 Prologue of the first book of Adam and Eve. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. The first book of Adam and Eve, translated by Rutherford Hayes Platt. Prologue. The first book of Adam and Eve details the life and times of Adam and Eve after they were expelled from the garden to the time that Cain kills his brother Abel. It tells of Adam and Eve's first dwelling, the Cave of Treasures, their trials and temptations, Satan's many apparitions to them, the birth of Cain, Abel, and their twin sisters. And Cain's love for his beautiful twin sister, Lulua, whom Adam and Eve wished to join to Abel. This book is considered by many scholars to be part of the Pseudopigrapha. The Pseudopigrapha is a collection of historical biblical works that are considered to be fiction. Because of that stigma, this book was not included in the compilation of the Holy Bible. This book is a written history of what happened in the days of Adam and Eve after they were cast out of the garden. Although considered to be pseudopigraphic by some, it carries significant meaning and insight into the events of that time. It is doubtful that these writings could have survived all the many centuries if there were no substance to them. This book is simply a version of an account handed down by word of mouth, from generation to generation, linking the time that the first human life was created to the time when somebody finally decided to write it down. This particular version is the work of unknown Egyptians. The lack of historical illusion makes it difficult to precisely date the writing. However, using other pseudopigraphical works as a reference, it was probably written a few hundred years before the birth of Christ. Parts of this version are found in the Jewish Talmud and in the Islamic Quran, showing what a vital role it played in the original literature of human wisdom. The Egyptian author wrote in Arabic, but later translations were found written in Ethiopic. The present English translation was translated in the late 1800s by Dr. S. C. Malin and Dr. E. Trump. They translated into King James English from both the Arabic version and the Ethiopic version, which was then published in the Forgotten Books of Eden in 1927 by the World Publishing Company. In 1995, the text was extracted from a copy of the Forgotten Books of Eden and converted to electronic form by Dennis Hawkins. It was then translated into more modern English by simply exchanging thou's for use, arts for ours, and so on. The text was then carefully re-read to ensure its integrity. End of Prologue. Chapters 1 through 10 of the first book of Adam and Eve. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. The first book of Adam and Eve, translated by Rutherford Hayes Platt. Chapters 1 through 10. Chapter 1, The Crystal Sea, God commands Adam, expelled from Eden, to live in the cave of treasures. On the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on the border of the world eastward, beyond which, towards the sun rising, one finds nothing but water that encompasses the whole world, and reaches to the borders of heaven. And to the north of the garden there is a sea of water, clear and pure to the taste, unlike anything else. So that, through the clearness thereof, one may look into the depths of the earth, and when a man washes himself in it, he becomes clean of the clearness thereof, and white of its whiteness, even if he were dark. And God created that sea of his own good pleasure, for he knew what would come of the man he would make, so that after he had left the garden, on account of his transgression, men should be born in the earth. Among them are righteous ones who will die, whose souls God would raise at the last day, when all of them will return to their flesh, bathe in the water of that sea, and repent of their sins. But when God made Adam go out of the garden, he did not place him on the border of it northward. This was so that he and Eve would not be able to go nearer to the sea of water where they could wash themselves in it, be cleansed from their sins, erase the transgression they had committed, and be no longer reminded of it in the thought of their punishment. As to the southern side of the garden, God did not want Adam to live there either, because when the wind blew from the north, it would bring him, on that southern side, the delicious smell of the trees of the garden. Wherefore God did not put Adam there. This was so that he would not be able to smell the sweet smell of those trees, forget his transgression, and find consolation for what he had done by taking delight in the smell of the trees, and yet not be cleansed from his transgression. Again also, because God is merciful and of great pity, and governs all things in a way that he alone knows, he made our Father Adam live in the western border of the garden, because on that side, the earth is very broad. And God commanded him to live there in a cave in a rock, the cave of treasures below the garden. But when our Father Adam and Eve went out of the garden, they walked the ground on their feet, not knowing they were walking. And when they came to the opening of the gate of the garden, and saw the broad earth spread before them, covered with stones large and small, and with sand, they feared and trembled, and fell on their faces from the fear that came over them, and they were as dead. Because, whereas until this time they had been in the garden land, beautifully planted with all manner of trees, they now saw themselves in a strange land which they knew not, and had never seen. And because, when they were in the garden, they were filled with the grace of a bright nature, and they had not hearts turned toward earthly things. Therefore God had pity on them, and when he saw them fallen before the gate of the garden, he sent his word to our Father, Adam and Eve, and raised them from their fallen state. Chapter 3 Concerning the Promise of the Great Five and a Half Days God said to Adam, I have ordained on this earth days and years, and you and your descendants shall live and walk in them, until the days and years are fulfilled, when I shall send the word that created you, and against which you have transgressed, the word that made you come out of the garden, and that raised you when you were fallen. Yes, the word that will again save you when the five and a half days are fulfilled. But when Adam heard these words from God, and of the great five and a half days, he did not understand the meaning of them. For Adam was thinking there would be only five and a half days for him until the end of the world. And Adam cried, and prayed to God to explain it to him. Then God, in his mercy for Adam, who was made after his own image and likeness, explained to him that these were five thousand and five hundred years, and how one would then come and save him and his descendants. But before that God had made this covenant with our Father Adam in the same terms before he came out of the garden, when he was by the tree where Eve took of the fruit and gave it to him to eat. Because when our Father Adam came out of the garden, he passed by that tree and saw how God had changed the appearance of it into another form, and how it shriveled. And as Adam went to it he feared and trembled and fell down. But God in his mercy lifted him up and then made this covenant with him. And again, when Adam was by the gate of the garden and saw the cherub with a sword of flashing fire in his hand, and the cherub grew angry and frowned at him, both Adam and Eve became afraid of him and thought he meant to put them to death. So they fell on their faces and trembled with fear. But he had pity on them and showed them mercy, and turning from them went up to heaven and prayed to the Lord and said, Lord, you sent me to watch at the garden of the gate with a sword of fire. But when your servants Adam and Eve saw me, they fell on their faces and were as dead. All my Lord, what shall we do to your servants? Then God had pity on them and showed them mercy and sent his angel to keep the garden. And the word of the Lord came to Adam and Eve and raised them up. And the Lord said to Adam, I told you that at the end of the five and a half days I will send my word and save you. Strengthen your heart, therefore, and stay in the cave of treasures, of which I have before spoken to you. And when Adam heard this word from God, he was comforted with that which God had told him, for he had told him how he would save him. Chapter 4 Adam mourns over the changed conditions. Adam and Eve enter the cave of treasures. But Adam and Eve cried for having come out of the garden, their first home, and indeed when Adam looked at his flesh that was altered, he cried bitterly, he and Eve, over what they had done. And they walked and went gently down into the cave of treasures. And as they came to it, Adam cried over himself and said to Eve, Look at this cave that is to be our prison in this world and a place of punishment. What is it compared with the garden? What is its narrowness compared with the space of the other? What is this rock by the side of those groves? What is the gloom of this cavern compared with the light of the garden? What is this overhanging ledge of rock to shelter us, compared with the mercy of the Lord that overshadowed us? What is the soil of this cave compared to the garden land? This earth strewn with stones, and that planted with delicious fruit trees. And Adam said to Eve, Look at your eyes and at mine, which before beheld angels praising in heaven, and they too without ceasing. But now we do not see as we did. Our eyes have become a flesh. They cannot see like they used to see before. And Adam said again to Eve, What is our body today compared to what it was in former days when we lived in the garden? After this, Adam did not want to enter the cave under the overhanging rock, nor would he ever want to enter it. But he bowed to God's orders and said to himself, Unless I enter the cave, I shall again be a transgressor. Chapter 5 Eve makes a noble and emotional intercession, taking the blame on herself. Then Adam and Eve entered the cave and stood praying in their own tongue, unknown to us, but which they knew well. And as they prayed, Adam raised his eyes and saw the rock and the roof of the cave that covered him overhead. This prevented him from seeing either heaven or God's creatures, so he cried and beat his chest hard until he dropped and was as dead. And Eve sat crying, for she believed he was dead. Then she got up, spread her hands toward God, appealing to him for mercy and pity, and said, Oh God, forgive me my sin, the sin which I committed, and don't remember it against me. For I alone caused your servant to fall from the garden into this condemned land, from light into darkness, and from the house of joy into this prison. Oh God, look at this, your servant fallen in this manner and bring him back to life, that he