and ’Amânâ , and the mountains of Ashur (Asshur) in the north, and all the land of Elam , Ashur , and Bavel (Babylon), and Sûsân and Mâ‘ĕdâi and all the mountains of Ararat , and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond the mountains of Ashur towards the north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good.
22
And for Cham came forth the second portion, beyond the Gihon towards the south to the right of the Garden, and it extendeth towards the south and it extendeth to all the mountains of fire, and it extendeth towards the west to the sea of ’Atêl and it extendeth towards the west till it reacheth the sea of Mâ’ûk —that (sea) into which †everything which is not destroyed descendeth†.
23
And it goeth forth towards the north to the limits of Gâdîr , and it goeth forth to the coast of the waters of the sea to the waters of the great sea till it draweth near to the river Gihon , and goeth along the river Gihon till it reacheth the right of the Garden of Eden .
24
And this is the land which came forth for Cham as the portion which he was to occupy for ever for himself and his sons unto their generations for ever.
25
And for Yafet came forth the third portion beyond the river Tînâ to the north of the outflow of its waters, and it extendeth north-easterly to the whole region of Gog and to all the country east thereof.
26
And it extendeth northerly to the north, and it extendeth to the mountains of Qêlt towards the north, and towards the sea of Mâ’ûk , and it goeth forth to the east of Gâdîr as far as the region of the waters of the sea.
27
And it extendeth until it approacheth the west of Fârâ and it returneth towards ’Afêrâg , and it extendeth easterly to the waters of the sea of Mê’at .
28
And it extendeth to the region of the river Tînâ in a northeasterly direction until it approacheth the boundary of its waters towards the mountain Râfâ , and it turneth round towards the north.
29
This is the land which came forth for Yafet and his sons as the portion of his inheritance which he should possess for himself and his sons, for their generations for ever; five great islands, and a great land in the north.
30
But it is cold, and the land of Cham is hot, and the land of Shem is neither hot nor cold, but it is of blended cold and heat.
Chapter 9 Subdivision of the Three Portions amongst the Grandchildren: Oath taken by Noah's Sons
1
And Cham (Ham) divided amongst his sons, and the first portion came forth for Cush towards the east, and to the west of him for Mitzrayim (Egypt), and to the west of him for Put , and to the west of him [and to the west thereof] on the sea for Kena‘an (Canaan).
2
And Shem also divided amongst his sons, and the first portion came forth for Elam and his sons, to the east of the river Tigris till it approacheth the east, the whole land of India, and on the Red Sea on its coast, and the waters of Dêdân , and all the mountains of Mebrî and ’Êlâ , and all the land of Sûsân and all that is on the side of Pharnâk to the Red Sea and the river Tînâ .
3
And for Ashur (Asshur) came forth the second portion, all the land of Ashur and Nineveh and Shinar and to the border of India, and it ascendeth and skirteth the river.
4
And for Arpachshad came forth the third portion, all the land of the region of the Kasdim (Chaldees) to the east of the Euphrates , bordering on the Red Sea, and all the waters of the desert close to the tongue of the sea which looketh towards Mitzrayim , all the land of Levanon (Lebanon) and Sanîr and ’Amânâ to the border of the Euphrates .
5
And for Aram there came forth the fourth portion, all the land of Aram- Naharayim (Mesopotamia) between the Tigris and the Euphrates to the north of the Kasdim to the border of the mountains of Ashur and the land of ’Arârâ .
6
And there came forth for Lud the fifth portion, the mountains of Ashur and all appertaining to them till it reacheth the Great Sea, and till it reacheth the east of Ashur his brother.
7
And Yafet (Japheth) also divided the land of his inheritance amongst his sons.
8
And the first portion came forth for Gomer to the east from the north side to the river Tînâ ; and in the north there came forth for Magog all the inner portions of the north until it reacheth to the sea of Mê’at .
9
And for Madai came forth as his portion that he should possess from the west of his two brothers to the islands, and to the coasts of the islands.
10
And for Yavan (Javan) came forth the fourth portion every island and the islands which are towards the border of Lud .
11
And for Tubal there came forth the fifth portion in the midst of the tongue which approacheth towards the border of the portion of Lud to the second tongue, to the region beyond the second tongue unto the third tongue.
12
And for Meshech came forth the sixth portion, all the region beyond the third tongue till it approacheth the east of Gâdîr .
13
And for Tiras there came forth the seventh portion, four great islands in the midst of the sea, which reach to the portion of Cham [and the islands of Kamâtûrî came out by lot for the sons of Arpachshad as his inheritance].
14
And thus the sons of Noach (Noah) divided unto their sons in the presence of Noach their father, and he bound them all by an oath, imprecating a curse on every one that sought to seize the portion which had not fallen (to him) by his lot.
15
And they all said, " Amen, amen (So be it; so be it)," for themselves and their sons for ever throughout their generations till the Yom ha’Din (day of judgment), on which Yahuah Elohim (the Lord God) shall judge them with a sword and with fire, for all the unclean wickedness of their errors, wherewith they have filled the earth with transgression and uncleanness and zenut (fornication) and sin.
Chapter 10 Noach's Sons led astray by Evil Spirits; Noach's Prayer; Mastêmâ; Death of Noach; The Tower of Bavel and the Confusion of Tongues; The Children of Noach enter their Districts; Kena‘an seizes Palestine wrongfully; Madai receives Media
1
And in the third week of this Yovel (jubilee) the unclean shedim (demons) began to lead astray †the children of† the sons of Noach (Noah); and to make to err and destroy them.
2
And the sons of Noach came to Noach their father, and they told him concerning the shedim which were leading astray and blinding and slaying his sons’ sons.
3
And he prayed before Yahuah (the Lord) his Elohim (God), and said: " Elohim of the ruchim (spirits) of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me, And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition; For Thy grace hath been great towards me, And great hath been Thy mercy to my soul; Let Thy grace be lifted up upon my sons, And let not wicked ruchim rule over them, Lest they should destroy them from the earth.
4
But do Thou bless me and my sons, that we may increase and multiply and replenish the earth.
5
And Thou knowest how Thy Irin (Watchers), the fathers of these ruchim , acted in my day: and as for these ruchim which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my Elohim ; for these are malignant, and created in order to destroy.
6
And let them not rule over the ruchim of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous from henceforth and for evermore."
7
And Yahuah our Elohim bade us to bind all.
8
And the chief of the spirits, Mastêmâ , came and said: " Yahuah , Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men."
9
And He said: "Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation."
10
And one of us He commanded that we should teach Noach all their medicines; for He knew that they would not walk in uprightness, nor strive in righteousness.
11
And we did according to all His words: all the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject before Satan (the Adversary) on the earth.
12
And we explained to Noach all the medicines of their diseases, together with their seductions, how he might heal them with herbs of the earth.
13
And Noach wrote down all things in a book as we instructed him concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil ruchim were precluded from (hurting) the sons of Noach .
14
And he gave all that he had written to Shem , his eldest son; for he loved him exceedingly above all his sons.
15
And Noach slept with his fathers, and was buried on Mount Lûbâr in the land of Ararat .
16
Nine hundred and fifty years he completed in his life, nineteen yovlim (jubilees) and two weeks and five years.
17
And in his life on earth he excelled the children of men save Chanokh (Enoch) because of the righteousness wherein he was perfect. For Chanokh '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 Yom ha’Din (day of judgment).
18
And in the three and thirtieth Yovel , in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lômnâ the daughter of Shin‘ar (Shinar), 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 Shin‘ar ."
19
For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shin‘ar ; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, "Go to, let us ascend thereby into heaven."
20
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 Shin‘ar .
21
And they built it: forty and three years were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and (the extent of one wall was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades).
22
And Yahuah our Elohim 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 Yom ha’Din ."
23
And Yahuah descended, and we descended with Him to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built.
24
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.
25
For this reason the whole land of Shin‘ar is called Bavel (Babylon), 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.
26
And Yahuah sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the earth, and behold it was between Ashur (Asshur) and Bavel in the land of Shin‘ar , and they called its name "Overthrow."
27
In the fourth week in the first year in the beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth Yovel , were they dispersed from the land of Shin‘ar .
28
And Cham (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.
29
And Kena‘an (Canaan) saw the land of Levanon (Lebanon) to the river of Mitzrayim (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 Levanon , eastward and westward from the border of Yarden (Jordan) and from the border of the sea.
30
And Cham , his father, and Cush and Mitzrayim , 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.
31
Dwell not in the dwelling of Shem ; for to Shem and to his sons did it come by their lot.
32
Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the sons of Noach , by the curse by which we bound ourselves by an oath in the presence of the holy judge, and in the presence of Noach our father."
33
But he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of Levanon from Hamath to the entering of Mitzrayim , he and his sons until this day.
34
And for this reason that land is named Kena‘an .
35
And Yafet (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 Ashur and Arpachshad , his wife's brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media , near to his wife's brother until this day.
36
And he called his dwellingplace, and the dwellingplace of his sons, Media , after the name of their father Madai .
Chapter 11 The History of the Patriarchs from Reu to Abraham; the Corruption of the Human Race; Abram's Knowledge of God and wonderful Deeds
1
And in the thirty-fifth Yovel (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 (Serug), in the seventh year of this week in this Yovel .
2
And the sons of Noach (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.
3
And ’Ûr , the son of Kêsêd , built the city of ’Arâ of the Kasdim (Chaldees), and called its name after his own name and the name of his father.
4
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 ruchim (spirits) assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness.
5
And the prince Mastêmâ exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other ruchim , 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.
6
For this reason he called the name of Sêrôḫ , Serug , for everyone turned to do all manner of sin and transgression.
7
And he grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Kasdim , near to the father of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth Yovel , 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.
8
And she bare him Nachor (Nahor) in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Kasdim , and his father taught him the researches of the Kasdim to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven.
9
And in the thirty-seventh Yovel , 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 Kasdim .
10
And she bare him Terach (Terah) in the seventh year of this week.
11
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.
12
And for this reason he called his name Terach , because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their seed.
13
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.
14
And in this thirty-ninth Yovel , in the second week in the first year, Terach took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Êdnâ , the daughter of ’Avrâm the daughter of his father's sister.
15
And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Avram (Abram), by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son.
16
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.
17
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.
18
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 Avram went forth with those that went, and the child was a lad of fourteen years.
19
And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, and Avram 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.
20
And he caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land where Avram was there settled there not so much as one.
21
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 Kasdim .
22
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.
23
And in the first year of the fifth week Avram 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.
24
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 Avram commanded them, and they no longer feared the birds.
Chapter 12 Avram seeks to convert Terach from Idolatry; the Family of Terach. Avram burns the Idols. Death of Haran. Terach departs from Ur Kasdim.
1
And it came to pass in the sixth week, in its seventh year, that Avram (Abram) said to Terach (Terah) his father, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son."
2
And he said, "What help or profit do we have from those elilim (idols) which you worship, before which you bow down?
3
For there is no ruach (spirit) in them—they are dumb forms and a misleading of the heart. Do not worship them.
4
Worship the Elohim of heaven, who causes the rain and the dew to descend upon the earth, and does everything upon the earth, and has created all things by His word, and all life is from before His face.
5
Why do you worship things that have no spirit in them? For they are the work of men's hands, and upon your shoulders you carry them—you 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. Do not worship them."
6
And his father said to him, "I also know this, my son. But what shall I do with a people who have made me serve before them?
7
If I tell them the truth, they will slay me—for their soul clings to them to worship and honor them. Keep silent, my son, lest they slay you."
8
Avram spoke these words to his two brothers, and they were angry with him, so he kept silent.
9
In the fortieth Yovel , in the second week, in its seventh year, Avram took a wife named Sarai (Sarah), the daughter of his father, and she became his wife.
10
Haran , his brother, took a wife in the third year of the third week, and she bore him a son in the seventh year of this week. He called his name Lot .
11
And Nachor , his brother, also took a wife.
12
In the sixtieth year of Avram 's life—in the fourth week, in its fourth year— Avram arose by night and burned the house of the idols. He burned all that was in the house, and no one knew it.
13
They arose in the night and sought to save their gods from the midst of the fire.
14
Haran rushed to save them, but the fire flamed over him. He was burned in the fire and died in Ur Kasdim before Terach his father. They buried him in Ur Kasdim .
15
And Terach went out from Ur Kasdim , he and his sons, to go into the land of Levanon (Lebanon) and the land of Kena‘an (Canaan). He dwelt in the land of Haran , and Avram dwelt with Terach his father in Haran for two weeks of years (fourteen years).
16
In the sixth week, in its fifth year, Avram sat up throughout the night on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the seventh month to observe the stars from evening until morning, to discern the character of the year regarding the rains. He was alone as he sat and observed.
17
And a word came into his heart, and he said: "All the signs of the stars, the moon, and the sun are in the hand of Yahuah . Why should I search them out?
18
If He desires, He causes it to rain morning and evening; and if He desires, He withholds it. All things are in His hand."
19
He prayed that night and said: "My Elohim , El Elyon (God Most High), You alone are my Elohim . You and Your dominion have I chosen. You have created all things, and all things that exist are the work of Your hands.
20
Deliver me from the hands of evil ruchim who have sway over the thoughts of men's hearts. Let them not lead me astray from You, my Elohim . Establish me and my seed forever, that we may not go astray from now and forevermore."
21
And he said, "Shall I return to Ur Kasdim , where they seek my face so that I may return to them? Or shall I remain here in this place? Make the right path prosper before You, in the hands of Your servant, that he may fulfill it—that I may not walk in the deceitfulness of my heart, O my Elohim ."
22
When he finished speaking and praying, behold, the word of Yahuah was sent to him through me, saying: "Leave your land, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great and numerous nation.
23
I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing on the earth, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
24
I will be Elohim to you, to your son, to your grandson, and to all your seed. Do not fear—from now and to all generations of the earth, I am your Elohim ."
25
And Yahuah Elohim said: "Open his mouth and his ears, that he may hear and speak with his mouth in the language which has been revealed"—for it had ceased from the mouths of all the children of men since the day of the overthrow (of Bavel).
26
And I opened his mouth, his ears, and his lips, and I began to speak with him in Ivrit (Hebrew), the tongue of creation.
27
He took the scrolls of his fathers, which were written in Ivrit , and transcribed them. From then on, he began to study them. I made known to him what he could not understand, and he studied them during the six rainy months.
28
In the seventh year of the sixth week, he spoke to his father and informed him that he would leave Haran to go to the land of Kena‘an to see it and then return to him.
29
Terach his father said to him: "Go in shalom (peace). May the El Olam (Eternal God) make your path straight. May Yahuah be with you and protect you from all evil. May He grant you chen (grace), rachamim (mercy), and favor in the eyes of all who see you. May no child of men have power over you to harm you. Go in shalom ."
30
"If you see a land pleasant to your eyes to dwell in, then arise, take me with you, and take Lot the son of Haran your brother as your own son. May Yahuah be with you."
31
"But leave Nachor , your brother, with me until you return in shalom . Then we will all go with you together."
Chapter 13 Avram in Kena‘an and Mitzrayim; Separation from Lot; The Campaign of Kedorla‘omer
1
Avram (Abram) journeyed from Haran , taking Sarai (Sarah), his wife, and Lot , his brother's son, to the land of Kena‘an (Canaan). He came to Ashur , proceeded to Shechem , and dwelt near a lofty elah (oak).
2
He saw that the land was very pleasant from the entrance of Chamat to the lofty oak.
3
Yahuah (the Lord) said to him, "To you and to your seed I will give this land."
4
He built a Mizbe‘ach (altar) there and offered an olah (burnt offering) to Yahuah , who had appeared to him.
5
He moved from there to the mountain between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and pitched his tent there.
6
He saw that the land was very broad and good. Everything grew there: vines, figs, pomegranates, oaks, terebinths, olive trees, cedars, cypresses, date trees, and all trees of the field. There was water on the mountains.
7
He blessed Yahuah , who had led him out of Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees) and brought him to this land.
8
In the first year of the seventh week, on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the first month, he built a Mizbe‘ach on this mountain and called upon the Name of Yahuah : "You, the El Olam (Eternal God), are my Elohim ."
9
He offered an olah on the Mizbe‘ach to Yahuah , that He should be with him and not forsake him all the days of his life.
10
He moved from there toward the Negev (south). He came to Chevron —which was built at that time—and dwelt there two years. Then he went into the land of the Negev , to Be‘alot , but there was a famine in the land.
11
Avram went into Mitzrayim (Egypt) in the third year of the week and dwelt there five years before his wife was taken from him.
12
Now Tanais in Mitzrayim was built at that time—seven years after Chevron .
13
When Par‘oh (Pharaoh) seized Sarai , the wife of Avram , Yahuah plagued Par‘oh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai , Avram 's wife.
14
Avram became very wealthy with possessions in sheep, cattle, donkeys, horses, camels, menservants, maidservants, silver, and gold. Lot , his brother's son, was also wealthy.
15
Par‘oh returned Sarai , Avram 's wife, and sent him out of the land of Mitzrayim . He journeyed back to the place where he had first pitched his tent, to the place of the Mizbe‘ach , with Ai on the east and Bethel on the west. He blessed Yahuah his Elohim , who had brought him back in shalom (peace).
16
In the forty-first Yovel (jubilee), in the third year of the first week, he returned to this place, offered an olah , called on the Name of Yahuah , and said, "You, El Elyon (God Most High), are my Elohim forever and ever."
17
In the fourth year of this week, Lot separated from him. Lot dwelt in Sodom , and the men of Sodom were exceedingly sinful.
18
It grieved Avram in his heart that his brother's son had parted from him, for he had no children.
19
That year, after Lot had parted from him—in the fourth year of this week— Yahuah said to Avram , "Lift up your eyes from the place where you are dwelling, northward, southward, westward, and eastward.
20
All the land which you see, I will give to you and to your seed forever. I will make your seed as the sand of the sea. Though a man may number the dust of the earth, your seed shall not be numbered.
21
Arise, walk through the land in its length and breadth, and see it all; for to your seed I will give it." And Avram went to Chevron and dwelt there.
22
That year, Kedorla‘omer , king of Elam ; Amraphel , king of Shinar ; Arioch , king of Ellasar ; and Tidal , king of nations, came and slew the king of Gomorrah . The king of Sodom fled, and many fell wounded in the Vale of Siddim , by the Salt Sea.
23
They took captive Sodom , Admah , and Tzeboim . They also took captive Lot , the son of Avram 's brother, and all his possessions, and went to Dan .
24
One who had escaped came and told Avram that his brother's son had been taken captive. Avram armed his household servants…
25
…for Avram and for his seed, a tenth of the bikurim (firstfruits) to Yahuah . And Yahuah ordained it as a statute forever that they should give it to the kohanim (priests) who serve before Him, that they should possess it forever.
26
To this Torah (law) there is no limit of days. He ordained it for the generations forever that they should give to Yahuah the ma‘aser (tithe) of everything: of the seed, the wine, the oil, the cattle, and the sheep.
27
He gave it to His kohanim to eat and to drink with joy before Him.
28
The king of Sodom came to him, bowed before him, and said, "My lord Avram , give us the souls you have rescued, but let the spoil be yours."
29
Avram said to him, "I lift up my hands to El Elyon , that from a thread to a sandal strap, I will not take anything that is yours, lest you say, 'I have made Avram rich.' Save only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me— Aner , Eshkol , and Mamre . These shall take their portion."
Chapter 14 Yahuah's Covenant with Avram; The Birth of Yishma‘el
1
After these things, in the fourth year of this week, on the Rosh Chodesh of the third month, the word of Yahuah came to Avram in a dream, saying: "Do not fear, Avram ; I am your shield, and your reward will be exceedingly great."
2
And he said: " Adonai Yahuah , what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the son of Maseq , the son of my handmaid, is Dammasek Eliezer ; he will be my heir, and to me You have given no seed."
3
And He said to him: "This man will not be your heir, but one who will come out of your own bowels; he will be your heir."
4
He brought him outside and said to him: "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them."
5
He looked toward heaven and beheld the stars. And He said to him: "So shall your seed be."
6
He believed in Yahuah , and it was counted to him as tzedakah (righteousness).
7
And He said to him: "I am Yahuah , who brought you out of Ur Kasdim , to give you this land to possess it forever. I will be Elohim to you and to your seed after you."
8
He said: " Adonai Yahuah , how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
9
He said to him: "Take Me a heifer of three years, a female goat of three years, a ram of three years, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon."
10
He took all these in the middle of the month and dwelt at the oak of Mamre , which is near Chevron .
11
He built a Mizbe‘ach there and sacrificed all these. He poured their blood upon the Mizbe‘ach , divided them in the midst, and laid them over against each other; but the birds he did not divide.
12
Birds came down upon the pieces, and Avram drove them away. He did not allow the birds to touch them.
13
When the sun had set, a tardemah (deep sleep) fell upon Avram , and behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And it was said to Avram : "Know for certain that your seed will be strangers in a land not theirs. They will be enslaved and afflicted for four hundred years.
14
The nation also to whom they will be enslaved I will judge. After that, they will come out with great substance.
15
You will go to your fathers in shalom and be buried in a good old age.
16
In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Emorites (Amorites) is not yet full."
17
He awoke from his sleep and arose. The sun had set. There was a flame—and behold, a smoking furnace and a flaming torch passed between the pieces.
