Lost Books of the Bible (78 page)

28 And the Lord knew what Cain had done to his brother, and the Lord appeared to Cain and said to him, Where is Abel your brother that was with you?

29 And Cain lied, and said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said to him, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground where you have slain him.

30 For you have slain your brother and have lied before me, and imagined in your heart that I saw you not, nor knew all your actions.

31 But you did this thing and did kill your brother for naught and because he spoke rightly to you, and now, therefore, cursed be you from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand, and wherein you did bury him.

32 It shall be when you shall till it, the land will no longer give you its strength as in the beginning, for thorns and thistles shall the ground produce, and you shall be moving and wandering in the earth until the day of your death.

33 And at that time Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, from the place where he was, and he went moving and wandering in the land toward the east of Eden, he and all those belonging to him.

34 Cain had sex with his wife in those days, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he called his name Enoch, saying, In that time the Lord began to give him rest and quiet in the earth.

35 At that time Cain also began to build a city: and he built the city and he called the name of the city Enoch, according to the name of his son; for in those days the Lord had given him rest on the earth, and he did not move about and wander as in the beginning.

36 And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad had Mechuyael and Mechuyael had Methusael.

CHAPTER 2

1 It was in the hundred and thirtieth year of the life of Adam on the earth, that he again had sex with Eve his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son and he looked like Adam, and she called his name Seth, saying, Because God has appointed me another offspring in the place of Abel, for Cain has slain him.

2 And Seth lived one hundred and five years, and he had a son; and Seth called the name of his son Enosh, saying, Because in that time the sons of men began to reproduce, and to afflict their souls and hearts by disobeying and rebelling against God.

3 It was in the days of Enosh that the sons of men continued to rebel and go contrary to God, to increase the anger of the Lord against the sons of men.

4 And the sons of men went and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth: and in those days the sons of men made images of brass and iron, wood and stone, and they bowed down and served them.

5 Every man made his god and they bowed down to them,
and the sons of men turned away from the Lord all the days of Enosh and his children; and the anger of the Lord was set ablaze on account of their works and abominations which they did in the earth.

6 The Lord caused the waters of the river Gihon to overwhelm them, and he destroyed and consumed them, and he destroyed the third part of the earth. Notwithstanding this, the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and their hands were yet extended to do evil in the sight of the Lord.

7 In those days there was neither sowing nor reaping in the earth; and there was no food for the sons of men and the famine was very great in those days.

8 And the seed which they sowed in those days in the ground became thorns, thistles and briers; for from the days of Adam was this declaration concerning the earth, of the curse of God, which he cursed the earth, on account of the sin which Adam sinned before the Lord.

9 And it was when men continued to rebel and go contrary to God, and to corrupt their ways, that the earth also became corrupt.

10 And Enosh lived ninety years and he had Cainan.

11 Cainan grew up and he was forty years old, and he became wise and had knowledge and skill in all wisdom, and he reigned over all the sons of men, and he led the sons of men to wisdom and knowledge; for Cainan was a very wise man and had understanding in all wisdom, and with his wisdom he ruled over spirits and demons.

12 Cainan knew by his wisdom that God would destroy the sons of men for having sinned on earth, and that the Lord would in the latter days bring on them the waters of the flood.

13 And in those days Cainan wrote on tablets of stone what was to take place in time to come, and he put them in his treasure troves.

14 Cainan reigned over the whole earth, and he turned some of the sons of men to the service of God.

15 When Cainan was seventy years old, he had three sons and two daughters.

16 These are the names of the children of Cainan; the name of the first born was Mahlallel, the second was Enan, and the third was Mered, and their sisters were Adah and Zillah; these are the five children of Cainan that were born to him.

17 Lamech, the son of Methusael, became related to Cainan by marriage, and he took his two daughters for his wives, and Adah conceived and gave birth to a son to Lamech, and she called his name Jabal.

18 And she again conceived and gave birth to a son, and called his name Jubal; and Zillah, her sister, was unable to conceive in those days and had no offspring.

19 For in those days the sons of men began to trespass against God, and to go contrary to the commandments which he had given Adam, to be prolific and reproduce in the earth.

20 Some of the sons of men caused their wives to drink a mixture that would render them unable to conceive, in order that they might retain their figures and their beautiful appearance might not fade.

21 And when the sons of men caused some of their wives to drink, Zillah drank with them.

22 The child-bearing women appeared abominable in the sight of
their husbands and they treated them as widows, while their husbands lived with those unable to conceive and to those women they were attached.

