The First Book of Adam and Eve
** In verse 7 of the next chapter (XLIX), God tells Adam and Eve that
the ground was also lowered under them--"I commanded . . . the rock
under you to lower itself".
Chapter XLIX - The first prophecy of the Resurrection.
1 Then the Word of God came and said:--
2 "O Adam, who counselled you, when you came out of the cave, to come
to this place?"
3 And Adam said to God, "O Lord, we came to this place because of the
heat of the fire, that came over us inside the cave."
4 Then the Lord God said to Adam, "O Adam, you dread the heat of fire
for one night, but how will it be when you live in hell?
5 Yet, O Adam, don't be afraid, and don't believe that I have placed
this dome of rock over you to plague you with it.
6 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.
7 But, in mercy for you, just as that rock was falling down on you, I
commanded it to form an dome over you; and the rock under you to lower
itself.
8 And this sign, O 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.
9 But on the third day I shall rise again, and it shall be salvation to
you, O Adam, and to your descendants, to believe in Me. But, O Adam, I
will not bring you from under this rock until three days and three
nights have passed."
10 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
11 But Adam and Eve lived under the rock three days and three nights,
as God had told them.
12 And God did so to them because they had left their cave and had come
to this same place without God's order.
13 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 from crying
and sorrow.
Chapter L - Adam and Eve seek to cover their nakedness.
1 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.
2 And this took place at the end of the fifty days after they had left
the garden.
3 But Adam and Eve rose again and prayed to God in the cave the whole
of that night, and begged for mercy from Him.
4 And when the day dawned, Adam said to Eve, "Come! Let us go and do
some work for our bodies."
5 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*. 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.
6 Then Adam stood and asked God to show him something with which to
cover their bodies.
7 Then came the Word of God and said to him, "O 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.
* Chapter XLVI, 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 3:21 were burned off so that Adam and Eve
were again naked.
Chapter LI - "What is his beauty that you should have followed him?"
1 When Adam heard these words from God, he took Eve and went from the
northern end of the garden to the south of it, by the river of water
where they once fasted.
2 But as they were going on their way, and before they got there,
Satan, the wicked one, had heard the Word of God communing with Adam
respecting his covering.
3 It grieved him, and he hastened to the place where the sheep-skins
were, with the intention of taking them and throwing them into the sea,
or of burning them with fire, so that Adam and Eve would not find them.
4 But as he was about to take them, the Word of God came from heaven,
and bound him by the side of those skins until Adam and Eve came near
him. But as they got closer to him they were afraid of him, and of his
hideous look.
5 Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, and said to them, "This is
he who was hidden in the serpent, and who deceived you, and stripped
you of the garment of light and glory in which you were.
6 This is he who promised you majesty and divinity. Where, then, is
the beauty that was on him? Where is his divinity? Where is his
light? Where is the glory that rested on him?
7 Now his figure is hideous; he is become abominable among angels; and
he has come to be called Satan.
8 O Adam, he wished to take from you this earthly garment of
sheep-skins, and to destroy it, and not let you be covered with it.
9 What, then, is his beauty that you should have followed him? And
what have you gained by obeying him? See his evil works and then look
at Me; at Me, your Creator, and at the good deeds I do you.
10 See, I bound him until you came and saw him and beheld his weakness,
that no power is left with him."
11 And God released him from his bonds.
Chapter LII - Adam and Eve sew the first shirt.
1 After this Adam and Eve said no more, but cried before God on account
of their creation, and of their bodies that required an earthly
covering.
2 Then Adam said to Eve, "O Eve, this is the skin of beasts with which
we shall be covered, but when we put it on, behold, we shall be
wearing a token of death on our bodies. Just as the owners of these
skins have died and have wasted away, so also shall we die and pass
away."
3 Then Adam and Eve took the skins, and went back to the Cave of
Treasures; and when in it, they stood and prayed as they were
accustomed.
4 And they thought how they could make garments of those skins; for
they had no skill for it.
5 Then God sent to them His angel to show them how to work it out. And
the angel said to Adam, "Go forth, and bring some palm-thorns." Then
Adam went out, and brought some, as the angel had commanded him.
6 Then the angel began before them to work out the skins, after the
manner of one who prepares a shirt. And he took the thorns and stuck
them into the skins, before their eyes.
