Lost Books of the Bible: The Rejected Texts, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

The Lost Books of the Bible: The Rejected Texts, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Dr. Edward Hammond

The Lost Books of the Bible: The Rejected Texts, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha

Dr. Edward Hammond

Copyright 2011 Edward Hammond

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

The First Book of Adam and Eve

The Second Book of Adam and Eve

The Slavonic Life of Adam and Eve

The First Book of Enoch

The Book of Jubilees

The Book of Jasher

The Story of Ahikar

The Apocalypse of Abraham

The Apocalypse of Thomas

4 Ezra

2 Baruch

The War Scroll: The Sons of Dark Against the Sons of Light

The Gospel of Philip

The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

The Apocryphon of John (The Secret Book of John)

The Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Judas

Acts 29

Also by Dr. Edward Hammond

About Dr. Edward Hammond

The First Book of Adam and Eve

The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve , also known as The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, are a late Christian work dating hundreds of years after the actual Biblical Scriptures.

The First Book of Adam and Eve tells the story of what happened to Adam and Eve after they left Eden. It tells of the difficulties they encountered in their new home known as the Cave of Treasures, and of Satan's many appearances (often mistranslated as apparitions) to them. The First Book of Adam and Eve also chronicles the birth of Cain and his twin sister Luluwa and of Abel and his twin sister Aklemia. It also details Cain's murder of Abel, as well as Adam's death. The first book focuses on Adam's sorrow at being outside the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve are constantly plagued by visits from Satan, who appears to them in many forms and attempts to trick them over and over again.

The Second Books of Adam and Eve is an account of the history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood. It chronicles the lives of Seth's descendants on the Holy Mountain and tells how they broke God's commandment and left the mountain, being tricked by Cain's descendants.

The First and Second Books of Adam and Eve are classed as pseudegraphica which means false works. The books are thought to have their source in the fifth or sixth century CE, but they show evidence of extensive and much later Christian additions from after the time of Middle Ages.

The First Book of Adam and Eve

Chap. I.

God commands Adam to live in the Cave of Treasures.

1 On the third day, God planted the garden in the east of the earth, on the border of the world towards the east. Beyond that, towards the sun's rising, no one finds anything but water, and the water encompasses the whole world and reaches as far as the borders of the sky.

2 To the north of the garden there is a sea which tastes clear and pure, like nothing else. It is so clear that one may look into the depths of the earth through it.

3 When a man washes himself in it, he becomes clean just as it is clean, and he becomes white just as it is white, even if he were a dark man.

4 God took great pleasure in creating that sea, because he knew what would happen to the man he would make. God knew that after the man had left the garden due to his sin, that men would be born in the earth, and that righteous ones among them would die. However, God would raise the souls of the righteous ones on the last day, when they returned to flesh, if they bathed in the water of that sea, and repented from all their sins.

5 But when God made Adam leave the garden, he did not put him on the north border, in case Adam went to the sea and he and Eve wash themselves in it, be cleansed from their sins, and forget the sin they had committed, and Adam no longer remembered why he was being punished for it.

6 As for the south side of the garden, God was not happy letting Adam live there, because when the wind blew from the north, it would bring the delightful scent of the trees of the garden to Adam who was on the south side.

7 The reason that God did not put Adam there, was so that he would have smelled the delightful scent of those trees and forgotten his sin, and found comfort for what he had done, delighting in the scent of the trees, and not being cleansed from his sin.

8 Also because God is merciful and has great pity, and rules all things in a way which only he knows, he made our ancestor Adam live in the western border of the garden, because everything on that side the earth is very spacious.

9 God commanded Adam to live there in a cave in a rock called the Cave of Treasures, which was below the garden.

Chap. II.

Adam and Eve are upset to leave the Garden.

1 But when our ancestors Adam and Eve left the garden, they trod the ground under their feet, and did not knowing where they were going.

2 When they arrived at the opening of the garden's gate, they saw the spacious earth spread out in front of them. It was covered with large and small stones, and also with sand. They shook with fear, and fell on their faces from the fear that came on them. They were deathly afraid.

3 Previously they had been in the garden land, which was beautifully planted with all kinds of trees, but now they now saw themselves in a foreign land which they did not know, and had never seen before.

4 This was because previously they were filled with the grace of a Bright Nature, and their hearts were not turned towards earthly things.

5 So then had God pity on them when he saw them fallen in front of the gate of the garden, and he sent his Word to father Adam and Eve, and lifted them from their fallen state.

Chap. III.

The promise of the five and a half days.

1 God said to Adam, "I have ordained days and years for this land, and you and your descendants will live on in it, until the time is fulfilled for me to send the Word that created you, and against which you have sinned, the Word that made you leave the garden and that lifted you when you had fallen.

2 This is the Word that will again save you when the five days and a half have come to pass.

3 But when Adam heard what God said about the great five and a half days, he did not understand what it meant.

4 Adam thought that there would be only five and a half days until the end of the world.

5 Adam cried, and prayed that God would explain it to him.

6 Then God in his mercy for Adam who was made after his own image and likeness, explained to him that these were 5,500 years, and how one would then come and save him and his descendants.

