Lost Books of the Bible (83 page)

37 And they ceased building the city and the tower; therefore he called that place Babel, for there the Lord confounded the Language of the whole earth; behold it was at the east of the land of Shinar.

38 As to the tower which the sons of men built, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up one third part thereof, and a fire also descended from heaven and burned another third, and the other third is left to this day; it is of that part which was aloft, and its circumference is three days' walk.

39 Many of the sons of men died in that tower, a people without number.

CHAPTER 10

1 Peleg the son of Eber died in those days, in the forty-eighth year of the life of Abram son of Terah, and all the days of Peleg were two hundred and thirty-nine years.

2 When the Lord had scattered the sons of men on account of their sin at the tower, behold they spread forth into many divisions, and all the sons of men were dispersed into the four corners of the earth.

3 And all the families became each according to its language, its land, or its city.

4 And the sons of men built many cities according to their families, in all the places where they went, and throughout the earth where the Lord had scattered them.

5 Some of them built cities in places from which they later abandoned, and they called these cities after their own names, or the names of their children, or after their particular occurrences.

6 The sons of Japheth, the son of Noah went and built themselves cities in the places where they were scattered; they called all their cities after their names, and the sons of Japheth were divided on the face of the earth into many divisions and languages.

7 And these are the sons of Japheth according to their families: Gomer, Magog, Medai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras; these are the children of Japheth according to their generations.

8 Tthe children of Gomer, according to their cities, were the Francum, who dwell in the land of Franza, by the river Franza, by the river Senah.

9 And the children of Rephath are the Bartonim, who dwell in the land of Bartonia by the river Ledah, which empties its waters in the great sea Gihon, that is, Oceanus.

10 The children of Tugarma are ten families, and these are their names: Buzar, Parzunac, Balgar, Elicanum, Ragbib, Tarki, Bid, Zebuc, Ongal and Tilmaz; all these spread and rested in the north and built themselves cities.

11 And they called their cities after their own names; those are they who abide by the rivers Hithlah and Italac to this day.

12 But the families of Angoli, Balgar and Parzunac, they dwelll by the great river Dubnee; and the names of their cities are also according to their own names.

13 The children of Javan are the Javanim who dwell in the land of Makdonia, and the children of Medaiare
are the Orelum that dwell in the land of Curson, and the children of Tubal are those that dwell in the land of Tuskanah by the river Pashiah.

14 The children of Meshech are the Shibashni and the children of Tiras are Rushash, Cushni, and Ongolis; all these went and built themselves cities; those are the cities that are situated by the sea Jabus by the river Cura, which empties itself into the river Tragan.

15 And the children of Elishah are the Almanim, and they also went and built themselves cities; those are the cities situated between the mountains of Job and Shibathmo; and of them were the people of Lumbardi who dwell opposite the mountains of Job and Shibathmo, and they conquered the land of Italia and remained there to this day.

16 The children of Chittim are the Romim who dwell in the valley of Canopia by the river Tibreu.

17 The children of Dudonim are those who dwell in the cities of the sea Gihon, in the land of Bordna.

18 These are the families of the children of Japheth according to their cities and languages when they were scattered after the tower; they called their cities after their names and occurrences; and these are the names of all their cities according to their families which they built in those days after the tower.

19 And the children of Ham were Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan according to their generation and cities.

20 All these went and built themselves cities as they found fit places for them, and they called their cities after the names of their fathers Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan.

21 The children of Mitzraim are the Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuchim, Pathrusim, Casluchim and Caphturim, seven families.

22 All these dwell by the river Sihor, that is the brook of Egypt, and they built themselves cities and called them after their own names.

23 The children of Pathros and Casloch intermarried together, and from them went forth the Pelishtim, the Azathim, and the Gerarim, the Githim and the Ekronim, in all five families; these also built themselves cities, and they called their cities after the names of their fathers to this day.

24 The children of Canaan also built themselves cities, and they called their cities after their names, eleven cities and others without number.

25 Four men from the family of Ham went to the land of the plain; these are the names of the four men:  Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim.

26 And these men built themselves four cities in the land of the plain, and they called the names of their cities after their own names.

27 They and their children and all belonging to them lived in those cities, and they were prolific and multiplied greatly and lived peaceably.

28 Seir the son of Hur, son of Hivi, son of Canaan, went and found a valley opposite to Mount Paran, and he built a city there; he and his seven sons and his household lived there, and he called the city which he built Seir, according to his name; that is the land of Seir to this day.