23 And in the end of days and years, when Zillah became old, the Lord opened her womb.

24 She conceived and gave birth to a son and she called his name Tubal Cain, saying, After I had withered away have I obtained him from the Almighty God.

25 And she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and she called her name Naamah, for she said, After I had withered away have I obtained pleasure and delight.

26 Lamech was old and advanced in years, and his eyes were dim that he could not see, and Tubal Cain, his son, was leading him and it was one day that Lamech went into the field and Tubal Cain his son was with him, and while they were walking in the field, Cain the son of Adam advanced towards them; for Lamech was very old and could not see much, and Tubal Cain his son was very young.

27Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he struck Cain, who was yet far off, and he killed him, because he appeared be an animal to them.

28 And the arrows entered Cain's body although he was at a distance from them, and he fell to the ground and died.

29 The Lord rewarded Cain's evil according to his wickedness, which he had done to his brother Abel, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.

30 And it came to pass when Cain had died, that Lamech and Tubal went to see the animal which they had slain, and they saw, and behold Cain their grandfather was fallen dead on the earth.

31 Lamech was very much grieved at having done this, and in clapping his hands together (in grief) he struck his son and caused his death.

32 And the wives of Lamech heard what Lamech had done, and they sought to kill him.

33 The wives of Lamech hated him from that day, because he killed Cain and Tubal Cain, and the wives of Lamech separated from him, and would not listen to him in those days.

34 And Lamech came to his wives, and he begged them to listen to him about this matter.

35 He said to his wives Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice O wives of Lamech, attend to my words, for now you have imagined and said that I killed a man with my wounds, and a child with my stripes for they did no violence, but certainly know that I am old and grey-headed, and that my eyes are heavy through age, and I did this thing unknowingly.

36 And the wives of Lamech listened to him in this matter, and they returned to him with the advice of their father Adam, but they bore no children to him from that time, knowing that God's anger was increasing in those days against the sons of men, to destroy them with the waters of the flood for their evil acts.

37 Mahlallel the son of Cainan lived sixty-five years and he had Jared; and Jared lived sixty-two years and he had Enoch.

CHAPTER 3

1 Enoch lived sixty-five years and he had Methuselah; and Enoch walked with God after having a son, Methuselah, and he served the Lord, and despised the evil ways of men.

2 And the soul of Enoch was wrapped up in the instruction of the Lord, in knowledge and in understanding; and he wisely retired from the sons of men, and cloistered himself from them for many days.

3 It was at the expiration of many years, while he was serving the Lord, and praying before him in his house, that an angel of the Lord called to him from Heaven, and he said, Here am I.

4 And he said, Rise, go forth from your house and from the place where you hide yourself, and appear to the sons of men, in order that you may teach them the way in which they should go and the work which they must accomplish in order to enter into the ways of God.

5 Enoch rose up according to the word of the Lord, and went forth from his house, from his place and from the chamber in which he was concealed; and he went to the sons of men and taught them the ways of the Lord, and at that time assembled the sons of men and acquainted them with the instruction of the Lord.

6 He ordered it to be proclaimed in all places where the sons of men lived, saying, Where is the man who wishes to know the ways of the Lord and good works? Let him come to Enoch.

7 And all the sons of men then assembled to him, for all who desired this thing went to Enoch, and Enoch reigned over the sons of men according to the word of the Lord, and they came and bowed to him and they heard his word.

8 The spirit of God was on Enoch, and he taught all his men the wisdom of God and his ways, and the sons of men served the Lord all the days of Enoch, and they came to hear his wisdom.

9 And all the kings of the sons of men, both greatest and least, together with their princes and judges, came to Enoch when they heard of his wisdom, and they bowed down to him, and they also required of Enoch to reign over them, to which he consented.

10 They assembled in all, one hundred and thirty kings and princes, and they made Enoch king over them and they were all under his power and command.

11 And Enoch taught them wisdom, knowledge, and the ways of the Lord; and he made peace among them, and peace was throughout the earth during the life of Enoch.

12 Enoch reigned over the sons of men two hundred and forty-three years, and he did justice and righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord.

13 These are the generations of Enoch, Methuselah, Elisha, and Elimelech, three sons; and their sisters were Melca and Nahmah, and Methuselah lived eighty-seven years and he had Lamech.

14 It was in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Lamech when Adam died. Nine hundred and thirty years old was he at his death. His two sons, with Enoch and Methuselah his son, buried him with great grandeur, as at the burial of kings, in the cave which God had told him.

15 And in that place all the sons of men mourned and wept greatly on account of Adam; it has therefore become a custom among the sons of men to this day.