7 But God had previously made this covenant with our ancestor, Adam, in the same terms, before he left the garden, when he was at the tree from which Eve had taken the fruit and given it to him to eat.

8 When our ancestor Adam left the garden, he went past that tree, and saw how God had changed its appearance, and how it withered.

9 When Adam went to it he was afraid and trembled and fell down, but God in his mercy lifted him up, and then made this covenant with him.

10 When Adam was at the gate of the garden, and saw the cherub with a sword of flashing fire in his hand, the cherub became angry and frowned at him, so both Adam and Eve became afraid of him, and thought he was going to kill them. So they fell on their faces and trembled with fear.

11 But he had pity on them, and showed them mercy. He left them and went up to heaven, and prayed to the Lord,

12 "Lord, you sent me to guard the gate of the garden with a fiery sword.

13 But when your servants, Adam and Eve, saw me, they fell on their faces as dead. My Lord, what will we do to your servants?

14 Then God had pity on them, and showed them mercy, and sent his Angel to guard the garden.

15 The Word of the Lord came to Adam and Eve and uplifted them.

16 The Lord said to Adam, "I told you that at the end of five and a half days, I will send my Word and save you.

17 So then strengthen your mind and live in the Cave of Treasures, about which I have previously spoken to you.

18 When Adam heard this Word from God, he was comforted with what God had said, for God had told him how he would save him.

Chap. IV.

Adam and Eve enter the Cave of Treasures.

1 Adam and Eve cried because they had left the garden, their first abode.

2 Certainly when Adam looked at his changed flesh, he cried bitterly, both him and Eve, over what they had done. They walked quietly down into the Cave of Treasures.

3 When they arrived there Adam cried to himself and said to Eve, "Look at this cave that is to be our prison in this world, and a place of punishment!

4 "What is it compared to the garden? It is narrow but the other was spacious!

5 "What is this rock, by the side of those groves? This cavern is gloomy, whereas the garden was light!

6 "What is this overhanging ledge of rock to shelter us, compared with the mercy of the Lord that overshadowed us?

7 What is the soil of this cave compared with the garden land? This earth is covered with stones, and that land was planted with delicious fruit-trees!

8 Adam said to Eve, "Look at your eyes, and at mine, which previously watched angels in heaven praising without ceasing.

9 But now we do not see as we once did: our eyes have become flesh, and so they cannot see in the same way as they saw before.

10 Again Adam said to Eve, What is our body today, compared to what it was in previous times, when we lived in the garden?

11 After this Adam did not wish to enter the cave, under the overhanging rock, nor would he ever have entered it.

12 But he bowed to God's orders and so he said to himself, If I do not enter the cave, I will again be a sinner.

Chap. V.

Eve takes the blame on herself.

1 Adam and Eve entered the cave and stood there praying in their own language, which was unknown to us, but which they knew well.

2 As they prayed, Adam lifted his eyes and saw the rock and the roof of the cave that covered him overhead, and prevented him seeing heaven and God's creatures. So he cried and hit himself heavily on his chest, until he fell down like a dead man.

3 Eve sat there weeping, for she believed he was dead.

4 Then she got up and spread her hands towards God, petitioning God for mercy and pity, and said, "My God, forgive the sin I committed, and do not hold it against me.

5 "For I alone made your servant fall from the garden into this lost position, from light into this darkness, and from the living place of happiness into this prison.

6 "My God, look at this your servant who has fallen, and raise him from his death, so that he may cry and repent of his sin which he committed through me.

7 "Do not take away his life this time, but let him live so that he may stand after he repents, and do your will, as he did before his death.

8 "My God, if you do not raise him up, then take away my own soul so that I will be like him, and do not leave me alone in this prison, for I could not stand to be alone in this world, but with him only.

9 "You, my God, caused a sleep to come on him, and took a bone from his side, and restored the flesh in place of it, by your divine power.

10 " You took me, the bone, and make me a woman, bright like him, with heart, reason, speech, and in flesh like his own, and you made me look like him by your mercy and power.

11 "Lord, I and he are one and you, my God, are our Creator. You are the one who made us both in one day.

12 "So then, my God, give him life, so that he may be with me in this foreign land, while we live in it due to our sin.

13 But if you will not give him life, then take me, so that we both may die the same day.

14 Eve cried bitterly, and fell on our ancestor Adam, as she was very sad.

Chap. VI.

God points out how they sinned.

1 But God looked at them, for they had killed themselves as they were very unhappy.

2 But God wanted to raise them and comfort them.

3 So then God sent his Word to them, so that they could stand and be lifted up.

4 The Lord said to Adam and Eve, "You sinned by your own free will, until you left the garden in which I had placed you.

5 "You sinned by your own free will through your desire for divinity, greatness, and an exalted state, such as I have, which is why I deprived you of the Bright Nature that you had back then, and made you leave the garden and come to this land, which is rough and full of trouble.