29 These are the families of the children of Ham, according to their languages and cities, when they were scattered to their countries after the tower.

30 Some of the children of Shem, son of Noah, father of all the children of Eber, also went and built themselves cities
in the places wherein they were scattered, and they called their cities after their names.

31 The sons of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram, and they built themselves cities and called the names of all their cities after their names.

32 Ashur, son of Shem, and his children and household went forth at that time, a very large body of them, and they went to a distant land that they found;  they met with a very extensive valley in the land that they went to, and they built themselves four cities, and they called them after their own names and occurrences.

33 And these are the names of the cities which the children of Ashur built: Ninevah, Resen, Calach and Rehobother;  the children of Ashur dwell there to this day.

34 The children of Aram also went and built themselves a city, and they called the name of the city Uz after their eldest brother; they dwell therein.   That is the land of Uz to this day.

35 And in the second year after the tower a man from the house of Ashur, whose name was Bela, went from the land of Ninevah to sojourn with his household wherever he could find a place; they came until opposite the cities of the plain against Sodom, and they lived there.

36 And the man rose up and built there a small city, and called its name Bela, after his name; that is the land of Zoar to this day.

37 These are the families of the children of Shem according to their language and cities, after they were scattered on the earth after the tower.

38 And every kingdom, city, and family of the families of the children of Noah built themselves many cities after this.

39 And they established governments in all their cities in order to be regulated by their orders; so did all the families of the children of Noah forever.

CHAPTER 11

1 Nimrod son of Cush was still in the land of Shinar, and he reigned over it and lived there, and he built cities in the land of Shinar.

2 These are the names of the four cities which he built, and he called their names after the occurrences that happened to them in the building of the tower:

3 He called the first Babel, saying, Because the Lord there confounded the language of the whole earth.   The name of the second he called Erech, because from there God dispersed them.

4 And the third he called Eched, saying there was a great battle at that place;  the fourth he called Calnah, because his princes and mighty men were consumed there, and they troubled the Lord;  they rebelled and went contrary to  him.

5 When Nimrod had built these cities in the land of Shinar, he placed in them the remainder of his people, his princes and his mighty men that were left in his kingdom.

6 Nimrod lived in Babel, and there he renewed his reign over the rest of his subjects, and he reigned securely, and the subjects and princes of Nimrod called his name Amraphel, saying that at the tower his princes and men fell through his means.

7 Notwithstanding this, Nimrod did not return to the Lord, and he continued in wickedness and
teaching wickedness to the sons of men; and Mardon, his son, was worse than his father and continued to add to the abominations of his father.

8 And he caused the sons of men to sin;  therefore it is said, From the wicked goes forth wickedness.

9 At that time there was war between the families of the children of Ham, as they were dwelling in the cities which they had built.

10 And Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, went away from the families of the children of Ham; he fought with them and he subdued them, and he went to the five cities of the plain; he fought against them and he subdued them, and they were under his control.

11 And they served him twelve years and gave him a yearly tax.

12 At that time Nahor, son of Serug died, in the forty-ninth year of the life of Abram, son of Terah.

13 In the fiftieth year of the life of Abram, son of Terah, Abram came forth from the house of Noah, and went to his father's house.

14 And Abram knew the Lord, and he followed in his ways and instructions, and the Lord his God was with him.

15Terah his father was in those days still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods.

16 And Abram came to his father's house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the anger of Abram was set ablaze when he saw these images in his father's house.

17 And Abram said, As the Lord lives these images shall not remain in my father's house; so shall the Lord who created me do to me if in three days' time I do not break them all.

18 Abram went from them, and his anger burned within him. And Abram hurried and went from the chamber to his father's outer court, and he found his father sitting in the court, and all his servants with him, and Abram came and sat before him.

19 Abram asked his father, saying, Father, tell me where is God who created heaven and earth, and all the sons of men on earth, and who created you and me. And Terah answered his son Abram and said, Behold those who created us are all with us in the house.

20 And Abram said to his father, My lord, show them to me I pray you. And Terah brought Abram into the chamber of the inner court, and Abram saw, and behold the whole room was full of gods of wood and stone, twelve great images and others less than they without number.

21 And Terah said to his son, Behold these are they which made all you see on earth, and which created me and you, and all mankind.

22 Terah bowed down to his gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him.