7 Then the angel again stood up and prayed God that the thorns in those
skins should be hidden, so as to be, as it were, sewn with one thread.
8 And so it was, by God's order; they became garments for Adam and Eve,
and He clothed them therewith.
9 From that time the nakedness of their bodies was covered from the
sight of each other's eyes.
10 And this happened at the end of the fifty-first day.
11 Then when Adam's and Eve's bodies were covered, they stood and
prayed, and sought mercy of the Lord, and forgiveness, and gave Him
thanks for that He had had mercy on them, and had covered their
nakedness. And they ceased not from prayer the whole of that night.
12 Then when the morning dawned at the rising of the sun, they said
their prayers after their custom; and then went out of the cave.
13 And Adam said to Eve, "Since we don't know what there is to the west
of this cave, let us go out and see it today." Then they came forth and
went toward the western border.
Chapter LIII - The prophecy of the Western Lands and of the great flood.
1 They were not very far from the cave, when Satan came towards them,
and hid himself between them and the cave, under the form of two
ravenous lions three days without food, that came towards Adam and Eve,
as if to break them in pieces and devour them.
2 Then Adam and Eve cried, and prayed God to deliver them from their
paws.
3 Then the Word of God came to them, and drove away the lions from them.
4 And God said to Adam, "O Adam, what do you seek on the western
border? And why have you left of thine own accord the eastern border,
in which was your living place?
5 Now then, turn back to your cave, and remain in it, so that Satan
won't deceive you or work his purpose over you.
6 For in this western border, O Adam, there will go from you a
descendant, that shall replenish it; and that will defile themselves
with their sins, and with their yielding to the commands of Satan, and
by following his works.
7 Therefore will I bring over them the waters of a flood, and overwhelm
them all. But I will deliver what is left of the righteous among them;
and I will bring them to a distant land, and the land in which you live
now shall remain desolate and without one inhabitant in it.
8 After God had thus spoken to them, they went back to the Cave of
Treasures. But their flesh was dried up, and they were weak from
fasting and praying, and from the sorrow they felt at having trespassed
against God.
Chapter LIV - Adam and Eve go exploring.
1 Then Adam and Eve stood up in the cave and prayed the whole of that
night until the morning dawned. And when the sun was risen they both
went out of the cave; their heads were wandering from heaviness of
sorrow and they didn't know where they were going.
2 And they walked in that condition to the southern border of the
garden. And they began to go up that border until they came to the
eastern border beyond which there was no more land.
3 And the cherub who guarded the garden was standing at the western
gate, and guarding it against Adam and Eve, lest they should suddenly
come into the garden. And the cherub turned around, as if to put them
to death; according to the commandment God had given him.
4 When Adam and Eve came to the eastern border of the garden--thinking
in their hearts that the cherub was not watching--as they were standing
by the gate as if wishing to go in, suddenly came the cherub with a
flashing sword of fire in his hand; and when he saw them, he went forth
to kill them. For he was afraid that God would destroy him if they
went into the garden without His order.
5 And the sword of the cherub seemed to shoot flames a distance away
from it. But when he raised it over Adam and Eve, the flame of the
sword did not flash forth.
6 Therefore the cherub thought that God was favorable to them, and was
bringing them back into the garden. And the cherub stood wondering.
7 He could not go up to Heaven to determine God's order regarding their
getting into the garden; he therefore continued to stand by them,
unable as he was to part from them; for he was afraid that if they
should enter the garden without permission, God would destroy him.
8 When Adam and Eve saw the cherub coming towards them with a flaming
sword of fire in his hand, they fell on their faces from fear, and were
as dead.
9 At that time the heavens and the earth shook; and another cherubim
came down from heaven to the cherub who guarded the garden, and saw him
amazed and silent.
10 Then, again, other angels came down close to the place where Adam
and Eve were. They were divided between joy and sorrow.
11 They were glad, because they thought that God was favorable to Adam,
and wished him to return to the garden; and wished to restore him to
the gladness he once enjoyed.
12 But they sorrowed over Adam, because he was fallen like a dead man,
he and Eve; and they said in their thoughts, "Adam has not died in this
place; but God has put him to death, for his having come to this place,
and wishing to get into the garden without His permission."
Chapter LV - The Conflict between God and Satan.
1 Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, and raised them from their
dead state, saying to them, "Why did you come up here? Do you intend
to go into the garden, from which I brought you out? It cannot be