6 "If only you had not sinned against my commandment and had kept my law, and had not eaten the fruit of the tree, which I told you not to approach. In fact there were better fruit trees in the garden than that one.

7 "But the wicked Satan who did not keep to his first appointment, or keep his faith, and who had no good intention towards me, and who although I had created him, still worked against me, and wanted to be the Godhead, which is why I threw him down from heaven, he is the one who made the tree look good to you, until you listened to him and ate it.

8 "Thus have you sinned against my commandment. This is why have I brought all these sorrows on you.

9 "For I am God the Creator, who, when I created my creatures, did not intend to destroy them. But after they had greatly roused my anger, I punished them with severe afflictions to make them repent.

10 If they keep on sinning stubbornly, they will be under a curse forever.

Chap. VII.

The animals make peace with Adam.

1 When Adam and Eve heard God's words, they cried and sobbed even more, but they also strengthened their hearts by God, because now they felt that the Lord was like a father and a mother to them. This is why they cried in front of him, and asked for mercy from him.

2 Then God had pity on them, and said, Adam, I have made my covenant with you, and I will not change my mind about it, and neither will I let you return to the garden, until after my covenant of the great five days and a half has come to pass.

3 Then Adam said to God, "Lord, you created us, and made us fit to be in the garden, and before I sinned, you made all animals come to me, for me to name them.

4 "Your grace was then on me, and I named every one just as you wanted me to, and you made them all subject to me.

5 "But now, Lord God, that I have sinned against your commandment, all animals will rise up against me and will attack me as well as Eve your handmaid, and will wipe us off the face of the earth.

6 I therefore I beg you, my God, that, since you have made us leave the garden, and have made us live in a foreign land, you will not let the animals hurt us.

7 When the Lord heard what Adam said, he had pity on him, and felt that he was right in saying that the animals of the field would rise and attack him and Eve, because he, the Lord, was angry with the two of them on account of their sin.

8 Then God commanded the animals and the birds, and everything that moves on the earth, to go to Adam and get to know him, and not to trouble him and Eve, and not to trouble any of the good, righteous ones of their descendants.

9 Then the animals did submit to Adam, just as God had commanded them to do, all except the serpent, which God was angry with. When the other animals went to Adam, the serpent did not go too.

Chap. VIII.

Man's Bright Nature is taken away.

1 Then Adam cried and said, My God, when we lived in the garden with happy hearts, we saw the angels that sang praises in heaven, but now we do not see like we used to do. In fact, when we entered the cave, all creation became hidden from us.

2 Then God the Lord said to Adam, When you were under subjection to me, you had a Bright Nature inside you, and for that reason you could see things a fair away off. But after you sinned your Bright Nature was taken from you, and then your ability to see things afar away was removed from you. Then you could only see things which were near you, just like human ability, which is only near at hand, being the ability of the flesh, for it is unrefined.

3 When Adam and Eve had heard what God said, they went away, praising and worshipping him with a sorrowful heart.

4 God stopped communicating with them.

Chap. IX.

Adam and Eve nearly drown themselves.

1 Then Adam and Eve left the Cave of Treasures, and came to the garden gate. They stood and looked at it and they cried because they had left it.

2 Adam and Eve left the gate of the garden on the southern side. There they found the water that watered the garden. It was from the root of the Tree of Life, and from there it parted into four rivers over the earth.

3 Then they approached that water and looked at it. They saw that it was the water that came out from under the root of the Tree of Life in the garden.

4 Adam cried and moaned, and hit his chest, because he had been taken from the garden. He said to Eve,

5 Why have you brought so many of these afflictions and punishments on me, on yourself, and on our descendants?

6 Eve said to him, What is it you have seen, to cry and to speak to me in this manner?

7 He said to Eve, "Don't you see this water that was with us in the garden, that watered the trees of the garden, and flowed out from there?

8 We did not care about it when we were in the garden, but after we went to the foreign land, we love it, and use for our body.

9 But when Eve heard what he said, she cried. They cried so much they both would have fallen into that water, and drowned themselves in it, so as never again to return and see the creation. The reason is that when they looked at the work of creation, they felt they must put an end to themselves.

Chap. X.

Adam and Eve are revived. Adam and Eve now need water to survive.

1 When merciful and gracious God looked at them nearly dead and lying in the water, he sent an angel. The angel brought them out of the water, and laid them on the seashore as dead.

2 Then the angel went up to God, and God welcomed him. The angel said, My God, your creatures have breathed their last.

3 Then God sent his Word to Adam and Eve, and lifted them from their death.

4 After he was revived, Adam said, God, while we were in the garden we did not need water, and we did not care for this water, but since we came to this land we cannot do without it.

5 Then God said to Adam, "While you were under my command and were a bright angel, you did not know this water.

6 But afterwards you sinned against my commandment, and so now you need water. You need water to wash your body and make it grow, for it is now like the body of animals, and so needs water.

7 When Adam and Eve heard what God said, they cried bitterly, and Adam begged God to let him return to the garden to look at it a second time.