may cry and repent of his transgression which he committed through me. Don't take away his soul right now, but let him live that he may stand after the measure of his repentance and do your will as before his death. But if you do not bring him back to life then, oh God, take away my own soul that I be like him, and leave me not in this dungeon, one and alone, for I could not stand alone in this world but with him only. For you, oh God, caused him to fall asleep and took a bone from his side and restored the flesh in the place of it by your divine power. And you took me the bone and make me a woman, bright like him, with heart, reason and speech, and in flesh like to his own, and you made me after the likeness of his looks by your mercy and power. Oh Lord, I and he are one, and you, oh God, are our Creator. You are he who made us both in one day. Therefore, oh God, give him life that he may be with me in this strange land while we live in it on account of our transgression. But if you will not give him life, then take me, even me, like him, that we may both die the same day. And Eve cried bitterly and fell on our Father Adam from her great sorrow. Chapter 6, God's reprimand to Adam and Eve in which he points out how and why they sinned. But God looked at them, for they had killed themselves through great grief, but he decided to raise them and comfort them. He therefore sent his word to them that they should stand and be raised immediately. And the Lord said to Adam and Eve, you transgressed of your own free will until you came out of the garden in which I had placed you, of your own free will have you transgressed through your desires for divinity, greatness, and an exalted state such as I have, so that I deprive you of the bright nature in which you then were, and I made you come out of the garden into this land rough and full of trouble. If only you had not transgressed my commandment and kept my law, and had not eaten of the fruit of the tree which I told you not to come near. And there were fruit trees in the garden better than that one. But the wicked Satan did not keep his faith and had no good intent towards me, that although I had created him, he considered me to be useless and sought the Godhead for himself. For this I hurled him down from heaven so that he could not remain in his first estate. It was he who made the tree appear pleasant in your eyes until you ate of it by believing his words. Thus have you transgressed my commandment, and therefore I have brought on you all these sorrows. For I am God the Creator who, when I created my creatures, did not intend to destroy them. But after they had sorely roused my anger, I punished them with grievous plagues until they repent. But if, on the contrary, they continue hardened in their transgression, they shall be under a curse forever. Chapter 7 The Beasts Are Appeased When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they cried and sobbed yet more, but they strengthened their hearts in God because they now felt that the Lord was to them like a father and a mother, and for this reason they cried before him and sought mercy from him. Then God had pity on them and said, Oh Adam, I have made my covenant with you, and I will not turn from it. Neither will I let you return to the garden until my covenant of the great five and a half days is fulfilled. Then Adam said to God, Oh Lord, you created us and made us fit to be in the garden, and before I transgressed, you made all beasts come to me that I should name them. Your grace was then on me, and I named everyone according to your mind, and you made them all subject to me. But now, oh Lord God, that I have transgressed your commandment, all beasts will rise against me and will devour me and eave your handmaid, and will cut off our life from the face of the earth. I therefore beg you, oh God, that since you have made us come out of the garden and have made us to be in a strange land, you will not let the beasts hurt us. When the Lord heard these words from Adam, he had pity on him and felt that he had truly said that the beasts of the field would rise and devour him and eave. Because he, the Lord, was angry with the two of them on account of their transgressions. Then God commanded the beasts and the birds and all that moves on the earth to come to Adam and to be familiar with him and not to trouble him and eave, nor yet any of the good and righteous among their offspring. Then all the beasts paid homage to Adam according to the commandment of God, except the serpent, against which God was angry, it did not come to Adam with the beasts. Chapter 8 The Bright Nature of Man is Taken Away Then Adam cried and said, Oh God, when we lived in the garden and our hearts were lifted up, we saw angels that sang praises in heaven, but now we can't see like we used to. No, when we entered the cave, all creation became hidden from us. Then God the Lord said to Adam, When you were under subjection to me, you had a bright nature within you, and for that reason could you see things far away. But after your transgression your bright nature was withdrawn from you, and it was not left to you to see things far away, but only near at hand, after the ability of the flesh, for it is brutish. When Adam and Eve had heard these words from God, they went their way, praising and worshiping him with a sorrowful heart, and God ceased to commune with them. Chapter 9 Water from the Tree of Life Adam and Eve Near Drowning Then Adam and Eve came out of the cave of treasures and went near to the garden gates, and there they stood to look at it and cried for having come away from it. And Adam and Eve went from before the gate of the garden to the southern side of it and found there the water that watered the garden from the root of the Tree of Life, and that split itself from there into four rivers over the earth. Then they came and went near to that water and looked at it and saw that it was the water that came forth from under the root of the Tree of Life in the garden. And Adam cried and wailed and beat his chest for being severed from the garden and said to Eve, Why have you brought on me, on yourself, and on our descendants so many of these plagues and punishments? And Eve said to him, What is it you have seen that has caused you to cry and to speak to me in this manner? And he said to Eve, Do you not see this water that was with us in the garden, that watered the trees of the garden and flowed out from there? And we, when we were in the garden, did not care about it. But since we came to this strange land, we love it and turn it to use for our body. But when Eve heard these words from him, she cried and from the soreness of their crying, they fell into that water and would have put an end to themselves in it, so as never again to return and behold the creation, for when they looked at the work of creation, they felt they must put an end to themselves. Chapter 10 Their bodies need water after they leave the garden. Then God, merciful and gracious, looked at them thus lying in the water and close to death, and sent an angel who brought them out of the water and laid them on the seashore as dead. Then the angel went up to God, was welcome and said, Oh God, your creatures have breathed their last. Then God sent his word to Adam and Eve, who raised them from their death. And Adam said, after he was raised, Oh God, while we were in the garden, we did not require or care for this water. But since we came to this land, we cannot do without it. Then God said to Adam, while you were under my command angel, you knew not this water. But now that you have transgressed my commandment, you cannot do without water, wear in to wash your body and make it grow. For it is now like that of beasts, and is in wants of water. When Adam and Eve heard these words from God, they cried a bitter cry. And Adam entreated God to let him return into the garden and look at it a second time. But God said to Adam, I have made you a promise, and when that promise is fulfilled, I will bring you back into the garden, you and your righteous descendants. And God sees to commune with Adam. End of chapters 1 through 10. Chapters 11 through 20 of the first book of Adam and Eve. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. The first book of Adam and Eve, translated by Rutherford Hayes Platt. Chapters 11 through 20. Chapter 11. A recollection of the glorious days in the garden. Then Adam and Eve felt themselves burning with thirst and heat and sorrow. And Adam said to Eve, we shall not drink of this water even if we were to die. Oh Eve, when this water comes into our inner parts, it will increase our punishments and that of our descendants. Both Adam and Eve then went away from the water and drank none of it at all, but came and entered the cave of treasures. But when in it, Adam could not see Eve. He only heard the noise she made. Neither could she see Adam, but heard the noise he made. Then Adam cried in deep affliction and beat his chest, and he got up and said to Eve, where are you? And she said to him, look, I'm standing in this darkness. And then he said to her, remember the bright nature in which we lived when we lived in the garden. Oh Eve, remember the glory that rested on us in the garden. Oh Eve, remember the trees that overshadowed us in the garden while we moved among them. Oh Eve, remember that while we were in the garden we knew neither night nor day. Think of the tree of life from below which flowed the water. And that shed luster over us. Remember, oh Eve, the garden land and the brightness thereof. Think, oh, think of that garden in which was no darkness while we lived in it. Whereas no sooner did we come into this cave of treasures than darkness surrounded us all around until we can no longer see each other and all the pleasure of this life has come to an end. Chapter 12 How Darkness Came Between Adam and Eve Then Adam beat his chest, he and Eve, and they mourned the whole night until the crack of dawn, and they sighed over the length of the night in myazia. And Adam beat himself and threw himself on the ground in the cave from bitter grief and because of the darkness and lay there as dead. But Eve heard the sound he made in falling on the ground and she felt about for him with her hands and found him like a corpse. Then she was afraid, speechless, and remained by him. But the merciful Lord looked on the death of Adam and on Eve's silence from fear of the darkness. And the word of God came to Adam and raised him from his death and opened Eve's mouth that she might speak. Then Adam stood up in the cave and said, Oh God, why has light departed from us and darkness covered us? Why did you leave us in this long darkness? Why do you plague us like this? And this darkness, oh Lord, where was it before it covered us? It is because of this we cannot see each other. For so long as we were in the garden, we neither saw nor even knew what darkness