Beginning[]
In the beginning the godhead made the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without shape, and empty, and darkness was upon the flack of the deep. And the Holy Ghost stirred upon the flack of the waters. And the godhead said, “Let there be light”: and there was light. And the godhead saw the light, that it was good: and the godhead clove the light from the darkness. And the godhead called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And the godhead said, “Let there be a stut in the midst of the waters, and let it cleave the waters from the waters.” And the godhead made the stut, and clove the waters which were under the stut from the waters which were above the stut: and it was so. And the godhead called the stut Heaven.
And the evening and the morning were the twoth day.
And the godhead said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one stead, and let the dry land ashine”: and it was so. And the godhead called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters he called the Seas: and the godhead saw that it was good. And the godhead said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, and the croud yielding seed, and the blede-tree yielding blede after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth”: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and the croud yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding blede, who seed was in itself, after his kind, and the godhead saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
And the godhead said, “Let there be lights in the stut of the heavens to cleave the day from the night; and let them be for tokens, and for yeartides, and for days, and years; and let them be for lights in the stut of the heavens to give light to give light upon the earth.”
And it was so. And the godhead made two great lights; the greater light to rake the day, and the lesser light to rake the night: he made the stars also. And the godhead set them in the heavens to give light upon the earth. And to rake over the day and over the night, and to cleave the light from the darkness: and the godhead saw that it was good.
And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
And the godhead said, “Let the waters bring forth richly the stirring wight that hath life, and birds that may fly above the earth in the open heavens.” And the godhead made great whales, and every living wight that stirreth, which the waters brought forth richly, after their kind, and every winged bird after his kind: and the godhead saw that it was good. And the godhead blessed them, saying, “Be bledeful, and formore, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds formore in the earth.”
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And the godhead said, “Let the earth bring forth the living wight after his kind, rother, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind”: and it was so. And the godhead made the beast of the earth after his kind, and the rother after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and the godhead saw that it was good.
And the godhead said, “Let us make man in our likeness, and let them have hoarship over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the rother, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” So the godhead made man in his own likeness; man and woman he made them. And the godhead blessed them, and the godhead said unto them, “Be bledeful, and formore, and fill it wither, and tame it: and have hoarship over the fish of the sea, and over birds of the sky, and over every living things that stirreth upon the earth.” And the godhead said, “Behold, I have given you every croud bearing seed, which is upon the flack of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green croud for meat.” And it was so. And the godhead saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was sore good.
And the evening and the morning were the sixth fay.
Thus the heavens and the earth were fullcome, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day the godhead ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And the godhead blessed the seventh day, and made it holy: since that in it he had rested from all his work which the godhead had made.
In the day that Wesant Godhead made the earth and the heavens, and every croud of the field before it grew (for Wesant Godhead had not made it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground) there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole flack of the ground. And Wesant Godhead shaped man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
And Wesant Godhead planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had shaped. And out of the ground Wesant Godhead made to grow every tree that is gladning to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and thence it clove, and became four heads. The name of the first is Pison, the Scatterer, which goes around the whole of the ringland Havilah, where there is gold, and myrrh, and the clawstone. And the name of the twoth is Gihon, the Gusher, which goes around the whole of Cush the Lesser. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel, the River of Briars, which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Parat, the Bledeful.
And Wesant Godhead took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And Wesant Godhead told the man his bidding, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eastest thereof thou shalt sickers die.”
And Wesant Godhead said,
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.” And out of the ground the Lord shaped every beast of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living wight, that was the name thereof. And Adan gave names to all rother, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field; but there was not found a help meet for Adam.
And Wesant Godhead made a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he took one of his ribs, and shut up the flesh thereof in its stead; and the rib, which Wesant Godhead had taken from man, he made into a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
She shall be called Woman,
since that she was taken out of Man.”
Thereof shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now the snake was more crafty than any beast of the field which Wesant Godhead had made.
And he said unto the woman,
“Yea, hath the godhead said, ‘Ye shall not eat of the trees of the garden’?”