8 But God said to Adam, I have made you a promise, and after that promise is fulfilled, I will bring you back into the garden, you and your righteous descendants.

9 God stopped communicating with Adam.

Chap. XI.

Adam remembers the splendid days in the Garden.

1 Adam and Eve felt themselves burning with thirst, heat and sorrow.

2 Adam said to Eve, We will not drink this water, even if we die. Eve, when this water reaches our insides, it will increase our punishments and that of our children, who come after us.

3 Both Adam and Eve then left the water, and drank none of it at all, but went to the Cave of Treasures and entered it.

4 But in there Adam could not see Eve; he only heard the noise she made. Neither could Eve see Adam; he only heard the noise she made.

5 Then Adam was very distressed, and cried, and hit his chest. He got up and said to Eve, Where are you?

6 She said to him, I am standing in the darkness.

7 He then said to her, "Remember the Bright Nature in which we lived, while we lived in the garden!

8 "Eve, remember the glory that rested on us in the garden. Eve, remember the trees that overshadowed us in the garden while we moved amongst them.

9 "Eve, remember that while we were in the garden, we knew neither night nor day. Think of the Tree of Life. The water flowed from below it, and it shed light over us! Remember, Eve, the garden land, and how bright it was.

10 "Think of the garden. There was no darkness in it while we lived there.

11 However, no sooner did we arrive at this Cave of Treasures, then darkness encompassed us all around. Now we can no longer see each other, and all the pleasure of this life has come to an end.

Chap. XII.

How darkness came between Adam and Eve.

1 Then Adam hit his chest, he and Eve, and they mourned the whole night until dawn. They moaned all night in Miyazia.

2 Adam beat himself, and threw himself on the ground in the cave from bitter sorrow and because of the darkness, and lay there as dead.

3 But Eve heard the noise he made when he fell to the ground. She felt about for him with her hands, and found him like a corpse.

4 Then she was afraid and speechless, and stayed next to him.

5 But the merciful Lord looked on the death of Adam's death, and he also saw that Eve was silent from being afraid of the dark.

6 Then the Word of God came to Adam and revived him from death, and opened Eve's mouth that she could speak.

7 Then Adam arose in the cave and said, "God, why has light left us, and darkness come over us? Why did you leave us for so long in the dark? Why do you afflict us like this?

8 "Lord, where was this darkness before it came on us? It is so dark that we cannot see each other.

9 "While we were in the garden, we did not see darkness is or even know what it was. I was not hidden from Eve, and she was not hidden from me, but now that she cannot see me. Back in the garden, no darkness came on us to separate us from each other.

10 "But she and I were both in one Bright Light. I saw her and she saw me. Yet now since we arrived at this cave, darkness has come on us and separated us, so that I do not see her, and she does not see me.

11 Lord, will you then afflict us with this darkness?

Chap. XIII.

God explains night and day to Adam.

1 When God, who is merciful and full of pity, heard Adam's voice, he said to him,

2 "Adam, so long as the good angel was obedient to me, a Bright Light rested on him and on his army.

3 "But when he sinned against my commandment, I deprived him of that Bright Nature, and he became dark.

4 "When he was in the heavens, in the realms of light, he knew nothing of darkness.

5 "But he sinned against me, and I made him fall from heaven onto the earth, and it was this darkness that came on him.

6 "That Bright Light also rested on you, Adam, while you were in my garden and obedient to me.

7 "But when I heard of your sin, I deprived you of that Bright Light. However, because of my mercy, I did not turn you into darkness, but I made your body flesh, over which I spread this skin, so that it may bear cold and heat.

8 "If however I had let my rage fall heavily on you, I would have destroyed you, and if had I turned you into darkness, it would have been as if I had killed you.

9 "But as I am merciful, I made you as you are, when you sinned against my commandment, Adam. I drove you from the garden and made you come to this land, and commanded you to live in this cave. Darkness came on you, as it did on him who sinned against my commandment.

10 "So then, Adam, this night has deceived you. It will not last forever, but only lasts for twelve hours. When it is over, daylight will return.

11 "So then do not moan or be upset, and do not say to yourself that this darkness is long and drags on despairingly, and do not say to yourself that I afflict you with it.

12 "Take heart, and do not be afraid. This darkness is not a punishment. Adam, I have made the day, and have placed the sun in it to give light, in order that you and your children can do your work.

13 "For I knew you would sin and misbehave and come out into this land. However, I would not force you, or shut you up, or doom you through your fall, or through your coming out from light into darkness, or even through your coming from the garden into this land.

14 "I made you of the light, and I wished to bring out children of light from you and like you.

15 "But you did not obey one day of my commandment, until I had finished the creation and blessed everything in it.

16 "Then I commanded you not to eat of the tree. I knew that Satan, who deceived himself, would also deceive you.

17 "So I told you not to go near the tree. I told you not to eat of the fruit of it, or to taste of it, or yet to sit under it.

18 "Adam, had I not been and spoken to you about the tree, and had I left you without a commandment, and you had sinned, then it would have been an offence on my part for not having given you any order, you could turn round and blame me for it.

