Lost Books of the Bible (95 page)

18 And Ishmael afterward took a wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she gave birth to,  to him:  Nishma, Dumah, Masa, Chadad, Tema, Yetur, Naphish and Kedma.

19 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, being twelve princes according to their nations.  And the families of Ishmael afterward spread forth, and Ishmael took his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to dwell where they should find a place.

20 They went and lived near the wilderness of Paran, and their dwelling was from Havilah to Shur, that is before Egypt as you come toward Assyria.

21 Ishmael and his sons lived in the land, and they had children born to them, and they were prolific and increased abundantly.

22 These are the names of the sons of Nebayoth the first born of Ishmael: Mend, Send, Mayon; and the sons of Kedar were Alyon, Kezem, Chamad and Eli.

23 The sons of Adbeel were Chamad and Jabin; and the sons of
Mibsam were Obadiah, Ebedmelech and Yeush; these are the families of the children of Ribah the wife of Ishmael.

24 The sons of Mishma the son of Ishmael were Shamua, Zecaryon and Obed; and the sons of Dumah were Kezed, Eli, Machmad and Amed.

25 The sons of Masa were Melon, Mula and Ebidadon; and the sons of Chadad were Azur, Minzar and Ebedmelech; and the sons of Tema were Seir, Sadon and Yakol.

26 The sons of Yetur were Merith, Yaish, Alyo, and Pachoth; and the sons of Naphish were Ebed-Tamed, Abiyasaph and Mir; and the sons of Kedma were Calip, Tachti, and Omir; these were the children of Malchuth the wife of Ishmael according to their families.

27 All these are the families of Ishmael according to their generations, and they lived in those lands wherein they had built themselves cities to this day.

28 Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the wife of Abraham's son Isaac, was unable to conceive in those days, she had no children.  Isaac lived with his father in the land of Canaan, and the Lord was with Isaac.  Arpachshad the son of Shem the son of Noah died in those days, in the forty-eighth year of the life of Isaac, and all the days that Arpachshad lived were four hundred and thirty-eight years, and he died.

CHAPTER 26

1 In the fifty-ninth year of the life of Isaac the son of Abraham, Rebecca his wife was still unable to conceive in those days.

2 And Rebecca said to Isaac, Truly I have heard, my lord, that your mother Sarah was unable to conceive in her days until my Lord Abraham, your father, prayed for her and she conceived by him.

3 Now therefore stand up, you also pray to God and he will hear your prayer and remember us through his mercies.

4 And Isaac answered his wife Rebecca, saying, Abraham has already prayed for me to God to reproduce his descendants, now therefore this barrenness must proceed to us from you.

5 And Rebecca said to him, But arise now you also and pray, that the Lord may hear your prayer and grant me children.  Isaac listened to the words of his wife, and Isaac and his wife rose up and went to the land of Moriah to pray there and to seek the Lord, and when they had reached that place Isaac stood up and prayed to the Lord on account of his wife because she was unable to conceive.

6 And Isaac said, O Lord God of heaven and earth, whose goodness and mercies fill the earth, you who did take my father from his father's house and from his birthplace, and brought him to this land, and did say to him, To your descendants I will give the land, and you did promise him and did declare to him, I will reproduce your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea, now may your words be verified which you did speak to my father.

7 For you are the Lord our God, our eyes are toward you to give us descendants of men, as you did promise us, for you are the Lord our God and our eyes are directed toward you only.

8 And the Lord heard the prayer of Isaac the son of Abraham; the Lord was entreated of him and Rebecca his wife conceived.

9 And in about seven months after the children struggled together within
her, it pained her greatly and she was wearied on account of them.  She said to all the women who were then in the land, Did such a thing happen to you as it has to me? And they said to her, No.

10 And she said to them, Why am I alone in this among all the women that were on earth? And she went to the land of Moriah to seek the Lord on account of this; she went to Shem and Eber his son to make inquiries of them in this matter,  that they should seek the Lord in this thing respecting her.

11 She also asked Abraham to seek and inquire of the Lord about all that had befallen her.

12 They all inquired of the Lord concerning this matter, and they brought her word from the Lord and told her, Two children are in your womb, and two nations shall rise from them; one nation shall be stronger than the other, and the greater shall serve the younger.

13 When her days to be delivered were completed, she knelt down, and behold there were twins in her womb, as the Lord had spoken to her.

14 The first came out red all over like a hairy garment, and all the people of the land called his name Esau, saying, This one was made complete from the womb.

15 And after that came his brother, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel, therefore they called his name Jacob.

