The First Book of Adam and Eve
filled it with brightness, grace, and light; and the Holy Ghost came
down on that offering.
14 Then God commanded an angel to take fire tongs, like a spoon, and
with it to take an offering and bring it to Adam and Eve. And the
angel did so, as God had commanded him, and offered it to them.
15 And the souls of Adam and Eve were brightened, and their hearts were
filled with joy and gladness and with the praises of God.
16 And God said to Adam, "This shall be to you a custom, to do so,
when affliction and sorrow come over you. But your deliverance and
your entrance in to the garden, shall not be until the days are
fulfilled as agreed between you and Me; were it not so, I would, of My
mercy and pity for you, bring you back to My garden and to My favor for
the sake of the offering you have just made to My name."
17 Adam rejoiced at these words which he heard from God; and he and Eve
worshipped before the altar, to which they bowed, and then went back to
the Cave of Treasures.
18 And this took place at the end of the twelfth day after the
eightieth day, from the time Adam and Eve came out of the garden.
19 And they stood up the whole night praying until morning; and then
went out of the cave.
20 Then Adam said to Eve, with joy of heart, because of the offering
they had made to God, and that had been accepted of Him, "Let us do
this three times every week, on the fourth day Wednesday, on the
preparation day Friday, and on the Sabbath Sunday, all the days of our
life."
21 And as they agreed to these words between themselves, God was
pleased with their thoughts, and with the resolution they had each
taken with the other.
22 After this, came the Word of God to Adam, and said, "O Adam, you
have determined beforehand the days in which sufferings shall come over
Me, when I am made flesh; for they are the fourth Wednesday, and the
preparation day Friday.
23 But as to the first day, I created in it all things, and I raised
the heavens. And, again, through My rising again on this day, will I
create joy, and raise them on high, who believe in Me; O Adam, offer
this offering, all the days of your life."
24 Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.
25 But Adam continued to offer this offering thus, every week three
times, until the end of seven weeks. And on the first day, which is
the fiftieth, Adam made an offering as he was accustomed, and he and
Eve took it and came to the altar before God, as He had taught them.
Chapter LXIX - Twelfth apparition of Satan to Adam and Eve, while Adam
was praying over the offering on the altar; when Satan beat him.
1 Then Satan, the hater of all good, envious of Adam and of his
offering through which he found favor with God, hastened and took a
sharp stone from among the sharp iron stones; appeared in the form of a
man, and went and stood by Adam and Eve.
2 Adam was then offering on the altar, and had begun to pray, with his
hands spread before God.
3 Then Satan hastened with the sharp iron stone he had with him, and
with it pierced Adam on the right side, from which flowed blood and
water, then Adam fell on the altar like a corpse. And Satan fled.
4 Then Eve came, and took Adam and placed him below the altar. And
there she stayed, crying over him; while a stream of blood flowed from
Adam's side over his offering.
5 But God looked at the death of Adam. He then sent His Word, and
raised him up and said to him, "Fulfil your offering, for indeed, Adam,
it is worth much, and there is no shortcoming in it."
6 God said further to Adam, "Thus will it also happen to Me, on the
earth, when I shall be pierced and blood and water shall flow from My
side and run over My body, which is the true offering; and which shall
be offered on the altar as a perfect offering."
7 Then God commanded Adam to finish his offering, and when he had ended
it he worshipped before God, and praised Him for the signs He had
showed him.
8 And God healed Adam in one day, which is the end of the seven weeks;
and that is the fiftieth day.
9 Then Adam and Eve returned from the mountain, and went into the Cave
of Treasures, as they were used to do. This completed for Adam and
Eve, one hundred and forty days since their coming out of the garden.
10 Then they both stood up that night and prayed to God. And when it
was morning, they went out, and went down westward of the cave, to the
place where their corn was, and there rested under the shadow of a
tree, as they were accustomed.
11 But when there a multitude of beasts came all around them. It was
Satan's doing, in his wickedness; in order to wage war against Adam
through marriage.
Chapter LXX - Thirteenth apparition of Satan, to trick Adam into
marrying Eve.
1 After this Satan, the hater of all good, took the form of an angel,
and with him two others, so that they looked like the three angels who
had brought to Adam gold, incense, and myrrh.
2 They passed before Adam and Eve while they were under the tree, and
greeted Adam and Eve with fair words that were full of deceit.
3 But when Adam and Eve saw their pleasant expression, and heard their
sweet speech, Adam rose, welcomed them, and brought them to Eve, and
they remained all together; Adam's heart the while, being glad because
he thought concerning them, that they were the same angels, who had
brought him gold, incense, and myrrh.
4 Because, when they came to Adam the first time, there came over him
from them, peace and joy, through their bringing him good tokens; so
Adam thought that they had come a second time to give him other tokens
for him to rejoice therewith. For he did not know it was Satan;
therefore he received them with joy and consorted with them.
5 Then Satan, the tallest of them, said, "Rejoice, O Adam, and be glad.
Look, God has sent us to you to tell you something."
6 And Adam said, "What is it?" Then Satan answered, "It is a simple
thing, yet it is the Word of God, will you accept it from us and do it?
