Lost Books of the Bible (151 page)

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

13. Look! He has already dried up.

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 8

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

2. And I said, "Here I am."

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

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

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

Chapter 9

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

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

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

4. I am your protector and your helper.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Be of good cheer, and come!"

Chapter 12

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

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

3. How can I bring a sacrifice?"

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Therefore the Eternal Mighty Lord forced you to dwell upon the earth, and through you every evil spirit of lies, rage, and trials came forth for the generations of ungodly men.

9.  God, the Eternal and Mighty One, has not permitted the bodies of the righteous to be (end up) in your hands so that the life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be assured.

10. Listen! You have no permission to tempt the righteous at all.