16 Isaac, the son of Abraham, was sixty years old when he had them.

17 The boys grew up to their fifteenth year, and they came among the society of men. Esau was a designing and deceitful man, and an expert hunter in the field; Jacob was a man perfect and wise, dwelling in tents, feeding flocks and learning the instructions of the Lord and the commands of his father and mother.

18 Isaac and the children of his household lived with his father Abraham in the land of Canaan, as God had commanded them.

19 Ishmael the son of Abraham went with his children and all belonging to them; they returned there to the land of Havilah, and they lived there.

20 And all the children of Abraham's concubines went to dwell in the land of the east, for Abraham had sent them away from his son and had given them presents, and they went away.

21 Abraham gave all that he had to his son Isaac, and he also gave him all his treasures.

22 And he commanded him saying, Do you not know and understand the Lord is God in heaven and in earth, and there is no other beside him?

23 It was he who took me from my father's house, and from my birthplace, and gave me all the delights on earth; who delivered me from the counsel of the wicked, for in him I did trust.

24 He brought me to this place, and delivered me from Ur Casdim, and said to me, To your descendants I will give all these land and they shall inherit them when they keep my commandments, my statutes and my judgments that I have commanded you, and which I shall command them.

25 Now therefore my son, listen to my voice, and keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I commanded you.  Do not turn from the right way either to the right or to the left, in order that it may be well with you and your children after you forever.

26 And remember the wonderful works of the Lord and his kindness
that he has shown toward us, in having delivered us from the hands of our enemies; the Lord our God caused them to fall into our hands; now therefore keep all that I have commanded you and turn not away from the commandments of your God; serve none beside him, in order that it may be well with you and your descendants after you.

27  Teach your children and your descendants the instructions of the Lord and his commandments, and teach them the upright way in which they should go, in order that it may be well with them forever.

28 Isaac answered his father and said to him, That which my Lord has commanded thatI will do, and I will not depart from the commands of the Lord my God; I will keep all that he commanded me. And Abraham blessed his son Isaac, and also his children, and Abraham taught Jacob the instruction of the Lord and his ways.

29 It was at that time that Abraham died, in the fifteenth year of the life of Jacob and Esau, the sons of Isaac, and all the days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years. He died and was gathered to his people in good old age, old and satisfied with days, and Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him.

30 When the inhabitants of Canaan heard that Abraham was dead, they all came with their kings and princes and all their men to bury Abraham.

31 All the inhabitants of the land of Haran, all the families of the house of Abraham, all the princes and grandees, and the sons of Abraham by the concubines, all came when they heard of Abraham's death.  They rewarded Abraham's kindness, and comforted Isaac his son, and they buried Abraham in the cave which he bought from Ephron the Hittite and his children, for the possession of a burial place.

32 All the inhabitants of Canaan, and all those who had known Abraham, wept for Abraham a whole year;  men and women mourned over him.

33 Alll the little children, and all the inhabitants of the land wept on account of Abraham, for Abraham had been good to them all, because he had been upright with God and men.

34 There arose not a man who feared God like Abraham, for he had feared his God from his youth, and had served the Lord, and had gone in all his ways during his life from his childhood to the day of his death.

35 And the Lord was with him and delivered him from the counsel of Nimrod and his people; when he made war with the four kings of Elam he conquered them.

36 He brought all the children of the earth to the service of God and he taught them the ways of the Lord, and caused them to know the Lord.

37 He formed a grove and planted a vineyard therein, and he had always prepared in his tent meat and drink to those that passed through the land, that they might satisfy themselves in his house.

38 The Lord God delivered the whole earth on account of Abraham.

39 It was after the death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac and his children, and the Lord was with Isaac as he had been with his father Abraham, for Isaac kept all the commandments of the Lord as Abraham his father had commanded
him; he did not turn to the right or to the left from the right path which his father had commanded him.

CHAPTER 27

1 Esau at that time, after the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt.

2 Nimrod king of Babel, the same was Amraphel, also frequently went with his mighty men to hunt in the field, and to walk about with his men in the cool of the day.

3 Nimrod was observing Esau all those days, for jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau.

4 On a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men.

5 All his mighty men and his people were with him in the wilderness, but they kept at a distance;  they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed himself from Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness.

6 And Nimrod and his men that were with him did not know him. Nimrod and his men frequently walked about in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in the field.

7 Nimrod and two of his men that were with him came to the place where they were, when Esau appeared suddenly from his lurking place, drew his sword, and hurriedly ran to Nimrod and cut off his head.

8 Esau fought a desperate fight with the two men that were with Nimrod, and when they called out to him, Esau turned to them and struck them to death with his sword.

9 All the mighty men of Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance, and they knew the voices of those two men; they ran to know the cause of it and they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in the wilderness.