But if you will not accept it, we will return to God, and tell Him that
you would not receive His Word."
7 And Satan said again to Adam, "Don't be afraid and don't tremble;
don't you know us?"
8 But Adam said, "I do not know you."
9 Then Satan said to him, "I am the angel that brought you gold, and
took it to the cave; this other angel is the one that brought you
incense; and that third angel, is the one who brought you myrrh when
you were on top of the mountain, and who carried you to the cave.
10 But as to the other angels our fellows, who bare you to the cave,
God has not sent them with us this time; for He said to us, 'You will
be enough'."
11 So when Adam heard these words he believed them, and said to these
angels, "Speak the Word of God, that I may receive it."
12 And Satan said to him, "Swear, and promise me that you will receive
it."
13 Then Adam said, "I do not know how to swear and promise."
14 And Satan said to him, "Hold out your hand, and put it inside my
hand."
15 Then Adam held out his hand, and put it into Satan's hand; when
Satan said to him, "Say, now--So true as God is living, rational, and
speaking, who raised the stars in heaven, and established the dry
ground on the waters, and has created me out of the four elements*, and
out of the dust of the earth--I will not break my promise, nor renounce
my word."
16 And Adam swore thus.
17 Then Satan said to him, "Look, it is now some time since you came
out of the garden, and you know neither wickedness nor evil. But now
God says to you, to take Eve who came out of your side, and to marry
her so that she will bear you children, to comfort you, and to drive
from you trouble and sorrow; now this thing is not difficult, neither
is there any scandal in it to you.
* See the previous footnote in chapter XXXIV regarding the 'four
elements'.
Chapter LXXI - Adam is troubled by the thought of marrying Eve.
1 But when Adam heard these words from Satan, he sorrowed much, because
of his oath and of his promise, and said, "Shall I commit adultery with
my flesh and my bones, and shall I sin against myself, for God to
destroy me, and to blot me out from off the face of the earth?
2 Since, when at first, I ate of the tree, He drove me out of the
garden into this strange land, and deprived me of my bright nature, and
brought death over me. If, then, I should do this, He will cut off my
life from the earth, and He will cast me into hell, and will plague me
there a long time.
3 But God never spoke the words that you have said; and you are not
God's angels, and you weren't sent from Him. But you are devils that
have come to me under the false appearance of angels. Away from me;
you cursed of God!"
4 Then those devils fled from before Adam. And he and Eve got up, and
returned to the Cave of Treasures, and went into it.
5 Then Adam said to Eve, "If you saw what I did, don't tell anyone; for
I sinned against God in swearing by His great name, and I have placed
my hand another time into that of Satan." Eve, then, held her peace,
as Adam told her.
6 Then Adam got up, and spread his hands before God, beseeching and
entreating Him with tears, to forgive him what he had done. And Adam
remained thus standing and praying forty days and forty nights. He
neither ate nor drank until he dropped down on the ground from hunger
and thirst.
7 Then God sent His Word to Adam, who raised him up from where he lay,
and said to him, "O Adam, why have you sworn by My name, and why have
you made agreement with Satan another time?"
8 But Adam cried, and said, "O God, forgive me, for I did this
unwittingly; believing they were God's angels."
9 And God forgave Adam, saying to him, "Beware of Satan."
10 And He withdrew His Word from Adam.
11 Then Adam's heart was comforted; and he took Eve, and they went out
of the cave, to prepare some food for their bodies.
12 But from that day Adam struggled in his mind about his marrying Eve;
afraid that if he was to do it, God would be angry with him.
13 Then Adam and Eve went to the river of water, and sat on the bank,
as people do when they enjoy themselves.
14 But Satan was jealous of them; and planned to destroy them.
Chapter LXXII - Adam's heart is set on fire. Satan appears as
beautiful maidens.
1 Then Satan, and ten from his hosts, transformed themselves into
maidens, unlike any others in the whole world for grace.
2 They came up out of the river in presence of Adam and Eve, and they
said among themselves, "Come, we will look at the faces of Adam and
Eve, who are of the men on earth. How beautiful they are, and how
different is their look from our own faces." Then they came to Adam
and Eve, and greeted them; and stood wondering at them.
3 Adam and Eve looked at them also, and wondered at their beauty, and
said, "Is there, then, under us, another world, with such beautiful
creatures as these in it?"
4 And those maidens said to Adam and Eve, "Yes, indeed, we are an
abundant creation."
5 Then Adam said to them, "But how do you multiply?"
6 And they answered him, "We have husbands who have married us, and we
bear them children, who grow up, and who in their turn marry and are
married, and also bear children; and thus we increase. And if so be, O
Adam, you will not believe us, we will show you our husbands and our
children."
7 Then they shouted over the river as if to call their husbands and
their children, who came up from the river, men and children; and every
man came to his wife, his children being with him.
8 But when Adam and Eve saw them, they stood dumb, and wondered at them.
9 Then they said to Adam and Eve, "See all our husbands and our
children? You should marry Eve, as we have married our husbands, so