19 "But in fact I did command you, and I warned you, and you fell. So then my creatures cannot blame me, but the blame rests on them alone.

20 " Adam, I have made the day for you and for your children after you, for them to work and labor in it. I have made the night for them to rest in it from their work, and for the animals of the field to go out by night and get their food.

21 Adam, there is not much darkness now remaining, and daylight will soon appear.

Chap. XIV.

Prophecy of the coming of Christ.

1 Adam said to God: Lord, take my soul, and do not let me not see this gloom any more, please take me to some place where there is no darkness.

2 But God the Lord said to Adam, Truly I say to you, this darkness will pass from you, every day I have determined for you, until my covenant is fulfilled, when I will save you and bring you back again into the garden, into the place of light you long for, where there is no darkness. I will bring you to it, in the kingdom of heaven.

3 Again said God to Adam, "All this misery that you have been made to take on you because of your sin, will not free you from Satan's hand, and cannot save you.

4 "But I will. When I come down from heaven, I will become flesh of your descendants, and I will take on me the condition from which you suffer, then the darkness that came on you in this cave will come on me in the grave, when I am in the flesh of your descendants.

5 I, who am ageless, will be subject to the reckoning of years, of times, of months, and of days, and I will be considered to be a human, in order to save you.

6 God ceased communicating with Adam.

Chap. XV.

Adam and Eve are upset that they would not yet return to the garden.

1 Adam and Eve cried and were very unhappy because of what God said to them, that they would not return to the garden until the decreed time was passed, but mostly because God had told them that he would suffer for their salvation.

Chap. XVI.

Adam and Eve think the first sunrise is a fire coming to burn them.

1 After this, Adam and Eve stood in the cave, praying and weeping, until the morning dawned.

2 When they saw the light returned to them, they stopped being afraid and took heart.

3 Then Adam began to leave the cave. When he came to the mouth of it, he stood and turned his face towards the east and saw the sun rise in glowing rays. He felt the sun's heat on his body and was afraid of it, and thought to himself that this flame had come to afflict him.

4 He cried and hit his chest. He fell on the earth on his face, and made his request,

5 Lord, do not afflict me, or burn me up, or take away my life from the earth.

6 For he thought the sun was God.

7 For the whole time Adam was in the garden and heard God's voice and the sound god made in the garden, and feared him, Adam never saw the sun's brilliant light, and the sun's flaming heat never touched his body.

8 So then he was afraid of the sun when its heat reached him. He thought God meant to afflict him with it all the days he had decreed for him.

9 Adam also said to himself that as God did not afflict him with darkness, he instead made the sun rise and to afflict him with burning heat.

10 But while he was thinking this to himself, the Word of God came to him and said,

11 "Adam, arise and stand up. This sun is not God, but it has been created to give light by day. This is what I told you about in the cave when I said that the dawn would break forth, and there would be light by day.

12 But I am God who comforted you in the night.

13 God stopped communicating with Adam.

Chap. XVII.

The Serpent.

1 Adam and Eve came out at the mouth of the cave, and went towards the garden.

2 But as they approached it, before the western gate from which Satan came when he deceived Adam and Eve, they found the serpent that became Satan arriving at the gate. It sorrowfully licked the dust, and wriggled on its chest along the ground, due to the curse that fell on it from God.

3 Previously the serpent had been the most exalted of all animals, but now it was changed and had become slippery, and the lowest of them all. It crept on its chest and went on its belly.

4 Previously it had been the fairest of all animals, but it had been changed, and now was the ugliest of them all. Instead of feeding on the best food, it now ate the dust. Instead of living, as before, in the best places, now it lived in the dust.

5 Previously it had been the most beautiful of all animals, all of which stood dumbstruck at its beauty, but it was now hated by them.

6 Again, where previously it lived in one beautiful place, to which all other animals came from elsewhere, and where it drank, they drank also of the same, now after it had become venomous due to God's curse, all animals fled from its living place, and would not drink the water it drank, but fled from it.

Chap. XVIII.

The combat with the serpent.

1 When the cursed serpent saw Adam and Eve, it swelled its head, stood on its tail, and with eyes blood-red, intending to kill them.

2 It made straight for Eve and chased her, while Adam who was standing by cried because he had no stick in his hand to strike the serpent, and did not know how to kill it.

3 As Adam was so worried about Eve, Adam approached the serpent, and held it by the tail. It turned towards him and said to him,

4 Adam, it is because of you and Eve that I am slippery and go on my belly. Then because of its great strength, it threw Adam and Eve down and pressed on them, wanting to kill them.

5 But God sent an angel who threw the serpent away from them, and lifted them up.

6 Then the Word of God came to the serpent, and said to it, "In the first instance I made you persuasive, and made you to go on your belly, but I did not deprive you of speech.

7 Now, however, you are speechless, and will speak no more, you and your race, because in the first place you caused the ruin of my creatures, and now you try to kill them.

8 Then the serpent was struck dumb, and spoke no more.

9 At God's command, a wind blew from heaven and carried away the serpent from Adam and Eve and threw it on the sea shore, and it landed in India.

