Book of Jasher — 1840 English Edition

Book of Jasher — 1840 English Edition 6

CHAPTER VL 1. At that time, after the death of Methuselah, the Lord said to Noah, go thou with thv household into the ark ; behold I will gather to thee all the animals of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and they shall all come and sur- round the ark. 2. And thou shalt go and seat thy- self by the doors of the ark, and all the beasts, the animals, and the fowls, shall assemble and place themselves THE BOOK OF JASHER. 13 before thee, and such of ihcm as shall come and crouch before thee, siialt. thou take and deliver into the hands of thy sons, who shall bring them to the ark, and all that will stand before thee thou shalt leave. 3. And the Lord brought this about on the next day, and animals, beasts and fowls came in great mul- titudes and surrounded the ark. 4. And Noah went and seated him- self by the door of the ark, and of all flesh that crouched before him, he brought into the ark, and all that stood before him he left upon earth. 5. And a lioness came, with her two whelps, male and female, and the three crouched before Noah, and the two whelps rose up against the lioness and smote her, and made her flee from her place, and she went away, and they returned to their pla- ces, and crouched upon the earth before Noah. 6. And the lioness ran away, and stood in the place of the lions. 7. And Noah saw this, and* won- dered greatly, and he rose and took the two whelps, and brought them into the ark. 8. And Noah brought into the ark from all living creatures that were upon earth, so that there was none left but which Noah brought into the ark. 9. Two and two came to Noah into the ark, but from the clean ani- mals, and clean fowls, he brought seven couples, as God had com- manded him. * 1 0. And all the animals, and beasts, and fowls, were still there, and they surrounded the ark at every place, * At the height to which even the animals of the earth had corrupted themselves, that the young whelps could so unnaturally rise up against their parent in such a time of disaster. and the rain had not descended till seven days after. 11. And on that day, the Lord caused the whole earth to shake, and the sun darkened, and the foun- dations of the world raged, and the whole earth was moved violently, and the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared, and all the fountains in the earth were broken up, such as was not known to the inhabitants he- fore ; and God did this mighty act, in order to terrify the sons of men, that there uught be no more evil upon earth. 12. And still the sons of men would not return from their evil ways, and they increased the anger of the Lord at that time, and did not even direct their hearts to all this. 13. And at the end of seven days, in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, the waters of the flood were upon the earth. 14. And all the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the win- dows of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty da5'S and forty nights. 15. And Noah and his household, and all the living creatures that were with him, came into the ark on ac- count of the waters of the flood, and the Lord shut him in. 16. And all the sons of men that were left upon the earth, became ex- hausted through evil on account of the rain, for the waters were coming more violently upon the earth, and the animals and beasts were still sur- rounding the ark. 17. And the sons of men assem- bled together, about* seven hundred * It must be remembered, that according to this book, a third part of the earth had already been destroyed by the overdowing of the river Gihon. See chapter 2, verse 6. 14 THE BOOK OF JASHER. thousand men and women, and they came unto Noah to the ark. 18. And they ealled to Noah, say- ing, open for us that we may come to thee in the ark — and wherefore shall we die ? 19. And Noah, with a loud voice, answered them from the ark, saying, have you not all rebelled against the Lord, and said that he does not exist ? and therefore the Lord brought upon you this evil, to destroy and cut you off from the face of the earth. 20. Is not this the thing that I spoke to you of one hundred and twenty years back, and you would not hearken to the voice of the Lord, and now do you desire to live upon earth ? 21. And they said to Noah, we are ready to return to the Lord ; only open for us that we may live and not die. 22. And Noah answered them, saying, behold now that you see the trouble of your souls, you wish to return to the Lord ; why did you not return during these hundred and twenty years, which the Lord gran- ted you as the determined period ? 23. But now you come and tell me this on account of the troubles of your souls, now also the Lord will not listen to you, neither will he give ear to you on this day, so that you will not now succeed in your wishes. 24. And the sons of men ap- proached iyi order to break into the ark, to come in on account of the rain, for they could not bear the rain upon them. 25. And the Lord sent all the beasts and animals that stood round the ark. And the beasts overpow- ered them and drove them from that place, and every man went his way and they again scattered themselves upon the face of the earth. 26. And the rain was still de- scending upon the earth, and it de- scended forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth ; and all flesh that was upon the earth or in the waters died, whe- ther men, animals, beasts, creeping things or birds of the air, and there only remained Noah and those that were with him in the ark. 27. And the waters prevailed and they greatly increased upon the earth, and they lifted up the ark and it was raised from the earth. 28. And the ark floated upon the face of the waters, and it was tossed upon the waters so that all the living creatures within were turned about like pottage in the cauldron. 29. And great anxiety seized all tlie living creatures that were in the ark, and the ark was like to be broken. 30. And all the living creatures that were in the ark were terrified, and the lions roared, and the oxen lowed, and the wolves howled, and every living creature in the ark spoke and lamented in its own lan- guage, so that their voices reached to a great distance, and Noah and his sons cried and wept in their troubles; they were greatly afraid that they had reached the gates of death. 31. And Noah prayed unto the Lord, and he cried unto him on ac- count of this, and he said, 0 Lord help us, for we have no strength to bear this evil that has encompassed us, for the waves of the waters have .surrounded us, mischievous torrents have terrified us, the snares of death have come before us ; answer us, O Lord, answer us, hght up thy coun- tenance toward us and be gracious to us, redeem us and deliver us. THE BOOK OF JASHER. 15 32. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and the Lord re- membered him. 33. And a wind passed over the earth, and the waters were still and the ark rested. 34. And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. 35. And the waters decreased in those days, and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. 36. And Noah then opened the windows of the ark, and Noah still called out to the Lord at that time and he said, O Lord, who didst form the earth and the heavens and all that are therein, bring forth our souls from this confinement, and from the prison wherein thou hast placed us, for I am much wearied with sighing. 37. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and said to him, when thou shalt have completed a full year thou shalt then go forth. 38. And at the revolution of the year, when a full year was comple- ted to Noah's dwelling in the ark, the waters were dried from off the earth, and Noah put off the covering of the ark. 39. At that time, on the twenty- seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry, but Noah and his sons, aixl those that were with him, did not go out from the ark until the Lord told them. 40. And the day came that the Lord told them to go out, and they all went out from the ark. 41. And they went and returned every one to his way and to his place, and Noah and his sons dwelt in the land that God had told them, and they served the Lord all their days, and the Lord blessed Noah and his sons on their going out from the ark. 42. And he said to them, be fruit- ful and fill all the earth ; become strong and increase abundantly in the earth and multiply therein.