Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil (43 page)

26 For the Lord 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 Methuselah 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 Lamech.

28 And in the fifteenth jubilee in the third week Lamech 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 Noah, saying, “This one will comfort me for my trouble and all my work, and for the ground which the Lord 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 Cain 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 Abel, 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 twenty-fifth jubilee Noah took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Emzârâ, 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 Ham, and in the first year in the sixth week she bare him Japheth.

The Fall of the Angels and Their Punishment; the Deluge Foretold

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 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 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 God 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 Noah found grace before the eyes of 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 “My 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 for ever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before the Lord.

11 And He [shall destroy] all from their places, and there [shall not be] left one of them whom He [shall not have] judged according to all their wickedness.

12 And He [shall make] for all His works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their whole nature for ever, but should be all righteous each in his kind alway.

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 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.
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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 Noah alone; for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom (God) 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 the Lord 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. [In the remainder of chapter V, Noah builds an ark and survives the Great Flood.]

Noah Offers Sacrifice; the Cursing of Canaan: Noah’s Sons and Grandsons and Their Cities. Noah’s Admonitions.

1 And in the seventh week in the first year thereof, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lûbâr, one of the Ararat Mountains, and they produced fruit in the fourth year, and he guarded their fruit, and gathered it in this year in the seventh month.

2 And he made wine therefrom and put it into a vessel, and kept it until the fifth year, until the first day, on the new moon of the first month.

3 And he celebrated with joy the day of this feast, and he made a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord, one young ox and one ram, and seven sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby for himself and his sons.

4 And he prepared the kid first, and 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, and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and he laid all their flesh upon the altar.

5 And he placed all their offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afterwards he sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously made on the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a sweet savour to ascend acceptable before the Lord his God.

6 And he rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and his children with joy.

7 And it was evening, and he went into his tent, and being drunken he lay down and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept.

8 And Ham saw Noah his father naked, and went forth and told his two brethren without.

9 And Shem took his garment and arose, he and Japheth, and they placed the garment on their shoulders and went backward and covered the shame of their father, and their faces were backward.

10 And Noah awoke from his sleep and knew all that his younger son had done unto him, and he cursed his son and said: “Cursed be Canaan; an enslaved servant shall he be unto his brethren.”

11 And he blessed Shem, and said: “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.

12 God shall enlarge Japheth, and God shall dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.”

13 And Ham knew that his father had cursed his younger son, and he was displeased that he had cursed his son, and he parted from his father, he and his sons with him, Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

14 And he built for himself a city and called its name after the name of his wife Nê’êlâtamâ’ûk.

15 And Japheth saw it, and became envious of his brother, and he too built for himself a city, and he called its name after the name of his wife ’Adâtanêsês.

16 And Shem dwelt with his father Noah, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after the name of his wife Sêdêqêtêlbâb.

17 And behold these three cities are near Mount Lûbâr; Sêdêqêtêlebâb fronting the mountain on its east; and Na’êlâtamâ’ûk on the south; ’Adatanêsês towards the west.

18 And these are the sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad—this (son) was born two years after the flood—and Lud, and Aram.

19 The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan, Tubal and Meshech and Tiras: these are the sons of Noah.

20 And in the twenty-eighth jubilee Noah began to enjoin upon his sons’ sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity.

21 For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which they chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness.

22 And they begat sons the Nâphîdîm [i.e., the Nephilim], and they were all unlike [the text is probably corrupt], and they devoured one another: and the Giants slew the Nâphîl, and the Nâphîl slew the Eljô, and the Eljô mankind, and one man another.

23 And every one sold himself to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled with iniquity.

24 And after this they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moveth and walketh on the earth: and much blood was shed on the earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil continually.

25 And the Lord 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 He destroyed everything.

26 And we were left, I
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and you, my sons, and everything that entered with us into the ark, and behold I see your works before me that ye do not walk in righteousness; for in the path of destruction ye have begun to walk, and ye are parting one from another, and are envious one of another, and (so it cometh) that ye are not in harmony, my sons, each with his brother.

27 For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their) seductions against you and against your children, and now I fear on your behalf, that after my death ye will shed the blood of men upon the earth, and that ye, too, will be destroyed from the face of the earth.

28 For whoso sheddeth man’s blood, and whoso eateth the blood of any flesh, will all be destroyed from the earth.

29 And there will not be left any man that eateth blood.

Or that sheddeth 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.
And 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 ye have killed any beasts or cattle or whatever flieth upon the earth, and work ye a good work to your souls by covering that which hath been shed on the face of the earth.

31 And ye shall not be like him who eateth 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 And suffer not 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 sheddeth (it) on the earth.

33 For the earth will not be clean from the blood which hath been shed upon it; for (only) through the blood of him that shed it will the earth be purified throughout all its generations.

34 And now, my children, hearken: work judgment and righteousness that ye may be planted in righteousness over the face of the whole earth, and your glory lifted up before my God, who saved me from the waters of the flood.

35 And behold, ye will go and build for yourselves cities, 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: and in the fourth year its fruit will be accounted holy and they will offer the first-fruits, acceptable before 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) first-fruits on the altar of the Lord, who receiveth it, and what is left let the servants of the house of the Lord eat before the altar which receiveth (it).