18
On that day, Yahuah made a brit (covenant) with Avram , saying: "To your seed I will give this land, from the River of Mitzrayim to the great river, the River Perat (Euphrates)—the Kenites , the Kenizzites , the Kadmonites , the Perizzites , the Rephaim , the Phakorites , the Hivites , the Emorites , the Kena‘anites , the Girgashites , and the Yevusites (Jebusites)."
19
The day passed, and Avram offered the pieces, the birds, and their minchah (grain offerings) and nesachim (drink offerings). The fire devoured them.
20
On that day, we made a brit with Avram , just as we had covenanted with Noach (Noah) in this month. Avram renewed the festival and ordinance for himself forever.
21
Avram rejoiced and made all these things known to Sarai his wife. He believed that he would have seed, but she did not bear.
22
Sarai advised her husband Avram , saying to him: "Go in to Hagar , my Mitzri (Egyptian) maidservant; perhaps I may build up seed through her."
23
Avram listened to the voice of Sarai his wife and said to her, "Do so." Sarai took Hagar , her Mitzri maidservant, and gave her to Avram her husband to be his wife.
24
He went in to her, and she conceived and bore him a son. He called his name Yishma‘el (Ishmael), in the fifth year of this week. This was the eighty-sixth year in the life of Avram .
Chapter 15 The Feast of Firstfruits; The Covenant of Circumcision; The Promise of Yitzchak's Birth
1
In the fifth year of the fourth week of this Yovel (jubilee), in the third month, in the middle of the month, Avraham (Abraham) celebrated the Chag HaBikkurim (Feast of Firstfruits) of the grain harvest.
2
He offered new offerings on the Mizbe‘ach (altar)—the firstfruits of the produce—to Yahuah (the Lord): a heifer, a female goat, and a sheep on the Mizbe‘ach as an olah (burnt offering) to Yahuah . He offered their minchah (grain offerings) and nesachim (drink offerings) upon the Mizbe‘ach with levonah (frankincense).
3
And Yahuah appeared to Avraham and said to him: "I am El Shaddai (God Almighty); walk before Me and be perfect."
4
"I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."
5
Avraham fell on his face, and Elohim talked with him, saying:
6
"Behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of many nations."
7
"No longer will your name be called Avram , but your name from now on, even forever, shall be Avraham . For I have made you the father of many nations."
8
"I will make you very great. I will make you into nations, and kings will come forth from you."
9
"I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you, throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant, that I may be Elohim to you and to your seed after you."
10
"I will give to you and to your seed after you the land where you have been a sojourner—the whole land of Kena‘an (Canaan)—as an everlasting possession, and I will be their Elohim ."
11
And Yahuah said to Avraham : "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you. Circumcise every male among you, and circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a sign of the everlasting covenant between Me and you."
12
"On the eighth day, you shall circumcise every male throughout your generations—he who is born in the house, or he who is bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed."
13
"He who is born in your house must surely be circumcised, and those bought with money must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh as an everlasting ordinance."
14
"Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day—that soul shall be cut off from his people, for he has broken My covenant."
15
And Elohim said to Avraham : "As for Sarai , your wife, her name shall no longer be called Sarai , but Sarah shall be her name."
16
"I will bless her, and I will give you a son through her. I will bless him, and he will become a nation, and kings of nations will come from him."
17
Avraham fell on his face and rejoiced. He said in his heart, "Shall a son be born to one who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah , who is ninety years old, give birth?"
18
Avraham said to Elohim : "O that Yishma‘el (Ishmael) might live before You!"
19
And Elohim said: "Yes, but Sarah , your wife, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Yitzchak (Isaac). I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him."
20
"As for Yishma‘el , I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him, make him great, and multiply him exceedingly. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation."
21
"But My covenant I will establish with Yitzchak, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year."
22
He finished speaking with him, and Elohim went up from Avraham.
23
Avraham did just as Elohim had said to him. He took Yishma‘el his son, all those born in his house, and all bought with his money—every male in his house—and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.
24
On that same day, Avraham was circumcised, along with all the men of his house—those born in the house and those bought with money from the children of the foreigner.
25
This Torah (law) is for all generations forever. There is no shortening of the days and no omission of a single day from the eight days, for it is an eternal ordinance, ordained and written on the heavenly tablets.
26
Every male who is born, whose foreskin is not circumcised on the eighth day, does not belong to the children of the covenant which Yahuah made with Avraham , but to the children of destruction. There is no sign upon him that he belongs to Yahuah , but he is destined to be destroyed and cut off from the earth, for he has broken the covenant of Yahuah our Elohim .
27
For all the malakhei ha’panim (angels of the presence) and all the malakhei ha’kodesh (angels of sanctification) have been created this way from the day of their creation. Before the malakhei ha’panim and the malakhei ha’kodesh , He has set apart Yisra’el (Israel), that they should be with Him and with His holy malachim (angels).
28
Command the children of Yisra’el and let them observe the sign of this beriyt [covenant] throughout their generations as an eternal ordinance, that they may not be rooted out of the land.
29
For this commandment is ordained as a beriyt [covenant], that they should observe it forever among all the children of Yisra’el.
30
Yishma‘el, his sons, his brothers, and Esav (Esau)— Yahuah did not cause them to approach Him. He did not choose them, even though they are children of Avraham, because He knew them. But He chose Yisra’el to be His people.
31
He sanctified Yisra’el and gathered them from among all the children of men. For there are many nations and many peoples, and all belong to Him. Over all of them He has placed ruchim (spirits) in authority to lead them astray from Him.
32
But over Yisra’el He did not appoint any malach (angel) or ruach, for He alone is their Ruler. He will preserve them and require them at the hand of His malachim and His ruchim , and at the hand of all His powers, so that He may preserve them and bless them, and that they may be His and He may be theirs from now and forever.
33
Now I announce to you that the children of Yisra’el will not keep this ordinance. They will not circumcise their sons according to this entire Torah. In the flesh of their circumcision, they will omit this circumcision of their sons, and all of them—sons of Beliya‘al —will leave their sons uncircumcised, just as they were born.
34
There will be great wrath from Yahuah against the children of Yisra’el because they have forsaken His covenant, turned aside from His word, provoked Him, and blasphemed, inasmuch as they do not observe the ordinance of this Torah. They have treated their members like the Goyim (Gentiles), so that they may be removed and rooted out of the land. There will no longer be pardon or forgiveness for them for all the sin of this eternal error.
Chapter 16 Angelic Visitation at Mamre; Destruction of Sodom; Birth of Yitzchak; Institution of Sukkot
1
On the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the fourth month, we (the malachim ) appeared to Avraham at the oak of Mamre . We spoke with him and announced that a son would be given to him through Sarah his wife.
2
Sarah laughed when she heard these words, so we admonished her. She became afraid and denied having laughed.
3
We told her the name of her son, as it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets: Yitzchak (Isaac).
4
We said that when we returned to her at the appointed time, she would have conceived a son.
5
In this month, Yahuah executed His judgments on Sodom , Gomorrah , Tzebo’im , and all the region of the Yarden (Jordan). He burned them with fire and brimstone, destroying them until this day. I have declared to you all their works: they are exceedingly wicked and sinful, defiling themselves and committing zenut (fornication) in their flesh, working uncleanness on the earth.
6
In like manner, Elohim will execute judgment on the places where they have done according to the uncleanness of the Sodomites , like the judgment of Sodom .
7
But Lot we saved, for Elohim remembered Avraham and sent him out from the midst of the overthrow.
8
Yet Lot and his daughters committed a sin upon the earth such as had not been since the days of Adam until that time, for the man lay with his daughters.
9
Behold, it was commanded and engraved concerning all his seed on the heavenly tablets: to remove them, root them out, and execute judgment upon them like the judgment of Sodom , leaving no seed of that man on earth on the Yom HaDin (Day of Condemnation).
10
In this month, Avraham moved from Chevron (Hebron) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur , in the mountains of Gerar .
11
In the middle of the fifth month, he moved from there and dwelt at the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath).
12
In the middle of the sixth month, Yahuah visited Sarah and did to her as He had spoken, and she conceived.
13
She bore a son in the third month, in the middle of the month, at the time Yahuah had spoken to Avraham —on the Chag HaBikkurim (Feast of Firstfruits) of the harvest. Yitzchak was born.
14
Avraham circumcised his son on the eighth day. He was the first to be circumcised according to the covenant ordained forever.
15
In the sixth year of the fourth week, we came to Avraham at the Be’er Sheva and appeared to him, as we had told Sarah we would return and she would have conceived a son.
16
We returned in the seventh month, found Sarah with child before us, and blessed him. We announced to him all that had been decreed concerning him: that he would not die until he had begotten six more sons and seen them before his death, but that in Yitzchak his name and seed would be called.
17
All the seed of his other sons would be Goyim (Gentiles) and reckoned among the Gentiles, but from the sons of Yitzchak one would become a holy seed and not be reckoned among the Gentiles.
18
For he would become the portion of Elyon (the Most High), and all his seed had fallen into the possession of Elohim , that they should be unto Yahuah a people for His possession above all nations—a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
19
We went our way and announced to Sarah all that we had told him. They both rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
20
He built there a Mizbe’ach (altar) to Yahuah , who had delivered him and made him rejoice in the land of his sojourning. He celebrated a festival of joy in this month for seven days near the altar he had built at the Be’er Sheva .
21
He built sukkot (booths) for himself and his servants during this festival. He was the first to celebrate Chag HaSukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) on the earth.
22
During these seven days, he brought to the Mizbe’ach each day an olah (burnt offering) to Yahuah : two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, and one male goat as a chata’t (sin offering), to make atonement for himself and his seed.
23
As a todah (thank offering): seven rams, seven kids, seven sheep, and seven male goats, with their minchot (grain offerings) and nesachim (drink offerings). He burned all the fat on the Mizbe’ach as a choice offering to Yahuah , a rei’ach nicho’ach (pleasing aroma).
24
Morning and evening, he burned fragrant substances: levonah (frankincense), chelbenah (galbanum) , nataf (stacte), nerd (nard), mor (myrrh), besamim (spice ), and ketzi’ah (costum). All seven he offered crushed, mixed together in equal parts, pure.
25
He celebrated this feast for seven days, rejoicing with all his heart and all his soul—he and all who were in his house. There was no stranger with him, nor any who was uncircumcised.
26
He blessed his Creator, who had created him in his generation, for He had created him according to His good pleasure. He knew and perceived that from him would arise the plant of righteousness for the eternal generations, and a holy seed that would become like Him who had made all things.
27
He blessed and rejoiced, and called the name of this festival the Chag Yahuah (Festival of the Lord)—a joy acceptable to El Elyon (God Most High).
28
We blessed him forever, and all his seed after him throughout all generations of the earth, because he celebrated this festival in its season according to the testimony of the heavenly tablets.
29
For this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets concerning Yisra’el (Israel): they shall celebrate Sukkot for seven days with joy in the seventh month, acceptable before Yahuah —a statute forever throughout their generations every year.
30
To this there is no limit of days; it is ordained forever that Yisra’el should celebrate it, dwell in sukkot , set wreaths upon their heads, and take leafy boughs and willows from the brook.
31
Avraham took branches of palm trees and the fruit of goodly trees. Every day, going around the Mizbe’ach with the branches seven times in the morning, he praised and gave thanks to his Elohim for all things in joy.
Chapter 17 The Expulsion of Hagar and Yishma’el; Mastema’s Proposal to Test Avraham
1
In the first year of the fifth week of this Yovel (jubilee), Yitzchak (Isaac) was weaned. Avraham (Abraham) made a great banquet in the third month, on the day his son Yitzchak was weaned.
2
And Yishma’el (Ishmael), the son of Hagar the Mitzri (Egyptian), was before the face of Avraham , his father, in his place. Avraham rejoiced and blessed Elohim (God) because he had seen his sons and had not died childless.
3
He remembered the words which Yahuah (the Lord) had spoken to him on the day when Lot had parted from him, and he rejoiced because Yahuah had given him seed upon the earth to inherit the earth. He blessed with all his mouth the Borei HaKol (Creator of All Things).
4
And Sarah saw Yishma’el playing and dancing, and Avraham rejoicing with great joy. She became jealous of Yishma’el and said to Avraham : "Cast out this shifchah (bondwoman) and her son! For the son of this bondwoman will not be heir with my son, Yitzchak ."
5
This thing was grievous in Avraham 's sight because of his maidservant and because of his son—that he should drive them away from him.
6
And Elohim said to Avraham : "Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the child and because of the bondwoman. In all that Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice and do it. For in Yitzchak your name and seed shall be called.
7
But as for the son of this bondwoman, I will make him a great nation, because he is your seed."
8
Avraham rose early in the morning, took bread and a bottle of water, placed them on the shoulders of Hagar and the child, and sent her away.
9
She departed and wandered in the wilderness of Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath). The water in the bottle was spent, and the child thirsted. He was not able to go on and fell down.
10
His mother took him and cast him under an olive tree. She went and sat opposite him at the distance of a bow-shot, for she said: "Let me not see the death of my child." As she sat, she wept.
11
A malach (angel) of Elohim , one of the holy ones, said to her: "Why do you weep, Hagar ? Arise, take the child and hold him in your hand, for Elohim has heard your voice and has seen the child."
12
She opened her eyes and saw a well of water. She went and filled her bottle with water and gave her child a drink. She arose and went toward the wilderness of Param .
13
The child grew and became an archer, and Elohim was with him. His mother took a wife for him from among the daughters of Mitzrayim (Egypt).
14
She bore him a son, and he called his name Nebaioth , for she said: " Yahuah was near to me when I called upon Him."
15
It came to pass in the seventh week, in its first year, in the first month of this Yovel , on the twelfth of this month, that there were voices in heaven concerning Avraham : that he was faithful in all that Yahuah had told him, that he loved Yahuah , and that in every affliction he was faithful.
16
And the prince Mastema came and said before Elohim : "Behold, Avraham loves Yitzchak his son, and he delights in him above all else. Bid him offer him as an olah (burnt offering) on the Mizbe’ach (altar), and You will see if he will do this command. Then You will know if he is faithful in everything by which You try him."
17
And Yahuah knew that Avraham was faithful in all his afflictions. For He had tried him through his country and with famine; He had tried him with the wealth of kings; He had tried him again through his wife when she was torn from him; He had tried him with milah (circumcision); and He had tried him through Yishma’el and Hagar his maidservant when he sent them away.
18
In everything by which He had tried him, Avraham was found faithful. His soul was not impatient, and he was not slow to act. For he was faithful and a lover of Yahuah.
Chapter 18 The Binding of Yitzchak; Avraham Returns to Be’er Sheva
1
And Elohim (God) said to him: " Avraham (Abraham), Avraham !" And he said: " Hineni (Here I am)."
2
And He said: "Take your beloved son, whom you love— Yitzchak (Isaac)—and go to the high country, and offer him there as an olah (burnt offering) on one of the mountains which I will point out to you."
3
He rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him and Yitzchak his son, and split the wood for the olah . He went to the place on the third day, and he saw the place from afar.
4
He came to a well of water and said to his young men: "Stay here with the donkey. I and the lad will go yonder, and when we have worshiped, we will return to you."
5
He took the wood for the olah and laid it on Yitzchak his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife, and the two of them went together to that place.
6
Yitzchak said to his father: "My father!" And he said: "Here I am, my son." He said to him: "Behold, the fire and the knife and the wood, but where is the lamb for the olah , my father?"
7
Avraham said: " Elohim will provide for Himself a lamb for the olah , my son." He drew near to the place of the mountain of Elohim .
8
He built a Mizbe‘ach (altar), arranged the wood on it, bound Yitzchak his son, and placed him on the wood upon the Mizbe‘ach . He stretched out his hand to take the knife to slay his son.
9
I (the malach ) stood before him, and before the prince Mastema . And Yahuah (the Lord) said: "Do not let him lay his hand on the lad, nor do anything to him, for I have shown that he fears Yahuah ."
10
I called to him from heaven: " Avraham , Avraham !" He was terrified and said: "Here I am."
11
I said to him: "Do not lay your hand on the lad, nor do anything to him. For now I know that you fear Elohim , and you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
12
The prince Mastema was put to shame. Avraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a ram caught by its horns. Avraham went and took the ram and offered it as an olah in place of his son.
13
Avraham called that place " Yahuah Yireh (The Lord Has Seen)"; therefore it is said, "On the mountain Yahuah is seen"—that is Mount Tzion .
14
Yahuah called Avraham by name a second time from heaven, as He caused us to appear to speak to him in the Name of Yahuah .
15
And He said: "By Myself I have sworn, declares Yahuah : Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your beloved son, from Me, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gates of its enemies,
16
And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. I have shown to all that you are faithful to Me in all that I have said to you. Go in shalom (peace)."
17
Avraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath). Avraham dwelt by the Well of the Oath.
18
He celebrated this festival every year for seven days with joy. He called it the Chag Yahuah (Festival of the Lord), according to the seven days during which he went and returned in shalom .
19
Accordingly, it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets concerning Yisra’el (Israel) and its seed, that they should observe this festival for seven days with the joy of the festival.
Chapter 19 The Death and Burial of Sarah; The Marriage of Yitzchak; The Birth of Esav and Ya‘akov; Avraham’s Blessing of Ya‘akov
1
In the first year of the first week of the forty-second Yovel (jubilee), Avraham returned and dwelt opposite Chevron (Hebron), that is Kirjath Arba , for two weeks of years.
2
In the first year of the third week of this Yovel , the days of Sarah 's life were completed, and she died in Chevron .
3
Avraham went to mourn for her and to bury her. We tested him to see if his spirit was patient and if he was not indignant in the words of his mouth. He was found patient in this and was not disturbed.
4
For in patience of spirit he conversed with the children of Chet (Heth), that they might give him a place to bury his dead.
5
Yahuah gave him favor before all who saw him. He besought the sons of Chet with gentleness, and they gave him the land of the Machpelah (Double Cave) opposite Mamre —that is Chevron —for four hundred shekels of silver.
6
They begged him, saying, "We will give it to you for nothing." But he would not take it from their hands for nothing, for he paid the full price of the place. He bowed down before them twice, and after this he buried his dead in the Double Cave.
7
All the days of Sarah 's life were one hundred and twenty-seven years—that is, two Yovelim , four weeks, and one year. These are the days of the years of Sarah 's life.
8
This was the tenth trial with which Avraham was tried, and he was found faithful, patient in spirit.
9
He did not speak a single word regarding the rumor in the land—how Elohim had said He would give it to him and to his seed after him—yet he begged a place there to bury his dead. For he was found faithful and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the Ohev Elohim (Friend of God).
10
In the fourth year thereof, Avraham took a wife for his son Yitzchak . Her name was Rivkah (Rebecca), the daughter of Betu’el , the son of Nachor , the brother of Avraham . She was the sister of Lavan and the daughter of Betu’el ; and Betu’el was the son of Milcah , who was the wife of Nachor , the brother of Avraham .
11
Avraham took for himself a third wife, and her name was Keturah , from among the daughters of his household servants. For Hagar had died before Sarah .
12
She bore him six sons: Zimran , Yokshan , Medan , Midian , Yishbak , and Shuach —within two weeks of years.
13
In the sixth week, in the second year thereof, Rivkah bore to Yitzchak two sons: Ya‘akov (Jacob) and Esav (Esau). Ya‘akov was a smooth and upright man, but Esav was fierce, a man of the field, and hairy. Ya‘akov dwelt in tents.
14
The youths grew. Ya‘akov learned to write, but Esav did not learn, for he was a man of the field and a hunter. He learned war, and all his deeds were fierce.
15
Avraham loved Ya‘akov , but Yitzchak loved Esav .
16
Avraham saw the deeds of Esav and knew that in Ya‘akov his name and seed would be called. He called Rivkah and gave her a commandment regarding Ya‘akov , for he knew that she also loved Ya‘akov much more than Esav .
17
He said to her: "My daughter, watch over my son Ya‘akov , for he shall be in my stead on the earth, and for a blessing in the midst of the children of men, and for the glory of the whole seed of Shem .
18
For I know that Yahuah will choose him to be a people for His possession, above all peoples upon the face of the earth.
19
Behold, Yitzchak my son loves Esav more than Ya‘akov , but I see that you truly love Ya‘akov .
20
Add still further to your kindness to him, and let your eyes be upon him in love; for he will be a blessing to us on the earth from now unto all generations of the earth.
21
Let your hands be strong, and let your heart rejoice in your son Ya‘akov ; for I have loved him far beyond all my sons. He will be blessed forever, and his seed will fill the whole earth.
22
If a man can number the sand of the earth, his seed also will be numbered.
23
All the blessings with which Yahuah has blessed me and my seed shall belong to Ya‘akov and his seed always.
24
In his seed shall my name be blessed, and the name of my fathers: Shem , Noach , Chanokh , Mahalal’el , Enosh , Shet , and Adam .
25
These shall serve to lay the foundations of heaven, and to strengthen the earth, and to renew all the luminaries which are in the firmament."
26
He called Ya‘akov before the eyes of Rivkah his mother, kissed him, and blessed him, saying:
27
" Ya‘akov , my beloved son, whom my soul loves, may Elohim bless you from above the firmament. May He give you all the blessings with which He blessed Adam , Chanokh , Noach , and Shem . May all the things He told me and all the things He promised to give me cleave to you and to your seed forever, according to the days of heaven above the earth.
28
The spirits of Mastema shall not rule over you or over your seed, to turn you from Yahuah , who is your Elohim from now and forever.
