Lost Books of the Bible (152 page)

11. Leave this man! You cannot deceive him, because he is the enemy of you and of those who follow you and those who love what you want.

12. Behold, the garment which is heaven was formerly yours has been set aside for him, and the mortality which was his has been given over to you."

Chapter 14

1. And the angel said to me, "Abraham!"

2. And I said, "Here I am.” And the angel said to me, "Know that from now on and forever the Eternal One has chosen you.

3. Be bold!  I command you to use this authority against him who reviles the truth.

4. Will I not be able to revile him who has scattered about the earth the secrets of heaven and who has taken counsel against the Mighty One?

 5. Say to him, “May you stoke (be kindling in) the fires of the earth’s furnace!

6. Go, Azazel, into the deserted parts of the earth.

7. Your inheritance is over those who are with you, with the stars and with the men born by the clouds, whose reward you are.  They exist because of you (through your being).

8. Hate is your pious act.

9.Therefore you will destroy yourself and be gone from me!”

10. And I spoke the words that the angel taught me. But the angel said to me, "Do not answer him! For God has given him power over those who answer him."

11. And the angel spoke to me again saying, "However much he speaks to you, do not answer him so that he may not get to you easily (freely).

12. The Eternal One gave him the gravity and the will. Do not answer him."

13. I did what the angel commanded me. And whatever he said to me about the fall (descent), I did not answered him.

Chapter 15

1. As the sun was setting, I beheld smoke like that of a furnace, and the angels who had the divided portions of the sacrifice came down from the top of the smoking furnace.

2. And the angel lifted me with his right hand and set me upon the right wing of the pigeon, and he sat on the left wing of the turtle dove. Neither birds had been slaughtered.

3. He flew me to the borders of the flaming fire, and we rose on many winds to the heavens which were above the firmament (sky/ theater of stars/ the sphere where the stars are stationed).

4. In the air, we ascended to a height that I could see a strong (bright) light impossible to describe.

 5. In the light of a fiercely burning fire (Gehenna?), I saw many people, male in appearance. All of them were constantly changing their appearance and  form. They were running as they were being changed, and they were worshipping and crying out with a sound of words that I could not recognize.

Chapter 16

1. And I said to the angel, "Why have you now brought me here? 

2. I  can no longer see clearly, and I am growing weak. My spirit is leaving me?"

3. And he said, "Remain close to me and do not fear.

3.  He, the One you cannot see, is coming toward us now with a tremendous voice of holiness.

4. He is the Eternal One who loves you. But you yourself cannot see (look at) Him.

5. But you may find your spirit growing faint on account of the choirs  of those who cry out because I am with you to strengthen you (fight against the weakness for I am here to strengthen you).”

Chapter 17

1. While he was still speaking, the fire coming toward us surrounded us and there was a voice amidst the fire like a voice of many waters, like the sound of a violent sea. And I wanted to fall down and worship. And the angel knelt down with me and worshipped.

2. However, the surface of the high place where we were standing changed constantly, inclining, rolling high and low.

3. And the angel said, "Worship, Abraham, and sing the song which I now will teach you.

4. Never stop signing it. Sing it in continuously from beginning to end. “

5. And the song which he taught me to sing had words that were appropriate to the area of heaven (sphere) we were standing in. 

6. Each area (sphere) in heaven has its own song of praise, and only those who live there know how to sign it, and those on earth cannot know it or sing it.

7. They could know it only if they were taught by the messengers of heaven. And the words of that song were of a type and meaning.

8. So I bowed down since there was no solid ground on which to prostrate myself and I recited the song which he had taught me.

9. And he said, "Recite it without ceasing." And I recited, and he himself recited the song along with me.

 “Eternal, Mighty, Holy God (El), God of unlimited power,  Self-originated, Incorruptible, Immaculate, Without beginning, having no mother or father, Spotless, Immortal,  Self-Created, Illuminated with your own light, without mother or father, self-begotten, High, radiant, Wise, Lover Of Men, Favorable, Generous, Bountiful, Jealous Over Me, Patient (compassionate), Most Merciful,  Eli (my God), Eternal, Mighty, Holy Sabbath, Most Glorious El, El, El, El, (God) Jaoel (Yahoel/Joel) (Ja El/Lord God). You are he whom my soul has loved, the Guardian, Eternal, Radiant, Shining, Made of light, Voice of thunder. You appear as lightning, All seeing,  you receive the prayers of those who honor you and turn away from the prayers of those who besiege you with their provoking ways. You redeem (free) those who are in the midst of the unrighteous and those who are confused among the wicked one who inhabited world in the corruptible life. You renew the life of the righteous. Before the morning light shines, you make the light shine upon your creation from the light of your face in order to bring the day on the earth.  And in your heavenly dwellings there is an inexhaustible light of another kind. It is the inexpressible splendor from the lights of your face.  Accept my prayer, and let it be sweet to you, and also the sacrifice which you yourself made to yourself through me who searched for you.  Receive me favorably and show to me, and teach me, and make known to your servant what you have promised me.”