is. I was not hidden from Eve, neither was she hidden from me until now that she cannot see me. And no darkness came over us to separate us from each other. But she and I were both in one bright light. I saw her and she saw me. Yet now, since we came into this cave, darkness has covered us and separated us from each other so that I do not see her and she does not see me. Oh Lord, will you then plague us with this darkness? Chapter 13 The Fall of Adam Why Night and Day Were Created Then when God, who is merciful and full of pity, heard Adam's voice, he said to him, Oh Adam, so long as the good angel was obedient to me, a bright light rested on him and on his hosts. But when he transgressed my commandment, I deprived him of that bright nature and he became dark. And when he was in the heavens, in the realms of light, there was darkness. But he transgressed and I made him fall from the heaven onto the earth and it was this darkness that came over him. And on you, oh Adam, while in my garden and obedient to me, did that bright light rest also. But when I heard of your transgression, I deprived you of that bright light. Yet, of my mercy, I did not turn you into darkness, but I made you your body of flesh over which I spread this skin in order that it may bear cold and heat. If I had let my wrath fall heavily on you, I should have destroyed you. And had I turned you into darkness, it would have been as if I had killed you. But in my mercy, I have made you as you are. When you transgressed my commandment, oh Adam, I drove you from the garden and made you come forth into this land and commanded you to live in this cave and darkness covered you as it did over him who transgressed my commandment. Thus, oh Adam, has this night deceived you. It is not to last forever, but is only of twelve hours. When it is over, daylight will return. Sigh not, therefore, neither be moved, and say not in your heart that this darkness is long and drags on wearily, and say not in your heart that I plague you with it. Strengthen your heart and be not afraid. This darkness is not a punishment. But, oh Adam, I have made the day and have placed the sun in it to give light in order that you and your children should do your work. For I knew you would sin and transgress and come out into this land. Yet I wouldn't force you, nor be heard over you, nor shut up, nor doom you through your fall, nor through your coming out from light into darkness, nor yet through your coming from the garden into this land. For I made you of the light, and I willed to bring out children of light from you and light to you. But you did not keep my commandment one day, until I had finished the creation and blessed everything in it. Then, concerning the tree, I commanded you not to eat of it. Yet I knew that Satan, who deceived himself, would also deceive you. So I made known to you by means of the tree, not to come near him. And I told you not to eat thereof, nor to taste of it, nor yet to sit under it, nor to yield to it. Had I not been and spoken to you, O Adam, concerning the tree, and had I left you without a commandment and you had sinned, it would have been an offense on my part for not having given you any order. You would turn around and blame me for it. But I commanded you and warned you and you fell, so that my creatures cannot blame me, but the blame rests on them alone. And, O Adam, I have made the day so that you and your descendants can work and toil in it. And I have made the night for them to rest in it from their work, and for the beasts of the field to go forth by night and look for their food. But little of darkness now remains, O Adam, and daylight will soon appear. Chapter 14 The earliest prophecy of the coming of Christ. O Lord, take you my soul and let me not see this gloom anymore, or remove me to some place where there is no darkness. But God the Lord said to Adam, Indeed I say to you, this darkness will pass from you, every day I have determined for you, until the fulfillment of my covenant. When I will save you and bring you back again into the garden, into the house of light you long for, in which there is no darkness. Footnote Reference John 12 verse 46 and footnote I will bring you to it in the kingdom of heaven. Again said God to Adam, all this misery that you have been made to take on yourself because of your transgression will not free you from the hand of Satan and will not save you. But I will, when I shall come down from heaven and shall become flesh of your descendants and take on myself the infirmity from which you suffer. Then the darkness that covered you in this cave shall cover me in the grave when I am in the flesh of your descendants. And I, who am without years, shall be subject to the reckoning of years, of times, of months, and of days, and I shall be reckoned as one of the sons of men in order to save you. And God sees to commune with Adam. Chapter 15 Adam and Eve grieve over the suffering of God to save them from their sins. Then Adam and Eve cried and sorrowed by reason of God's word to them that they should not return to the garden until the fulfillment of the days decreed on them, but mostly because God had told them that he should suffer for their salvation. Chapter 16 The First Sunrise Adam and Eve think it is a fire coming to burn them. After this Adam and Eve continue to stand in the cave, praying and crying until the morning dawned on them. And when they saw the light return to them, they retrained from fear and strengthened their hearts. Then Adam began to come out of the cave and when he came to the mouth of it and stood and turned his face towards the east and saw the sunrise and glowing rays and felt the heat thereof on his body he was afraid of it and thought in his heart that this flame came forth to plague him. He then cried and beat his chest then he fell on the ground on his face and made his request saying, Oh Lord, plague me not, neither consume me, nor yet take away my life from the earth for he thought the sun was God. Because while he was in the garden and heard the voice of God and the sound he made in the garden and feared him, Adam never saw the brilliant light of the sun yet its flaming heat touched his body. Therefore he was afraid of the sun when flaming rays of it reached him. He thought God meant to plague him therewith all the days he had decreed for him. For Adam also said in his thoughts as God did not plague us with darkness, behold, he has caused the sun to rise and to plague us with burning heat. But while he was thinking like this in his heart the word of God came to him and said, Oh Adam, get up on your feet. This sun is not God, but it has been created to give light by day, of which I spoke to you in the cave saying that the dawn would come and there would be light by day. But I am God who comforted you in the night. And God ceased to commune with Adam. Chapter 17 The Chapter of the Serpent Then Adam and Eve came out at the mouth of the cave and went towards the garden. But as they went near it before the western gate, from which Satan came when he deceived Adam and Eve, they found the serpent that became Satan coming at the gate and sorrowfully licking the dust and wiggling on its breast on the ground by reason of the curse that fell on it from God. And whereas before the serpent was the most exalted of all beasts, now it was changed and become slippery and the meanest of them all. And it crapped on its breast and went on its belly. And whereas it was the fairest of all beasts, it had been changed and was become the ugliest of them all. Instead of feeding on the best food, now it turned to eat the dust. Instead of living as before in the best places, now it lived in the dust. And whereas it had been the most beautiful of all beasts, all of which stood dumb in its beauty, it was now a board of them. And again, whereas it lived in one beautiful home, to which all other animals came from elsewhere and where it drank, they drank also of the same. Now after it had become venomous by reason of God's curse, all beasts fled from its home and would not drink of the water it drank but fled from it. Chapter 18 The Mortal Combat with the Serpent When the accursed serpent saw Adam and Eve, it swelled its head and stood on its tail and with eyes blood red, acted like it would kill them. It made straight for Eve and ran after her. While Adam standing by, cried because he had no stick in his hand with which to hit the serpent and did not know how to put it to death. But with a heart burning for Eve, Adam approached the serpent and held it by the tail. When it turned towards him and said to him, Oh, Adam, because of you and of Eve, I am slippery and go on my belly. Then with its great strength it threw down Adam and Eve and squeezed them and tried to kill them. But God sent an angel who threw the serpent away from them and raised them up. Then the word of God came to the serpent and said to it, The first time I made you slick and made you go on your belly, but I did not deprive you of speech. This time, however, you will be mute and you and your race will speak no more because the first time my creatures were ruined because of you and this time, you tried to kill them. Then the serpent was struck mute and was no longer able to speak. And a wind blew down from heaven by the command of God and carried away the serpent from Adam and Eve and threw it on the seashore where it landed in India. Chapter 19 Beasts made subject to Adam. But Adam and Eve cried before God and Adam said to him, Oh Lord, when I was in the cave I said to you, My Lord, the beasts of the field would rise and devour me and cut off my life from the earth. Then Adam, because of what had happened to him, beat his chest and fell on the ground like a corpse. Then the word of God came to him who raised him and said to him, Oh Adam, not one of these beasts will be able to hurt you because I have made the beasts and other moving things come to you in the cave. I did not let the serpent come with them because it might have risen against you and made you tremble and the fear of it should fall into your hearts. For I knew that the accursed one is wicked. Therefore I would not let it come near you with the other beasts. But now strengthen your heart and fear not. I am with you to the end of the days I have determined on you. Chapter 20 Adam wishes to protect Eve. Then Adam cried and said, Oh God take us away to some other place where the serpent cannot come near us again and rise against us. For fear that it might find your hand made Eve alone and kill her for its eyes are hideous and evil. But God said to Adam and Eve, From now on don't be afraid. I will not let it come near you. I have driven it away from you from this mountain. Neither will I leave in it the ability to hurt you. Then Adam and Eve worshiped before God and gave him thanks and praised him for having delivered them from death. End of chapters 11 through 20. Chapters 21 through 30 of the first book of Adam and Eve. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. The first book of Adam and Eve, translated by Rutherford Hayes Platt. Chapters 21 through 30. Chapter 21 Adam and Eve Attempt Suicide Then Adam and Eve went in search of the garden and the heat beat like a flame on their faces and they sweated from the heat and cried before the Lord. But the place where they cried was close to a high mountain facing the western gate of the garden. Then Adam threw himself down from the top of that mountain. His face was torn and his flesh was ripped. He lost a lot of blood and was close to death. Meanwhile Eve remained standing on the mountain crying over him thus lying and she said, I don't wish to live after him for all that he did to himself was through me. Then she threw herself after him and was torn and ripped by stones and remained lying as dead. But the merciful God, who looks over his creatures, looked at Adam and Eve as they lay dead and he sent his word to them and raised them and said to Adam, O Adam, all this misery which you have brought on yourself will have no effect against my rule neither will it alter the covenant of 5,500 years. Chapter 22 Adam in a gracious mood Then Adam said to God, I try up in the heat I am faint from walking and I don't want to be in this world and I don't know when you will take me out of it to rest. Then the Lord God said to him, O Adam, it cannot be now not until you have ended your days then I shall bring you out of this miserable land. And Adam said to God, While I was in the garden I knew neither heat nor langer, moving about nor trembling, nor fear, but now since I came to this land all this affliction has come over me. Then God said to Adam, so long as you were keeping my commandment my light and my grace rested on you, but when you transgressed my commandment sorrow and misery came to you in this land. And Adam cried and said, O Lord do not cut me off from this neither punish me with heavy plagues nor yet repay me according to my sin, for we of our own will transgressed your commandment and ignored your law and tried to become gods like you when Satan the enemy deceived us. Then God again said to Adam, because you have endured fear and trembling in this land, langer and suffering, treading and walking about, going on this mountain and dying from it. I will take all this on myself in order to save you. Chapter 23 Adam and Eve strengthened themselves to make the first altar ever built. Then Adam cried more and said, O God have mercy on me so far as to take on yourself that which I will do. But God withdrew his word from Adam and Eve. Then Adam and Eve stood on their feet and Adam said to Eve, strengthen yourself and I also will strengthen myself and she strengthened herself as Adam told her. Then Adam and Eve took stones and placed them in the shape of an altar and they took leaves from the trees outside the garden with which they wiped from the face of the rock the blood they had spilled. But that which had dropped on the sand they took together with the dust with which it was mingled and offered it on the altar as an offering to God. Then Adam and Eve stood under the altar and cried thus praying to God forgive us our trespass and our sin. Footnote. Original of the Lord's prayer said to be used about 150 years before our Lord. Our Father who art in heaven be gracious unto us. O Lord our God hallowed be your name and let the remembrance of thee be glorified heaven above and upon earth here below. Let your kingdom reign over us now and forever. The holy men of old said and forgive unto all men whatsoever they have done unto me and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil thing for thine is the kingdom and thou shalt reign in glory forever and forever more. Amen. Footnote. Look at us with thine eye of mercy for when we were in the garden our praises and our hymns went up before you without ceasing but when we came into this strange land pure praise was no longer ours nor righteous prayer nor understanding hearts nor sweet thoughts nor just counsels nor long discernment nor upright feelings neither is our bright nature left us but our body is changed from the likeness in which it was at first when we were created yet now look at our blood which is offered on these stones and accepted at our hands like the praise we used to sing to you at first and Adam began to make more requests of God Chapter 24 a vivid prophecy of the life and death of Christ then the merciful God good and lover of men looked at Adam and Eve and at their blood which they had held up as an offering to him without an order from him for doing so but he wondered at them and accepted their offerings and God sent from his presence to him their offering he smelled the sweet savor of their offering and showed them mercy then came the word of God to Adam and said to him oh Adam as you have shed your blood so will I shed my own blood when I become flesh of your descendants and as you died oh Adam so also will I die and as you built an altar so also will I make for you an altar of the earth and as you offered your blood on it I offer my blood on an altar on the earth and as you sued for forgiveness through that blood so also will I make my blood forgiveness of sins and erase transgressions in it and now behold I have accepted your offering oh Adam but the days of the covenant in which I have bound you are not fulfilled when they are fulfilled then will I bring you back into the garden now therefore strengthen your heart and as Adam's over you make me an offering and I will be favorable to you Chapter 25 God represented as merciful and loving the establishment of worship but God knew that Adam believed he should frequently kill himself and make an offering to him of his blood therefore he said to him oh Adam don't ever kill yourself like this again by throwing yourself down from that mountain but Adam said to God I was thinking to put an end to myself at once for having transgressed your commandments and for my having come out of the beautiful garden and for the bright light of which you have deprived me and for the praises which poured forth from my mouth without ceasing and for the light that covered me yet of your goodness oh God do not get rid of me altogether but be favorable to me every time I die and bring me to life and thereby it will be made known that you are a merciful God who does not want anyone to perish who loves that not one should fall and who does not condemn anyone cruelly, badly and by whole destruction then Adam remained silent and the word of God came to him and blessed him and comforted him and covenanted with him that he would save him at the end of the days determined for him this then was the first offering Adam made to God and so it became custom to do chapter 26 a beautiful prophecy of eternal life and joy verse 15 the fall of night then Adam took Eve and they began to return to the cave of treasures where they lived but when they got closer to it and saw it from a distance heavy sorrow fell on Adam and Eve when they looked at it then Adam said to Eve when we were on the mountain we were comforted by the word of God that conversed with us and the light that came from the east shone over us but now the word of God is hidden from us and the light that shone over us is so changed as to disappear and let darkness and sorrow come over us and we are forced to enter this cave which is like a prison in which darkness covers us so that we are separated from each other and you cannot see me neither can I see you when Adam had said these words they cried and spread their hands before God for they were full of sorrow and they prayed to God to bring the sun to them to shine on them so that darkness would not return to them and that they wouldn't have to go under this covering of rock and they wished to die rather than to see the darkness then God looked at Adam and Eve and at their great sorrow and at all they had done with a fervent heart on account of all the trouble they were in instead of their former well-being and on account of all the misery that came over them in a strange land therefore God was not angry with them nor impatient with them but he was patient and forbearing towards them as towards the children he had created then came the word of God to Adam and said to him Adam as for the sun if I were to take it and bring it to you days, hours, years and months would all stop and the covenant I have made with you would never be fulfilled deserted and struck in a perpetual plague and you would never be saved yes, rather, bear long and calm your soul while you live night and day until the fulfillment of the days and the time of my covenant is come then I shall come and save you, O Adam for I do not wish that you be afflicted and when I look at all the good things in which you lived and why you came out of them then would I willingly show you mercy but I cannot alter the covenant that has gone out of my mouth otherwise I would have brought you back into the garden when, however, the covenant is fulfilled then I shall show you and your descendants mercy and bring you into a land of gladness where there is neither sorrow nor suffering but abiding joy and gladness and light that never fails and praises that never cease and a beautiful garden that shall never pass away and God said again to Adam be patient and enter the cave for the darkness of which you were afraid shall only be twelve hours long and when ended light shall come up then when Adam heard these words from God he and Eve worshiped before him and their hearts were comforted they returned into the cave after their custom while tears flowed from their eyes sorrow and wailing came from their hearts and they wished their soul would leave their body and Adam and Eve stood praying until the darkness of night came over them and Adam was hid from Eve and she from him and they remained standing in prayer Chapter 27 the second tempting of Adam and Eve the devil takes on the form of a beguiling light when Satan the hater of all good saw how they continued in prayer and how God communed with them and comforted them and accepted their offering Satan made an apparition he began with transforming his host in his hands was a flashing fire and they were in a great light he then places thrown near the mouth of the cave because he could not enter into it by reason of their prayers and he shed light into the cave until the cave glistened over Adam and Eve while his host began to sing praises and Satan did this in order that when Adam saw the light he should think of himself that it was a heavenly light and that Satan's hosts were angels and that God had sent them to watch at the cave and to give him light in the darkness so that when Adam came out of the cave and saw them and Adam and Eve bowed to Satan then he would overcome Adam thereby and a second time humble him before