29
May Yahuah Elohim be a father to you, and you the firstborn son, and to the people always. Go in shalom , my son."
30
They both went forth together from Avraham .
31
Rivkah loved Ya‘akov with all her heart and with all her soul, very much more than Esav ; but Yitzchak loved Esav much more than Ya‘akov .
Chapter 20 Avraham’s Last Words to His Children and Grandchildren
1
In the forty-second Yovel (jubilee), in the first year of the seventh week, Avraham (Abraham) called Yishma’el (Ishmael) and his twelve sons, Yitzchak (Isaac) and his two sons, and the six sons of Keturah and their sons.
2
He commanded them that they should observe the derech Yahuah (way of the Lord): that they should work tzedakah (righteousness), love each his neighbor, and act in this manner among all men; that each should walk with regard to them so as to do mishpat (justice) and tzedakah on the earth.
3
They should circumcise their sons according to the covenant which He had made with them, and not deviate to the right hand or the left from all the paths which Yahuah had commanded us. They were to keep themselves from all zenut (fornication) and tum’ah (uncleanness), and renounce all such from among them.
4
If any woman or maid commit fornication among you, burn her with fire. Let them not commit fornication with her after their eyes and their heart. Let them not take wives from the daughters of Kena‘an (Canaan), for the seed of Kena‘an will be rooted out of the land.
5
He told them of the judgment of the Nefilim (giants) and the judgment of the Sodomites —how they had been judged on account of their wickedness and had died because of their fornication, uncleanness, and mutual corruption through zenut .
6
He said: "Guard yourselves from all fornication and uncleanness, and from all pollution of sin, lest you make our name a curse, and your whole life a hissing, and all your sons be destroyed by the sword, and you become accursed like Sodom , and all your remnant like the sons of Gomorrah .
7
I implore you, my sons: love the Elohim of heaven, and cling to all His commandments. Do not walk after their idols or after their uncleannesses.
8
Do not make for yourselves molten or graven gods, for they are vanity, and there is no ruach (spirit) in them; they are the work of men's hands, and all who trust in them trust in nothing. Do not serve them, nor worship them.
9
But serve El Elyon (the Most High God), and worship Him continually. Hope for His countenance always, and work uprightness and tzedakah before Him, that He may have pleasure in you and grant you His mercy, and send rain upon you morning and evening, and bless all your works which you have wrought upon the earth, and bless your bread and your water, and bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, and the herds of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep.
10
You will be for a berachah (blessing) on the earth, and all nations of the earth will desire you, and bless your sons in my name, that they may be blessed as I am."
11
He gave to Yishma’el and to his sons, and to the sons of Keturah , gifts, and sent them away from Yitzchak his son. He gave everything to Yitzchak his son.
12
Yishma’el and his sons, and the sons of Keturah and their sons, went together and dwelt from Param to the entrance of Bavel (Babylon)—in all the land which is toward the east, facing the desert.
13
These mingled with each other, and their name was called Aravim (Arabs) and Yishma’elim (Ishmaelites).
Chapter 21 Avraham's Last Words to Yitzchak
1
In the sixth year of the seventh week of this Yovel , Avraham called Yitzchak his son and commanded him, saying: "I have grown old, and I do not know the day of my death, and I am full of days.
2
Behold, I am one hundred and seventy-five years old, and throughout all the days of my life I have remembered Yahuah and have sought with all my heart to do His will and to walk uprightly in all His ways.
3
My soul has hated idols; I have despised those who serve them, and I have given my heart and spirit to observe the will of Him who created me.
4
For He is the living Elohim ; He is holy and faithful, and He is righteous beyond all. There is with Him no accepting of persons and no taking of bribes, for Elohim is righteous and executes judgment on all who transgress His commandments and despise His covenant.
5
And you, my son, observe His commandments, His ordinances, and His judgments. Do not walk after the abominations, after the graven images, or after the molten images.
6
Eat no blood at all—whether of animals, cattle, or any bird that flies in the heavens.
7
If you slay a victim as an acceptable shelem (peace offering), slay it and pour out its blood upon the Mizbe‘ach (altar). All the fat of the offering you shall offer on the Mizbe‘ach with fine flour and the minchah (grain offering) mingled with oil, together with its nesech (drink offering). Offer them all together on the Mizbe‘ach of the olah (burnt offering)—it is a rei’ach nicho’ach (sweet savor) before Yahuah .
8
You shall offer the fat of the sacrifice of todah (thank offerings) on the fire, which is upon the Mizbe‘ach : the fat that covers the belly, all the fat on the innards, the two kidneys, all the fat that is upon them and upon the loins, and the liver—you shall remove these together with the kidneys.
9
Offer all these for a sweet savor acceptable before Yahuah , with its minchah and its nesech , as the lechem (bread) of the offering to Yahuah .
10
Eat its meat on that day and on the second day. Do not let the sun on the second day go down upon it until it is eaten. Let nothing be left over for the third day, for it is not acceptable. Let it no longer be eaten, and all who eat of it will bring sin upon themselves. For thus I have found it written in the books of my forefathers, in the words of Chanokh (Enoch), and in the words of Noach (Noah).
11
On all your oblations you shall sprinkle salt; do not let the salt of the covenant be lacking from all your oblations before Yahuah .
12
Concerning the wood for the sacrifices: beware that you bring no other wood for the Mizbe‘ach besides these: cypress, defran, sagad, pine, fir, cedar, savin, palm, olive, myrrh, laurel, citron, juniper, and balsam.
13
Of these kinds of wood, lay upon the Mizbe‘ach under the sacrifice such as have been tested for their appearance. Do not lay any split or dark wood, but hard and clean, without fault—a sound and new growth. Do not lay old wood, for its fragrance is gone and there is no longer fragrance in it as before.
14
Besides these kinds of wood, there is no other that you shall place on the Mizbe‘ach , for the fragrance is dispersed and the smell of its fragrance does not go up to heaven.
15
Observe this commandment and do it, my son, that you may be upright in all your deeds.
16
At all times be clean in your body. Wash yourself with water before you approach to offer on the Mizbe‘ach . Wash your hands and your feet before you draw near to the Mizbe‘ach . When you have finished sacrificing, wash again your hands and your feet.
17
Let no blood appear upon you or upon your clothes. Be on your guard, my son, against blood—be on your guard exceedingly. Cover it with dust.
18
Do not eat any blood, for it is the nefesh (soul/life). Eat no blood whatever.
19
Take no gifts for the blood of a man, lest it be shed with impunity without judgment. For it is the blood that is shed that causes the earth to sin, and the earth cannot be cleansed from the blood of man except by the blood of him who shed it.
20
Take no present or gift for the blood of man: blood for blood, that you may be accepted before Yahuah , El Elyon (the Most High God). For He is the defense of the good, that you may be preserved from all evil and that He may save you from every kind of death.
21
I see, my son, that all the works of the children of men are sin and wickedness. And all their deeds are uncleanness, an abomination, and a pollution. And there is no righteousness with them.
22
Beware, lest you walk in their ways and tread in their paths, and sin a sin unto death before El Elyon . Otherwise He will hide His face from you, and give you back into the hands of your transgression, and root you out of the land, and your seed likewise from under heaven. And your name and your seed will perish from the whole earth.
23
Turn away from all their deeds and all their uncleanness. And observe the ordinance of El Elyon . And do His will, and be upright in all things.
24
Then He will bless you in all your deeds. And will raise up from you the plant of righteousness through all the earth, throughout all generations of the earth. And my name and your name will not be forgotten under heaven forever.
25
Go, my son, in shalom . May El Elyon , my Elohim and your Elohim , strengthen you to do His will, and may He bless all your seed and the residue of your seed for the generations forever with all righteous blessings, that you may be a blessing on all the earth."
26
And he went out from him, rejoicing.
Chapter 22 Yitzchak, Yishma’el, and Ya‘akov Join with Avraham for the Last Time; Avraham's Prayer and Blessing of Ya‘akov
1
It came to pass in the first week of the forty-fourth Yovel (jubilee), in the second year—that is, the year in which Avraham (Abraham) died—that Yitzchak (Isaac) and Yishma’el (Ishmael) came from the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath) to celebrate Chag Shavuot —that is, the Chag HaBikkurim (Feast of Firstfruits) of the harvest—to Avraham their father. Avraham rejoiced because his two sons had come.
2
For Yitzchak had many possessions in Be’er Sheva , and Yitzchak was accustomed to go and see his possessions and then return to his father.
3
In those days, Yishma’el came to see his father, and they both came together. Yitzchak offered a sacrifice as an olah (burnt offering) and presented it on the Mizbe‘ach (altar) of his father, which he had made in Chevron (Hebron).
4
He also offered a todah (thank offering) and made a feast of joy before Yishma’el his brother. Rivkah (Rebecca) made new cakes from the new grain and gave them to Ya‘akov (Jacob) her son, to take them to Avraham his father from the firstfruits of the land, that he might eat and bless the Borei HaKol (Creator of All Things) before he died.
5
Yitzchak also sent by the hand of Ya‘akov to Avraham a choice thank offering, that he might eat and drink.
6
Avraham ate and drank, and blessed El Elyon (God Most High), who has created heaven and earth, who has made all the fat things of the earth and given them to the children of men, that they might eat and drink and bless their Creator.
7
"And now I give thanks to You, my Elohim , because You have caused me to see this day. Behold, I am one hundred and seventy-five years old—an old man and full of days—and all my days have been shalom to me.
8
The sword of the adversary has not overcome me in all that You have given me and my children all the days of my life until this day.
9
My Elohim , may Your mercy and Your shalom be upon Your servant, and upon the seed of his sons, that they may be to You a chosen nation and an inheritance from among all the nations of the earth, from now unto all the days of the generations of the earth, unto all the ages."
10
Avraham called Ya‘akov and said: "My son Ya‘akov , may the Elohim of all bless you and strengthen you to do tzedakah (righteousness) and His will before Him. May He choose you and your seed that you may become a people for His inheritance according to His will always. And now, my son Ya‘akov , draw near and kiss me."
11
He drew near and kissed him, and Avraham said: "Blessed be my son Ya‘akov . And all the sons of El Elyon , unto all the ages. May Elohim give to you a seed of righteousness, and some of your sons may He sanctify in the midst of the whole earth. May nations serve you, and all the nations bow down before your seed.
12
Be strong in the presence of men, and exercise authority over all the seed of Shet (Seth). Then your ways and the ways of your sons will be justified, so that they shall become a kadosh goy (holy nation).
13
May El Elyon give you all the blessings with which He has blessed me, and with which He blessed Noach (Noah) and Adam . May they rest on the sacred head of your seed from generation to generation forever.
14
May He cleanse you from all unrighteousness and impurity, that you may be forgiven all your transgressions and your sins of ignorance. May He strengthen you and bless you, and may you inherit the whole earth.
15
May He renew His brit (covenant) with you, that you may be to Him a nation for His inheritance for all the ages, and that He may be to you and to your seed an Elohim in truth and righteousness throughout all the days of the earth.
16
And you, my son Ya‘akov , remember my words. And observe the mitzvot (commandments) of Avraham your father. Separate yourself from the nations, and do not eat with them; do not act according to their works. And do not become their associate. For their works are unclean, and all their ways are a pollution, an abomination, and uncleanness.
17
They offer their sacrifices to the dead, and they worship evil ruachot (spirits), and they eat over the graves. All their works are vanity and nothingness.
18
They have no heart to understand, and their eyes do not see what their works are, and how they err in saying to a piece of wood: 'You are my Elohim ,' and to a stone: 'You are my Lord and my deliverer.'
19
As for you, my son Ya‘akov , may El Elyon help you, and the Elohim of heaven bless you, and remove you from their uncleanness and from all their error.
20
Be careful, my son Ya‘akov , of taking a wife from any seed of the daughters of Kena‘an (Canaan), for all his seed is to be rooted out of the earth.
21
For, owing to the transgression of Cham (Ham), Kena‘an erred, and all his seed will be destroyed from off the earth, and all the residue thereof, and none springing from him will be saved on the Yom HaDin (Day of Judgment).
22
As for all the worshippers of idols and the profane: there will be no hope for them in the land of the living, and there will be no remembrance of them on the earth, for they will descend into Sheol , and into the place of condemnation will they go, just as the children of Sodom were taken away from the earth, so will all those who worship idols be taken away.
23
Fear not, my son Ya‘akov , and be not dismayed, O son of Avraham . May El Elyon preserve you from destruction, and from all the paths of error may He deliver you.
24
This house have I built for myself that I might put My Name upon it in the earth. It is given to you and to your seed forever, and it will be called the house of Avraham . It is given to you and to your seed forever, for you will build My house and establish My Name before Elohim forever. Your seed and your name will stand throughout all generations of the earth."
25
He ceased commanding him and blessing him.
26
The two lay together on one bed, and Ya‘akov slept in the bosom of Avraham , his father's father. Avraham kissed him seven times, and his affection and his heart rejoiced over him.
27
He blessed him with all his heart and said: " El Elyon , the Elohim of all, and Creator of all, who brought me out from Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees) that He might give me this land to inherit it forever, and that I might establish a holy seed—blessed be El Elyon forever."
28
He blessed Ya‘akov and said: "My son, over whom with all my heart and my affection I rejoice, may Your grace and Your mercy be lifted up upon him and upon his seed always.
29
Do not forsake him, nor set him at nothing from now unto the days of eternity. May Your eyes be opened upon him and upon his seed, that You may preserve him, bless him, and sanctify him as a nation for Your inheritance.
30
Bless him with all Your blessings from now unto all the days of eternity. Renew Your brit and Your grace with him and with his seed according to all Your good pleasure, unto all the generations of the earth."
Chapter 23 The Death and Burial of Avraham; The Decreasing Years and Increasing Corruption of Mankind; The Messianic Woes; The Renewal of All Things
1
He placed two fingers of Ya‘akov on his eyes, blessed the Elohim of elohim , covered his face, stretched out his feet, and slept the sleep of eternity. He was gathered to his fathers.
2
Yet all the while Ya‘akov was lying in his bosom and did not know that Avraham , his father's father, was dead.
3
Ya‘akov awoke from his sleep, and behold, Avraham was cold as ice. He said: "Father! Father!" But there was no one who spoke, and he knew that he was dead.
4
He arose from his bosom, ran, and told Rivkah his mother. Rivkah went to Yitzchak in the night and told him. They went together, and Ya‘akov with them, a lamp in his hand. When they had gone in, they found Avraham lying dead.
5
Yitzchak fell on the face of his father, wept, and kissed him.
6
Voices were heard in the house of Avraham . Yishma’el his son arose and went to Avraham his father and wept over him—he and all the house of Avraham —and they wept with a great weeping.
7
His sons Yitzchak and Yishma’el buried him in the Machpelah (Double Cave) near Sarah his wife. They wept for him forty days—all the men of his house, Yitzchak and Yishma’el , all their sons, and all the sons of Keturah in their places. And the days of weeping for Avraham were ended.
8
He lived three Yovelim and four weeks of years—one hundred and seventy-five years—and completed the days of his life, being old and full of days.
9
For the days of the forefathers—of their life—were nineteen Yovelim . After the Mabbul (Flood) they began to grow less than nineteen Yovelim , to decrease in Yovelim , to grow old quickly, and to be full of their days by reason of manifold tribulation and the wickedness of their ways—with the exception of Avraham .
10
For Avraham was perfect in all his deeds with Yahuah and was well-pleasing in righteousness all the days of his life. Yet behold, he did not complete four Yovelim in his life, having grown old by reason of wickedness and being full of his days.
11
All the generations that will arise from this time until the day of the great judgment will grow old quickly, before they complete two Yovelim . Their knowledge will forsake them by reason of their old age, and all their knowledge will vanish away.
12
In those days, if a man lives a Yovel and a half of years, they will say regarding him: "He has lived long, but the greater part of his days are pain, sorrow, and tribulation, and there is no shalom .
13
For calamity follows calamity, wound upon wound, tribulation upon tribulation, evil tidings upon evil tidings, illness upon illness—all such evil judgments one with another: illness, overthrow, snow, frost, ice, fever, chills, torpor, famine, death, sword, captivity, and all kinds of calamities and pains."
14
All these will come upon an evil generation that transgresses on the earth. Their works are uncleanness, zenut (fornication), pollution, and abominations.
15
Then they will say: "The days of the forefathers were many—even unto a thousand years—and were good. But behold, the days of our life, if a man has lived many, are seventy years, and if he is strong, eighty years—and those evil. And there is no shalom in the days of this evil generation."
16
In that generation, the sons will convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, of the words of their mouth, of the great wickednesses they perpetrate, and concerning their forsaking the brit (covenant) which Yahuah made between them and Him—that they should observe and do all His mitzvot (commandments), ordinances, and laws, without departing to the right hand or to the left.
17
For all have done evil, every mouth speaks iniquity, all their works are uncleanness and an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness, and destruction.
18
Behold, the earth will be destroyed on account of all their works. There will be no seed of the vine and no oil, for their works are altogether faithless. They will all perish together—beasts, cattle, birds, and all the fish of the sea—on account of the children of men.
19
They will strive one with another: the young with the old, the old with the young, the poor with the rich, the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince—on account of the Torah and the covenant. For they have forgotten the commandment, the covenant, the feasts, the months, the Shabbatot (Sabbaths), the Yovelim , and all judgments.
20
They will stand with bows and swords and war to turn them back into the way, but they will not return until much blood has been shed on the earth, one by another.
21
Those who have escaped will not return from their wickedness to the way of righteousness. They will all exalt themselves to deceit and wealth, that each may take all that is his neighbor's. They will name the great name, but not in truth and not in righteousness. They will defile the Kodesh HaKodashim (Holy of Holies) with their uncleanness and the corruption of their pollution.
22
A great punishment will befall the deeds of this generation from Yahuah . He will give them over to the sword, to judgment, to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured.
23
He will wake up against them, the sinners of the Goyim (Gentiles), who have neither mercy nor compassion. They will respect the person of none—neither old nor young, nor any one—for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all the children of men. They will use violence against Yisra’el (Israel) and transgression against Ya‘akov . Much blood will be shed upon the earth, and there will be none to gather and none to bury.
24
In those days they will cry aloud, and call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the Gentiles; but none will be saved.
25
The heads of the children will be white with grey hair, and a child of three weeks will appear old like a man of one hundred years, and their stature will be destroyed by tribulation and oppression.
26
In those days, the children will begin to study the Torot (laws), and to seek the mitzvot , and to return to the path of righteousness.
27
The days will begin to grow many and increase among those children of men, till their days draw near to one thousand years, and to a greater number of years than was the number of the days before.
28
There will be no old man, nor one who is not satisfied with his days, for all will be as children and youths.
29
All their days they will complete and live in shalom and in joy, and there will be no Satan nor any evil destroyer, for all their days will be days of blessing and healing.
30
At that time, Yahuah will heal His servants, and they will rise up and see great shalom , and drive out their adversaries. The righteous will see and be thankful, and rejoice with joy forever and ever, and will see all their judgments and all their curses upon their enemies.
31
Their bones will rest in the earth, and their spirits will have much joy, and they will know that it is Yahuah who executes judgment and shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all who love Him.
32
And you, Mosheh (Moses), write down these words, for thus they are written and recorded on the heavenly tablets as a testimony for the generations forever.
Chapter 24 Yitzchak at the Well of Vision; Esav Sells His Birthright; Yitzchak's Sojourn in Gerar; The Wells; The Curse on the Pelishtim
1
After the death of Avraham (Abraham), Yahuah (the Lord) blessed Yitzchak (Isaac) his son. He arose from Chevron (Hebron) and went and dwelt at the Be’er LaChai Ro’i (Well of the Vision) in the first year of the third week of this Yovel (jubilee), for seven years.
2
In the first year of the fourth week, a famine began in the land, besides the first famine which had been in the days of Avraham.
3
Ya‘akov (Jacob) cooked lentil stew, and Esav (Esau) came from the field hungry. He said to Ya‘akov his brother: "Give me some of this red stew." Ya‘akov said to him: "Sell me your birthright, and I will give you bread and also some of this lentil stew."
4
Esav said in his heart: "I am about to die; what profit is this birthright to me?" And he said to Ya‘akov : "I give it to you."
5
Ya‘akov said: "Swear to me this day." And he swore to him.
6
Ya‘akov gave his brother Esav bread and stew, and he ate until he was satisfied. Esav despised his birthright. For this reason, Esav 's name was called Edom , on account of the red stew which Ya‘akov gave him for his birthright.
7
Ya‘akov became the elder, and Esav was brought down from his dignity.
8
The famine was over the land. Yitzchak departed to go down into Mitzrayim (Egypt) in the second year of this week, but he went to the king of the Pelishtim (Philistines) in Gerar , to Avimelech .
9
Yahuah appeared to him and said: "Do not go down into Mitzrayim . Dwell in the land that I will tell you of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you.
10
For to you and to your seed I will give all this land, and I will establish My oath which I swore to Avraham your father. I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and will give to your seed all this land.
11
In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because your father obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My laws, My ordinances, and My covenant. Now obey My voice and dwell in this land."
12
He dwelt in Gerar for three weeks of years.
13
Avimelech charged concerning him and concerning all that was his, saying: "Any man who touches him or anything that is his shall surely die."
14
Yitzchak grew strong among the Pelishtim and acquired many possessions: oxen, sheep, camels, donkeys, and a great household.