Chapter 18

1. While I was still reciting the song, the mouth of the fire on the surface rose high in the air.

2. And I heard a voice like a roaring sea. It was not stopped by even the plethora of fire. And as the fire rose up very high I saw under the fire a throne of fire, and around  it were many eyes watching.

3. They were the all-seeing ones and they were singing their song.

4. Under the throne were four radiant (on fire) Living Ones singing but they looked as if they were one creature but each one had four faces.

5. This is how they appeared and how they looked to me; each one had the face of a lion, a man, an ox and an eagle, and because of their four heads upon their bodies, they had sixteen faces.

6. Each one had three pairs of wings coming out of  their shoulders, their sides, and their hips. With the wings from the shoulders they covered their faces. With the wings from their hips they covered their feet. The two middle wings were spread out and they flew erect as if standing up (straight forward).

7. Then,  when they had ended their singing they looked at one another and threatened one another.

8. Then, when the angel who was with me saw that they were threatening each other he left me and went running to them. He turned the face of each living creature from the face which was opposite it so that they could not see each other’s faces

9. And he taught them the song of peace which the Eternal One has in himself.

10. And while I stood alone and watched, I saw a chariot with wheels of fire behind the Living Ones.

11. Each wheel had eyes around it and it was full of eyes.  Above the wheels was the throne which I had seen before. It was covered with fire, and the fire encircled it. 

12. An indescribable fire contained a mighty fiery host, and I heard its holy voice like the voice of a man.

Chapter 19

1. And a voice came to me out of the middle of the fire, saying, "Abraham, "Abraham!" and I answered saying "Here am I!" And he said, "Look at the wide places (areas/expanses) which are under the firmament (sky/theater of stars)  on which you now stand.

2. Notice that no other place (area/expanse) has yielded the one for whom you have searched or who has loved you."

3. While he was still talking, the areas opened up. Below me were the heavens and I saw a fire which was wide-spread. There was a light, which is the storehouse (vault) of life.

4. There was the dew that God will use to awaken the dead, the spirits of the righteous, those that had gone on before, and the spirits of those souls who are yet to be born.
Judgment and righteousness, peace and blessing, and an innumerable host of angels, and the Living Ones, and the Power of the Invisible Glory sat above the Living Ones.

5. All of these were in the seventh firmament, on which I stood.

6. And I looked down from the high mountain on which I stood on to the sixth firmament, and there I saw a host of angels of pure spirit (incorporeal) without bodies, whose duty was to carry out the commands of the fiery angels who were upon the seventh firmament  (some translations have the eighth firmament) , as I was standing suspended over them.

7. And I looked down on the sixth firmament and there were no other powers of any form, only the angels of pure spirit.

8. I was standing on its elevation. And on this firmament there was nothing in any form and no other host, but only the spiritual angels.

9. I saw a host on the seventh firmament and He commanded that the sixth firmament should be removed from my sight, and I saw there on the fifth firmament the powers of the stars which carry out the commands laid upon them, and the elements of the earth obeyed them.

Chapter 20

1. And the Eternal, Mighty One said to me, "Abraham, Abraham!" And I said, “Here I am!"

2. And He said to me, "Look at the stars which are beneath you, and number them for me, and then tell me their number."

3. And I said, "How can I?  I am just a man made of the dust of the earth." And He said to me, " I will make your progeny a nation as large as the number of the stars and as powerful the power of the stars, and I will set these people a section (piece) for me as my own inheritance.

4. They will be distinct from those of Azazel. And yet I include Azazel in my house."

5. And I said, "Eternal and Mighty One. Let your servant speak before you and do not let your fury ignite (burn/rage) against your chosen (selected/elect) one.

6. “Look!, before you led me up, Azazel insulted (railed against/reproached) me. Since he is now not before you how can you establish (constitute/count) yourself with them?"

Chapter 21

1. Then He said to me, "Look beneath your feet at the firmament and understand the creation represented and foretold in this expanse, the creatures who exist in it, and the ages prepared after it."

2. And I looked beneath my feet and beneath the sixth heaven and saw the earth and its fruits, and what moved upon it and its beings that moved, and the host of its men, and the ungodliness of some of their souls and the righteous deeds of other souls. I saw the lower regions and the torment (perdition) in the abyss.