God when therefore Adam and Eve saw the light fancying it was real they strengthened their hearts yet as they were trembling Adam said to Eve look at that great light and at all those many songs of praise and at that host standing outside who won't come into our cave why don't they tell us what they want where they are from what the meaning of this light is what those praises are why they have been sent to this place and why they won't come in if they were from God they would come into the cave with us and would tell us why they were sent then Adam stood up and prayed to God with a burning heart and said oh Lord is there in the world another God besides you who created angels and filled them with light and sent them to keep us who would come with them but look, we see these hosts that stand at the mouth of the cave they are in a great light they sing loud praises if they are of some other God than you tell me and if they are sent by you what is the reason for which you have sent them no sooner had Adam said this than an angel from God appeared to him in the cave who said to Adam oh Adam, fear not this is Satan and his hosts he wishes to deceive you as he deceived you at first for the first time he was hidden in the serpent but this time he has come to you in the likeness of an angel of light in order that when you worshiped him then the angel went from Adam and sees Satan at the opening of the cave and stripped him of all the pretense he had assumed and brought him in his own hideous form to Adam and Eve who were afraid of him when they saw him and the angel said to Adam this hideous form has been his ever since God made him fall from heaven he could not have come near you in it he therefore transformed himself into an angel of light then the angel drove away Satan and his hosts from Adam and Eve and said to them fear not God who created you will strengthen you and the angel left them but Adam and Eve remained standing in the cave no consolation came to them they divided in their thoughts and when it was morning they prayed and then went out to seek the garden further hearts were towards it and they could get no consolation for having left it Chapter 28 Adam pretends to lead Adam and Eve to the water to bathe but when the crafty Satan saw them that they were going to the garden he gathered together his hosts and came in appearance on a cloud intent on deceiving them but when Adam and Eve saw him thus in a vision they thought they were angels of God come to comfort them about having left the garden or to bring them back again into it and Adam spread his hands before God beseaching him to make him understand then Satan the hater of all good said to Adam oh Adam I am an angel of the great God and behold the hosts that surround me God has sent us to take you and bring you to the border of the garden northwards to the shore of the clear sea and bathe you and Eve in it and raise you to your former gladness that you return to the garden again these words sank into the heart of Adam and Eve yet God withheld his word from Adam and did not make him understand at once but waited to see his strength whether he would be overcome as Eve was when in the garden or whether he would prevail then Satan called to Adam and Eve and said behold we go to the sea of water and they began to go and Adam and Eve followed them at some little distance but when they came to the mountain to the north of the garden a very high mountain without any steps to the top of it the devil drew near to Adam and Eve and made them go up to the top in reality and not in a vision wishing as he did to throw them down and kill them and to wipe off their name from the earth so that this earth would remain to him and his hosts alone chapter 29 God tells Adam of the devil's purpose verse 4 but when the merciful God saw that Satan wished to kill Adam with his many tricks and saw that Adam was weak and without guile God spoke to Satan and allowed voice and cursed him then he and his hosts fled and Adam and Eve remained standing on the top of the mountain from there they saw below them the wide world high above which they were but they saw none of the hosts which time after time were by them they cried both Adam and Eve before God and begged for forgiveness of him then came the word from God to Adam and said to him so you and understand concerning this Satan that he seeks to deceive you and your descendants after you and Adam cried before the Lord God and begged and prayed to him to give him something from the garden as a token to him wherein to be comforted and God considered Adam's thought and sent the angel Michael as far as the sea that reaches India to take from there golden rods and bring them to Adam this God did in his wisdom in order that these golden rods being with Adam in the cave should shine forth with light in the night around him and put an end to his fear of the darkness then the angel Michael went down by God's order took golden rods as God had commanded him and brought them to God Chapter 30 Adam receives the first worldly goods after these things God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the garden and to say to the cherub who kept it told God has commanded me to come into the garden and to take from it its sweet smelling incense and give it to Adam then the angel Gabriel went down by God's order to the garden and told the cherub as God had commanded him the cherub then said well and Gabriel went in and took the incense then God commanded his angel Raphael to go down to the garden and speak to the cherub about some myrrh to give to Adam Raphael went down and told the cherub as God had commanded him and the cherub said well then Raphael went in and took the myrrh the golden rods were from the Indian sea where there are precious stones the incense was from the eastern border of the garden and the myrrh from the western border from where bitterness came over Adam and the angels brought these things to God by the tree of life in the garden then God said to the angels dip them in water then take them and sprinkle their water over Adam and Eve that they will be a little comforted in their sorrow and give them to Adam and Eve and the angels did as God had commanded them and gave all those things to Adam and Eve on top of the mountain on which Satan had placed them when he sought to make an end of them and when Adam saw the golden rods the incense and the myrrh he was rejoiced and cried because he thought that the gold was a token of the kingdom from where he had come that the incense was a token of the bright light which had been taken from him and that the myrrh was a token of the sorrow in which he was end of chapter 21 through 30 chapters 31 through 40 of the first book of Adam and Eve this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anne Boulet the first book of Adam and Eve translated by Rutherford Hayes Platt chapters 31 through 40 chapter 31 they make themselves more comfortable in the cave of treasures on the third day after these things God said to Adam you asked me for something from the garden to be comforted therewith and I have given you these three tokens as a consolation to you that you trust in me and in my covenant with you for I will come and save you and King shall bring me when in the flesh gold, incense and myrrh gold as a token of my kingdom incense as a token of my divinity and myrrh as a token of my suffering and of my death but, oh Adam put these by you in the cave the gold that it may shed light over you by night the incense that you smell at sweet savor the myrrh to comfort you in your sorrow when Adam heard these words from God he worshiped before him he and Eve worshiped him and gave him thanks because he had dealt mercifully with them then God commanded the three angels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael each to bring what he had brought and give it to Adam and they did so one by one and God commanded Surreal and Salah Thiel to bear up Adam and Eve and come down from the top of the high mountain and to take them to the cave of treasures there they laid the gold on the south side of the cave the incense on the eastern side and the myrrh on the western side for the mouth of the cave was on the north side the angels then comforted Adam and Eve and departed the gold was 70 rods footnote, a rod is a unit of linear measure equivalent to 5.5 yards and also a unit of area measure equivalent to 30.25 square yards in this case the word rod simply means a kind of long thin piece of gold of unspecified size and weight and footnote the incense 12 pounds and the myrrh 3 pounds these remain by Adam in the cave of treasures footnote, this is the original text which appears to contain embedded editorial content these remain by Adam in the house of treasures therefore it was called of concealment but other interpreters say it was called the cave of treasures by reason of the bodies of righteous men that were in it and footnote God gave these three things to Adam on the third day after he had come out of the garden in token of the three days the Lord should remain in the heart of the earth and these three things as they continued with Adam in the cave gave him light by night and by day they gave him a little relief from his sorrow chapter 32 Adam and Eve go into the water to pray and Adam and Eve remained in the cave of treasures until the seventh day they neither ate of the fruit of the earth nor drank water and when it dawned on the eighth day Adam said to Eve oh Eve we prayed God to give us something from the garden and he sent his angels who brought us what we had desired sit up let us go to the sea of water we saw it first and let us stand in it praying that God will again be favorable to us and take us back to the garden or give us something or that he will give us comfort in some other land than this in which we are then Adam and Eve came out of the cave went and stood on the border of the sea in which they had before thrown themselves and Adam said to Eve come go down into this place and be sought out of it until the end of 30 days when I shall come to you and pray to God with burning heart in a sweet voice to forgive us and I will go to another place and go down into it and do like you then Eve went down into the water as Adam had commanded her Adam also went down into the water and they stood praying and be sought the Lord to forgive them their offence and to restore them to their former state and they stood like that praying until the end of 35 days Chapter 33 Satan falsely promises the bright light but Satan, the hater of all good sought them in the cave but found them not although he searched diligently for them but he found them standing in the water praying and thought within himself Adam and Eve are standing like that in that water praying to God to forgive them their transgression and to restore them to their former state and make them from under my hand but