And the woman said unto the snake,
“We may eat of the blede of the trees of the garden; but of the blede of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, the godhead hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
And the snake said unto the woman,
“Ye shall sickers not die: for the godhead doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was gladning to the eyes, and a tree that would make one wise, she took of the blede thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves smocks.
And they heard the steven of Wesant Godhead walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the yesight of Wesant Godhead amongst the trees of the garden.
And Wesant Godhead called unto Adam, and said unto him,
“Where art thou?”
And he said,
“I heard thy steven in the garden, and I was afraid, since that I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And he said,
“Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I bade thee not eat?”
And the man said,
“The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”
And Wesant Godhead said unto the woman,
“What is this that thou hast done?”
And the woman said, “The snake bewitched me, and I did eat.”
And Wesant Godhead said unto the snake,
“Since that thou hast done this,
thou art cursed above all rother,
and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat
all the days of thy life:
and I will foehood between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Unto the woman he said,
I will greatly heighten thy woe and work;
in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy yearning shall be for thy husband,
and he shall rake over thee.
And unto Adam he said,
“Since that thou hast hearkened unto the steven of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I bade thee not to eat:
cursed is the ground for thy sake,
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for thee;
and thou shalt eat the croud of the field;
in the sweat of thy yesight shalt thou eat bread,
until thou goest back unto the ground,
for out of it wast thou taken:
for dust thou art,
and unto dust shall thou keer again.”
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; since that she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did Wesant Godhead make coats of skins, and clothed them.
And Wesant Godhead said, “Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” Therefore, Wesant God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he put at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a fiery sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she onfanged, and bore Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man from Wesant.” And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in time it happened that Cain brought of the blede of the ground a blote unto Wesant. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Wesant was gladdened by Abel and his blote; but he was not gladdened by Cain. And Cain was sore wroth, and his yesight fell.
And Wesant said unto Cain.
“Why art thou wroth? And why is thy yesight fallen? If thou dost well, shalt thou not be taken on? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And his yearning shall be for thee, and thou shalt rake over him.”
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
And Wesant said unto Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother?”
And he said, “I know not: am I my brother’s keeper?” And he said, “What hast thou done? Thy brother’s blood waileth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to ahold thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to unto thee its strength; a flightling and a wanderer in shalt thou be in the earth.”
And Cain said unto Wesant,
“My straff is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the flack of the earth; and from thy yesight shall I be hid; and I shall be a flightling and a wanderer in the earth; and it shall happen that everyone that findeth me shall slay me.
And the Lord said unto him,
“Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, wrack shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And Wesant set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
And Cain went out from the yesight of Wesant, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth, “For the godhead,” said she, “Hath given me another seed in the stead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” And so Seth also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh; then men began to call upon the name of Wesant.
And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begot sons and daughters. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
And it happened, when men began to formore on the flack of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of the godhead saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And Wesant said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he is also flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”
There were ettins in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of the godhead came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of rome. And the godhead saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every thought of his heart was always evil. And Wesant sorrowed that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And Wesant said, “I will fornaught man whom I have made from the flack of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the bird of the sky; for it sorrows me that I have made them.
But Noah found holth in the eyes of Wesant.
Noah was a rightly man and fullcome in his kinnings, and Noah walkd with the godhead. And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And the godhead said unto Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with forletting through them; and behold, I will fornaught them with the earth. Make thee an ark of cedar-wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the way which thou shalt make it of: the length of the ark shall be three hundred ells, the breadth of it fifty ells, and the height of it thirty ells. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in an ell shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, twoth, and third floors shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to fornaught all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I make bond; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every kind shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be churl and wife. Of birds after their kind, and of rother after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every kind shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be food for thee, and for them.”
Thus did Noah; as the godhead had bade him, so he did. And Wesant said unto Noah, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen rightly before me in this kinning. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee be sevens, the churl and his wife: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the churl and his wife. Of birds of the sky also by sevens, the churl and the wife, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, andI will make it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living being that I have made will I fornaught from off the flack of the earth.
