Book of Jasher — 1840 English Edition

Book of Jasher — 1840 English Edition 3

CHAPTER III. 1. And Enoch lived sixty-five years and he begat Methuselah ; and Enoch walked with God after having begot Methuselah, and he served the Lord, and despised the evil ways of men. 2. And the soul of Enoch was wrapped up in the instruction of the Lord, in knowledge and in under- standing ; and he wisely retired from the sons of men, and secreted him- self from them for many days. 3. And it was at the expiration of many years, whilst he was serving the Lord, and praying before him in his house, that an angel of the Lord called to him from Heaven, and he said, here am L 4. And he said, ris^, go forth from thy house and from the place where thou dost hide thyself, and appear to the sons of men, in order that thou may St teach them the way in which they should go, and the work which they must accomplish to enter in the ways of God. 5. And Enoch rose up according to the word of the Lord, and went forth from his house, from his place and from the chamber in which he was concealed ; and he went to the sons of men and taught them the ways of the Lord, and at that time assembled the sons of men and ac- quainted them with the instruction of the Lord. 6. And he ordered it to be pro- claimed in all places where the sons of men dwelt, saying, where is the man who wishes to know the ways of the Lord and good works ? let him come to Enoch. 7. And all the sons of men then assembled to him, for all who desired this thing went to Enoch, and Enoch reigned over the sons of men accor- ding to the word of the Lord, and they came and bowed to him and they heard his word. 8. And the spirit of God was upon Enoch, and he taught all his men the wisdom of God and his ways, and the sons of men served the Lord all the days of Enoch, and they came to hear his wisdom. 9. And all the kings of the sons of men, both first and last, together with their princes and judges, came to Enoch when they heard of his wisdom, and they bowed down to him, and they also required of Enoch to reign over them, to which he con- sented. 10. And they assembled in all, one hundred and thirty kings and princes, and they made Enoch king over THE BOOK OF JAS'HER '>7 them, and they were all under his power and command. 11. And Enoch taught them wis- dom, knowledge, and the ways of the Lord ; and lie made peace amongst them, and peace was throughout the earth during the life of Enoch. 12. And Enoch reigned over the sons of men two hundred and forty- three years, and he did justice and righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord. 13. And these are the generations of Enoch ; Methuselah, Elisha, and Elimelech, three sons ; and their sis- ters loere Melca and Nahmah, and Methuselah lived eighty-seven years and he begat Lamech. 14. And it was in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Lamech when Adam died ; nine hundred and thirty years old was he at his death, and his two sons, with Enoch and Me- thuselah his son, buried him with great pomp, as at the burial of kings, in the cave which God had told him. 15. And in that place all the sons of men made a great mourning and weeping on account of Adam ; it has therefore become a custom among the sons of men to this day. 16. And Adam died because he ate of the tree of knowledge ; he and his children after him, as the Lord God had spoken. 17. And it was in the year of Adam's death which was tlie two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of Enoch, in that time Enoch resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and to secrete himself as at first in order to serve the Lord. 18. And Enoch did so, but did not entirely secrete himself from them, but kept away from the sons of men three days and then went to them for one dav. 19. And during the three days that he was in his cliamber, he prayed to, and praised the Lord his God, and the day on which he went and appeared to his subjects he taught them the ways of the Lord, and all they asked him about the Jjord he told them. 20. And he did in this manner for many years, and he afterward con- cealed himself for six days, and ap- peared to his people one day in seven ; and after I hat once in a month, and then once in a year, until all the kin^s, princes and sons of men sought for him, and desired again to see the face of Enoch, and to hear his word ; but they could not, as all the sons of men were greatly afraid of Enoch, and they feared to approach him on account of the Godlike awe that was seated upon his countenance ; therefore no man could look at him, fearing he might be punished and die. 21. And all the kings and princes resolved to assemble the sons of men, and to come to Enoch, thinking that they might all speak to him at the time when he should come forth amongst them, and they did so. 22. And the day came when Enoch went forth and they all assem- bled and came to him, and Enocii spoke to them the words of the Lord and he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and they bowed down before him and they said, may the king live, may the king live ! 23. And in some time after, when the kings and princes and the sons of men were speaking to Enoch, and Enoch was teaching them the ways of God, behold an angel of the Lord then called unto Enoch from heaven, and wished to bring him up to heaven to make him reisn there over the sons 8 THE BOOK OF JASHER. of God, as he had reigned over the sons of men upon earth. 23. When at that time Enoch heard this he went and assembled all the inhabitants of the earth, and taught them wisdom and knowledge and gave them divine instructions, and he said to them, I have been required to ascend into heaven, I therefore do not know the day of my going. 25. And now therefore I will teacii you wisdom and knowledge and will give you instmction before I leave you, how to act upon earth whereby you may live; and he did so. 26. And he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and gave them in- struction, and he reproved them, and he placed before them statutes and judgments to do upon earth, and he made peace amongst them, and he tauoht them everlastincr life, and dwelt with them some time teaching them all these things. 27. And at that time the sons of men were with Enoch, and Enoch was speaking to them, and they lifted up their eyes and the likeness of a great horse descending from heaven, and the horse paced in the* air; 28. And they told Enoch what they had seen, and Enoch said to them, on my account does this horse descend upon earth ; the time is come when I must go from you and I shall no more be seen by you. 29. And the horse descended at that lime and stood before Enoch, * To express the region of the atmos[)here n^T is often used, as the word i^ix air, met with in modern Hebrew works, is of rabbinical ex- traction and may be derived from mx light, by which it might have been intended to siiow that the air is tVie medium through which tho rays of light become visible to us. and all the sons of men that were with Enoch saw him. 30. And Enoch then again ord- ered a voice to be proclaimed, say- ing, where is the man who delight- eth to know the ways of the Lord his God, let him come this day to Enoch before he is taken from us. 31. And all the sons of men as- sembled and came to Enoch that day ; and all the kings of the earth witli their princes and counsellors remained with him that day ; and Enoch then taught the sons of men wisdom and knowledge, and ^ave tliem divine instruction ; and he bade them serve the Lord and walk in his ways all the days of their lives, and he continued to make peace amongst them. 32. And it was after this that he rose up and rode upon the horse ; and he went forth and all the sons of men went after him, about eight hundred thousand men ; and they went with him one day's journey. 33. And the second day he said to them, return home to your tents, why will you go ? perhaps you may die ; and some of them went from him, and those that remained went with him six day's journey ; and Enoch said to them every day, re- turn to your tents, lest you may die ; but they were not willing to return, and thcv went with him. 34. And on the sixth day some of the men remained and clung to him, and thev said to him, we will go witli thee to the place where thou goest ; as the Lord liveth, death only shall separate us. 35. And they urged so much to go with him, that he ceased speak- ing to them ; and they went after him and would not return ; 36. And when the kings returned THE BOOK OF JASHER. 9 they caused a census to be taken, in order to know the number of re- maining men that went vvitli Enoch ; and it was upon the seventh day that Enocli ascended into heaven in a whirlwind, witli horses and chariots of fire. 37. And on the ciglith day all the kings that had been with Enoch sent to bring back the number of men that were with Enoch, in that place fiom which he ascended into heaven. 38. And all those kings went to the place and they found the earth there filled with snow, and upon the snow were large stones of snow, and one said to the other, come, let us break through this snow and see, perhaps the men that remained with Enoch are dead, and are now under the stones of snow, and they search- ed but could not find him, for he had ascended into heaven.