15
He sowed in the land of the Pelishtim and brought in a hundredfold. Yitzchak became exceedingly great, and the Pelishtim envied him.
16
Now all the wells which the servants of Avraham had dug during the life of Avraham , the Pelishtim had stopped up after the death of Avraham , filling them with earth.
17
Avimelech said to Yitzchak : "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we." Yitzchak departed from there in the first year of the seventh week and sojourned in the valleys of Gerar.
18
They dug again the wells of water which the servants of Avraham his father had dug, and which the Pelishtim had closed after the death of Avraham his father. He called their names as Avraham his father had named them.
19
The servants of Yitzchak dug a well in the valley and found living water. The shepherds of Gerar strove with the shepherds of Yitzchak , saying: "The water is ours." Yitzchak called the name of the well " Esek (Perversity)", because they had been perverse with us.
20
They dug a second well, and they strove for that also. He called its name " Sitnah (Enmity)". He arose from there, and they dug another well, and for that they did not strive. He called its name " Rechovot (Room)", and Yitzchak said: "Now Yahuah has made room for us, and we have increased in the land."
21
He went up from there to the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath) in the first year of the first week of the forty-fourth Yovel .
22
Yahuah appeared to him that night, on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the first month, and said to him: "I am the Elohim of Avraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and surely multiply your seed as the sand of the earth, for the sake of Avraham My servant."
23
He built a Mizbe‘ach (altar) there, which Avraham his father had first built. He called upon the Name of Yahuah and offered sacrifice to the Elohim of Avraham his father.
24
They dug a well and found living water.
25
The servants of Yitzchak dug another well but did not find water. They went and told Yitzchak that they had not found water. Yitzchak said: "I have sworn this day to the Pelishtim , and this thing has been announced to us."
26
He called the name of that place the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath), for there he had sworn to Avimelech , Ahuzzath his friend, and Pichol the captain of his host.
27
Yitzchak knew that day that under constraint he had sworn to them to make peace with them. Yitzchak Curses the Pelishtim
28
Yitzchak on that day cursed the Pelishtim and said: "Cursed be the Pelishtim unto the day of wrath and indignation from the midst of all nations. May Elohim make them a derision, a curse, and an object of wrath and indignation in the hands of the sinners, the Goyim (Gentiles), and in the hands of the Kittim .
29
Whoever escapes the sword of the enemy and the Kittim , may the righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven. For they will be the enemies and foes of my children throughout their generations upon the earth.
30
No remnant will be left to them, nor one that will be saved on the day of the wrath of judgment. For destruction, rooting out, and expulsion from the earth is the whole seed of the Pelishtim reserved, and there will no longer be left for these Caphtorim a name or a seed on the earth.
31
For though he ascend unto heaven, from there he will be brought down. Though he make himself strong on earth, from there he will be dragged forth. Though he hide himself among the nations, even from there he will be rooted out. Though he descend into Sheol , there also his condemnation will be great, and there also he will have no peace.
32
If he go into captivity, by the hands of those who seek his life they will slay him on the way. Neither name nor seed will be left to him on all the earth, for into eternal malediction will he depart."
33
Thus it is written and engraved concerning him on the heavenly tablets, to do to him on the day of judgment, so that he may be rooted out of the earth.
Chapter 25 Rivkah Admonishes Ya‘akov Not to Marry a Kena‘anite Woman; Rivkah's Blessing
1
In the second year of this week, in this Yovel , Rivkah (Rebecca) called Ya‘akov (Jacob) her son and spoke to him, saying: "My son, do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‘an (Canaan), as Esav (Esau) your brother did, who took two wives from the daughters of Kena‘an . They have embittered my soul with all their unclean deeds, for all their deeds are zenut (fornication) and lust, and there is no righteousness with them, for their deeds are evil.
2
But I, my son, love you exceedingly. My heart and my affection bless you every hour of the day and every watch of the night.
3
Now, my son, listen to my voice and do the will of your mother. Do not take a wife from the daughters of this land, but only from the house of my father and from my father's kindred. Take a wife from the house of my father, and El Elyon (the Most High God) will bless you. Your children will be a righteous generation and a holy seed."
4
Then Ya‘akov spoke to Rivkah his mother, saying: "Behold, mother, I am nine weeks of years old, and I have neither known nor touched any woman, nor have I betrothed myself to any, nor do I even think of taking a wife from the daughters of Kena‘an .
5
For I remember, mother, the words of Avraham (Abraham) our father, for he commanded me not to take a wife from the daughters of Kena‘an , but to take a wife from the seed of my father's house and from my kindred.
6
I have heard that daughters have been born to Lavan (Laban) your brother, and I have set my heart on them to take a wife from among them.
7
For this reason I have guarded myself in my spirit against sinning or being corrupted in all my ways throughout all the days of my life. For with regard to lust and zenut , Avraham my father gave me many commands.
8
Despite all that he commanded me, these two and twenty years my brother has striven with me and spoken frequently to me, saying: 'My brother, take a wife, a sister of my two wives.' But I refuse to do as he has done.
9
I swear before you, mother, that all the days of my life I will not take a wife from the daughters of the seed of Kena‘an , and I will not act wickedly as my brother has done.
10
Do not fear, mother. Be assured that I will do your will and walk in uprightness, and will not corrupt my ways forever."
11
Thereupon she lifted up her face to heaven, extended the fingers of her hands, opened her mouth, and blessed El Elyon , who had created the heaven and the earth. She gave Him thanks and praise.
12
She said: "Blessed be Yahuah Elohim , and may His holy Name be blessed forever and ever, who has given me Ya‘akov as a pure son and a holy seed. For he is Yours, and his seed shall be Yours continually throughout all the generations forevermore.
13
Bless him, O Yahuah , and place in my mouth the blessing of righteousness, that I may bless him."
14
At that hour, when the Ruach HaTzedek (Spirit of Righteousness) descended into her mouth, she placed both her hands on the head of Ya‘akov and said:
15
"Blessed are You, Yahuah , Lord of righteousness and Elohim of the ages. May He bless you beyond all the generations of men. May He give you, my son, the path of righteousness, and reveal righteousness to your seed.
16
May He make your sons many during your life, and may they arise according to the number of the months of the year. May their sons become many and great beyond the stars of heaven, and their numbers be more than the sand of the sea.
17
May He give them this goodly land—as He said He would give it to Avraham and to his seed after him always—and may they hold it as a possession forever.
18
May I see blessed children born to you, my son, during my life, and may all your seed be a blessed and holy seed.
19
As you have refreshed your mother's spirit during my life, the womb that bore you blesses you. My affection and my breasts bless you, and my mouth and my tongue praise you greatly.
20
Increase and spread over the earth. May your seed be perfect in the joy of heaven and earth forever. May your seed rejoice, and on the great day of shalom (peace) may it have shalom .
21
May your name and your seed endure to all the ages. May El Elyon be their Elohim , and may the Elohim of righteousness dwell with them, and by them may His sanctuary be built unto all the ages.
22
Blessed be he who blesses you, and all flesh that curses you falsely, may it be cursed."
23
She kissed him and said to him: "May the Adonai HaOlam (Lord of the world) love you, as the heart of your mother and her affection rejoice in you and bless you." And she ceased from blessing.
Chapter 26 Ya‘akov Obtains the Blessing of the Firstborn
1
In the seventh year of this week, Yitzchak (Isaac) called Esav (Esau), his elder son, and said to him: "I am old, my son, and behold, my eyes are dim in seeing, and I do not know the day of my death.
2
Now take your hunting weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field. Hunt and catch me venison, my son, and make me savory meat, such as my soul loves. Bring it to me that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die."
3
But Rivkah (Rebecca) heard Yitzchak speaking to Esav .
4
Esav went out early to the field to hunt and catch and bring home to his father.
5
Rivkah called Ya‘akov (Jacob), her son, and said to him: "Behold, I heard Yitzchak your father speak to Esav your brother, saying: 'Hunt for me, and make me savory meat, and bring it to me that I may eat and bless you before Yahuah (the Lord) before I die.'
6
Now, my son, obey my voice in that which I command you. Go to your flock and fetch me two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for your father, such as he loves. You shall bring it to your father that he may eat and bless you before Yahuah before he dies, and that you may be blessed."
7
Ya‘akov said to Rivkah his mother: "Mother, I will not withhold anything that my father would eat and that would please him. Only I fear, my mother, that he will recognize my voice and wish to touch me.
8
You know that I am smooth, and Esav my brother is hairy. I will appear before his eyes as a wrongdoer and will do a deed which he has not commanded me. He will be angry with me, and I will bring upon myself a curse, and not a blessing."
9
Rivkah his mother said to him: "Upon me be your curse, my son. Only obey my voice."
10
Ya‘akov obeyed the voice of Rivkah his mother. He went and fetched two good and fat kids of the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made them savory meat such as his father loved.
11
Rivkah took the goodly raiment of Esav , her elder son, which was with her in the house, and clothed Ya‘akov , her younger son, with them. She put the skins of the kids upon his hands and on the exposed parts of his neck.
12
She gave the meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Ya‘akov .
13
Ya‘akov went in to his father and said: "I am your son. I have done according as you bade me. Arise and sit and eat of that which I have caught, father, that your soul may bless me."
14
Yitzchak said to his son: "How have you found it so quickly, my son?"
15
Ya‘akov said: "Because Yahuah your Elohim (God) caused me to find it."
16
Yitzchak said to him: "Come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are my son Esav or not."
17
Ya‘akov went near to Yitzchak his father, and he felt him and said:
18
"The voice is the voice of Ya‘akov , but the hands are the hands of Esav ." He did not recognize him, because it was a dispensation from heaven to remove his power of perception. Yitzchak did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like Esav 's, so he blessed him.
19
He said: "Are you my son Esav ?" And he said: "I am." And he said, "Bring near to me that I may eat of that which you have caught, my son, that my soul may bless you."
20
He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.
21
Yitzchak his father said to him: "Come near and kiss me, my son." He came near and kissed him.
22
He smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him, saying: "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahuah has blessed.
23
May Yahuah give you of the dew of heaven And of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let nations serve you, And peoples bow down to you.
24
Be lord over your brothers, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. May all the blessings with which Yahuah has blessed me and blessed Avraham (Abraham) my father Be imparted to you and to your seed forever. Cursed be he who curses you, And blessed be he who blesses you."
25
As soon as Yitzchak had finished blessing his son Ya‘akov , and Ya‘akov had gone out from Yitzchak his father, Esav his brother came in from his hunting.
26
He also made savory meat and brought it to his father, saying: "Let my father arise and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me."
27
Yitzchak his father said to him: "Who are you?" He said: "I am your firstborn, your son Esav . I have done as you commanded me."
28
Yitzchak was greatly astonished and said: "Who is he that hunted and caught and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? He shall be blessed, and all his seed forever."
29
When Esav heard the words of his father Yitzchak , he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry and said to his father: "Bless me, even me also, father!"
30
He said to him: "Your brother came with guile and has taken away your blessing." Esav said: "Now I know why his name is called Ya‘akov . Behold, he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing." And he said: "Have you not reserved a blessing for me, father?"
31
Yitzchak answered and said to Esav : "Behold, I have made him your lord, And all his brothers have I given to him for servants, And with plenty of grain, wine, and oil have I strengthened him. What now shall I do for you, my son?"
32
Esav said to Yitzchak his father: "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, father!" And Esav lifted up his voice and wept.
33
Yitzchak answered and said to him: "Behold, your dwelling shall be far from the fatness of the earth, And far from the dew of heaven above.
34
By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother. But it shall come to pass when you grow restless And shake his yoke from off your neck, You will sin a complete sin unto death, And your seed will be rooted out from under heaven."
35
Esav kept threatening Ya‘akov because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. He said in his heart: "May the days of mourning for my father now come, so that I may slay my brother Ya‘akov ."
Chapter 27 Rivkah Induces Yitzchak to Send Ya‘akov to Mesopotamia; Ya‘akov's Dream and Vow at Beit-El
1
The words of Esav (Esau), her elder son, were told to Rivkah (Rebecca) in a dream. Rivkah sent and called Ya‘akov (Jacob) her younger son and said to him:
2
"Behold, Esav your brother will take vengeance on you to kill you.
3
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise and flee to Lavan (Laban) my brother, to Haran , and stay with him a few days until your brother's anger turns away, and he removes his anger from you and forgets all that you have done. Then I will send and fetch you from there."
4
Ya‘akov said: "I am not afraid. If he wishes to kill me, I will kill him."
5
But she said to him: "Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day."
6
Ya‘akov said to Rivkah his mother: "Behold, you know that my father has grown old and does not see, because his eyes are dull. If I leave him, it will be evil in his eyes, because I leave him and go away from you. My father will be angry and will curse me. I will not go. Only when he sends me will I go."
7
Rivkah said to Ya‘akov : "I will go in and speak to him, and he will send you away."
8
Rivkah went in and said to Yitzchak (Isaac): "I loathe my life because of the two daughters of Chet (Heth) whom Esav has taken as wives. If Ya‘akov takes a wife from among the daughters of the land such as these, for what purpose do I further live? For the daughters of Kena‘an (Canaan) are evil."
9
Yitzchak called Ya‘akov , blessed him, and admonished him, saying:
10
"Do not take a wife from any of the daughters of Kena‘an . Arise, go to Aram Naharayim (Mesopotamia), to the house of Betu’el , your mother's father, and take a wife from there from the daughters of Lavan , your mother's brother.
11
May El Shaddai (God Almighty) bless you, increase you, and multiply you, that you may become a company of nations. May He give you the blessings of my father Avraham (Abraham), to you and to your seed after you, that you may inherit the land of your sojournings and all the land which Elohim (God) gave to Avraham . Go, my son, in shalom (peace)."
12
Yitzchak sent Ya‘akov away, and he went to Aram Naharayim , to Lavan the son of Betu’el the Arami (Syrian), the brother of Rivkah , Ya‘akov 's mother.
13
After Ya‘akov had arisen to go to Aram Naharayim , the spirit of Rivkah was grieved after her son, and she wept.
14
Yitzchak said to Rivkah : "My sister, do not weep on account of Ya‘akov my son, for he goes in shalom , and in shalom he will return.
15
El Elyon (the Most High God) will preserve him from all evil and will be with him, for He will not forsake him all his days.
16
For I know that his ways will be prospered in all things wherever he goes, until he returns in shalom to us, and we see him in shalom .
17
Do not fear on his account, my sister, for he is on the upright path, he is a perfect man, he is faithful, and he will not perish. Do not weep."
18
Yitzchak comforted Rivkah on account of her son Ya‘akov and blessed him.
19
Ya‘akov went from the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath) to go to Haran in the first year of the second week of the forty-fourth Yovel (jubilee). He came to Luz on the mountains—that is, Beit-El (Bethel)—on the Rosh Chodesh (new moon) of the first month of this week. He came to the place at evening and turned from the way to the west of the road that night, and he slept there, for the sun had set.
20
He took one of the stones of that place and laid it at his head under the tree. He was journeying alone, and he slept.
21
He dreamed that night, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the malachim (angels) of Yahuah (the Lord) ascended and descended on it. And behold, Yahuah stood above it.
22
He spoke to Ya‘akov and said: "I am Yahuah , the Elohim of Avraham your father and the Elohim of Yitzchak . The land on which you are sleeping, to you I will give it, and to your seed after you.
23
Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will increase to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed all the families of the nations will be blessed.
24
Behold, I will be with you and will keep you wherever you go. I will bring you again into this land in shalom , for I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have told you."
25
Ya‘akov awoke from his sleep and said: "Truly this place is the Beit Yahuah (House of the Lord), and I did not know it." He was afraid and said: "How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the Beit Elohim (House of God), and this is the gate of heaven."
26
Ya‘akov arose early in the morning, took the stone which he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar for a sign, and poured oil on top of it. He called the name of that place Beit-El , but the name of the place was Luz at first.
27
Ya‘akov vowed a vow to Yahuah , saying: "If Yahuah will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in shalom , then Yahuah shall be my Elohim . This stone which I have set up as a pillar for a sign in this place shall be Yahuah 's house, and of all that You give me, I will give the tenth to You, my Elohim."
Chapter 28 Ya‘akov's Marriage to Leah and Rachel; His Children and Riches
1
He continued on his journey and came to the land of the east, to Lavan (Laban), the brother of Rivkah (Rebecca). He stayed with him and served him for Rachel his daughter one week of years.
2
In the first year of the third week, he said to him: "Give me my wife, for whom I have served you seven years." And Lavan said to Ya‘akov (Jacob): "I will give you your wife."
3
Lavan made a feast, took Leah his elder daughter, and gave her to Ya‘akov as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his handmaid as a maidservant. Ya‘akov did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel .
4
He went in to her, and behold, she was Leah . Ya‘akov was angry with Lavan and said to him: "Why have you dealt thus with me? Did I not serve you for Rachel and not for Leah ? Why have you wronged me? Take your daughter, and I will go, for you have done evil to me."
5
For Ya‘akov loved Rachel more than Leah . Leah 's eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome. Rachel had beautiful eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form.
6
Lavan said to Ya‘akov : "It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the elder." It is not right to do this, for thus it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets: that no one should give his younger daughter before the elder. The elder one is given first, and after her the younger. The man who does so is set down as guilty in heaven, and no one is righteous who does this thing, for this deed is evil before Yahuah (the Lord).
7
Command the children of Yisra’el (Israel) that they not do this thing. Let them neither take nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked.
8
Lavan said to Ya‘akov : "Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I will give you Rachel , that you may serve me another seven years, and pasture my sheep as you did in the former week."
9
On the day when the seven days of the feast of Leah had passed, Lavan gave Rachel to Ya‘akov , that he might serve him another seven years. He gave to Rachel Bilhah , the sister of Zilpah , as a maidservant.
10
He served yet another seven years for Rachel, for Leah had been given to him for nothing.
11
Yahuah opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bore Ya‘akov a son. He called his name Re’uven (Reuben), on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in the first year of the third week.
12
But the womb of Rachel was closed, for Yahuah saw that Leah was hated and Rachel loved.
13
Again Ya‘akov went in to Leah , and she conceived and bore Ya‘akov a second son. He called his name Shim‘on (Simeon), on the twenty-first of the tenth month, in the third year of this week.
14
Again Ya‘akov went in to Leah , and she conceived and bore him a third son. He called his name Levi , on the new moon of the first month, in the sixth year of this week.
15
Again Ya‘akov went in to her, and she conceived and bore him a fourth son. He called his name Yehudah (Judah), on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of the fourth week.
16
On account of all this, Rachel envied Leah , for she did not bear. She said to Ya‘akov : "Give me children!" Ya‘akov said: "Have I withheld from you the fruit of your womb? Have I forsaken you?"
17
When Rachel saw that Leah had borne four sons to Ya‘akov — Re’uven , Shim‘on , Levi , and Yehudah —she said to him: "Go in to Bilhah my maidservant, and she will conceive and bear a son for me."
18
She gave Bilhah her maidservant to him as a wife. He went in to her, and she conceived and bore him a son. Rachel called his name Dan , on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth year of the third week.
19
Ya‘akov went in again to Bilhah a second time, and she conceived and bore Ya‘akov another son. Rachel called his name Naftali (Naphtali), on the fifth of the seventh month, in the second year of the fourth week.
20
When Leah saw that she had become sterile and did not bear, she envied Rachel . She also gave her maidservant Zilpah to Ya‘akov as a wife. She conceived and bore a son. Leah called his name Gad , on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of the fourth week.
21
He went in again to her, and she conceived and bore him a second son. Leah called his name Asher , on the second of the eleventh month, in the fifth year of the fourth week.
22
Ya‘akov went in to Leah , and she conceived and bore a son. She called his name Yissakhar (Issachar), on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the fourth week, and she gave him to a nurse.
23
Ya‘akov went in again to her, and she conceived and bore two children—a son and a daughter. She called the name of the son Zevulun (Zebulun), and the name of the daughter Dinah , on the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week.
24
Yahuah was gracious to Rachel and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son. She called his name Yosef (Joseph), on the new moon of the fourth month, in the sixth year of the fourth week.
25
In the days when Yosef was born, Ya‘akov said to Lavan : "Give me my wives and my sons, and let me go to my father Yitzchak (Isaac), and let me build a house for myself. For I have completed the years in which I have served you for your two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father."
26
Lavan said to Ya‘akov : "Stay with me for your wages, and pasture my flock for me again, and take your wages."
27
They agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the lambs and kids that were born black, spotted, and white. These were to be his wages.
28
All the sheep brought forth spotted, speckled, black, and variously marked. They brought forth again lambs like themselves. All that were spotted were Ya‘akov 's, and those that were not were Lavan 's.
29
Ya‘akov 's possessions multiplied exceedingly. He possessed oxen, sheep, donkeys, camels, menservants, and maidservants.
30
Lavan and his sons envied Ya‘akov . Lavan took back his sheep from him and observed him with evil intent.
Chapter 29 Ya‘akov's Flight with His Family; His Covenant with Lavan; Reconciliation with Esav; Support for His Parents
1
When Rachel had borne Yosef (Joseph), Lavan (Laban) went to shear his sheep, for they were distant from him a three days' journey.
2
Ya‘akov (Jacob) saw that Lavan was going to shear his sheep, so he called Leah and Rachel and spoke kindly to them, that they should come with him to the land of Kena‘an (Canaan).