And Noah did as Wesant bade him. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, beground the waters of the flood. And the beasts also came in, two by two, churl and wife, as the godhead had bidden Noah. And it happened after seven days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the twoth month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the springs of the great deep broken up, and the windows of haven were opened. And the waters were strong, and waxed greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters were sore strong upon the earth, all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were hidden. And all flesh died that stirred upon the earth, both of bird, and of rother, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living being was fornaughted which was upon the flack of the ground, both man, and rother, and the creeping things, and the birds of the heaven; and they were fornaughted from the earth: and Noah only was left alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters were strong upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
And the godhead muned Noah, and every living thing, and all the rothere that was with him in the ark: and the godhead made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters stilled. The springs of the deep and the windows of heaven also stopped, and the rain from heaven was held back; and the waters keered back from off the earth: and after the end of the hundred and fifty the waters were lessened. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the fells of Ararat. And the waters kept waning until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the fells seen.
And it happened at the end of forty days that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were lessened from off the flack of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the bottom on her foot, and she keered back unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the flack of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were lessened from off the earth. And he waited yet another seven days; and sent forth the dove; which keered not unto him any more. And it happened in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were gone from off the earth: and Noah took off the thatch of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the flack of the earth was waterless. And on the twoth month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
And the godhead spoke unto Noah, saying, “Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of bird, and of rother, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed mickly in the earth, and be bledeful, and formore upon the earth.”
And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.
And Noah builded a harrow unto Wesant; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and bleet burnt blotes on the harrow. And Wesant smelled a sweet smell; and Wesant said in his heart,
“I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, for the thoughts of man’s heart are evil from his youth; neither will I again smith any more every thing living, as I have done.
“While the earth abideth,
seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat,
and summer and winter, and day and night,
shall not halt.”
And the godhead blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them “Be bledeful, and formore, and fill the earth wither. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the sky, upon all that stirreth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they tostelled. Every stirring thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green croud have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And sickers your blood of your lives will I afurther; at th hand of every beast will I afurther it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I afurther the life of man.
“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood,
by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the likeness of the godhead
made he man.”
And the godhead spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, “And I, behold, I make bond with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living wight that is with you, of the birds, of the rother, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark. And I will make my bond with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to fornaught the earth.”
And the godhead said,
“This is the token of the bond which I make between me and you and every living wight that is with you, for endless kinnings:
“I do set my bow in the welkin,
and it shall be for a token of a bond
between me and the earth.
And it shall happen,
when I bring a welkin over the earth,
that the bow shall be seen in the welkin
“and I will mune my bond, which is between me and you and every living wight of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to fornaught all flsh. And the bow shall be in the welkin; and I will look upon it, that I may mune the everlasting bond between the godhead and every living wight of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
And the godhead said unto Noah, “This is the token of my bond, which I have made between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”
And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he lay a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was naked within his teld. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a cloth, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and hid the nakedness of their father; and their yesights were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knw what his younger son had done to him. And he said,
“Cursed be Canaan;
a thrall of thralls
shall he be unto his brethren.”
And he said,
“Blessed be Wesant Godhead of Shem;
and Canaan shall be his thrall.
The godhead shall greaten Japheth,
and he shall dwell in the telds of Shem,
and Canaan shall be his thrall.”
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
And the whole earth was of one tongue, and of one speech. And it happened, as they came from the east, that they found a flat in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another,
“Go, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for rairth. And they said, “Go, let us build us a town and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the flack of the earth.”
And Wesant came down to see the town and the tower, which the children of men builded. And Wesant said, “Behold, the folk are one, and they have all one tongue; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be held back from them, which they have thought to do. Go to, let us go down, and there mix up their tongue, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So Wesant scattered them abroad from thence upon the efface of all the earth: and they left off to build the town. Therefore, is the name of it called Babel; since that Wesant did there mix up the tongue of all the earth: and thence did Wesant scatter them abroad upon the flack of all the earth.
Now these are the kinnings of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot, and Iscah, and Milcah. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and Nahor took his nift Milcah as his wife. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot his twothson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, Abram’s wife; and they went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, but they stopped along the way. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and there Terah died.
Now Wesant had said unto Abram, “Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of the a great thede, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.
“And I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse him that curseth thee:
And in the shall all clans of the earth
be blessed.”
So Abram left, as Wesant had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old then. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his neve, and all that they had gathered, and the souls they had gotten in that stead; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And Abram went through unto the stead of Sichem, unto the flat of Morah. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
And Wesant ashined unto Abram, and said, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.”
