The
Book of Jasher
CHAPTER IV.
I. And all the days that Enoch lived upon earth, were three hundred
and sixty-five years.
2 And when Enoch had ascended into heaven, all the kings of the
earth rose and took Methuselah his son and anointed him, and they
caused him to reign over them in the place of his father.
3 And Methuselah acted uprightly in the sight of God, as his father
Enoch had taught him, and he likewise during the whole of his life
taught the sons of men wisdom, knowledge and the fear of God, and he
did not turn from the good way either to the right or to the left.
4 But in the latter days of Methuselah, the sons of men turned from
the Lord, they corrupted the earth, they robbed and plundered each
other, and they rebelled against God and they transgressed, and they
corrupted their ways, and would not hearken to the voice of
Methuselah, but rebelled against him.
5 And the Lord was exceedingly wroth against them, and the Lord
continued to destroy the seed in those days, so that there was neither
sowing nor reaping in the earth.
6 For when they sowed the ground in order that they might obtain
food for their support, behold, thorns and thistles were produced
which they did not sow.
7 And still the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and
their hands were still extended to do evil in the sight of God, and
they provoked the Lord with their evil ways, and the Lord was very
wroth, and repented that he had made man.
8 And he thought to destroy and annihilate them and he did so.
9 In those days when Lamech the son of Methuselah was one hundred
and sixty years old, Seth the son of Adam died.
l0 And all the days that Seth lived, were nine hundred and twelve
years, and he died.
11 And Lamech was one hundred and eighty years old when he took
Ashmua, the daughter of Elishaa the son of Enoch his uncle, and she
conceived.
12 And at that time the sons of men sowed the ground, and a little
food was produced, yet the sons of men did not turn from their evil
ways, and they trespassed and rebelled against God.
13 And the wife of Lameeh conceived and bare him a son at that
time, at the revolution of the year.
14 And Methuselah called his name Noah, saying, The earth was in
his days at rest and free from corruption, and Lamech his father
called his name Menachem, saying, This one shall comfort us in our
works and miserable toil in the earth, which God had cursed.
15 And the child grew up and was weaned, and he went in the ways of
his father Methuselah, perfect and upright with God.
16 And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in
those days as they multiplied upon the lace of the earth with sons and
daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they
continued sinning against the Lord.
17 And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and
plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they
corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with. violence.
18 And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and
took their wives by force from their husbands according to their
choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the
earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught
the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order
therewith to provoke the Lord ;and God saw the whole earth and it was
corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and
all animals.
19 And the Lord said, I will blot out man that I created from the
face of the earth, yea from man to the birds of the air, together with
cattle and beasts that are in the field for I repent that I made them.
20 And all men who walked in the ways of the Lord, died in those
days, before the Lord brought the evil upon man which he had declared,
for this was from the Lord, that they should not see the evil which
the Lord spoke of concerning the sons of men.
21 And Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord
chose him and his children to raise up seed from them upon the face of
the whole earth.
CHAPTER V.
I And it was in the eighty-fourth year of the life of Noah, that
Enos the son of Seth died; he was nine hundred and five years old at
his death.
2 And in the one hundred and seventy ninth year of the life of
Noah, Cainan the son of Enosh died, and all the days of Cainan were
nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
3 And in the two hundred and thirty fourth year of the life of
Noah, Mahlallel the son of Cainan died, and the days of Mahlallel were
eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
4 And Jared the son of Mahlalel died in those days, in the three
hundred and thirty-sixth year of the life of Noah; and all the days of
Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
5 And all who followed the Lord died in those days, before they saw
the evil which God declared upon the earth.
6 And after the lapse of many years, in the four hundred and
eightieth year of the liffe of Noah when all those men, who followed
the Lord had died away from amongst the the sons of men, and only
Methuselah was then left, God said unto Noah and Methuselah, saying,
7 Speak ye, and proclai to the sons of men, saying', Thus saith the
Lord, return from your evil ways and forsake your works, and the Lord
will repent of the evil that lie declared to do to you, so that it
shall not come to pass.
8 For thus saith the Lord, Behold I give you a period of one
hundred and twenty years: if you will turn to me and forsake your evil
ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and
it shall not exist, saith the Lord.
9 And Noah and Methuselah spoke all the words of the Lord to the sons
of men, day after day, constantly speaking to them.
10 But the sons of men would not hearken to them, nor incline their
ears to their words, and they were stiff-necked.
11 And the Lord granted them a period of one hundred and twenty
years, saying, If they will return, then will God repent of the evil,
so as not to destroy the earth.
12 And Noah the son of Lamech refrained from taking a wife in those
days, to beget children, for he said, Surely now God will destroy the
earth, wherefore then shall I beget children?