Chap. XIX.

The animals are made subject to Adam.

1 But Adam and Eve cried to God. Adam said to him,

2 Lord, when I was in the cave, I said this to you, my Lord, that the animals of the field would rise and attack me, and cut off my life from the earth.

3 Then Adam, because of what had happened to him, hit his chest, and fell on the earth like a corpse. Then the Word of God, who lifted him, came to him and said,

4 "Adam, not one of these animals will be able to hurt you, because when I made the animals and other moving things come to you in the cave, I did not let the serpent come with them, in case it attacked you and made you afraid.

5 " I knew that the cursed one is wicked, so would I not let it come near you with the other animals.

6 But now take heart and do not be afraid. I am with you to the end of the days I have set on you.

Chap. XX.

Adam protects Eve.

1 Then Adam cried and said, God, please remove us to some other place, so that the serpent cannot approach us again, and attack us. I am afraid it will find your handmaid Eve alone and kill her, for its eyes are repulsive and evil.

2 But God said to Adam and Eve, From now on do not be afraid. I will not let it come near you. I have driven it away from you, from this mountain. I will not leave in it anywhere where it can hurt you.

3 Then Adam and Eve worshipped God and thanked him, and praised him for having saved them from death.

Chap. XXI.

Adam and Eve attempt to commit suicide.

1 Then Adam and Eve went in search of the garden.

2 The heat beat like a flame on their faces, and they sweated from the heat, and cried to the Lord.

3 But the place where they cried was near a high mountain, facing the west gate of the garden.

4 Then Adam threw himself down off the top of that mountain. His face was torn and his body was flayed. He lost a large amount of blood, and was near death.

5 Meanwhile Eve stayed on the mountain crying over him lying there.

6 She said, I don't want to live if he is dead, because everything he did to himself was my fault.

7 Then she threw herself after him, and was torn and messed up by stones, and stayed lying as dead.

8 But the merciful God, who looks on his creatures, looked at Adam and Eve as they lay dead, and he sent his Word to them, and revived them.

9 He said to Adam, Adam, all this misery which you have brought on yourself will not prevail against my rule, and it will not alter the covenant of the 5500 years.

Chap. XXII.

Adam is in a gracious mood.

1 Adam said to God, I wither in the heat. I am tired of walking; I am fed up with this world. I do not know when you will give me any respite from it.

2 Then the Lord God said to him, Adam, it cannot be at present, not until you have ended your days. Then will I bring you out of this miserable land.

3 Adam said to God, While I was in the garden I did not know heat, or laziness, or moving about, or trembling, or fear, but now since I came to this land, all this affliction has come on me.

4 Then God said to Adam, So long as you were obeying my commandment, my light and my grace rested on you. But when you sinned against my commandment, sorrow and misery fell on you in this land.

5 Adam cried and said, Lord, do not cut me off for this. Do not smite me with heavy afflictions; do not repay me according to my sin. We of our own will sinned against your commandment, and abandoned your law, and wished to become gods like to you, as the enemy Satan deceived us.

6 Then God said to Adam, Because you have been very afraid in this land, and suffering from walking on it, going up this mountain, and dying from it, I will take all this on myself in order to save you.

Chap. XXIII.

Adam and Eve make the first altar to God.

1 Adam cried more and said, God, have mercy on me, so far as to take on you, that which I will do.

2 But God took his Word from Adam and Eve.

3 Then Adam and Eve stood up. Adam said to Eve, Gird yourself, and I also will gird myself. Eve girded herself, as Adam told her.

4 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, and with them wiped the blood they had spilled from the face of the rock.

5 They took the blood that had dropped on the sand, along with the dust mingled with it and offered it on the altar as an offering to God.

6 Then Adam and Eve stood under the altar and cried. They begged God, "Forgive our disobedience and our sin, and look on us with your merciful eye. When we were in the garden, our praises and our hymns went up before you without ceasing.

7 "But when we came into this foreign land, pure praise was no longer ours, nor was righteous prayer, nor understanding minds, nor sweet thoughts, nor just advice, nor good discernment, nor honest feelings, and also our Bright Nature has left us. Our bodies have changed from how they looked when we were first created.

8 Now look at our blood which is offered on these stones, and accept it from our hands, like the praise we used to sing to you at first, when in the garden.

9 Adam began to make more requests of God.

Chap. XXIV.

A prophecy of Christ.

1 The merciful God, who is good and loves people, looked on Adam and Eve and on their blood which they had held up as an offering to him, without even being ordered by him to do so. He was amazed at them, and accepted their offerings.

2 God sent a bright fire from his presence to consume their offering.

3 He smelled the sweet fragrance of their offering, and showed them mercy.

4 Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said, "Adam, as you have shed your blood, so will I shed my own blood when I become flesh of your descendants. As you die, Adam, so too will I die. As you built an altar, so too I will make an altar on the earth for you. As you offered your blood on it, so too will I offer my blood on an altar on the earth.

5 "As you asked for forgiveness through that blood, so also will I make my blood forgiveness of sins, and blot out sins by it.