3
He told them how he had seen everything in a dream—all that Yahuah (the Lord) had spoken to him, that he should return to his father's house. They said: "To every place where you go, we will go with you."
4
Ya‘akov blessed the Elohim (God) of Yitzchak (Isaac) his father and the Elohim of Avraham (Abraham) his father's father. He arose, mounted his wives and his children, took all his possessions, crossed the river, and came to the land of Gil‘ad (Gilead). Ya‘akov hid his intention from Lavan and did not tell him.
5
In the seventh year of the fourth week, Ya‘akov turned his face toward Gil‘ad in the first month, on the twenty-first thereof. Lavan pursued after him and overtook Ya‘akov in the mountain of Gil‘ad in the third month, on the thirteenth thereof.
6
Yahuah did not allow him to injure Ya‘akov , for He appeared to Lavan in a dream by night. Lavan spoke to Ya‘akov .
7
On the fifteenth of those days, Ya‘akov made a feast for Lavan and for all who came with him. Ya‘akov swore to Lavan that day, and Lavan also swore to Ya‘akov , that neither should cross the mountain of Gil‘ad to the other with evil purpose.
8
He made there a heap for a witness. Therefore the name of that place is called "The Heap of Witness" after this heap.
9
Before this, they used to call the land of Gil‘ad the land of the Rephaim , for it was the land of the Rephaim . The Rephaim were born there—giants whose height was ten, nine, eight, down to seven cubits.
10
Their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon . The seats of their kingdom were Karnaim , Ashtarot , Edrei , Misur , and Beon .
11
Yahuah destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds, for they were very malignant. The Emorites (Amorites) dwelt in their stead—wicked and sinful. There is no people today which has wrought to the full all their sins, and they no longer have length of life on the earth.
12
Ya‘akov sent away Lavan , and he departed into Aram Naharayim (Mesopotamia), the land of the East. Ya‘akov returned to the land of Gil‘ad . Ya‘akov, Reconciled with Esav, Dwells in Kena‘an and Supports His Parents
13
He passed over the Yabbok (Jabbok) in the ninth month, on the eleventh thereof. On that day, Esav (Esau) his brother came to him. Esav was reconciled to him and departed from him to the land of Se‘ir . Ya‘akov dwelt in tents.
14
In the first year of the fifth week in this Yovel (jubilee), he crossed the Yarden (Jordan) and dwelt beyond the Yarden . He pastured his sheep from the sea of the heap unto Beit-She‘an , unto Dotan , and unto the forest of Akrabbim .
15
He sent to his father Yitzchak from all his substance: clothing, food, meat, drink, milk, butter, cheese, and some dates of the valley.
16
He sent to his mother Rivkah (Rebecca) also four times a year, between the times of the months—between plowing and reaping, between autumn and the rain season, and between winter and spring—to the tower of Avraham .
17
For Yitzchak had returned from the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath) and gone up to the tower of his father Avraham . He dwelt there apart from his son Esav .
18
In the days when Ya‘akov went to Aram Naharayim , Esav took for himself a wife, Mahalat the daughter of Yishma‘el (Ishmael). He gathered together all the flocks of his father and his wives, went up, and dwelt on Mount Se‘ir , leaving Yitzchak his father at the Be’er Sheva alone.
19
Yitzchak went up from the Be’er Sheva and dwelt in the tower of Avraham his father, on the mountains of Chevron (Hebron).
20
There Ya‘akov sent all that he needed to his father and his mother from time to time—all they needed. And they blessed Ya‘akov with all their heart and with all their soul.
Chapter 30 Dinah Ravished; Slaughter of the Shechemites; Laws Against Intermarriage; The Choice of Levi
1
In the first year of the sixth week, he went up to Shalem , east of Shechem , in peace, in the fourth month.
2
There they carried off Dinah , the daughter of Ya‘akov (Jacob), into the house of Shechem , the son of Chamor the Chivvi (Hivite), the prince of the land. He lay with her and defiled her, and she was a little girl, a child of twelve years.
3
He begged his father and her brothers that she might be given to him as a wife. But Ya‘akov and his sons were angry because of the men of Shechem , for they had defiled Dinah their sister. They spoke to them with evil intent, dealt deceitfully with them, and beguiled them.
4
Shim‘on (Simeon) and Levi came unexpectedly to Shechem and executed mishpat (judgment) on all the men of Shechem . They slew all the men whom they found in it, leaving not a single one remaining. They slew them all in torments because they had dishonored their sister Dinah.
5
Thus let it not again be done from now on that a daughter of Yisra’el (Israel) be defiled. For judgment is ordained in heaven against them, that they should destroy with the sword all the men of the Shechemites because they had wrought shame in Yisra’el .
6
Yahuah (the Lord) delivered them into the hands of the sons of Ya‘akov , that they might exterminate them with the sword and execute judgment upon them, and that it might not again be done in Yisra’el that a virgin of Yisra’el should be defiled.
7
If any man in Yisra’el wishes to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is of the seed of the Goyim (Gentiles), he shall surely die, and they shall stone him with stones. For he has wrought shame in Yisra’el. They shall burn the woman with fire, because she has dishonored the name of the house of her father, and she shall be rooted out of Yisra’el.
8
Let no no’efet (adulteress) and no uncleanness be found in Yisra’el throughout all the days of the generations of the earth. For Yisra’el is holy to Yahuah, and every man who has defiled it shall surely die; they shall stone him with stones.
9
For thus it has been ordained and written on the heavenly tablets regarding all the seed of Yisra’el: he who defiles it shall surely die, and he shall be stoned with stones.
10
To this Torah (law) there is no limit of days, no remission, nor any atonement. But the man who has defiled his daughter shall be rooted out in the midst of all Yisra’el, because he has given of his seed to Molech and has wrought impiously so as to defile it.
11
And you, Mosheh (Moses), command the children of Yisra’el and exhort them not to give their daughters to the Goyim , and not to take for their sons any of the daughters of the Goyim , for this is abominable before Yahuah .
12
For this reason, I have written for you in the words of the Torah all the deeds of the Shechemites , which they wrought against Dinah , and how the sons of Ya‘akov spoke, saying: "We will not give our daughter to a man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us."
13
It is a reproach to Yisra’el —to those who give and to those who take the daughters of the Goyim —for this is unclean and abominable to Yisra’el .
14
Yisra’el will not be free from this uncleanness if it has a wife from the daughters of the Goyim , or has given any of its daughters to a man who is of any of the Goyim .
15
For there will be plague upon plague, curse upon curse, and every judgment, plague, and curse will come upon him. If he does this thing, or hides his eyes from those who commit uncleanness, or those who defile the Mishkan (sanctuary) of Yahuah , or those who profane His holy Name, then the whole nation together will be judged for all the uncleanness and profanation of that man.
16
There will be no respect of persons, no consideration of persons, and no receiving from his hands of fruits, offerings, olot (burnt offerings), fat, nor the fragrance of sweet savor to accept it. So it will be for every man or woman in Yisra’el who defiles the sanctuary.
17
For this reason I have commanded you, saying: "Testify this testimony to Yisra’el . See how the Shechemites fared and their sons: how they were delivered into the hands of two sons of Ya‘akov , and they slew them under tortures. It was reckoned to them for tzedakah (righteousness), and it is written down to them for tzedakah.
18
The seed of Levi was chosen for the priesthood and to be Levi’im (Levites), that they might minister before Yahuah continually, as we, and that Levi and his sons may be blessed forever. For he was zealous to execute tzedakah, mishpat, and vengeance on all those who arose against Yisra’el.
19
So they inscribe as a testimony in his favor on the heavenly tablets: blessing and tzedakah before the Elohim of all.
20
We remember the tzedakah which the man fulfilled during his life at all periods of the year. Until a thousand generations they will record it, and it will come to him and to his descendants after him. He has been recorded on the heavenly tablets as a friend and a righteous man.
21
All this account I have written for you and have commanded you to say to the children of Yisra’el, that they should not commit sin nor transgress the ordinances nor break the beriyt (covenant) which has been ordained for them, but that they should fulfill it and be recorded as friends.
22
But if they transgress and work uncleanness in every way, they will be recorded on the heavenly tablets as adversaries. They will be destroyed out of the Sefer HaChayim (Book of Life), and they will be recorded in the book of those who will be destroyed and with those who will be rooted out of the earth.
23
On the day when the sons of Ya‘akov slew Shechem , a writing was recorded in their favor in heaven, that they had executed tzedakah , uprightness, and vengeance on the sinners, and it was written for a blessing.
24
They brought Dinah their sister out of the house of Shechem and took captive everything that was in Shechem: their sheep, oxen, donkeys, all their wealth, and all their flocks. They brought them all to Ya‘akov their father.
25
He reproached them because they had put the city to the sword, for he feared those who dwelt in the land—the Kena’anim (Canaanites) and the Perizim (Perizzites).
26
The dread of Yahuah was upon all the cities which are around about Shechem, and they did not rise to pursue the sons of Ya‘akov , for terror had fallen upon them.
Chapter 31 Ya‘akov's Journey to Beit-El and Chevron; Yitzchak Blesses Levi and Yehudah
1
On the new moon of the month, Ya‘akov spoke to all the people of his house, saying: "Purify yourselves and change your garments. Let us arise and go up to Beit-El (Bethel), where I vowed a vow to Him on the day when I fled from the face of Esav my brother. For He has been with me and has brought me into this land in shalom (peace). Put away the strange elohim (gods) that are among you."
2
They gave up the strange elohim , the rings that were in their ears, and the idols that were on their necks. The idols which Rachel had stolen from Lavan her brother she gave wholly to Ya‘akov . He burned them, broke them to pieces, destroyed them, and hid them under an oak which is in the land of Shechem .
3
He went up on the new moon of the seventh month to Beit-El . He built a Mizbe‘ach (altar) at the place where he had slept, and he set up a pillar there. He sent word to his father Yitzchak (Isaac) to come to him to his sacrifice, and to his mother Rivkah (Rebecca).
4
Yitzchak said: "Let my son Ya‘akov come, and let me see him before I die."
5
Ya‘akov went to his father Yitzchak and to his mother Rivkah , to the house of his father Avraham (Abraham). He took two of his sons with him— Levi and Yehudah (Judah)—and he came to his father Yitzchak and to his mother Rivkah .
6
Rivkah came forth from the tower to the front of it to kiss Ya‘akov and embrace him, for her spirit had revived when she heard: "Behold, Ya‘akov your son has come." She kissed him.
7
She saw his two sons and recognized them. She said to him: "Are these your sons, my son?" She embraced them, kissed them, and blessed them, saying: "In you shall the seed of Avraham become illustrious, and you will prove a blessing on the earth."
8
Ya‘akov went in to Yitzchak his father, to the chamber where he lay, and his two sons were with him. He took the hand of his father, stooped down, and kissed him. Yitzchak clung to the neck of Ya‘akov his son and wept upon his neck.
9
The darkness left the eyes of Yitzchak, and he saw the two sons of Ya‘akov — Levi and Yehudah . He said: "Are these your sons, my son? For they are like you."
10
Ya‘akov said to him that they were truly his sons: "And you have truly seen that they are truly my sons."
11
They came near to him, and he turned, kissed them, and embraced them both together.
12
The Ruach HaNevu’ah (Spirit of Prophecy) came down into his mouth. He took Levi by his right hand and Yehudah by his left.
13
He turned to Levi first and began to bless him first, saying: "May the Elohim of all, the very Adonai (Lord) of all the ages, bless you and your children throughout all the ages.
14
May Yahuah give to you and to your seed greatness and great glory, and cause you and your seed, from among all flesh, to approach Him to serve in His Mikdash (sanctuary) as the malachim of the presence and as the holy ones. Even as they, the seed of your sons shall be for glory, greatness, and holiness. May He make them great unto all the ages.
15
They will be princes, judges, and chiefs of all the seed of the sons of Ya‘akov . They will speak the word of Yahuah in righteousness, And they will judge all His judgments in righteousness. They will declare My ways to Ya‘akov And My paths to Yisra’el . The blessing of Yahuah will be given in their mouths To bless all the seed of the beloved.
16
Your mother has called your name Levi , And justly has she called your name. You will be joined to Yahuah And be the companion of all the sons of Ya‘akov . Let His table be yours, And do you and your sons eat thereof. May your table be full unto all generations, And your food fail not unto all the ages.
17
Let all who hate you fall down before you, And let all your adversaries be rooted out and perish. Blessed be he who blesses you, And cursed be every nation that curses you."
18
To Yehudah he said: "May Yahuah give you strength and power To tread down all who hate you. A prince shall you be, you and one of your sons, over the sons of Ya‘akov . May your name and the name of your sons go forth and traverse every land and region. Then the Goyim will fear before your face, And all the nations will quake.
19
In you shall be the help of Ya‘akov , And in you be found the Yeshu‘ah (salvation) of Yisra’el .
20
When you sit on the throne of the honor of your righteousness, There will be great shalom for all the seed of the sons of the beloved. Blessed will he be who blesses you; And all who hate you, afflict you, and curse you Shall be rooted out and destroyed from the earth and accursed."
21
Turning, Yitzchak kissed him again and embraced him, and rejoiced greatly, for he had seen the sons of Ya‘akov his son in very truth.
22
Ya‘akov went out from between his feet, fell down, and worshiped him. He blessed them. Ya‘akov rested there with Yitzchak his father that night, and they ate and drank with joy.
23
He made the two sons of Ya‘akov sleep, the one on his right hand and the other on his left, and it was counted to him for tzedakah (righteousness).
24
Ya‘akov told his father everything during the night—how Yahuah had shown him great mercy, how He had prospered him in all his ways, and protected him from all evil.
25
Yitzchak blessed the Elohim of his father Avraham , who had not withdrawn His mercy and His righteousness from the sons of His servant Yitzchak .
26
In the morning, Ya‘akov told his father Yitzchak about the vow which he had vowed to Yahuah , the vision which he had seen, that he had built a Mizbe‘ach , and that everything was ready for the sacrifice to be made before Yahuah as he had vowed. He had come to set him on a donkey.
27
Yitzchak said to Ya‘akov his son: "I am not able to go with you, for I am old and not able to bear the journey. Go, my son, in shalom . I am one hundred and sixty-five years this day; I am no longer able to travel. Set your mother on a donkey and let her go with you.
28
I know, my son, that you have come on my account. May this day be blessed on which you have seen me alive, and I also have seen you, my son.
29
May you prosper and fulfill the vow which you have vowed. Do not put off your vow, for you will be called to account concerning the vow. Now therefore make haste to perform it. May He be pleased who has made all things, to whom you have vowed the vow."
30
He said to Rivkah : "Go with Ya‘akov your son." Rivkah went with Ya‘akov her son, and Devorah with her, and they came to Beit- El .
31
Ya‘akov remembered the prayer with which his father had blessed him and his two sons, Levi and Yehudah . He rejoiced and blessed the Elohim of his fathers, Avraham and Yitzchak .
32
He said: "Now I know that I have an eternal hope, and my sons also, before the Elohim of all." Thus it is ordained concerning the two, and they record it as an eternal testimony for them on the heavenly tablets, how Yitzchak blessed them.
Chapter 32 Levi's Dream at Beit-El; He is Appointed to the Priesthood; Ya‘akov Celebrates Sukkot and Offers Tithes; The Institution of Tithes; Visions and the Birth of Binyamin
1
He abode that night at Beit-El (Bethel), and Levi dreamed that they had ordained and made him the priest of El Elyon (the Most High God)—him and his sons forever. He awoke from his sleep and blessed Yahuah (the Lord).
2
Ya‘akov (Jacob) rose early in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month, and gave a tithe of all that came with him—both of men and cattle, both of gold and every vessel and garment. Yes, he gave tithes of all.
3
In those days Rachel became pregnant with her son Binyamin (Benjamin). Ya‘akov counted his sons from him upward, and Levi fell to the portion of Yahuah . His father clothed him in the garments of the priesthood and filled his hands.
4
On the fifteenth of this month, he brought to the Mizbe‘ach (altar) fourteen oxen from among the cattle, twenty-eight rams, forty-nine sheep, seven lambs, and twenty-one kids of the goats as an olah (burnt offering) on the altar of sacrifice—well pleasing for a sweet savor before Elohim (God).
5
This was his offering in consequence of the vow which he had vowed: that he would give a tenth, with their fruit-offerings and their drink-offerings.
6
When the fire had consumed it, he burned incense on the fire over the fire. For a todah (thank offering) he offered two oxen, four rams, four sheep, four he-goats, two sheep of a year old, and two kids of the goats. Thus he did daily for seven days.
7
He and all his sons and his men were eating with joy there during seven days, blessing and thanking Yahuah , who had delivered him out of all his tribulation and had given him his vow.
8
He tithed all the clean animals and made a burnt sacrifice. The unclean animals he did not give to Levi his son, and he gave him all the souls of the men.
9
Levi discharged the priestly office at Beit-El before Ya‘akov his father in preference to his ten brothers. He was a priest there, and Ya‘akov gave his vow. Thus he tithed again the tithe to Yahuah and sanctified it, and it became holy to Him.
10
For this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets as a law for the tithing again the tithe, to eat before Yahuah from year to year in the place where it is chosen that His Name should dwell. To this law there is no limit of days forever.
11
This ordinance is written that it may be fulfilled from year to year in eating the second tithe before Yahuah in the place where it has been chosen. Nothing shall remain over from it from this year to the year following.
12
For in its year shall the seed be eaten until the days of the gathering of the seed of the year, and the wine until the days of the wine, and the oil until the days of its season.
13
All that is left of it and becomes old, let it be regarded as polluted; let it be burned with fire, for it is unclean.
14
Thus let them eat it together in the Mikdash (sanctuary), and let them not suffer it to become old.
15
All the tithes of the oxen and sheep shall be holy to Yahuah and shall belong to His priests, which they will eat before Him from year to year. For thus it is ordained and engraved regarding the tithe on the heavenly tablets.
16
On the following night—the twenty-second day of this month— Ya‘akov resolved to build that place, to surround the court with a wall, and to sanctify it and make it holy forever for himself and his children after him.
17
Yahuah appeared to him by night, blessed him, and said to him: "Your name shall not be called Ya‘akov , but Yisra’el (Israel) shall they name your name."
18
He said to him again: "I am Yahuah , who created the heaven and the earth. I will increase you and multiply you exceedingly. Kings will come forth from you, and they will judge everywhere wherever the foot of the sons of men has trodden.
19
I will give to your seed all the earth which is under heaven. They will judge all the nations according to their desires, and after that they will get possession of the whole earth and inherit it forever."
20
He finished speaking with him and went up from him. Ya‘akov looked until He had ascended into heaven.
21
He saw in a vision of the night, and behold, a malach (angel) descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands. He gave them to Ya‘akov , and he read them and knew all that was written therein—what would befall him and his sons throughout all the ages.
22
He showed him all that was written on the tablets and said to him: "Do not build this place, and do not make it an eternal Mikdash , and do not dwell here, for this is not the place. Go to the house of Avraham (Abraham) your father and dwell with Yitzchak (Isaac) your father until the day of the death of your father.
23
For in Mitzrayim (Egypt) you will die in shalom (peace), and in this land you will be buried with honor in the sepulcher of your fathers—with Avraham and Yitzchak .
24
Do not fear, for as you have seen and read it, thus will it all be. Write down everything as you have seen and read."
25
Ya‘akov said: " Yahuah , how can I remember all that I have read and seen?" He said to him: "I will bring all things to your remembrance."
26
He went up from him. Ya‘akov awoke from his sleep and remembered everything which he had read and seen. He wrote down all the words which he had read and seen.
27
He celebrated there yet another day and sacrificed on it according to all that he had sacrificed on the former days. He called its name "Addition", for this day was added. The former days he called "The Feast".
28
Thus it was manifested that it should be, and it is written on the heavenly tablets. Therefore it was revealed to him that he should celebrate it and add it to the seven days of the feast.
29
Its name was called "Addition" because it was recorded among the days of the feast days, according to the number of the days of the year.
30
In the night, on the twenty-third of this month, Devorah , Rivkah 's (Rebecca's) nurse, died. They buried her beneath the city under the oak of the river. He called the name of this place "The River of Devorah," and the oak "The Oak of the Mourning of Devorah."
31
Rivkah went and returned to her house, to his father Yitzchak . Ya‘akov sent by her hand rams, sheep, and he-goats, that she should prepare a meal for his father such as he desired.
32
He went after his mother until he came to the land of Kabratan , and he dwelt there.
33
Rachel bore a son in the night and called his name " Ben-Oni (Son of My Sorrow)", for she suffered in giving him birth. But his father called his name Binyamin (Benjamin), on the eleventh of the eighth month in the first of the sixth week of this Yovel (jubilee).
34
Rachel died there and was buried in the land of Ephrat , which is Beit- Lechem (Bethlehem). Ya‘akov built a pillar on the grave of Rachel , on the road above her grave.
Chapter 33 Re’uven's Sin with Bilhah; Laws Regarding Incest; Ya‘akov's Children
1
Ya‘akov (Jacob) went and dwelt to the south of Magdaladra’ef . He went to his father Yitzchak (Isaac), he and Leah his wife, on the new moon of the tenth month.
2
Re’uven (Reuben) saw Bilhah , Rachel 's maid, the concubine of his father, bathing in water in a secret place, and he loved her.