I will deceive them so that they shall come out of the water and not fulfill their vow then the hater of all good went not to Adam but went to Eve and took the form of an angel of God praising and rejoicing and said to her peace be to you be glad and rejoice God is favorable to you and he sent me to Adam I have brought him the glad tidings of salvation and of his being filled with bright light as he was at first and Adam in his joy for his restoration has sent me to you that you come to me in order that I crown you with light like him and he said to me speak to Eve if she does not come with you tell her of the sign when we were on top of the mountain how God sent his angels who took us and brought us to the cave of treasures and laid the gold on the southern side the incense on the eastern side and myrrh on the western side now come to him when Eve heard these words from him she rejoiced greatly and thinking Satan's appearance was real she came out of the sea he went before and she followed him until they came to Adam then Satan hid himself from her and she saw him no more she then came and stood before Adam who was standing by the water and as she called to him he turned around found her there and cried when he saw her and beat his chest and from the bitterness of his grief he sank into the water but God looked at him and at his misery and at his being about to breathe his last and the word of God came from heaven raised him out of the water and said to him go up the high bank to Eve and when he came up to Eve he said to her to come here then she told him the discourse of the angel who had appeared to her and had given her a sign but Adam grieved and gave her to know it was Satan he then took her and they both returned to the cave these things happened to them the second time they went down to the water seven days after they're coming out of the garden they fasted in the water 35 days altogether 42 days since they had left the garden chapter 34 Adam recalls the creation of Eve he eloquently appeals for food and drink and on the morning of the 43rd day they came out of the cave sorrowful and crying their bodies were lean and they were parts from hunger and thirst from fasting and praying and from their heavy sorrow on account of their transgression and when they had come out of the cave they went up the mountain to the west of the garden there they stood and prayed and be sought God to grant them forgiveness of their sins and after their prayers Adam began to beg God saying oh my lord, my God and my creator you commanded the four elements to be gathered together and they were gathered together by thine order footnotes the medieval belief that there were only four elements fire, earth, air and water was widely accepted until about 1500 AD the current atomic theory was in its infancy and footnote then you spread your hand and created me out of one element that of dust of the earth and you brought me into the garden at the third hour on a Friday and informed me of it in the cave then at first I knew neither night nor day for I had a bright nature neither did the light in which I lived ever leave me to know night or day then oh Lord in that third hour in which you created me you brought to me all beasts and lions and ostriches and fowls of the air and all things that move in the earth which you had created at the first hour before me of the Friday and your will was that I should name them all one by one with a suitable name but you gave me understanding and knowledge and a pure heart and a right mind from you that I should name them after thine own regarding the naming of them oh God you made them obedient to me and ordered that not one of them break from my sway according to your commandment and to the dominion which you had given me over them but now they are all estranged from me then it was in that third hour of Friday in which you created me and commanded me concerning the tree to which I was neither to go near nor to eat thereof for you said to me in the garden when you eat of it of death you shall die and if you had punished me as you said with death I should have died that very moment moreover when you commanded me regarding the tree I was neither to approach nor to eat thereof Eve was not with me you had not yet created her neither had you yet taken her out of my side nor had she yet heard this order from you then at the end of the third hour oh Lord you caused a slumber and a sleep to come over me and I slept and was overwhelmed in sleep then you drew a rib out of my side and created it after my own likeness and image then I awoke and when I saw her and knew who she was I said this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh from now on she shall be called woman it was of your good will oh God that you brought a slumber in a sleep over me and that you immediately brought Eve out of my side until she was out so that I did not see how she was made neither could I witness oh Lord how awful and great are your goodness and glory and of your good will oh Lord you made us both with bodies of a bright nature and you made us too one and you gave us your grace and filled us with praises of the Holy Spirit that we shouldn't be neither hungry nor thirsty nor know what sorrow is nor yet faintness of heart neither suffering fasting nor weariness but now oh God since we transgress your commandment and broke your law you have brought us out into a strange land and have caused suffering and faintness hunger and thirst to come over us now therefore oh God we pray you give us something to eat from the garden to satisfy our hunger with it and something to quench our thirst for behold many days oh God we have tasted nothing and drunk nothing and our flesh is dried up and our strength is wasted and sleep is gone from our eyes from faintness and crying then oh God we dare not gather anything from the fruit of the trees from fear of you for when we transgressed at first you spared us and did not make us die but now we thought in our hearts if we eat of the fruit of the trees without God's order he will destroy us this time and will wipe us off the face of the earth and if we drink of this water without God's order he will make an end of us and root us up at once now therefore oh God that I am come to this place with Eve we beg you to give us some fruit from the garden that we may be satisfied with it for we desire the fruit that is on the earth and all else but we lack in it chapter 35 God's reply then God looked again at Adam and his crying and groaning and the word of God came to him and said to him oh Adam when you were in my garden you knew neither eating nor drinking neither faintness nor suffering neither leanness of flesh nor change neither did sleep depart from thine eyes but since you transgressed and came into this strange land all these trials are come over you chapter 36 figs then God commanded the cherub who kept the gate of the garden with a sword of fire in his hand to take some of the fruit of the fig tree and to give it to Adam the cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God and went into the garden and brought two figs on two twigs each fig hanging on its leaf they were from two of the trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves when they went to walk in the garden and the word of God came to Adam and Eve and said to them Adam where are you and Adam answered oh God here I am when I heard the sound of you and your voice I hid myself because I am naked then the cherub took two figs and brought them to Adam and Eve but he threw them to them from a distance for they might not come near the cherub by reason of their flesh that could appear. At first angels trembled at the presence of Adam and were afraid of him but now Adam trembled before the angels and was afraid of them then Adam came closer and took one fig and Eve also came in turn and took the other and as they took them up in their hands they looked at them and knew they were from the trees among which they had hidden themselves. Chapter 37 43 days of penance do not redeem the sufferer of sin verse 6 then Adam said to Eve do you not see these figs in their leaves with which we covered ourselves when we were stripped of our bright nature but now we do not know what misery and suffering may come over us from eating them. Now therefore oh Eve let us restrain ourselves and not eat of them you and I and let us ask God to give us of the fruit of the tree of life saying thus but Adam began to pray to God and to beseech him to give him of the fruit of the tree of life saying thus oh God when we transgressed your commandment at the six hour of Friday we were stripped of the bright nature we had and did not continue in the garden after our transgression more than three hours but in the evening you made us come out of it oh God we transgressed against you one hour and all these trials and sorrows have come over us until this day and those days together with this the forty-third day do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed oh God look at us with an eye of pity and do not avenge us according to our transgression of your commandment in your presence oh God give us of the fruit of the tree of life that we may eat of it and live and turn not to see sufferings and other trouble in this earth for you our God when we transgressed your commandment you made us come out of the garden and sent a cherub to keep the tree of life lest we should eat thereof and live and know nothing of faintness after we transgressed but now oh Lord behold we have endured all these days and have borne sufferings make these forty-three days in equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed the forty-eight when five thousand five hundred years are fulfilled after these things the word of God came to Adam and said to him oh Adam as to the fruit of the tree of life that you asked for I will not give it to you now but only when the five thousand five hundred years are fulfilled at that time I will give you fruit from the tree of life and you will eat and live forever you and Eve and your friends but these forty-three days cannot make amends for the hour in which you transgressed my commandment oh Adam I gave you the fruit of the fig tree to eat in which you hid yourself go and eat of it you and Eve I will not deny your request neither will I disappoint your hope therefore endure until the fulfillment of the covenant I made with you and God withdrew his word from Adam Chapter 39 Adam is cautious but too late then Adam returned to Eve and said to her get up and take a fig for yourself and I will take another and let us go to our cave then Adam and Eve took each a fig and went towards the cave the time was about the setting of the sun and their thoughts made them long to eat of the fruit but Adam said to Eve I am afraid to eat of this fig over me from it so Adam cried and stood praying before God saying satisfy my hunger