And there builded he a harrow unto Wesant, who ashined unto him. And he went back thence unto a fell on the east of Beth-El, and pitched his teld, having Beth-El on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded another harrow unto Wesant, and called upon the name of Wesant. And Abram rose, going on still toward the south. And there was a dearth in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt, to abide there; for the dearth was hard in the land. And it happened, when he was come near to Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, “Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: therefore it shall happen, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, ‘This is his wife’: and they would kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I frigh thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live beground thee.”
And it happened that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was right fair. Pharaoh’s great men also saw her, and told the Pharaoh of her; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And he behandled Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and asses, and camels, and man-thenes, and maid-thenes. And Wesant fleak Pharaoh with great flokes beground Sarai Abram’s wife.
And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst thou, ‘She is my sister’? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.”
And Pharaoh spoke to his men about Abram: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. And Abram was sore rich in rother, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his trecks from the south up to Beth-El, unto the stead where his teld had been in the beginning, between Beth-El and Hai; unto the stead of the harrow, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of Wesant. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and telds. And the land could not bear them, that they might dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s rother and the herdsmen of Lot’s rother: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
And Abram said unto Lot, “Let there be no strife, I frigh thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Cleave thyself, I frigh thee, from me: If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou leave to right hand, then I will go to the left.”
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the flat of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before Wesant fornaughted Sodom and Gomorrah, like the land of Egypt, even like the garden of Wesant. Then Lot chose him all the flat of Jordan; and Lot went east: and thy clove themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the towns of the flat, and pitched his teld toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were sore wicked and great sinners before Wesant. And Wesant said unto Abram, after Lot was cleft from him, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the stead where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy sed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can tell the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be told. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.”
The Abram took down his teld, and came and dwelt in the flat of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there a harrow unto Wesant.
And the kings of outlandish thedes made war upon the kings of Canaan. The heres met in the dale of the Salt Sea, which is full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; many of their warriors died there, and those that were left fled to the fell. And the outlanders took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. And they took also Lot, Abram’s neve, who dwelt in Sodom.
And there came one that had broken free, and told Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken, he gave weapons to his fighting thenes, of which there were three hundred and eighteen, and they forfollowed the outlanders unto Dan. And he clove himself against them, he and his thenes, by night, and smote them, and forfollowed them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the folk.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him when he came back from the slaughter of the outlander kings in dale of Shaveh, which belongeth to the king. And the king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the law-ward of the most high godhead. And he blessed him, and said,
“Blessed be Abram of the High God,
besitter of heaven and earth:
And blessed be the High God,
which hath leavered thy foes into thy hands.”
And he gave him tithes of all. And Abram said unto the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up mine hand unto Wesant, the High God, besitter of heaven and earth, that I will not take even a thread, that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, ‘I have made Abram rich,’ but only that which the young men have eaten, and my fellows would take.”
After these things the word of Wesant came unto Abram in an ashining, saying, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy right great witherward.”
And Abram said, “Lord Wesant, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, to me hast thou gien no seed: and lo, on born in my house in mine erve.”
And Wesant brought him forth abroad, and said, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou canst.” And he said unto Abram, “So shall thy seed be.”
And he believed in Wesant, and Wesant reckoned the belief his rightness. And the godhead said unto him, “I am Wesant that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to arve it.” And he said unto him, “Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young dove.” And he took unto him all these, and clove them in the midst, and laid each deal one against another: but the birds he clove not. And when the wild fowl came down upon the bodies, Abram drove them away.
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread of great darkness fell upon him. And Wesant said unto Abram, “Know that thy seed shall be an outsider in a land that is not theirs, and shall be thralls unto them; and they shall floke them four hundred years; and also that thede, whom they shall theen, will I deem: and afterward shall they come out with great stuff. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in frith; thou shalt be buried in a good old eld. But in the fourth kinning, they shall come hither again, for the evil of the Amorits is not yet full.” And it came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking oven, and a burning lighth that went between those deals. And in the same day Wesant made a bond with Abram, saying,
“Unto thy seed have I given this land,
from the great stream of Egypt
unto the great stream Parat, the bledeful.”