13 And Noah was a just man, he was perfect in his generation, and
the Lord chose him to raise up seed from his seed upon the face of the
earth.
14 And the Lord said unto Noah, Take unto thee a wife, and beget
children, for I have seen thee righteous before me in this generation.
15 And thou shalt raise up seed, and thy children with thee, in the
midst of the earth: and Noah went and took at wife, and he chose
Naamah the daughter of Enoch, and she was live hundred and eighty
years old.
16 And Noah was four hundred and ninety eight years old when he
took Naamah for a wife.
17 And Naamah conceived and bare a son, and he called his name
Japheth, saying, God has enlarged me in the earth; and she conceived
again and bare a son, and he called his name Shem, saying God has made
me a remnant, to raise up seed in the midst of the earth.
18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bare
Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of the Lord, in all
that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.
19 And Lamech the father of Noah, died in those days: yet verily he
did not go with all his heart in the ways of his father, and he died
in the hundred and ninety fifth year of the life of Noah.
20 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy years,
and he died.
21 And all the sons of men who knew the Lord, died in that year
before the Lord brought evil upon them; for the Lord willed them to
die, so as not to behold the evil that God would bring upon their
brothers and relatives, as he had so declared to do.
22 In that time, the Lord said to Noah and Methuselah, Stand forth
and proclaim to the sons of men all the words that I spoke to you in
those days, peradventure they may turn from their evil ways, and I
will then repent of the evil and will not bring it.
23 And Noah and Methuselah stood forth, and said in the ears of the
sons of men, all that God had spoken concerning them.
24 But the sons of men would not hearken, neither would they
incline their ears to all their declarations.
25 And it was after this that the Lord said to Noah, The end of all
flesh is come before me, on account of their evil deeds, and behold I
will destroy the earth.
26 And do thou take unto thee gopher wood, and go to a certain
place and make a large ark, and place it in that spot.
27 And thus shalt thou make it; three hundred cubits its length,
fifty cubits broad and thirty cubits high.
28 And thou shalt make unto thee a door, open at its side, and to a
cubit thou shalt finish above, and cover it within and without with
pitch.
29 And behold I will bring the flood of waters upon the earth, and
all flesh be destroyed, from under the heavens all that is upon earth
shall perish.
30 And thou and thy household shall go and gather two couple of all
living things, male and female, and shall bring them to the ark, to
raise up seed from them upon earth.
31 And gather unto thee all food that is eaten by all the animals,
that there may be food for thee and for them.
32 And thou shalt choose for thy sons three maidens, from the
daughters of men, and they shall be wives to thy sons.
33 And Noah rose up, and he made the ark, in the place where God had
commanded him, and Noah did :is God had ordered him.
34 In his five hundred and ninety fifth year Noah commenced to make
the ark, and he made the ark in five years, as the Lord had commanded.
35 Then Noah took the three daughters of Ellakim, son of
Methuselah, for wives for his sons, as the Lord had commanded Noah.
36 And it was at that time Methuselah the son of Enoch
died, nine hundred and sixty years old was he, at his death.
CHAPTER VI.
I At that time, after the death of Methuselah, the
Lord said to Noah, Go thou with thy household into the ark; behold I
will gather to thee all the animals of the earth, the beasts of the
field and the fowls of the air, and they shall all come and surround
the ark.
2 And thou shalt go and seal thyself by the doors of
the ark, and all the beasts, the animals, and the fowls, shall
assemble and place themselves before thee, and such of them as shall
come and crouch before thee, shalt thou take and deliver into the
hands of thy sons, who shall bring them to the ark, and all that will
stand before thee thou shalt leave.
3 And the Lord brought this about on the next day, and
animals, beasts and fowls came in great multitudes and surrounded the
ark.
4 And Noah went and seated himself by the door of the
ark, and of all flesh that crouched before him, he brought into the
ark, and all that stood before him he left upon earth.
5 And a lioness came, with her two whelps, male and
female, and the three crouched before Noah, and the two whelps rose up
against the lioness and smote her, and made her flee from her place,
and she went away, and they returned to their places, and crouched
upon the earth before Noah.
6 And the lioness ran away, and stood in the place of
the lions.
7 And Noah saw this, and wondered greatly, and he rose
and took the two whelps, and brought them into the ark.
8 And Noah brought into the ark from all living
creatures that were upon earth, so that there was none left but which
Noah brought into the ark.
9 Two and two came to Noah into the ark, but from the
clean animals, and clean fowls, he brought seven couples, as God had
commanded him.
10 And all the animals, and beasts, and fowls, were
still there, and they surrounded the ark at every place, and the rain
had not descended till seven days after.