without my having to eat this fig for after I have eaten it what will it profit me and what shall I desire and ask of you oh God when it is gone and he said again I am afraid to eat of it for I know not what will be fall me through it Chapter 40 then the word of God came to Adam and said to him oh Adam why didn't you have this dread or this fasting or this care before now and why didn't you have this fear before you transgressed but when you came to live in this strange land your animal body could not survive on earth without earthly food to strengthen it and to restore its powers and God withdrew his word from Adam End of Chapters 31 through 40 Chapters 41 through 50 of the first book of Adam and Eve this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anne Boulet the first book of Adam and Eve translated by Rutherford Hayes Platt Chapters 41 through 50 Chapter 41 the first human thirst then Adam took the fig and laid it on the golden rods Eve also took her fig and put it on the incense and the weight of each fig was that of a watermelon for the fruit of the garden was much larger than the fruit of this land footnote this is substantiated by Genesis 3 verse 7 whereby the leaves of the fig tree were large enough that Adam and Eve could have fashioned garments from them end footnote but Adam and Eve remained standing and fasting the whole of that night until the morning dawned when the sun rose they were still praying but after they had finished praying Adam said to Eve oh Eve come let us go to the border of the garden looking south to the place from where the river flows and is parted into four heads there we will pray to God and ask him to give us some of the water of life to drink for God has not fed us with the tree of life in order that we may not live therefore we will ask him to give us some of the water of life and to quench our thirst with it rather than with a drink of water of this land when Eve heard these words from Adam she agreed and they both got up and came to the southern border of the garden at the edge of the river of water a short distance from the garden and they stood and prayed before the Lord and asked him to look at them this once to forgive them and to grant them their request after this prayer from both of them Adam began to pray with his voice before God and said oh Lord when I was in the garden and saw the water that flowed from under the tree of life my heart did not desire neither did my body require to drink of it neither did I know thirst for I was living and above that which I am now to live I did not require any food of life neither did I drink of the water of life but now oh God I am dead my flesh is parched with thirst give me of the water of life that I may drink of it and live of your mercy oh God save me from these plagues and trials and bring me into another land different from this if you will not let me live in your garden Chapter 42 a promise of the water of life the third prophecy of the coming of Christ then came the word of God to Adam and said to him as to what you said bring me into a land where there is rest it is not another land than this but it is the kingdom of heaven where alone there is rest but you cannot make your entrance into it at present but only after your judgment is passed and fulfilled then will I make you go up into the kingdom of heaven you and your righteous descendants and I will give you and them the rest you asked for at present and if you said give me of the water of life that I may drink and live it cannot be this day but on the day that I shall descend into hell and break the gates of brass and bruise and pieces the kingdoms of iron then will I in mercy save your soul of the righteous to give them rest in my garden and that shall be when the end of the world is come and again in regards to the water of life you seek it will not be granted to you this day but on the day that I shall shed my blood on your head footnote this phrase indicates that the bleeding will take place in an elevated position above the populace this is believed to be a reference to the cross like Christ's blood profusely above the people below and footnote in the land of Golgotha footnote Golgotha was the hill outside the walls of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified its exact location is not precisely known but the church of the holy sepulchre is believed to have been constructed on this hill and footnote for my blood shall be the water of life to you at that time not to just you alone but to all your descendants who shall believe in me footnote reference John 6 verse 25 and 7 verse 38 and footnote that it be to them for rest forever and the Lord said again to Adam oh Adam when you were in the garden these trials did not come to you but since you transgress my commandment all these sufferings have come over you now also does your flesh require food and drink drink then of that water that flows by you on the face of the earth then God withdrew his word from Adam and Adam and Eve worshiped the Lord and returned from the river of water to the cave it was noonday and when they drew near to the cave they saw a large fire by it chapter 43 the devil attempts arson then Adam and Eve were afraid and stood still and Adam said to Eve what is that fire by our cave we have done nothing in it to cause this fire we neither have bread to bake there in nor broth to cook there as to this fire we have never known anything like it neither do we know what to call it but ever since God sent the cherub with a sword of fire that flashed and lightened in his hand from fear of which we fell down and were like corpses have we not seen the like but now oh Eve behold this is the same fire that was in the cherub's hand which God has sent to keep the cave in which we live oh Eve it is because God is angry with us and will drive us from it oh Eve we have again transgressed his commandment in that cave so that he had sent this fire to burn around it and to prevent us from going into it if this be really so oh Eve where shall we live and where shall we flee from before the face of the Lord since in regards to the garden he will not let us live in it and he has deprived us of the good things thereof but he has placed us in this cave in which we have born darkness trials and hardships until at last we have found comfort therein but now that he has brought us out into another land who knows what may happen in it who knows but that the darkness of that land may be far greater than the darkness of this land who knows what may happen in that land by day or by night and who knows whether it will be far or near oh Eve where it will please God to put us maybe far from the garden oh Eve or where God will prevent us from beholding him because we have transgressed his commandment and because we have made requests of him at all times oh Eve if God will bring us into a strange land other than this in which we find consolation it must be to put our souls to death and blot out our name from the face of the earth oh Eve if we are further alienated from the garden and from God where shall we find him again and ask him to give us gold incense, myrrh and some fruit of the fig tree where shall we find him to comfort us a second time where shall we find him that he may think of us as regards the covenant he has made on our behalf then Adam said no more and they kept looking he and Eve towards the cave and at the fire that flared up around it but that fire was from Satan for he had gathered trees and dry grasses and had carried and brought them to the cave and had set fire to them in order to consume the cave and what was in it so that Adam and Eve should be left sorrow and he should cut off their trust in God and make them deny him but by the mercy of God he could not burn the cave for God sent his angel around the cave to guard it from such a fire until it went out and this fire lasted from noon day until the break of day that was the 45th day chapter 44 the power of fire over man yet Adam and Eve were standing and looking at the fire they were able to come near the cave from their dread of the fire and Satan kept on bringing trees and throwing them into the fire until the flames of the fire rose up on high and covered the whole cave thinking as he did in his own mind to consume the cave with much fire but the angel of the Lord was guarding it and yet he could not curse Satan nor injure him by word because he had no authority over him neither did he take to doing so with words from his mouth therefore the angel tolerated him without saying one bad word until the word of God came who said to Satan go away from here once before you deceived my servants and this time you seek to destroy them were it not for my mercy I would have destroyed you and your host from off the earth but I have had patience with you until the end of the world then Satan fled from before the Lord but the fire went on burning on the cave like a coal fire the whole day which was the 46th day Adam and Eve had spent since they came out of the garden when Adam and Eve saw that the heat of the fire had somewhat cooled down they began to walk towards the cave to get into it as they usually did but they could not by reason of the heat of the fire then they both began crying because of the fire that separated them from the cave and that came towards them burning and they were afraid that Adam said to Eve see this fire of which we have a portion in us which formerly yielded to us but no longer does so now that we have transgressed the limit of creation and changed our condition and our nature is altered but the fire is not changed in its nature nor altered from its creation therefore it now has power over us and when we come near it it scorches our flesh Chapter 45 why Satan didn't fulfill his promises description of hell then Adam rose and prayed to God saying see this fire has separated us from the cave in which you have commanded us to live but now behold we cannot go into it then God heard Adam and sent his word that said oh Adam see this fire how different the flame and heat thereof are from the garden of delights and the good things in it when you were under my control all creatures yielded to you but after you have transgressed my commandment they all rise over you God said again to him see oh Adam how Satan has exalted you he has deprived you of the God head and of an exalted state like me and has not kept his word to you but has after all become your enemy he is the one who made this fire in which he meant you and Eve why oh Adam has he not kept his agreement with you not even one day but has deprived you of the glory that was on you when you yielded to his command do you think Adam that he loved you when he made this agreement with you or that he loved you and wished to raise you on high but no Adam he did not do all that out of love to you but he wished to make you come out of the light of darkness and