Now Sarai Abram’s wife bore him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, “Behold now, Wesant hath kept me from bearing: I frigh thee,go in unto my maid; it may be that I may get children through her.
And Abram hearkened to the steven of Sarai, and went in unto Hagar. And she onfanged: and when she saw that she had onfanged, her lady was formined in her eyes.
And Sarai said unto Abram, “My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid unto thy bosom; and when she saw that she had onfanged, I was formined in her eyes: Wesant deem between me and thee.”
But Abram said unto Sarai, “Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it gladden thee.”
And when Sarai dealt hardly with Hagar, she fled from her yesight. And the angel of Wesant found her by a spring of water in the wilderness.
And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? And wither wilt thou go??”
And she said, “I flee from the yesight of my lady Sarai.”
And the angel of Wesant said unto hr, “Go back to thy lady, and lay thyself fore under her hands.” And the angel of Wesant said unto her, “I will formore thy seed greatly, that it shall not be told.” And the angel of Wesant said unto her,
“Behold, thou art with child,
and shalt bear a son,
and shalt call his name Ishmael;
since that Wesant hath heard thy floke.
And he will be a wild man;
his hand will be against every man,
and every man’s hand against him;
and he shall dwell in the yesight of all his brethren.”
And she called the name of Wesant that spoke unto her, “Thou the god of the well seest me”: for she said, “Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. And Hagar bore Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name Ishmael.
When Abram was ninety years old and nine, Wesant ashined to Abram, and said unto him, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou fullcome. And I will make my bond between me and thee, and will formore thee manifold.”
And Abram fell on his yesight: and the godhead talked with him, saying, “As for me, behold, my bond is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many thedes. Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, High Father, but thy name shall be Abraham, Father of Many; for a father of many thedes have I made thee. This is my bond, which thou shalt keep, between me and thee and thy seed after thee: every man child among you shall be besnithen. And ye shall besnithe the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the bond betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be besnithen among you, every man child in your kinnings, he that is born in thhouse, or bought with geld of any outsider, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy geld, must needs be besnithen: and my bond shall be in your flesh for an everylasting bond. And th the besnithen man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not besnithen, that soul shall be cut off from his thede; he hath broken my bond.
And the godhead said unto Abraham, “As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, Firstin, but Sarah, Lady, shall her name be. I will bless her, and I will give thee also a son by her. She shall be a mother of thedes; kings of men shall be of her.”
And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his geld, every man among those of Abraham’s house; and besnithed the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as the godhead had said unto him. And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was besnithen in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael is son was thirteen years old, when he was besnithen in the flesh of his foreskin.
And Wesant ashined unto him in the flats of Mamre: and he sat in the teld door in th heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, “My lord, if now I have found athmede in thy sight, go not away, I frigh thee, from thy thrall: let a little water, I frigh you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a bit of bread, and drosten ye your hearts, after which ye shall go your way: for therefore are ye come to your thrall.”
And they said, “So do, as thou hast said.”
And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three metes of good meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.”
And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf thenny and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hastened to ready it. And he took butter, and milk, and the readied calf, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And they said unto him, “Where is Sarah thy wife?”
And he said, “Behold, in the tent.”
And he said, “I will sickers come back unto thee in a year; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall hav a son.”
And Sarah heard it in the teld door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in their olth; and it no longer was with Sarah in the way of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I am waxed old shall I have gladnss, my lord being old also?”
And Wesant said unto Abraham, “Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I sickers bear a child, which am old?’ Is anything too hard for Wesant? In a year I will come back unto thee, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Then Sarah gainsaid, saying, “I laughed not”: for she was afraid.
And he said, “Nay; but thou didst laugh.”
And the men rose up thence, and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
And Wesant said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall sickers become a great and mighty thede, and all the thedes of the eaerth shall b blessed in him? For I know him, that he will yebide his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Wesant, to do rightness and deeming; that Wesant may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”
And Wesant said, “Since that the wailing against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and since that their sin is sore hard; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether as men say; and if not, I will know.”
And the men keered their ysights thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yt before Wesant.
And Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou also fornaught the right with the wicked. Maybe there be fifty right within the town: Wilt thou also fornaught the fifty right that are therein? That be far from thee to do so, to slay the right with the wicked: and that the right should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Deemster of all the earth do right?”
And Wesant said, “If I find in Sodom fifty right within the town, then I will spare all the stead for their sakes.”
And Abraham answered and said, “Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto thee, which am but dust and ashes. Maybe there shall lack five of the fifty right: Wilt thou fornaught all the town for lack of five?”
And he said, “If I find there forty and five, I will not fornaught it.”
And he said unto him, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: maybe there shall thirty be found there.”
And he said, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”
And he said, “Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: maybe there shall be twenty found there.”
And he said, “I will not fornaught it for twenty’s sake.”
And he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this onc: maybe ten shall be found there.”
And he said, “I will not fornaught it for ten’s sake.”
And Wesant went his way, as soon as he had left underholding with Abraham; and Abraham keered back unto his stead.
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his yesight toward the ground. And he said, “Behold now, me lords, keer in, I frigh you, into your thrall’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your fet, and y shall rise up early, and go on your ways.”
And they said, “Nay; but we will abide in the road all night.”
And he thrutched upon them greatly; and they keered in unto him, and went into his house; and he made them a meal, and did bake yeastless bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the town, even the men of Sodom, ringed around the house, both old and young, all the folk from every forsle: and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, “Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.”
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the edoor after him, and said, “I frigh you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I frigh you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”
And they said, “Stand back!” And they said again, “This one fellow came a guest in our land, and now he would be a deemster: now will we deal worse with thee than with them.”
And they thrutched sore upon Lot, and came near to break the door. But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot unto the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, “Hast thou here any besides? Sons-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the town, bring them out of this stead: for we will fornaught this stead, since that the wail against them is waxen great before the yesight of Wesant; and Wesant hath sent us to fornaught it.
And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, which wedded his daughters, and said, “Up, get you out of this stead; for Wesant will fornaught this town.” But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, “Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be forbrooked in the evil of the town.”
And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; Yahweh having abarm unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the town. And it happened, when they had brought him forth abroad, that Wesant said, “Flee for thy life; look not behind thee, neither abide thou in all the flat; flee to the fell, lest thou be forbrooked.”
And Lot said unto him, “Oh, not so, my lord: behold now, thy thrall hath found holth in thy sight, and thou hast made great thy abarm, which thou hast showed unto me in sparing my life; and I cannot flee to the fell, lest some evil take me, and I die. Behold now, this town is near, and it is a little one. Oh, let me flee thither, and my soul shall live.”
And he said unto him, “See, I have numb thee in about this thing also, that I will not overthrow the town for which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, flee thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither.” (Therefore, the name of the town was called Zoar, or the Little.)
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot went into Zoar. Then Wesant rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire out of heaven; and he overthrew those towns, and all the flat, and all of the bewoners of the towns, and that which grew upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a stelling of salt.
And Abraham got up early in the morning to the stead where he stood before Wesant. And he looked upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the flat, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of an oven. And it happened, when the godhead fornaughted the towns of the flat, that the godhead muned Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the towns in the which Lot dwelt. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the fell, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwll in Zoar: and he dwelt in an earthscrave, he and his two daughters.
And the firstborn said unto the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come into us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may beheed the seed of our father.”
And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and was aware neither when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it happened on the morrow that the firstborn said unto the younger, “Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may beheed the seed of our father.”
And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he was aware neither when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bore a son, ancd called his name Ben-Ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
And Wesant came unto Sarah as he had said, and Wesant did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah onfanged, and bore Abraham a son in his olth, at the set time of which the godhead had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. And Abraham besnithed his son Isaac being eight days old, as the godhead had bade him. And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him.
And Sarah said, “The godhead hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck? For I have borne him a son in his olth.”
And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great meal the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be erve with my son, even with Isaac.”
And the thing was sore hard in Abraham’s sight, beground his son. And the godhead said unto Abraham, “Let it not be hard in thy sight beground the lad, and beground of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her steven; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a thede, since that he is thy seed.”
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a skin of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she left, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. And the water was forbrought in the in the skin, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, “Let me not see the death of the child.” And she sat over against him, and lifted up her steven, and wept.