3
He hid himself at night, and he entered the house of Bilhah at night, and found her sleeping alone on a bed in her house.
4
He lay with her, and she awoke and saw, and behold Re’uven was lying with her in the bed. She uncovered the border of her covering, seized him, cried out, and discovered that it was Re’uven .
5
She was ashamed because of him, released her hand from him, and he fled.
6
She lamented because of this thing exceedingly, and did not tell it to anyone.
7
When Ya‘akov returned and sought her, she said to him: "I am not clean for you, for I have been defiled as regards you. Re’uven has defiled me and has lain with me in the night. I was asleep and did not discover until he uncovered my skirt and slept with me."
8
Ya‘akov was exceedingly wroth with Re’uven because he had lain with Bilhah , because he had uncovered his father's skirt.
9
Ya‘akov did not approach her again because Re’uven had defiled her. As for any man who uncovers his father's skirt, his deed is wicked exceedingly, for he is abominable before Yahuah (the Lord).
10
For this reason it is written and ordained on the heavenly tablets that a man should not lie with his father's wife, and should not uncover his father's skirt, for this is unclean. They shall surely die together—the man who lies with his father's wife and the woman also—for they have wrought uncleanness on the earth.
11
There shall be nothing unclean before our Elohim (God) in the nation which He has chosen for Himself as a possession.
12
Again, it is written a second time: "Cursed be he who lies with the wife of his father, for he has uncovered his father's shame." And all the holy ones of Yahuah said: "So be it; so be it."
13
And you, Mosheh (Moses), command the children of Yisra’el (Israel) that they observe this word, for it entails a punishment of death. It is unclean, and there is no atonement forever to atone for the man who has committed this. He is to be put to death, slain, stoned with stones, and rooted out from the midst of the people of our Elohim .
14
To no man who does so in Yisra’el is it permitted to remain alive a single day on the earth, for he is abominable and unclean.
15
Let them not say: "To Re’uven was granted life and forgiveness after he had lain with his father's concubine, and to her also, though she had a husband, and her husband Ya‘akov , his father, was still alive."
16
For until that time there had not been revealed the ordinance, judgment, and law in its completeness for all. But in your days it has been revealed as a law of seasons and of days, and an everlasting law for the everlasting generations.
17
For this law there is no consummation of days and no atonement for it. They must both be rooted out in the midst of the nation. On the day whereon they committed it, they shall slay them.
18
And you, Mosheh , write it down for Yisra’el that they may observe it and do according to these words, and not commit a sin unto death. For Yahuah our Elohim is Judge, who respects not persons and accepts not gifts.
19
Tell them these words of the brit (covenant), that they may hear and observe, and be on their guard with respect to them, and not be destroyed and rooted out of the land. For uncleanness, abomination, contamination, and pollution are all they who commit it on the earth before our Elohim .
20
There is no greater sin than the zenut (fornication) which they commit on earth. For Yisra’el is a holy nation to Yahuah its Elohim , a nation of inheritance, a priestly and royal nation, and for His own possession. No such uncleanness shall appear in the midst of the holy nation.
21
In the third year of this sixth week, Ya‘akov and all his sons went and dwelt in the house of Avraham (Abraham), near Yitzchak his father and Rivkah (Rebecca) his mother.
22
These were the names of the sons of Ya‘akov : the firstborn Re’uven , Shim‘on (Simeon), Levi , Yehudah (Judah), Yissakhar (Issachar), Zevulun (Zebulun)—the sons of Leah ; and the sons of Rachel — Yosef (Joseph) and Binyamin (Benjamin); and the sons of Bilhah — Dan and Naftali (Naphtali); and the sons of Zilpah — Gad and Asher ; and Dinah , the daughter of Leah , the only daughter of Ya‘akov .
23
They came and bowed themselves to Yitzchak and Rivkah . When they saw them, they blessed Ya‘akov and all his sons. Yitzchak rejoiced exceedingly, for he saw the sons of Ya‘akov , his younger son, and he blessed them.
Chapter 34 War of the Emorite Kings Against Ya‘akov and His Sons; Yosef Sold into Mitzrayim; The Death of Bilhah and Dinah
1
In the sixth year of this week of this forty-fourth Yovel (jubilee), Ya‘akov (Jacob) sent his sons to pasture their sheep, and his servants with them, to the pastures of Shechem .
2
The seven kings of the Emorites (Amorites) assembled themselves together against them, to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take their cattle as a prey.
3
Ya‘akov , Levi , Yehudah (Judah), and Yosef (Joseph) were in the house with Yitzchak (Isaac) their father, for his spirit was sorrowful, and they could not leave him. Binyamin (Benjamin) was the youngest, and for this reason remained with his father.
4
There came the king of Taphu , the king of Aresa , the king of Seragan , the king of Selo , the king of Ga‘as , the king of Bethoron , and the king of Ma‘anisakir —and all those who dwell in these mountains and who dwell in the woods in the land of Kena‘an (Canaan).
5
They announced this to Ya‘akov , saying: "Behold, the kings of the Emorites have surrounded your sons and plundered their herds."
6
He arose from his house—he, his three sons, all the servants of his father, and his own servants—and he went against them with six thousand men who carried swords.
7
He slew them in the pastures of Shechem , pursued those who fled, and slew them with the edge of the sword. He slew Aresa , Taphu , Seragan , Selo , Amanisakir , and Gaga‘as , and he recovered his herds.
8
He prevailed over them and imposed tribute on them, that they should pay him tribute—five fruit products of their land. He built Robel and Tamnatarez .
9
He returned in shalom (peace), made peace with them, and they became his servants until the day that he and his sons went down into Mitzrayim (Egypt).
10
In the seventh year of this week, he sent Yosef to learn about the welfare of his brothers, from his house to the land of Shechem . He found them in the land of Dotan .
11
They dealt treacherously with him and formed a plot against him to slay him. But changing their minds, they sold him to Yishma‘elite merchants, who brought him down into Mitzrayim . They sold him to Potiphar , the eunuch of Par‘oh (Pharaoh), the chief of the cooks, priest of the city of Elew .
12
The sons of Ya‘akov slaughtered a kid, dipped the coat of Yosef in the blood, and sent it to Ya‘akov their father on the tenth of the seventh month.
13
He mourned all that night, for they had brought it to him in the evening. He became feverish with mourning for his death, and he said: "An evil beast has devoured Yosef ." All the members of his house mourned with him that day, and they were grieving and mourning with him all that day.
14
His sons and his daughter rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted for his son.
15
On that day, Bilhah heard that Yosef had perished, and she died mourning him. She was living in Qafratef . Dinah also, his daughter, died after Yosef had perished. These three mournings came upon Yisra’el in one month.
16
They buried Bilhah opposite the tomb of Rachel , and Dinah also, his daughter, they buried there.
17
He mourned for Yosef one year and did not cease, for he said: "Let me go down to the grave mourning for my son."
18
For this reason, it is ordained for the children of Yisra’el that they should afflict themselves on the tenth of the seventh month—on the day that the news which made him weep for Yosef came to Ya‘akov his father—that they should make atonement for themselves on that day with a young goat on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins. For they had grieved the affection of their father regarding Yosef his son.
19
This day has been ordained that they should grieve on it for their sins, for all their transgressions, and for all their errors, so that they might cleanse themselves on that day once a year.
20
After Yosef perished, the sons of Ya‘akov took wives for themselves. The name of Re’uven 's wife is Ada . The name of Shim‘on 's wife is Adiba‘a , a Kena‘anite . The name of Levi 's wife is Melka , of the daughters of Aram , of the seed of the sons of Terach . The name of Yehudah 's wife is Betasu’el , a Kena‘anite . The name of Yissakhar 's wife is Hezaqa . The name of Zevulun 's wife is Ni‘iman . The name of Dan 's wife is Egla . The name of Naftali 's wife is Rasu‘u , of Mesopotamia . The name of Gad 's wife is Maka . The name of Asher 's wife is Ijona . The name of Yosef 's wife is Asenat , the Mitzrite (Egyptian). The name of Binyamin 's wife is Ijasaka .
21
Shim‘on repented and took a second wife from Mesopotamia , as his brothers.
Chapter 35 Rivkah's Last Admonitions and Death
1
In the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth Yovel (jubilee), Rivkah (Rebecca) called Ya‘akov (Jacob) her son and commanded him regarding his father and regarding his brother—that he should honor them all the days of his life.
2
Ya‘akov said: "I will do everything as you have commanded me, for this thing will be honor and greatness to me, and tzedakah (righteousness) before Yahuah (the Lord), that I should honor them.
3
You too, mother, know from the time I was born until this day—all my deeds and all that is in my heart—that I always think good concerning all.
4
How should I not do this thing which you have commanded me—that I should honor my father and my brother?
5
Tell me, mother, what perversity have you seen in me, and I will turn away from it, and mercy will be upon me."
6
She said to him: "My son, I have not seen in you all my days any perverse thing, but only upright deeds. Yet I will tell you the truth, my son: I will die this year, and I will not survive this year in my life, for I have seen in a dream the day of my death—that I should not live beyond a hundred and fifty-five years. Behold, I have completed all the days of my life which I am to live."
7
Ya‘akov laughed at the words of his mother, because his mother had said to him that she would die. She was sitting opposite him in possession of her strength, and she was not infirm in her strength, for she went in and out and saw, her teeth were strong, and no ailment had touched her all the days of her life.
8
Ya‘akov said to her: "Blessed am I, mother, if my days approach the days of your life, and my strength remains with me thus as your strength. You will not die, for you are jesting idly with me regarding your death."
9
She went in to Yitzchak (Isaac) and said to him: "One petition I make to you: make Esav (Esau) swear that he will not injure Ya‘akov , nor pursue him with enmity. For you know Esav 's thoughts—that they are perverse from his youth, and there is no goodness in him, for he desires after your death to kill him.
10
You know all that he has done since the day Ya‘akov his brother went to Haran until this day—how he has forsaken us with his whole heart and has done evil to us; your flocks he has taken to himself and carried off all your possessions from before your face.
11
When we implored and besought him for what was our own, he acted as a man who was taking pity on us.
12
He is bitter against you because you blessed Ya‘akov —your perfect and upright son—for there is no evil but only goodness in him. Since he came from Haran until this day, he has not robbed us of anything, for he brings us everything in its season always, rejoices with all his heart when we take at his hands, blesses us, and has not parted from us since he came from Haran until this day. He remains with us continually at home, honoring us."
13
Yitzchak said to her: "I too know and see the deeds of Ya‘akov who is with us—how with all his heart he honors us. But I loved Esav formerly more than Ya‘akov , because he was the firstborn. Now I love Ya‘akov more than Esav , for he has done manifold evil deeds, and there is no righteousness in him. All his ways are unrighteousness and violence, and there is no righteousness around him.
14
Now my heart is troubled because of all his deeds. Neither he nor his seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be destroyed from the earth and rooted out from under heaven, for he has forsaken the Elohim (God) of Avraham (Abraham) and gone after his wives, their uncleanness, and their error—he and his children.
15
You bid me make him swear that he will not slay Ya‘akov his brother. Even if he swears, he will not abide by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only.
16
But if he desires to slay Ya‘akov his brother, into Ya‘akov 's hands will he be given, and he will not escape from his hands, for he will descend into his hands.
17
Do not fear on account of Ya‘akov , for the guardian of Ya‘akov is great, powerful, honored, and praised more than the guardian of Esav ."
18
Rivkah sent and called Esav , and he came to her. She said to him: "I have a petition, my son, to make to you. Promise to do it, my son."
19
He said: "I will do everything that you say to me, and I will not refuse your petition."
20
She said to him: "I ask you that on the day I die, you will take me and bury me near Sarah , your father's mother, and that you and Ya‘akov will love each other, and that neither will desire evil against the other—only mutual love. Then you will prosper, my sons, and be honored in the midst of the land, and no enemy will rejoice over you. You will be a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those who love you."
21
He said: "I will do all that you have told me. I will bury you on the day you die near Sarah , my father's mother, as you have desired, that her bones may be near your bones.
22
Ya‘akov my brother also I will love above all flesh, for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only. This is no great merit for me if I love him, for he is my brother, and we were sown together in your body, and together we came forth from your womb. If I do not love my brother, whom shall I love?
23
I myself beg you to exhort Ya‘akov concerning me and my sons, for I know that he will assuredly be king over me and my sons. For on the day my father blessed him, he made him the higher and me the lower.
24
I swear to you that I will love him and not desire evil against him all the days of my life—only good." He swore to her regarding all this matter.
25
She called Ya‘akov before the eyes of Esav and gave him commandment according to the words which she had spoken to Esav .
26
He said: "I will do your pleasure. Believe me that no evil will proceed from me or from my sons against Esav . I will be first in nothing save in love only."
27
They ate and drank—she and her sons that night. She died, three Yovelim and one week and one year old, on that night. Her two sons, Esav and Ya‘akov , buried her in the Double Cave near Sarah , their father's mother.
Chapter 36 Yitzchak's Last Words and Admonitions; His Death; The Death of Leah
1
In the sixth year of this week, Yitzchak (Isaac) called his two sons, Esav (Esau) and Ya‘akov (Jacob), and they came to him. He said to them: "My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house where my fathers are.
2
Therefore, bury me near Avraham (Abraham), my father, in the Double Cave in the field of Ephron the Chitti (Hittite), where Avraham purchased a sepulchre to bury in. In the sepulchre, which I dug for myself, there bury me.
3
This I command you, my sons: that you practice tzedakah (righteousness) and uprightness on the earth, so that Yahuah (the Lord) may bring upon you all that Yahuah said He would do to Avraham and to his seed.
4
Love one another, my sons, your brothers, as a man who loves his own soul. Let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and act together on the earth. Let them love each other as their own souls.
5
Concerning the question of idols, I command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and not love them. For they are full of deception for those who worship them and for those who bow down to them.
6
Remember, my sons, Yahuah Elohim of Avraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude, and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness which will not be rooted out unto all the generations forever.
7
Now I will make you swear a great oath—for there is no oath which is greater than this, by the Name glorious and honored and great and splendid and wonderful and mighty, who created the heavens and the earth and all things together—that you will fear Him and worship Him.
8
That each will love his brother with affection and righteousness, and that neither will desire evil against his brother from now on forever, all the days of your life, so that you may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed.
9
If either of you devises evil against his brother, know that from now on everyone who devises evil against his brother will fall into his hand, and will be rooted out of the land of the living, and his seed will be destroyed from under heaven.
10
On the day of turbulence, execration, indignation, and anger, with flaming devouring fire—as He burned Sodom , so likewise will He burn his land and his city and all that is his. He will be blotted out of the book of the discipline of the children of men, and not be recorded in the Sefer HaChayim (Book of Life), but in that which is appointed to destruction. He will depart into eternal execration, so that his condemnation may be always renewed in hate, execration, wrath, torment, indignation, plagues, and disease forever.
11
I say and testify to you, my sons, according to the judgment which will come upon the man who wishes to injure his brother."
12
He divided all his possessions between the two on that day. He gave the larger portion to him who was the firstborn, and the tower and all that was about it, and all that Avraham possessed at the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath).
13
And he said: "This larger portion I will give to the firstborn."
14
Esav said: "I have sold to Ya‘akov and given my birthright to Ya‘akov. To him let it be given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his."
15
Yitzchak said: "May a blessing rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for you have given me rest, and my heart is not pained concerning the birthright, lest you should work wickedness on account of it.
16
May El Elyon (the Most High God) bless the man who works righteousness—him and his seed forever."
17
He ended commanding them and blessing them. They ate and drank together before him, and he rejoiced because there was one mind between them. They went out from him and rested that day and slept.
18
And Yitzchak slept on his bed that day rejoicing, and he slept the eternal sleep, and died one hundred and eighty years old. He completed twenty-five weeks and five years. His two sons, Esav and Ya‘akov , buried him.
19
Esav went to the land of Edom , to the mountains of Se‘ir , and dwelt there.
20
Ya‘akov dwelt in the mountains of Chevron (Hebron), in the tower of the land of the sojournings of his father Avraham . He worshipped Yahuah with all his heart and according to the visible commands, according as He had divided the days of his generations.
21
And Leah his wife died in the fourth year of the second week of the forty-fifth Yovel (jubilee). He buried her in the Double Cave near Rivkah (Rebecca) his mother, to the left of the grave of Sarah, his father's mother.
22
All her sons and his sons came to mourn over Leah his wife with him, and to comfort him regarding her, for he was lamenting her.
23
For he loved her exceedingly after Rachel her sister died. She was perfect and upright in all her ways and honored Ya‘akov. All the days that she lived with him, he did not hear from her mouth a harsh word, for she was gentle, peaceable, upright, and honorable.
24
He remembered all her deeds, which she had done during her life, and he lamented her exceedingly, for he loved her with all his heart and with all his soul.
Chapter 37 Esav and His Sons Wage War with Ya‘akov
1
On the day that Yitzchak (Isaac) the father of Ya‘akov (Jacob) and Esav (Esau) died, the sons of Esav heard that Yitzchak had given the portion of the elder to his younger son Ya‘akov , and they were very angry.
2
They strove with their father, saying: "Why has your father given Ya‘akov the portion of the elder and passed over you, although you are the elder and Ya‘akov the younger?"
3
He said to them: "Because I sold my birthright to Ya‘akov for a small mess of lentils. On the day my father sent me to hunt and catch and bring him something that he should eat and bless me, he came with guile and brought my father food and drink, and my father blessed him and put me under his hand.
4
Now our father has caused us to swear—me and him—that we shall not mutually devise evil, either against his brother, and that we shall continue in love and in shalom (peace) each with his brother, and not make our ways corrupt."
5
They said to him: "We will not listen to you to make peace with him. For our strength is greater than his strength, and we are more powerful than he. We will go against him, slay him, and destroy him and his sons. If you will not go with us, we will do harm to you also.
6
Now listen to us: Let us send to Aram , Peleshet (Philistia), Mo’av (Moab), and Ammon , and let us choose for ourselves chosen men who are ardent for battle. Let us go against him and do battle with him, and let us exterminate him from the earth before he grows strong."
7
Their father said to them: "Do not go and do not make war with him, lest you fall before him."
8
They said to him: "This too is exactly your mode of action from your youth until this day—you are putting your neck under his yoke. We will not listen to these words."
9
They sent to Aram and to Aduran , to the friend of their father, and they hired along with them one thousand fighting men, chosen men of war.
10
There came to them from Mo’av and from the children of Ammon —those who were hired—one thousand chosen men. From Peleshet came one thousand chosen men of war. From Edom and from the Chorim (Horites) came one thousand chosen fighting men. From the Kittim came mighty men of war.
11
They said to their father: "Go forth with them and lead them, else we will slay you."
12
He was filled with wrath and indignation on seeing that his sons were forcing him to go before them to lead them against Ya‘akov his brother.
13
But afterward he remembered all the evil which lay hidden in his heart against Ya‘akov his brother, and he remembered not the oath which he had sworn to his father and to his mother—that he would devise no evil all his days against Ya‘akov his brother.
14
Notwithstanding all this, Ya‘akov did not know that they were coming against him to battle. He was mourning for Leah his wife until they approached very near to the tower with four thousand warriors and chosen men of war.
15
The men of Chevron (Hebron) sent to him, saying: "Behold, your brother has come against you to fight you, with four thousand girded with the sword, and they carry shields and weapons." For they loved Ya‘akov more than Esav , so they told him, for Ya‘akov was a more liberal and merciful man than Esav .
16
But Ya‘akov would not believe until they came very near to the tower.
17
He closed the gates of the tower and stood on the battlements. He spoke to his brother Esav and said: "Noble is the comfort with which you have come to comfort me for my wife who has died. Is this the oath that you swore to your father and again to your mother before they died? You have broken the oath, and on the moment that you swore to your father you were condemned."
18
Then Esav answered and said to him: "Neither the children of men nor the beasts of the earth have any oath of righteousness which in swearing they have sworn valid forever. But every day they devise evil one against another, and how each may slay his adversary and foe.
19
You hate me and my children forever. There is no observing the tie of brotherhood with you.
20
Hear these words which I declare to you: If the boar can change its skin and make its bristles as soft as wool, Or if it can cause horns to sprout forth on its head like the horns of a stag or of a sheep, Then shall I observe the tie of brotherhood with you. And if the breasts separated themselves from their mother—for you have not been a brother to me.
21
If the wolves make peace with the lambs so as not to devour or do them violence, And if their hearts are toward them for good, Then there will be peace in my heart toward you.
22
If the lion becomes the friend of the ox and makes peace with him, And if he is bound under one yoke with him and plows with him, Then shall I make peace with you.
23
When the raven becomes white as the raza , Then know that I have loved you And shall make peace with you. You shall be rooted out, And your sons shall be rooted out, And there shall be no peace for you."
24
When Ya‘akov saw that he was so evilly disposed toward him with his heart and with all his soul as to slay him, and that he had come springing like the wild boar which comes upon the spear that pierces and kills it and does not recoil from it,
25
Then he spoke to his own men and to his servants that they should attack him and all his companions.
Chapter 38 The War Between Ya‘akov and Esav at the Tower of Chevron; The Death of Esav and Overthrow of His Forces
1
After that, Yehudah (Judah) spoke to Ya‘akov his father and said to him: "Bend your bow, father, and send forth your arrows. Cast down the adversary and slay the enemy. May you have the power, for we will not slay your brother, for he is such as you and is like you. Let us give him this honor."