6 "Adam, I have accepted your offering, but the days of the covenant, by which I have bound you, are not fulfilled. When they are fulfilled, then will I bring you back into the garden.

7 So then, take heart, and when you are unhappy, make me an offering, and I will show you favor.

Chap. XXV.

Worship is established.

1 God knew what Adam was thinking, that he intended to kill himself often to make him a blood offering.

2 So God said to him, Adam, do not kill yourself again like you did before, by throwing yourself down from that mountain.

3 But Adam said to God, "I intended to put an end to myself at once, for having sinned against your commandments, and for having left the beautiful garden, and for the Bright Light of which you have deprived me, and for the praises which poured out from my mouth without ceasing, and for the light that covered me.

4 "Yet due to your goodness, God, do not do away with me altogether, but be favorable to me every time I die, and bring me back to life.

5 Then it will be made known that you are a merciful God who does not want anyone to die, so that no one will die, so that no loved one will fall, no one who does not condemn any one cruelly, badly, and ruins them.

6 Then Adam stayed silent.

7 The Word of God came to him and blessed and comforted him, and covenanted with him, that God would save him at the end of the days determined for him.

8 This was the first offering Adam made to God, and it became his custom to do.

Chap. XXVI.

A prophecy of eternal life.

1 Adam took Eve, and they started on their way to the Cave of Treasures where they lived. But when they approached it and saw it from afar, heavy sorrow fell on Adam and Eve when they looked at it.

2 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.

3 "But now the Word of God is hidden from us, and the light that shone over us has disappeared, and darkness and sorrow have come on us.

4 We are forced to enter this cave which is like a prison. In it darkness covers us, so that we are parted from each other, and you cannot see me, and I cannot see you.

5 After Adam said these words, they cried and spread their hands before God, as they were very upset.

6 They begged God to bring the sun to shine on them, so that darkness would not return to them, and so they would not have to come again under this covering of rock. They preferred to die rather than see the darkness.

7 Then God looked at Adam and Eve and at their great sorrow, and on all they had done with a zealous heart, on account of all the trouble they were in, instead of their former wellbeing, and on all the misery that had come on them in a foreign land.

8 So then God was not furious, angry or impatient with the children he had created.

9 Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said, "Adam, as for the sun, if I were to take it and bring it to you, days, hours, years and months would all come to nothing, and the covenant I have made with you would never be fulfilled.

10 "For then you would be left in a long affliction, and there would never be any salvation for you.

11 "Instead, be patient and calm while you stay night and day, until the fulfilment of the days, and the time of my covenant has come.

12 "Then will I come and save you, Adam, for I do not wish you to be afflicted.

13 "When I look at all the good things where you lived, and why you came out of them, then would I willingly show you mercy.

14 "But I cannot change the covenant that has gone out of my mouth, otherwise I would I have brought you back into the garden.

15 However, when the covenant is fulfilled, then will I show you and your descendants mercy, and bring you into a joyful land, where there is no sorrow or suffering, but instead lasting happiness and joy, light that never fails, praises that never cease, and a beautiful garden that will never pass away.

16 God said to Adam, Be patient and enter the cave, for the darkness that you are afraid of will only last for twelve hours long, and when it's over, light will arise.

17 Then when Adam heard what God said, he and Eve worshipped him and were comforted. They returned into the cave while tears flowed from their eyes, sorrow and wailing came from their hearts, and they wished their soul would leave their body.

18 Adam and Eve stood praying until the darkness of night came on them. Adam could not see Eve, and Eve could not see Adam.

19 They kept praying.

Chap. XXVII.

The second temptation of Adam and Eve.

1 When Satan, the hater of everything that was good, saw how they kept praying, and that God communicated with them and comforted them, and that God had accepted their offering, then Satan made a plan.

2 He started with transforming his armies - in his hands was a flashing fire, and they were in a great light.

3 Then he placed his throne near the mouth of the cave because he could not enter it due to their prayers. He shone light into the cave, until the cave shone over Adam and Eve, while his armies started singing praises.

4 Satan did this so that when Adam saw the light, he would think that it was a heavenly light and think that Satan's armies were angels, and that God had sent them to guard the cave and to give him light in the darkness.

5 So that when Adam left the cave and saw them, and Adam and Eve bowed to Satan, then he would overcome Adam, and humble him a second time before God.

6 When Adam and Eve saw the light, they thought it was real and took heart as they were afraid. Adam said to Eve,

7 "Look at that great light, and at those many songs of praise, and at that army standing outside. They do not come to us, they do not tell us what they say or where they come, or what the meaning of this light is, or what those praises are, or why they have been sent here, and why they do not come in.

8 If they were from God, they would come to us in the cave, and would tell us their task.

9 Then Adam stood up and prayed to God fervently. He said,

10 "Lord, is there another god than you in the world, you who created angels and filled them with light, and sent them to guard us, who would come with them?

11 But now we see these armies that stand at the mouth of the cave. They are in a strong light, and sing loud praises. If they are of some other god than you, tell me, and if they are sent by you, tell me why you have sent them.