And the godhead heard the steven of the lad; and the angel of the godhead called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, “What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for the godhead hath heard the steven of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great thede.”
And the godhead opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad drink. And the godhead was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
And it happened after these things that the godhead did costen Abraham, and said unto him, “Abraham”: and he said, “Behold, here I am.”
And he said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, ad get thee into the land of Moriah; and blote him there for a burnt blote upon one of the fells which I will tell thee of.”
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clove the wood for the burnt blote, and rose up, and went unto the stead of which the godhead had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the stead afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, “Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.”
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt blote, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fir in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father, and said, “My father”: and he said, “Here am I, my son.”
And Isaac said, “Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for the burnt blote?”
And Abraham said, “My son, the godhead will forewit himself a lamb for a burnt blote”: so they went both of them together.
And they came to the stead which the godhead had told him of; and Abraham built a harrow there, and laid the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the harrow upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took th knife to slay his son.
And the angel of Wesant called unto him out of heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham,: and he said, “Here am I.”
And he said, “Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest the godhead, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and beheld behind him a ram fanged in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and bleet him up for a burnt blote in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that stead Jehovah-Jireh, or Wesant Sees: as it is said to this day, “In the fell of Wsent it shall be seen.”
So Abraham keered back unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-Sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-Sheba.
And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn after Sarah, and to weep for her.
And Abraham was old, and well stricken in olth: and Wesant had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest thene of his house, that raked over all that he had, “Put, I frigh thee, thy hand undr my thigh: and I will make thee swear by Wesant, the godhead of heaven, and the godhead of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my land, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.”
And the thene said unto him, “Maybe the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land: Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land whence thou camest?”
And Abraham said unto him, “Beware that thou bring not my son thither again. Wesant Godhead of Heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spoke unto me, and that swore unto me, saying, ‘Unto thy seed will I give this land’; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be free of this my oath: Only bring not my son thither again.”
And the thene put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and swore to him about that thing. And the thene took ten camels of the camels of his lord, and left; for all the goods of his lord were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the town of Nahor. And he made his camels to kneel down without the town by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
And he said, “O Wesant Godhead of my lord Abraham, I frigh thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my lord Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the town come out to draw water. Let it happen that the maiden to whom I shall say, ‘Let down thy jug, I frigh thee, that I may drink’; and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also’: let the same be she that thou hast chosen for thy thrall Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto my lord.”
And it happened, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, of Abraham’s kin, with her jug on her shoulder. And the girl was right fair to look upon, a maidn, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her jug, and came up.
And the thene ran to meet her, and said, “Let me, I frigh thee, drink a little water of thy jug.”
And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she hastened, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, “I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.” And she hastened, and emptied her jug into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man wondering at her held his frith, to wit whether Wesant had made his farth bethriving or not.
And it happened, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ear-ring of half a sheckle weight, and two arm-rings for her hands of ten sheckles’ weight of gold; and said, “Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I frigh thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?”
And she said unto him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bore unto Nahor.” She said moreover unto him, “We have both straw and fodder enough, and room to lodge in.”
And the man bowed his head, and worshiped Wesant. And he said, “Blessed be Wesant Godhead of my lord Abraham, who hath not left my lord lacking his abarm and truth: I being in the way, Wesant led me to the house of my lord’s brethren.”
And the maiden ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. And it happened, when he saw the ear-ring and arm-rings upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “Thus spoke the man unto me”; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well.
And he said, “Come in, thou blessed of Wesant, wherefore standest thou without? For I have readied the house, and room for the camels.”
And the man came into the house; and Laban ungirded his camels, and gave straw and fodder for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him. And there was set meat set before the thene to eat: but he said, “I will not eat until I have told mine errand.”
And he said, “Speak on.”
And he said, “I am Abraham’s thene. And Wesant hath blessed my lord greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and man-thenes, and maid-thenes, and camels, and asses. And Sarah my lord’s wife bore a son to my lord when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my lord made me swear, saying, ‘Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.’ And I said unto my lord, ‘Maybe the woman will not follow me.’ And he said unto me, ‘Wesant, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and thrive thy way,