11 I And on that day, the Lord caused the whole earth
to shake, and the sun darkened, and the foundations of the world
raged, and the whole earth was moved violently, and the lightning
flashed, and the thunder roared, and all the fountains in the earth
were broken up, such as was not known to the inhabitants before, and
God did this mighty act, in order to terrify the sons of men, that
there might be no more evil upon earth.
12 And still the sons of men would not return from
their evil ways, and they increased the anger of the Lord at that
time, and did not even direct their hearts to all this.
13 And at the end of seven days, in the six hundredth
year of the life of Noah, the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
14 And all the fountains of the deep were broken up,
and the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth
forty days and forty nights.
15 And Noah and his household, and all the living
creatures that were with him, came into the ark on account of the
waters of the flood, and the Lord shut him in.
16 And all the sons of men that were left upon the
earth, became exhausted through evil on account of the rain, for the
waters were coming more violently upon the earth, and the animals and
beasts were still surrounding the ark.
17 And the sons of men assembled together,
about seven hundred thousand
men and women, and they came unto Noah to the ark.
18 And they called to Noah, saying, Open for us that
we may come to thee in the ark and wherefore shall we die ?
19 And Noah, with a loud voice, answered them from the
ark, saying, Have you not all rebelled against the Lord, and said that
he does not exist? and therefore the Lord brought upon you this evil,
to destroy and cut you off from the face of the earth.
20 Is not this the thing that I spoke to you of one
hundred and twenty years back, and you would not hearken to the voice
of the Lord, and now do you desire to live upon earth?
21 And they said to Noah, We are ready to return to
the Lord; only open for us that we may live and not die.
22 And Noah answered them, saying, Behold now that you
see the trouble of your souls, you wish to return to the Lord; why did
you not return during these hundred and twenty years, which the Lord
granted you as the determined period?
23 But now you come and tell me this on account of the
troubles of your souls, now also the Lord will not listen to you,
neither will he give ear to you on this day, so that you will not now
succeed in your wishes.
24 And the sons of men approached in order to break
into the ark, to come in on account of the rain, for they could not
bear the rain upon them.
25 And the Lord sent all the beasts and animals that
stood round the ark. And the beasts overpowered them and drove them
from that place, and every man went his way and they again scattered
themselves upon the face of the earth.
26 And the rain was still descending upon the earth,
and it descended forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed
greatly upon the earth; and all flesh that was upon the earth or in
the waters died, whether men, animals, beasts, creeping things or
birds of the air, and there only remained Noah and those that were
with him in the ark.
27 And the waters prevailed and they greatly increased
upon the earth, and they lifted up the ark and it was raised from the
earth.
28 And the ark floated upon the face of the waters,
and it was tossed upon the waters so that all the living creatures
within were turned about like pottage in a cauldron.
29 And great anxiety seized all the living creatures
that were in the ark, and the ark was like to be broken.
30 And all the living creatures that were in the ark
were terrified, and the lions roared, and the oxen lowed, and the
wolves howled, and every living creature in the ark spoke and lamented
in its own language, so that their voices reached to a great distance,
and Noah and his sons cried and wept in their troubles; they were
greatly afraid that they had reached the gates of death.
Isaiah 54:9 For this is as the
waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of
Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I
would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. |
31 And Noah prayed unto the Lord, and cried unto him
on account of this, and he said, O Lord help us, for we have no
strength to bear this evil that has encompassed us, for the waves of
the waters have surrounded us, mischievous torrents have terrified us,
the snares of death have come before us; answer us, O Lord, answer
us, light up thy countenance toward us and be gracious to us, redeem
us and deliver us.
32 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and the Lord
remembered him.
33 And a wind passed over the earth, and the waters were still and the
ark rested.
34 And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were
stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
35 And the waters decreased in those days, and the ark rested upon the
mountains of Ararat.
36 And Noah then opened the windows of the ark, and Noah still called
out to the Lord at that time and he said, O Lord, who didst form the
earth and the heavens and all that are therein, bring forth our souls
from this confinement, and from the prison wherein thou hast placed us, for I am
much wearied with sighing.
37 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and said to him, When
though shalt have completed a full year thou shalt then go forth.
Recall that Noah was in the Arc one year and 10
days.
38 And at the revolution of the year, when a full year was completed
to Noah's dwelling in the ark, the waters were dried from off the
earth, and Noah put off the covering of the ark.
39 At that time, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the
earth was dry, but Noah and his sons, and those that were with him,
did not go out from the ark until the Lord told them.
40 And the day came that the Lord told them to go out, and they all
went out from the ark.
41 And they went and returned every one to his way and to his place,
and Noah and his sons dwelt in the land that God had told them, and
they served the Lord all their days, and the Lord blessed Noah and
his sons on their going out from the ark.
42 And he said to them, Be fruitful and fill all the earth; become
strong and increase abundantly in the earth and multiply therein.