2
Then Ya‘akov bent his bow and sent forth the arrow, struck Esav his brother on his right breast, and slew him.
3
Again he sent forth an arrow and struck Adoran the Arami (Syrian) on the left breast, drove him backward, and slew him.
4
Then the sons of Ya‘akov went forth—they and their servants—dividing themselves into companies on the four sides of the tower.
5
Yehudah went forth in front, and Naftali (Naphtali) and Gad with him, and fifty servants with him on the south side of the tower. They slew all they found before them, and not one individual of them escaped.
6
Levi, Dan, and Asher went forth on the east side of the tower, with fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of Mo’av (Moab) and Ammon .
7
Re’uven (Reuben), Yissakhar (Issachar), and Zevulun (Zebulun) went forth on the north side of the tower, with fifty men with them, and they slew the fighting men of the Pelishtim (Philistines).
8
Shim‘on (Simeon), Binyamn (Benjamin), and Chanokh (Enoch), Re’uven ’s son, went forth on the west side of the tower, with fifty men with them. They slew of Edom and of the Chorim (Horites) four hundred men, stout warriors. Six hundred fled, and four of the sons of Esav fled with them, leaving their father lying slain as he had fallen on the hill which is in Adoran .
9
The sons of Ya‘akov pursued after them to the mountains of Se‘ir . Ya‘akov buried his brother on the hill which is in Adoran , and he returned to his house.
10
The sons of Ya‘akov pressed hard upon the sons of Esav in the mountains of Se‘ir and bowed their necks so that they became servants of the sons of Ya‘akov .
11
They sent to their father to inquire whether they should make shalom with them or slay them.
12
Ya‘akov sent word to his sons that they should make shalom . They made shalom with them and placed the yoke of servitude upon them, so that they paid tribute to Ya‘akov and to his sons always.
13
They continued to pay tribute to Ya‘akov until the day that he went down into Mitzrayim (Egypt).
14
The sons of Edom have not gotten rid of the yoke of servitude which the twelve sons of Ya‘akov had imposed on them until this day.
15
These are the kings that reigned in Edom before any king reigned over the children of Yisra’el (Israel) in the land of Edom .
16
Balak the son of Be‘or reigned in Edom , and the name of his city was Danaba .
17
Balak died, and Yovav the son of Zara of Botzer reigned in his stead.
18
Yovav died, and Asam of the land of Teman reigned in his stead.
19
Asam died, and Adat the son of Barad , who slew Midian in the field of Mo’av , reigned in his stead. The name of his city was Avith .
20
Adat died, and Salman from Amaseqa reigned in his stead.
21
Salman died, and Sha’ul of Rechovot by the river reigned in his stead.
22
Sha’ul died, and Ba‘elunan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
23
Ba‘elunan the son of Achbor died, and Adat reigned in his stead. The name of his wife was Metaviyah , the daughter of Matarat , the daughter of Metavedza’av .
24
These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom .
Chapter 39 Yosef's Service with Potiphar; His Purity and Imprisonment
1
Ya‘akov (Jacob) dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Kena‘an (Canaan).
2
These are the generations of Ya‘akov. Yosef (Joseph) was seventeen years old when they took him down into the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt). Potiphar, a eunuch of Par‘oh (Pharaoh), the chief cook, bought him.
3
He set Yosef over all his house, and the blessing of Yahuah (the Lord) came upon the house of the Mitzrite (Egyptian) on account of Yosef, and Yahuah prospered him in all that he did.
4
The Mitzrite committed everything into the hands of Yosef , for he saw that Yahuah was with him and that Yahuah prospered him in all that he did.
5
Yosef 's appearance was comely and very beautiful. His master's wife lifted up her eyes and saw Yosef , and she loved him and begged him to lie with her.
6
But he did not surrender his soul. He remembered Yahuah and the words which Ya‘akov his father used to read from among the words of Avraham (Abraham): that no man should commit zenut (fornication) with a woman who has a husband, for that punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before El Elyon (the Most High God), and the sin will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before Yahuah .
7
Yosef remembered these words and refused to lie with her.
8
She begged him for a year, but he refused and would not listen.
9
But she embraced him and held him fast in the house in order to force him to lie with her. She closed the doors of the house and held him fast. He left his garment in her hands, broke through the door, and fled without from her presence.
10
The woman saw that he would not lie with her, and she calumniated him in the presence of his lord, saying: "Your Hebrew servant, whom you love, sought to force me so that he might lie with me. It came to pass when I lifted up my voice that he fled, left his garment in my hands when I held him, and broke through the door."
11
The Mitzrite saw the garment of Yosef and the broken door, and heard the words of his wife. He cast Yosef into prison—into the place where the prisoners were kept whom the king imprisoned.
12
Yosef was there in the prison. Yahuah gave Yosef favor in the sight of the chief of the prison guards and compassion before him, for he saw that Yahuah was with him and that Yahuah made all that he did to prosper.
13
He committed all things into his hands, and the chief of the prison guards knew of nothing that was with him, for Yosef did everything, and Yahuah perfected it.
14
He remained there two years. In those days Par‘oh , king of Mitzrayim , was angry against his two eunuchs—against the chief butler and against the chief baker—and he put them in ward in the house of the chief cook, in the prison where Yosef was kept.
15
The chief of the prison guards appointed Yosef to serve them, and he served before them.
16
They both dreamed a dream—the chief butler and the chief baker—and they told it to Yosef .
17
As he interpreted to them, so it befell them. Par‘oh restored the chief butler to his office, and the chief baker he slew, as Yosef had interpreted to them.
18
But the chief butler forgot Yosef in the prison, although he had informed him what would befall him. He did not remember to inform Par‘oh how Yosef had told him, for he forgot.
Chapter 40 Pharaoh's Dreams and Their Interpretation; Yosef's Elevation and Marriage
1
In those days Par‘oh (Pharaoh) dreamed two dreams in one night concerning a famine which was to be in all the land. He awoke from his sleep and called all the interpreters of dreams that were in Mitzrayim (Egypt), and the magicians, and told them his two dreams, but they were not able to declare them.
2
Then the chief butler remembered Yosef (Joseph) and spoke of him to the king. He brought him out from the prison, and Yosef told the king his two dreams before him.
3
He said before Par‘oh that his two dreams were one, and he said to him: "Seven years will come in which there will be plenty over all the land of Mitzrayim . After that, seven years of famine will come—such a famine as has not been in all the land.
4
Now let Par‘oh appoint overseers in all the land of Mitzrayim , and let them store up food in every city throughout the days of the years of plenty. There will be food for the seven years of famine, and the land will not perish through the famine, for it will be very severe."
5
Yahuah (the Lord) gave Yosef favor and mercy in the eyes of Par‘oh . Par‘oh said to his servants: "We shall not find such a wise and discreet man as this man, for the Ruach Yahuah (Spirit of the Lord) is with him."
6
He appointed him the second in all his kingdom and gave him authority over all Mitzrayim . He caused him to ride in the second chariot of Par‘oh .
7
He clothed him with byssus garments, put a gold chain upon his neck, and a herald proclaimed before him: " El El v’Avirer (God, God, and the Mighty One)". He placed a ring on his hand, made him ruler over all his house, and magnified him. He said to him: "Only on the throne shall I be greater than you."
8
Yosef ruled over all the land of Mitzrayim . All the princes of Par‘oh , all his servants, and all who did the king's business loved him, for he walked in uprightness. He was without pride and arrogance. He had no respect of persons and did not accept gifts, but he judged in uprightness all the people of the land.
9
The land of Mitzrayim was at shalom (peace) before Par‘oh because of Yosef , for Yahuah was with him and gave him favor and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew him and those who heard concerning him. Par‘oh 's kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil person in it.
10
The king called Yosef 's name Tzafnat-Pa‘neach . He gave Yosef as a wife the daughter of Potiphar , the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis , the chief cook—her name was Asenat .
11
On the day that Yosef stood before Par‘oh , he was thirty years old.
12
In that year Yitzchak (Isaac) died. It came to pass as Yosef had said in the interpretation of his two dreams—according as he had said it, there were seven years of plenty over all the land of Mitzrayim . The land of Mitzrayim produced abundantly: one measure produced eighteen hundred measures.
13
Yosef gathered food into every city until they were full of corn, until they could no longer count and measure it for its multitude.
Chapter 41 Yehudah's Incest with Tamar; His Repentance and Forgiveness
1
In the forty-fifth Yovel (jubilee), in the second week, in the second year, Yehudah (Judah) took for his firstborn Er a wife from the daughters of Aram , named Tamar .
2
But Er hated her and did not lie with her, because his mother was of the daughters of Kena‘an (Canaan), and he wished to take a wife from the kinsfolk of his mother. But Yehudah his father would not permit him.
3
This Er , Yehudah 's firstborn, was wicked, and Yahuah (the Lord) slew him.
4
Yehudah said to Onan , his brother: "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed for your brother."
5
Onan knew that the seed would not be his, but his brother's only. He went into the house of his brother's wife and spilled the seed on the ground. He was wicked in the eyes of Yahuah , and He slew him.
6
Yehudah said to Tamar , his daughter-in-law: "Remain in your father's house as a widow until Shelah my son is grown up, and I will give you to him as a wife."
7
Shelah grew up, but Betasu’el , the wife of Yehudah , did not permit her son Shelah to marry. Betasu’el , the wife of Yehudah , died in the fifth year of this week.
8
In the sixth year, Yehudah went up to shear his sheep at Timnah . They told Tamar : "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."
9
She put off her widow's clothes, put on a veil, adorned herself, and sat in the gate adjoining the way to Timnah .
10
As Yehudah was going along, he found her and thought her to be a harlot. He said to her: "Let me come in to you." She said to him: "Come in," and he went in.
11
She said to him: "Give me my hire." He said to her: "I have nothing in my hand save my ring that is on my finger, my necklace, and my staff which is in my hand."
12
She said to him: "Give them to me until you send me my hire." He said to her: "I will send you a kid of the goats." He gave them to her, went in to her, and she conceived by him.
13
Yehudah went to his sheep, and she went to her father's house.
14
Yehudah sent a kid of the goats by the hand of his shepherd, an Adullamite , but he did not find her. He asked the people of the place, saying: "Where is the harlot who was here?" They said to him: "There is no harlot here with us."
15
He returned and informed him, saying that he had not found her: "I asked the people of the place, and they said to me: 'There is no harlot here.' " Yehudah said: "Let her keep them, lest we become a cause of derision."
16
When she had completed three months, it was manifest that she was with child. They told Yehudah , saying: "Behold, Tamar your daughter-in-law is with child by whoredom."
17
Yehudah went to the house of her father and said to her father and her brothers: "Bring her forth, and let them burn her, for she has worked uncleanness in Yisra’el (Israel)."
18
When they brought her forth to burn her, she sent to her father-in-law the ring, the necklace, and the staff, saying: "Discern whose these are, for by him am I with child."
19
And Yehudah acknowledged and said: "Tamar is more righteous than I am. Therefore let them not burn her."
20
For that reason she was not given to Shelah , and he did not again approach her.
21
After that she bore two sons, Peretz and Zerach , in the seventh year of this second week.
22
Thereupon the seven years of fruitfulness were accomplished, of which Yosef (Joseph) spoke to Par‘oh (Pharaoh).
23
Yehudah acknowledged that the deed which he had done was evil, for he had lain with his daughter-in-law. He esteemed it hateful in his eyes and acknowledged that he had transgressed and gone astray, for he had uncovered the skirt of his son. He began to lament and to supplicate before Yahuah because of his transgression.
24
We told him in a dream that it was forgiven him because he supplicated earnestly, lamented, and did not again commit it.
25
He received forgiveness because he turned from his sin and from his ignorance, for he transgressed greatly before our Elohim (God). Every one who acts thus—every one who lies with his mother-in-law—let them burn him with fire that he may burn therein, for there is uncleanness and pollution upon them. With fire let them burn them.
26
You, Mosheh (Moses), command the children of Yisra’el that there be no uncleanness among them. For every one who lies with his daughter-in-law or with his mother-in-law has worked uncleanness. With fire let them burn the man who has lain with her, and likewise the woman. Then He will turn away wrath and punishment from Yisra’el .
27
To Yehudah we said that his two sons had not lain with her, and for this reason his seed was established for a second generation and would not be rooted out.
28
For in singleness of eye he had gone and sought for punishment—namely, according to the judgment of Avraham (Abraham), which he had commanded his sons— Yehudah had sought to burn her with fire.
Chapter 42 The Two Journeys of the Sons of Ya‘akov to Mitzrayim
1
And in the first year of the third week of the forty-fifth Yovel (jubilee), the famine began to come into the land, and the rain refused to be given to the earth, for none whatever fell.
2
The earth grew barren, but in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt) there was food, for Yosef (Joseph) had gathered the seed of the land in the seven years of plenty and had preserved it.
3
The Mitzrites (Egyptians) came to Yosef that he might give them food. He opened the storehouses where was the grain of the first year, and sold it to the people of the land for gold.
4
The famine was very sore in the land of Kena‘an (Canaan). Ya‘akov (Jacob) heard that there was food in Mitzrayim , and he sent his ten sons to procure food for him in Mitzrayim . But Binyamin (Benjamin) he did not send. The ten sons of Ya‘akov arrived among those who went there.
5
Yosef recognized them, but they did not recognize him. He spoke to them and questioned them, and said to them: "Are you not spies? Have you not come to explore the approaches of the land?" He put them in ward.
6
After that he set them free again, detained Shim‘on (Simeon) alone, and sent off his nine brothers.
7
He filled their sacks with grain and put their gold in their sacks, and they did not know.
8
He commanded them to bring their younger brother, for they had told him their father was living and their younger brother.
9
They went up from the land of Mitzrayim and came to the land of Kena‘an . They told their father all that had befallen them, and how the ruler of the country had spoken roughly to them and had seized Shim‘on until they should bring Binyamin .
10
Ya‘akov said: "Me have you bereaved of my children! Yosef is not, and Shim‘on also is not, and you will take Binyamin away. Upon me has your wickedness come."
11
He said: "My son will not go down with you, lest perhaps he fall sick. For their mother gave birth to two sons; one has perished, and this one also you will take from me. If perhaps he took a fever on the road, you would bring down my old age with sorrow unto death."
12
For he saw that their money had been returned to every man in his sack, and for this reason he feared to send him.
13
The famine increased and became sore in the land of Kena‘an and in all lands, save in the land of Mitzrayim . For many of the children of the Mitzrites had stored up their seed for food from the time when they saw Yosef gathering seed together, putting it in storehouses, and preserving it for the years of famine.
14
The people of Mitzrayim fed themselves on it during the first year of their famine.
15
When Yisra’el (Israel) saw that the famine was very sore in the land and there was no deliverance, he said to his sons: "Go again and procure food for us, that we may not die."
16
They said: "We will not go unless our youngest brother goes with us. We will not go."
17
Yisra’el saw that if he did not send him with them, they would all perish by reason of the famine.
18
Re’uven (Reuben) said: "Give him into my hand. If I do not bring him back to you, slay my two sons instead of his soul." But Ya‘akov said to him: "He will not go with you."
19
Yehudah (Judah) came near and said: "Send him with me. If I do not bring him back to you, let me bear the blame before you all the days of my life."
20
Ya‘akov sent him with them in the second year of this week, on the first day of the month. They came to the land of Mitzrayim with all those who went, and they had presents in their hands: stacte, almonds, terebinth nuts, and pure honey.
21
They went and stood before Yosef . He saw Binyamin his brother, knew him, and said to them: "Is this your youngest brother?" They said to him: "He is." He said: " Yahuah (the Lord) be gracious to you, my son!"
22
He sent him into his house, brought out Shim‘on to them, and made a feast for them. They presented to him the gift which they had brought in their hands.
23
They ate before him, and he gave them all a portion. But the portion of Binyamin was seven times larger than that of any of theirs.
24
They ate and drank, arose, and remained with their donkeys.
25
Yosef devised a plan whereby he might learn their thoughts as to whether thoughts of shalom (peace) prevailed among them. He said to the steward who was over his house: "Fill all their sacks with food, return their money to them into their vessels, and put my cup—the silver cup out of which I drink—into the sack of the youngest, and send them away."
Chapter 43 Yosef Finally Tests His Brethren and Then Makes Himself Known to Them
1
And he did as Yosef (Joseph) had told him, and filled all their sacks for them with food, put their money in their sacks, and put the cup in Binyamin 's (Benjamin's) sack.
2
Early in the morning they departed. When they had gone from there, Yosef said to the steward of his house: "Pursue them, run and seize them, saying, 'For good you have requited me with evil; you have stolen from me the silver cup out of which my master drinks.' Bring back to me their youngest brother, and fetch him quickly before I go forth to my seat of judgment."
3
He ran after them and said to them according to these words.
4
They said to him: "Far be it that your servants should do this thing—steal from the house of your master any utensil. The money also which we found in our sacks the first time, we your servants brought back from the land of Kena‘an (Canaan).
5
How then should we steal any utensil? Behold, here are we and our sacks. Search, and wherever you find the cup in the sack of any man among us, let him be slain, and we and our donkeys will serve your master."
6
He said to them: "Not so. The man with whom I find it, him only will I take as a servant, and you will return in shalom (peace) to your house."
7
As he was searching in their vessels, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, it was found in Binyamin 's sack.
8
They rent their garments, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city. They came to the house of Yosef , and all bowed themselves on their faces to the ground before him.
9
Yosef said to them: "You have done evil." They said: "What shall we say and how shall we defend ourselves? Our master has discovered the transgression of his servants. Behold, we are the servants of our master, and our donkeys also."
10
Yosef said to them: "I too fear Yahuah (the Lord). As for you, go to your homes and let your brother be my servant, for you have done evil. Do you not know that a man delights in his cup as I with this cup? Yet you have stolen it from me."
11
Yehudah (Judah) said: "O my master, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my master's ear. Two brothers did your servant's mother bear to our father. One went away and was lost and has not been found, and he alone is left of his mother. Your servant our father loves him, and his life is bound up with the life of this lad.
12
It will come to pass when we go to your servant our father, and the lad is not with us, that he will die, and we will bring down our father with sorrow unto death.
13
Now rather let me, your servant, abide instead of the boy as a bondsman to my master, and let the lad go with his brethren. For I became surety for him at the hand of your servant our father. If I do not bring him back, your servant will bear the blame to our father forever."
14
Yosef saw that they were all accordant in goodness one with another. He could not refrain himself, and he told them that he was Yosef .
15
He conversed with them in the Hebrew tongue, fell on their neck, and wept. They did not know him, and they began to weep.
16
He said to them: "Do not weep over me, but hasten and bring my father to me. You see that it is my mouth that speaks, and the eyes of my brother Binyamin see.
17
For behold, this is the second year of the famine, and there are still five years without harvest or fruit of trees or plowing.
18
Come down quickly, you and your households, so that you do not perish through the famine. Do not be grieved for your possessions, for Yahuah sent me before you to set things in order that many people might live.
19
Tell my father that I am still alive. You see that Yahuah has made me as a father to Par‘oh (Pharaoh), ruler over his house and over all the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt).
20
Tell my father of all my glory, and all the riches and glory that Yahuah has given me."
21
By the command of the mouth of Par‘oh , he gave them chariots and provisions for the way, and he gave them all many-colored raiment and silver.
22
To their father he sent raiment, silver, and ten donkeys which carried grain, and he sent them away.
23
They went up and told their father that Yosef was alive, was measuring out grain to all the nations of the earth, and was ruler over all the land of Mitzrayim .
24
Their father did not believe it, for he was beside himself in his mind. But when he saw the wagons which Yosef had sent, the life of his spirit revived, and he said: "It is enough for me if Yosef lives. I will go down and see him before I die."
Chapter 44 Ya‘akov Celebrates the Feast of Firstfruits and Journeys to Mitzrayim; List of His Descendants
1
And Yisra’el (Israel) took his journey from *Haran his house on the new moon of the third month, and he went on the way of the Be’er Sheva (Well of the Oath). He offered a sacrifice to the Elohim (God) of his father Yitzchak (Isaac) on the seventh of this month.
2
And Y a‘akov (Jacob) remembered the dream that he had seen at Beit-El (Bethel), and he feared to go down into Mitzrayim (Egypt).
3
While he was thinking of sending word to Yosef (Joseph) to come to him, and that he would not go down, he remained there seven days, if perhaps he should see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down.
4
He celebrated the harvest festival of the first-fruits with old grain, for in all the land of Kena‘an (Canaan) there was not a handful of seed, for the famine was over all the beasts, cattle, birds, and also over man.
5
On the sixteenth, Yahuah (the Lord) appeared to him and said to him: " Ya‘akov , Ya‘akov ." He said: "Here am I." He said to him: "I am the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Avraham (Abraham) and Yitzchak. Do not fear to go down into Mitzrayim, for I will there make of you a great nation.
6
I will go down with you, and I will bring you up again. In this land you will be buried, and Yosef will put his hands upon your eyes. Do not fear; go down into Mitzrayim."
7
His sons and his sons' sons rose up, and they placed their father and their possessions upon wagons.
8
Yisra’el rose up from the Be’er Sheva on the sixteenth of this third month, and he went to the land of Mitzrayim .
9
Yisra’el sent Yehudah (Judah) before him to his son Yosef , to examine the land of Goshen , for Yosef had told his brothers that they should come and dwell there that they might be near him.