12 No sooner had Adam said this, than an angel from God appeared to him in the cave, who said to him, Adam, do not be afraid. This is Satan and his armies. He wants to deceive you as he deceived you at first. The first time, he was hidden in the serpent, but this time he has come to you disguised as an angel of light, so that if you worship him, he would beguile you in the very presence of God.

13 Then the angel left Adam, and seized Satan at the opening of the cave, and stripped him of the disguise he had assumed, and brought him in his own hideous form to Adam and Eve, who were afraid of him when they saw him.

14 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, therefore he transformed himself into an angel of light.

15 Then the angel drove away Satan and his armies from Adam and Eve, and said to them, Don't be afraid, God who created you will strengthen you.

16 The angel left them.

17 But Adam and Eve stayed in the cave. No comfort came to them and they were undecided.

18 When morning came, they prayed, and then went out to look for the garden. Their hearts were there, and they could get no comfort for leaving it.

Chap. XXVIII.

Satan leads Adam and Eve to the water.

1 When the cunning Satan saw that they were going to the garden, he collected his army and went to them looking like a cloud, intending to deceive them.

2 However, when Adam and Eve saw him this way in a vision, they thought they were angels of God coming to comfort them about their having left the garden, or to bring them back to it.

3 Adam spread his hands to God, begging him to make him understand what they were.

4 Then Satan, the hater of everything that was good, said to Adam, "Adam, I am an angel of the great God! Look at the armies that surround me!

5 God has sent me and them to take you to the border of the garden northwards, to the shore of the clear sea, and to bathe you and Eve in it, and to raise you to your former happiness as you will be happy to return to the garden.

6 These words sank into Adam and Eve's hearts.

7 However, 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.

8 Then Satan called Adam and Eve, and said to them, Look, we are going to the sea, and they started on their way

9 Adam and Eve followed them at a short distance.

10 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, Satan came close to Adam and Eve, and made them go up to the top of it. This was in reality and not in a vision. He intended to throw them down and kill them, and to wipe their name off the earth, so that this earth would remain to him and his armies alone.

Chap. XXIX.

God tells Adam about Satan's plan.

1 When the merciful God saw that Satan wished to kill Adam with his various lots, and saw that Adam was honest and without deviousness, God spoke to Satan in a loud voice and cursed him.

2 Then he and his armies fled, and Adam and Eve stayed standing on the top of the mountain. Below them they saw the wide world, and they were high above it. However they did not see any of the armies which were next to them.

3 Both Adam and Eve cried to God, and begged him for forgiveness.

4 Then the Word of God came to Adam and said to him, Understand this about this Satan, that he intends to deceive you and your descendants after you.

5 Adam cried before the Lord God, and begged and entreated him to give him something from the garden as a token to comfort him.

6 God looked at Adam's thought, and sent the angel Michael as far as the sea that reaches to India, to take golden rods from it and bring them to Adam.

7 God did this in his wisdom, so that these golden rods, being with Adam in the cave, would shine out light in the night around him, and put an end to his fear of the darkness.

8 Then the angel Michael went down by God's order, took golden rods as God had commanded him, and brought them to Adam.

Chap. XXX.

Adam receives the goods.

1 After this happened, God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the garden and to say to the cherub who guarded it, God has commanded me to come into the garden, and to take sweet scenting incense from here, and give it Adam.

2 Then the angel Gabriel went down by God's order to the garden, and told the cherub what God had commanded him.

3 The cherub then said, So be it. Gabriel went in and took the incense.

4 Then God commanded his angel Raphael to go down to the garden, and speak to the cherub about some myrrh, to give Adam.

5 The angel Raphael went down and told the cherub what God had commanded him, and the cherub said, So be it. Then Raphael went in and took the myrrh.

6 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 on Adam.

7 The angels brought these three things to God, by the Tree of Life, in the garden.

8 Then God said to the angels, "Dip them in the spring of water, then take them and sprinkle their water over Adam and Eve, so that they will be a little comforted in their sorrow, and give them to Adam and Eve.

9 The angels did as God had commanded them, and they gave all those things to Adam and Eve on the top of the mountain on which Satan had placed them, when he tried to kill them.

10 When Adam saw the golden rods, the incense and the myrrh, he was very happy 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.

Chap. XXXI.

Adam and Eve make themselves more comfortable in the Cave of Treasures.

1 After this had happened, God said to Adam, "You asked me for something from the garden to comfort you, and I have given you these three tokens as a consolation to you, that you trust me and my covenant with you.

2 "I will come and save you, and when I am flesh, kings will bring me 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.

3 But, Adam, put these by you in the cave, the gold to shed light over you by night, the incense so that you smell its sweet fragrance, and the myrrh, to comfort you in your sorrow.

4 When Adam heard what God said, he worshipped him. He and Eve worshipped him and thanked him, because he had been merciful to them.

5 Then God commanded the three angels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, to bring what each had brought, and give it Adam. They did so, one by one.

6 God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to carry Adam and