from an exalted state to degradation from glory to abasement from joy to sorrow and from rest to fasting and fainting God also said to Adam see this fire kindled by Satan around your cave see this wonder that surrounds you and know that it will encompass about both you and your descendants when you obey his command that he will play you with fire and that you will go down into hell after you are dead then you will see the burning of his fire that will be burning around you and likewise your descendants you will not be delivered from it until my coming just like you cannot go into your cave right now because of the great fire around it not until my word comes and makes a way for you on the day my covenant is fulfilled there is no way for you at present to come from this life to rest not until my word comes that you is my word then he will make a way for you and you shall have rest then God called with his word to the fire that burned around the cave that it split itself in half until Adam had gone through it then the fire parted itself by God's order and a way was made for Adam footnote reference exodus 14 verse 21 22 and Joshua 3 verses 15 through 17 and footnote and God withdrew his word from Adam chapter 46 how many times have I delivered you out of his hand then Adam and Eve began again to come into the cave and when they came to the way between the fire Satan blew into the fire like a whirlwind and caused the burning coal fire to cover Adam and Eve so that their bodies were singed and the coal fire scorched them footnote at this time the garments that God had given them in Genesis 3 verse 21 were burned off so that Adam and Eve were again naked reference chapter 50 whereby Adam and Eve seek garments with which to cover their nakedness and footnote and from the burning of the fire Adam and Eve screamed and said oh Lord save us leave us not to be consumed and plagued by this burning fire neither require us for having transgressed the commandment then God looked at their bodies on which Satan had caused fire to burn and God sent his angel that stayed the burning fire but the wounds remained on their bodies and God said to Adam see Satan's love for you who pretended to give you the God head and greatness and behold he burns you with fire and seeks to destroy you from off the earth then look at me oh Adam have I delivered you out of his hand if not wouldn't he have destroyed you God said again to Eve what is that he promised you in the garden saying as soon as you eat from the tree your eyes will be opened and you shall become like God's knowing good and evil but look he has burned your bodies with fire and has made you taste the taste of fire for the taste of the garden and has made you see the burning of fire and the evil of it and the power it has over you your eyes have seen the good he has taken from you and in truth he has opened your eyes and you have seen the garden in which you were in with me and you have also seen the evil that has come over you from Satan but as to the God head he cannot give it to you neither fulfill his speech to you no he was bitter against you and your descendants will come after you and God withdrew his word from them chapter 47 the devil's own scheming then Adam and Eve came into the cave yet trembling at the fire that had scorched their bodies so Adam said to Eve look the fire has burnt our flesh in this world but how will it be when we are dead and Satan shall punish our souls is not our deliverance long and far off unless God come and in mercy to fulfill his promise then Adam and Eve passed into the cave blessing themselves for coming into it once more for it was in their thoughts that they never should enter it when they saw the fire around it but as the sun was setting the fire was still burning and nearing Adam and Eve in the cave so that they could not sleep in it after the sun had set they went out of it this was the 47th day when they came out of the garden Adam and Eve then came under the top of the hill by the garden to sleep as they were accustomed to do and they stood and prayed God to forgive them their sins and then fell asleep under the summit of the mountain but Satan the hater of all good thought within himself whereas God has promised salvation to Adam by covenant and that he would deliver him out of all the hardships that have promised me by covenant and will not deliver me out of my hardships no since he has promised him that he will make him and his descendants live in the kingdom in which I once was I will kill Adam the earth shall be rid of him and shall be left to me alone so that when he is dead he may not have any descendants left to inherit the kingdom that shall remain my own realm God will then be wanting me and he will restore it to me and my hosts chapter 48 fifth apparition of Satan to Adam and Eve after this Satan called to his hosts all of which came to him and said to him oh our lord what will we do? he then said to them you know that this Adam whom God created out of the dust is the one who has taken our kingdom come let us gather and kill him or hurl a rock at him and at Eve and crush them under it when Satan's hosts heard these words they came to the part of the mountain where Adam and Eve were asleep then Satan and his hosts took a huge rock broad and even and without a blemish thinking within himself if there should be a hole in the rock when it fell on them the hole in the rock might come over them and so they would escape and not die he then said to his hosts take up this rock and throw it flat on them so that it does not roll off them to somewhere else and when you have hurled it get away from there quickly and they did as he told them but as the rock fell down from the mountain toward Adam and Eve God commanded the rock to become a dome over them that did them no harm footnote the word dome is used here but the text does not specifically suggest that the covering was round only that it covered them on all sides however a dome is the most likely shape that would have been able to withstand the impact with the ground from verse 9 that says when they saw it and verse 11 that says shut us up in this prison we can conclude that the dome had holes in its size that were big enough to let in light and air but were too small to allow Adam and Eve to escape another conclusion would be that the holes were large but too high up for Adam and Eve to reach however the former is more likely end footnote and so it was by God's order but when the rock fell the whole earth quaked with it and was shaken from the size of the rock footnote in verse 7 of the next chapter 49 God tells Adam and Eve that the ground was also lowered under them I commanded the rock under you to lower itself end footnote and as it quaked and shook Adam and Eve woke from sleep and found themselves under a dome of rock but they didn't know what had happened because when they fell asleep they were under the sky and not under a dome and when they saw it they were afraid but Adam said to Eve wherefore has the mountain bent itself and the earth quaked and shaken on our account and why has this rock spread itself over us like a tent does God intend to plague us and to shut us up in this prison or will he close the earth over us he is angry with us for having come out of the cave without his order and for our having done so on our own accord without consulting him when we left the cave and came to this place then Eve said if indeed the earth quaked for our sake and this rock forms a tent over us because of our transgression then we will be sorry oh Adam because our punishment will be long but get up and pray to God to let us know concerning this and what this rock is that is spread over us like a tent then Adam stood up and prayed before the Lord to let him know what had brought about this difficult time and Adam stood praying like that until the morning chapter 49 the first prophecy of the resurrection then the word of God came and said oh Adam who counseled you when you came out of the cave to come to this place and Adam said to God oh Lord we came to this place because of the heat of the fire that came over us inside the cave then the Lord God said to Adam oh Adam you dread the heat of fire for one night but how will it be when you live in hell yet oh Adam and don't believe that I have placed this dome of rock over you to plague you with it it came from Satan who had promised you the Godhead and majesty it is he who threw down this rock to kill you under it and Eve with you and thus to prevent you from living on the earth but in mercy for you just as that rock was falling down on you I commanded it to form a dome over you and the rock under you to lower itself and this sign oh Adam will happen to me at my coming on earth Satan will raise the people of the Jews to put me to death and they will lay me in a rock and seal a large stone over me and I shall remain within that rock three days and three nights but on the third day I shall rise again and it shall be salvation to you oh Adam and to your descendants to believe in me but oh Adam I will not bring you from under this rock until three days and three nights have passed and God withdrew his word from Adam but Adam and Eve lived under the rock three days and three nights as God had told them and God did so to them because they had left their cave and had come to this same place without God's order but after three days and three nights God created an opening in the dome of rock and allowed them to get out from under it their flesh was dried up and their eyes and hearts were troubled with crying and sorrow Chapter 50 Adam and Eve seek to cover their nakedness then Adam and Eve went forth and came into the cave of treasures and they stood praying in it the whole of that day until the evening and this took place at the end of fifty days after they had left the garden but Adam and Eve rose again and prayed to God in the cave the whole of that night and begged for mercy from him and when the day dawned Adam said to Eve come let us go and do some work for our bodies so they went out of the cave and came to the northern border of the garden and they looked for something to cover their bodies with Footnote Chapter 46 verse 1 says Satan blew into the fire so that their bodies were singed at this time the garments that the Lord had given them in Genesis 3 verse 21 were burnt off so that Adam and Eve were naked again and Footnote but they found nothing and knew not how to do the work yet their bodies were stained and they were speechless from cold and heat then Adam stood and asked God to show him something with which to cover their bodies then came the word of God and said to him oh Adam take Eve and come to the seashore where you fasted before there you will find skins of sheep that were left after lions ate the carcasses take them and make garments for yourselves and clothe yourselves with them End of chapters 41 through 50