10
This was the goodliest land in the land of Mitzrayim , and near to him, for all of them and also for the cattle.
11
These are the names of the sons of Ya‘akov who went into Mitzrayim with Ya‘akov their father.
12
Re’uven (Reuben), the firstborn of Yisra’el . The names of his sons: Chanokh (Enoch), Pallu , Chetzron , and Karmi —five.
13
Shim‘on (Simeon) and his sons: Yemuel , Yamin , Ohad , Yachin , Tzochar , and Sha’ul , the son of the Tzefatite woman—seven.
14
Levi and his sons: Gershon , Kehat , and Merari —four.
15
Yehudah and his sons: Shelah , Peretz , and Zerach —four.
16
Yissakhar (Issachar) and his sons: Tola , Puvah , Yashuv , and Shimron —five.
17
Zevulun (Zebulun) and his sons: Sered , Elon , and Yachle’el —four.
18
These are the sons of Ya‘akov and their sons, whom Leah bore to Ya‘akov in Aram Naharayim (Mesopotamia)—six, and their one sister Dinah . All the souls of the sons of Leah and their sons who went with Ya‘akov their father into Mitzrayim were twenty-nine, and Ya‘akov their father being with them, they were thirty.
19
The sons of Zilpah , Leah 's handmaid, the wife of Ya‘akov , whom she bore to Ya‘akov : Gad and Asher .
20
The names of their sons who went with him into Mitzrayim . The sons of Gad : Tzifyon , Chaggi , Shuni , Etznon , Eri , Arodi , and Areli —eight.
21
The sons of Asher : Yimnah , Yishvah , Yishvi , Beriyah , and Serach their one sister—six.
22
All the souls were fourteen, and all those of Leah were forty-four.
23
The sons of Rachel , the wife of Ya‘akov : Yosef and Binyamin (Benjamin).
24
There were born to Yosef in Mitzrayim before his father came into Mitzrayim , those whom Asenat , daughter of Potiphar priest of Heliopolis , bore to him: Menasheh (Manasseh) and Ephraim —three.
25
The sons of Binyamin : Bela , Becher , Ashbel , Gera , Na‘aman , Echi , Rosh , Muppim , Chuppim , and Ard —eleven.
26
All the souls of Rachel were fourteen.
27
The sons of Bilhah , the handmaid of Rachel , the wife of Ya‘akov , whom she bore to Ya‘akov : Dan and Naftali (Naphtali).
28
The names of their sons who went with them into Mitzrayim . The sons of Dan : Chushim , Shamon , Asudi , Ijaka , and Shalomon —six.
29
They died the year in which they entered into Mitzrayim , and there was left to Dan only Chushim .
30
The names of the sons of Naftali : Yachtzi’el , Guni , Yotzer , Shallum , and Iv .
31
Iv , who was born after the years of famine, died in Mitzrayim .
32
All the souls of Rachel were twenty-six.
33
All the souls of Ya‘akov which went into Mitzrayim were seventy souls. These are his children and his children's children, in all seventy. But five died in Mitzrayim before Yosef , and had no children.
34
In the land of Kena‘an , two sons of Yehudah died— Er and Onan —and they had no children. The children of Yisra’el buried those who perished, and they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile nations.
Chapter 45 Yosef Receives Ya‘akov; The Land of Mitzrayim Is Acquired for Pharaoh; Ya‘akov's Death and Burial
1
Yisra’el (Israel) went into the country of Mitzrayim (Egypt), into the land of Goshen , on the new moon of the fourth month, in the second year of the third week of the forty-fifth Yovel (jubilee).
2
Yosef (Joseph) went to meet his father Ya‘akov (Jacob), to the land of Goshen . He fell on his father's neck and wept.
3
Yisra’el said to Yosef : "Now let me die, since I have seen you. Now may Yahuah (the Lord), the Elohim (God) of Yisra’el , be blessed—the Elohim of Avraham (Abraham) and the Elohim of Yitzchak (Isaac)—who has not withheld His mercy and His grace from His servant Ya‘akov .
4
It is enough for me that I have seen your face while I am yet alive. Yes, true is the vision which I saw at Beit- El (Bethel). Blessed be Yahuah my Elohim forever and ever, and blessed be His Name."
5
Yosef and his brothers ate bread before their father and drank wine. Ya‘akov rejoiced with exceeding great joy because he saw Yosef eating with his brothers and drinking before him. He blessed the Creator of all things, who had preserved him and had preserved for him his twelve sons.
6
Yosef had given to his father and to his brothers as a gift the right of dwelling in the land of Goshen , in Ra‘meses , and all the region round about, which he ruled over before Par‘oh (Pharaoh). Yisra’el and his sons dwelt in the land of Goshen , the best part of the land of Mitzrayim . Yisra’el was one hundred and thirty years old when he came into Mitzrayim .
7
Yosef nourished his father and his brethren, and also their possessions, with bread as much as sufficed them for the seven years of the famine.
8
The land of Mitzrayim suffered by reason of the famine. Yosef acquired all the land of Mitzrayim for Par‘oh in return for food, and he got possession of the people, their cattle, and everything for Par‘oh .
9
The years of the famine were accomplished. Yosef gave to the people in the land seed and food that they might sow the land in the eighth year, for the river had overflowed all the land of Mitzrayim .
10
For in the seven years of the famine it had not overflowed and had irrigated only a few places on the banks of the river. But now it overflowed, and the Mitzrites (Egyptians) sowed the land, and it bore much grain that year.
11
This was the first year of the fourth week of the forty-fifth Yovel .
12
Yosef took of the grain of the harvest the fifth part for the king and left four parts for them for food and for seed. Yosef made it an ordinance for the land of Mitzrayim until this day.
13
Yisra’el lived in the land of Mitzrayim seventeen years. All the days which he lived were three Yovelim , one hundred and forty-seven years. He died in the fourth year of the fifth week of the forty-fifth Yovel .
14
Yisra’el blessed his sons before he died and told them everything that would befall them in the land of Mitzrayim . He made known to them what would come upon them in the last days, blessed them, and gave to Yosef two portions in the land.
15
He slept with his fathers and was buried in the Double Cave in the land of Kena‘an (Canaan), near Avraham his father, in the grave which he dug for himself in the Double Cave in the land of Chevron (Hebron).
16
He gave all his books and the books of his fathers to Levi his son, that he might preserve them and renew them for his children until this day.
Chapter 46 The Death of Yosef; The Bones of Ya‘akov's Sons Interred at Chevron; The Oppression of Yisra’el by Mitzrayim
1
After Ya‘akov (Jacob) died, the children of Yisra’el (Israel) multiplied in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt). They became a great nation, and they were of one accord in heart, so that brother loved brother and every man helped his brother. They increased abundantly and multiplied exceedingly for ten weeks of years, all the days of the life of Yosef (Joseph).
2
There was no Satan nor any evil all the days of the life of Yosef , which he lived after his father Ya‘akov , for all the Mitzrites (Egyptians) honored the children of Yisra’el all the days of the life of Yosef .
3
Yosef died being a hundred and ten years old. Seventeen years he lived in the land of Kena‘an (Canaan), ten years he was a servant, three years in prison, and eighty years he was under the king, ruling all the land of Mitzrayim .
4
He died, and all his brethren and all that generation.
5
Before he died, he commanded the children of Yisra’el that they should carry his bones with them when they went forth from the land of Mitzrayim .
6
He made them swear regarding his bones, for he knew that the Mitzrites would not again bring him forth and bury him in the land of Kena‘an . For Makamaron , king of Kena‘an , while dwelling in the land of Ashur , fought in the valley with the king of Mitzrayim and slew him there, and pursued after the Mitzrites to the gates of Ermon .
7
But he was not able to enter, for another, a new king, had become king of Mitzrayim , and he was stronger than he. He returned to the land of Kena‘an , and the gates of Mitzrayim were closed, and none went out and none came into Mitzrayim .
8
Yosef died in the forty-sixth Yovel (jubilee), in the sixth week, in the second year. They buried him in the land of Mitzrayim , and his brethren died after him.
9
The king of Mitzrayim went forth to war with the king of Kena‘an in the forty-seventh Yovel , in the second week, in the second year. The children of Yisra’el brought forth all the bones of the children of Ya‘akov , save the bones of Yosef , and they buried them in the field in the Double Cave in the mountain.
10
The most of them returned to Mitzrayim , but a few of them remained in the mountains of Chevron (Hebron), and Amram your father remained with them.
11
The king of Kena‘an was victorious over the king of Mitzrayim , and he closed the gates of Mitzrayim .
12
He devised an evil device against the children of Yisra’el of afflicting them. He said to the people of Mitzrayim :
13
"Behold, the people of the children of Yisra’el have increased and multiplied more than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them before they become too many, and let us afflict them with slavery before war comes upon us and before they too fight against us. Else they will join themselves to our enemies and get them up out of our land, for their hearts and faces are toward the land of Kena‘an ."
14
He set over them taskmasters to afflict them with slavery. They built strong cities for Par‘oh (Pharaoh): Pithom and Ra‘amses . They built all the walls and all the fortifications which had fallen in the cities of Mitzrayim .
15
They made them serve with rigor, and the more they dealt evilly with them, the more they increased and multiplied.
16
The people of Mitzrayim abominated the children of Yisra’el.
Chapter 47 The Birth of Mosheh; His Preservation and Early Life; Flight to Midian
1
And in the seventh week, in the seventh year, in the forty‑seventh Yovel (jubilee), thy father went forth from the land of Kena‘an (Canaan), and thou wast born in the fourth week, in the sixth year thereof, in the forty‑eighth Yovel ; this was the time of tribulation on the children of Yisra’el (Israel).
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And Par‘oh (Pharaoh), king of Mitzrayim (Egypt), issued a command regarding them that they should cast all their male children which were born into the river.
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And they cast them in for seven months until the day that thou wast born.
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And thy mother hid thee for three months, and they told regarding her. And she made an ark for thee, and covered it with pitch and asphalt, and placed it in the flags on the bank of the river, and she placed thee in it seven days, and thy mother came by night and suckled thee, and by day Miryam (Miriam), thy sister, guarded thee from the birds.
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And in those days Tharmuth , the daughter of Par‘oh , came to bathe in the river, and she heard thy voice crying, and she told her maidens to bring thee forth, and they brought thee unto her.
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And she took thee out of the ark, and she had compassion on thee.
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And thy sister said unto her: “Shall I go and call unto thee one of the Ivri (Hebrew) women to nurse and suckle this babe for thee?”
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And she said unto her: “Go.” And she went and called thy mother Yocheved (Jochebed), and she gave her wages, and she nursed thee.
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And afterwards, when thou wast grown up, they brought thee unto the daughter of Par‘oh , and thou didst become her son, and Amram thy father taught thee writing, and after thou hadst completed three weeks they brought thee into the royal court.
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And thou wast three weeks of years at court until the time when thou didst go forth from the royal court and didst see an Mitzrite (Egyptian) smiting thy friend who was of the children of Yisra’el , and thou didst slay him and hide him in the sand.
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And on the second day thou didst see two of the children of Yisra’el striving together, and thou didst say to him who was doing the wrong: “Why dost thou smite thy brother?”
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And he was angry and indignant, and said: “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Thinkest thou to kill me as thou killedst the Mitzrite yesterday?” And thou didst fear and flee on account of these words.
Chapter 48 Mosheh's Sojourn in Midian; The Plagues and Exodus; The Binding of Mastêmâ
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And in the sixth year of the third week of the fortyninth Yovel (jubilee) thou didst depart and dwell in the land of Midian, five weeks and one year. And thou didst return into Mitzrayim (Egypt) in the second week in the second year in the fiftieth Yovel .
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And thou thyself knowest what He spake unto thee on Mount Sinai , and what prince Mastêmâ desired to do with thee when thou wast returning into Mitzrayim on the way when thou didst meet him at the lodgingplace.
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Did he not with all his power seek to slay thee and deliver the Mitzrites (Egyptians) out of thy hand when he saw that thou wast sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Mitzrites ?
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And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou didst perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Mitzrayim against Par‘oh (Pharaoh), and against all his house, and against his servants and his people.
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And Yahuah (the Lord) executed a great vengeance on them for Yisra’el 's (Israel's) sake, and smote them through the plagues of blood and frogs, lice and dogflies, and malignant boils breaking forth in blains; and their cattle by death; and by hailstones, thereby He destroyed everything that grew for them; and by locusts which devoured the residue which had been left by the hail, and by darkness; and by the death of the firstborn of men and animals, and on all their idols Yahuah took vengeance and burned them with fire.
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And everything was sent through thy hand, that thou shouldst declare these things before they were done, and thou didst speak with the king of Mitzrayim before all his servants and before his people.
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And everything took place according to thy words; ten great and terrible judgments came on the land of Mitzrayim that thou mightest execute vengeance on it for Yisra’el.
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And Yahuah did everything for Yisra’el 's sake, and according to His covenant, which He had ordained with Avraham (Abraham) that He would take vengeance on them as they had brought them by force into bondage.
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And the prince Mastêmâ stood up against thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands of Par‘oh , and he helped the Mitzrite sorcerers,
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and they stood up and wrought before thee the evils indeed we permitted them to work, but the remedies we did not allow to be wrought by their hands.
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And Yahuah smote them with malignant ulcers, and they were not able to stand, for we destroyed them so that they could not perform a single sign.
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And notwithstanding all these signs and wonders the prince Mastêmâ was not put to shame because he took courage and cried to the Mitzrites to pursue after thee with all the powers of the Mitzrites , with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the hosts of the peoples of Mitzrayim .
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And I stood between the Mitzrites and Yisra’el , and we delivered Yisra’el out of his hand, and out of the hand of his people, and Yahuah brought them through the midst of the sea as if it were dry land.
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And all the peoples whom he brought to pursue after Yisra’el , Yahuah our Elohim (God) cast them into the midst of the sea, into the depths of the abyss beneath the children of Yisra’el , even as the people of Mitzrayim had cast their children into the river.
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He took vengeance on one million of them, and one thousand strong and energetic men were destroyed on account of one suckling of the children of thy people which they had thrown into the river.
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And on the fourteenth day and on the fifteenth and on the sixteenth and on the seventeenth and on the eighteenth the prince Mastêmâ was bound and imprisoned behind the children of Yisra’el that he might not accuse them.
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And on the nineteenth we let them loose that they might help the Mitzrites and pursue the children of Yisra’el .
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And he hardened their hearts and made them stubborn, and the device was devised by Yahuah our Elohim that He might smite the Mitzrites and cast them into the sea.
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And on the fourteenth we bound him that he might not accuse the children of Yisra’el on the day when they asked the Mitzrites for vessels and garments, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze, in order to despoil the Mitzrites in return for the bondage in which they had forced them to serve.
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And we did not lead forth the children of Yisra’el from Mitzrayim empty handed.
Chapter 49 Regulations Regarding the Passover
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Remember the commandment which Yahuah (the Lord) commanded you concerning the Pesach (Passover), that you should celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that you should kill it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the time of the setting of the sun.
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For on this night—the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy—you were eating the Pesach in Mitzrayim (Egypt), when all the powers of Mastêmâ had been let loose to slay all the firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim , from the firstborn of Par‘oh (Pharaoh) to the firstborn of the captive maidservant in the mill, and to the cattle.
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This is the sign which Yahuah gave them: into every house on the lintels of which they saw the blood of a lamb of the first year, into that house they should not enter to slay, but should pass by it, that all those should be saved who were in the house, because the sign of the blood was on its lintels.
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The powers of Yahuah did everything according as Yahuah commanded them. They passed by all the children of Yisra’el (Israel), and the plague came not upon them to destroy from among them any soul, either of cattle, or man, or dog.
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The plague was very grievous in Mitzrayim , and there was no house in Mitzrayim where there was not one dead, and weeping and lamentation.
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All Yisra’el was eating the flesh of the paschal lamb, drinking the wine, lauding, blessing, and giving thanks to Yahuah Elohim of their fathers. They were ready to go forth from under the yoke of Mitzrayim and from the evil bondage.
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Remember this day all the days of your life, and observe it from year to year all the days of your life, once a year, on its day, according to all the Torah (law) thereof. Do not adjourn it from day to day or from month to month.
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For it is an eternal ordinance, engraven on the heavenly tablets regarding all the children of Yisra’el , that they should observe it every year on its day once a year, throughout all their generations. There is no limit of days, for this is ordained forever.
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The man who is free from uncleanness and does not come to observe it on occasion of its day, so as to bring an acceptable offering before Yahuah , and to eat and to drink before Yahuah on the day of its festival—that man who is clean and close at hand will be cut off, because he offered not the oblation of Yahuah in its appointed season; he will take the guilt upon himself.
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Let the children of Yisra’el come and observe the Pesach on the day of its fixed time, on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, from the third part of the day to the third part of the night. For two portions of the day are given to the light, and a third part to the evening.
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This is that which Yahuah commanded you: that you should observe it between the evenings.
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It is not permissible to slay it during any period of the light, but during the period bordering on the evening. Let them eat it at the time of the evening until the third part of the night. Whatever is leftover of all its flesh from the third part of the night and onward, let them burn it with fire.
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They shall not cook it with water, nor shall they eat it raw, but roast on the fire. They shall eat it with diligence—its head with the inward parts thereof and its feet they shall roast with fire, and not break any bone thereof. For of the children of Yisra’el no bone shall be crushed.
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For this reason Yahuah commanded the children of Yisra’el to observe the Pesach on the day of its fixed time, and they shall not break a bone thereof. For it is a festival day and a day commanded, and there may be no passing over from day to day and month to month, but on the day of its festival let it be observed.
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Command the children of Yisra’el to observe the Pesach throughout their days, every year, once a year, on the day of its fixed time. It will come for a memorial well pleasing before Yahuah , and no plague will come upon them to slay or to smite in that year in which they celebrate the Pesach in its season, in every respect according to His command.
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They shall not eat it outside the Mikdash (sanctuary) of Yahuah , but before the Mikdash of Yahuah . All the people of the congregation of Yisra’el shall celebrate it in its appointed season.
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Every man who has come upon its day shall eat it in the Mikdash of your Elohim (God) before Yahuah , from twenty years old and upward. For thus it is written and ordained: that they should eat it in the Mikdash of Yahuah .
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When the children of Yisra’el come into the land which they are to possess, into the land of Kena‘an (Canaan), and set up the Mishkan (Tabernacle) of Yahuah in the midst of the land in one of their tribes until the Mikdash of Yahuah has been built in the land, let them come and celebrate the Pesach in the midst of the Mishkan of Yahuah , and let them slay it before Yahuah from year to year.
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In the days when the Beit (house) has been built in the Name of Yahuah in the land of their inheritance, they shall go there and slay the Pesach in the evening, at sunset, at the third part of the day.
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They will offer its blood on the threshold of the altar, and shall place its fat on the fire which is upon the altar. They shall eat its flesh roasted with fire in the court of the house which has been sanctified in the Name of Yahuah .
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They may not celebrate the Pesach in their cities, nor in any place save before the Mishkan of Yahuah , or before His house where His Name has dwelt. They will not go astray from Yahuah.
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And you, Mosheh (Moses), command the children of Yisra’el to observe the ordinances of the Pesach, as it was commanded to you. Declare to them every year the festival of Matzot (Unleavened Bread), that they should eat unleavened bread seven days, that they should observe its festival, and that they bring an oblation every day during those seven days of joy before Yahuah on the altar of your Elohim.
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For you celebrated this festival with haste when you went forth from Mitzrayim until you entered into the wilderness of Shur . For on the shore of the sea you completed it.
Chapter 50 Laws Regarding the Yovelim and the Shabbat
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After this law, I made known to you the days of the Shabbatot (Sabbaths) in the wilderness of Sin , which is between Elim and Sinai .
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I told you of the Shabbatot of the land on Mount Sinai , and I told you of the Yovel (jubilee) years in the shabbatot of years. But the year thereof I have not told you until you enter the land which you are to possess.
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The land also will keep its shabbatot while they dwell upon it, and they will know the Yovel year.
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Therefore I have ordained for you the year-weeks, the years, and the Yovelim. There are forty-nine Yovelim from the days of Adam until this day, and one week and two years, and there are yet forty years to come, for learning the commandments of Yahuah , until they pass over into the land of Kena‘an , crossing the Yarden (Jordan) to the west.
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The Yovelim will pass by until Yisra’el is cleansed from all guilt of zenut (fornication), uncleanness, pollution, sin, and error, and dwells with confidence in all the land. There will be no more a Satan or any evil one, and the land will be clean from that time forevermore.
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Behold the commandment regarding the Shabbatot —I have written them down for you, and all the judgments of its laws.
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Six days you will labor, but on the seventh day is the Shabbat of Yahuah your Elohim . In it you shall do no manner of work—you, your sons, your menservants, your maidservants, all your cattle, and the sojourner also who is with you.
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The man who does any work on it shall die. Whoever desecrates that day, whoever lies with his wife, or whoever says he will do something on it—that he will set out on a journey on it, regarding any buying or selling; whoever draws water on it which he had not prepared for himself on the sixth day; whoever takes up any burden to carry it out of his tent or out of his house—shall die.
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You shall do no work whatever on the Shabbat day, save that you have prepared for yourselves on the sixth day, so as to eat, drink, rest, and keep Shabbat from all work on that day, and to bless Yahuah your Elohim , who has given you a day of festival and a holy day. A day of the