The Book of Jubilees

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Jubilees is presented in this book as a text known before the Dead Sea discoveries that held scriptural status in the Qumran community.

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See especially the introduction, pp. Edited by Louis Pirot, — This comprehensive study of introductory issues dates the book to the middle of the 2nd century BCE. Frey resists the temptation to assign authorship to a particular sectarian Jewish group. Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah. Argues that Jubilees offers another example of the interpretation of the Bible, and it is closely related to reformist groups responsible for parts of 1 Enoch. In this clear, concise presentation, the author stresses topics such as halakhah, instruction, encouragement, and warnings.

Paul and Palestinian Judaism. Sanders treats topics such as election, the commandments, salvation, and the Gentiles in a work that significantly affected the study of Paul.

This classic study of Jubilees, undertaken before the full impact of Qumran discoveries was known, describes its angelology, eschatology, determinism, and exclusivism. Testuz relates its ideas to an Essene group in the final years of John Hyrcanus, c. Edited by David Noel Freedman, — Edited by Lawrence H. Schiffman and James C. Oxford University Press, The Book of Jubilees. Sheffield Academic Press, According to this book, Hebrew is the language of Heaven, and was originally spoken by all creatures in the Garden, animals and man; however, the animals lost their power of speech when Adam and Eve were expelled.

Following the Deluge, the earth was apportioned into three divisions for the three sons of Noah , and his sixteen grandsons. After the destruction of the Tower of Babel , their families were scattered to their respective allotments, and Hebrew was forgotten, until Abraham was taught it by the angels. Jubilees also contains a few scattered allusions to the Messianic kingdom. Robert Henry Charles wrote in This kingdom would be gradually realized on earth, and the transformation of physical nature would go hand in hand with the ethical transformation of man until there was a new heaven and a new earth.

Thus, finally, all sin and pain would disappear and men would live to the age of 1, years in happiness and peace, and after death enjoy a blessed immortality in the spirit world. It also insists on a "Double Sabbath" each year being counted as only one day to arrive at this computation. Jubilees bases its take on Enoch on the "Book of Watchers", 1 Enoch 1— From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For the Jewish legal concept, see Jubilee biblical. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy. Thus it agrees with individual authorities such as the Samaritan or the LXX, or the Syriac, or the Vulgate, or the Targum of Onkelos against all the rest. Charles, "Textual affinities", in his introduction to his edition of Jubilees , "Archived copy". Archived from the original on Archived copy as title link. Beyond the Essene Hypothesis. The Book of Jubilees Among the Apocalypses. Independently of one another.

Klaus Berger, Die Urchristen p. Archived at the Wayback Machine. Books of the Bible. Although our author is an upholder of the Maccabean dynasty he still clings like the writer of I Enoch lxxxiii-xc to the hope of a Messiah sprung from Judah. He makes, however, only one reference to this Messiah, and no role of any importance is assigned to him see Charles's edition, xxxi. The Messianic expectation showed no vigorous life throughout this century till it was identified with the Maccabean family.

If we are right in regarding the Messianic kingdom as of temporary duration, this is the first instance in which the Messiah is associated with a temporary Messianic kingdom. According to our author i. Its members were to attain to the full limit of 1, years in happiness and peace. During its continuance the powers of evil were to be restrained xxiii. The last judgement was apparently to take place at its close xxiii. This view was possibly derived from Mazdeism. The writer of Jubilees, we can hardly doubt, thought that the era of the Messianic kingdom had already set in.

Such an expectation was often cherished in the prosperous days of the Maccabees. Thus it was entertained by the writer of I Enoch lxxxiii-xc in the days of Judas before B. Whether Jonathan was looked upon as the divine agent for introducing the kingdom we cannot say, but as to Simon being regarded in this light there is no doubt.

Indeed, his contemporaries came to regard him as the Messiah himself, as we see from Psalm cx, or Hyrcanus in the noble Messianic hymn in Test. The tame effus1on in 1 Macc. Simon was succeeded by John Hyrcanus in B. Levi 8 he embraced in his own person the triple office of prophet, priest, and civil ruler xxxi. Reuben 6 he was to 'die on behalf of Israel in wars seen and unseen'. In both these passages he seems to be accorded the Messianic office, but not so in our author, as we have seen above.

Hyrcanus is only to introduce the Messianic kingdom, over which the Messiah sprung from Judah is to rule. That there was originally an account of Melchizedek in our text we have shown in the note on xiii. It would be interesting to inquire how far the writer of Hebrews was indebted to the history of the great Maccabean king-priests for the idea of the Melchizedekian priesthood of which he has made so fruitful a use in chap.

In our text all hope of a resurrection of the body is abandoned. The souls of the righteous will enjoy a blessed immortality after death xxiii.

This is the earliest attested instance of this expectation in the last two centuries B. It is next found in Enoch xci-civ. For our author's peculiar views see Charles's edition 18 and the notes on vi. We shall confine our attention here to notable parallels between our author and the New Testament. Besides the angels of the presence and the angels of sanctification there are the angels who are set over natural phenomena ii.

These angels are inferior to the former. They do not observe the Sabbath as the higher orders; for they are necessarily always engaged in their duties ii. It is the higher orders that are generally referred to in the New Testament but the angels over natural phenomena are referred to in Revelation: Again, the guardian angels of individuals, which the New Testament refers to in Matt.

On the angelology of our author see Charles's edition. Their fall and punishment are recorded in Jub. These demons attacked men and ruled over them x. Their purpose is to corrupt and lead astray and destroy the wicked x. They are subject to the prince Mastema x. Men sacrifice to them as gods xxii. They are to pursue their work of moral ruin till the judgement of Mastema x. So in the New Testament, the demons are disembodied spirits Matt.

Their chief is Satan Mark iii. They are treated as divinities of the heathen I Cor. They are not to be punished till the final judgement Matt. On the advent of the Millennium Satan will be bound Rev. The doctrine of retribution is strongly enforced by our author. It is to be individual and national in this world and in the next. As regards the individual the law of exact retribution is according to our author not merely an enactment of human justice -the ancient lox talionis, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; it is observed by God in His government of the world.

The penalty follows in the line of the sin. This view is enforced in 2 Macc. So also in our text in reference to Cain iv. Taken crassly and mechanically the above law is without foundation, but spiritually conceived it represented the profound truth of the kinship of the penalty to the sin enunciated repeatedly in the New Testament: Again in certain cases the punishment was to follow instantaneously on the transgression xxxvii. The final judgement was to take place at the close of the Messianic kingdom xxiii.

Book of Jubilees

This judgement embraces the human and superhuman worlds v. At this judgement there will be no respect of persons, but all will be judged according to their opportunities and abilities v. From the standpoint of our author there could be no hope for the Gentiles. Charles from four MSS. Dillrnann, Das Buch der Jubilaen. This translation is based on only one MS. Jewish Quarterly Review, , v.

This translation is based on Charles's text. Charles, The Book ofjubilees, Ronsch published a Commentary on the Latin Version. Dillmann, 'Pseudepigraphen des A. For a full bibliography see Charles's Commentary or Schurer. Charles will not be given due to length and difficulty in scanning and editing. If this information is desired, please see his book. THIS is the history of the division of the days of the law and of the testimony, of the events of the years, of their year weeks, of their Jubilees throughout all the years of the world, as the Lord spake to Moses on Mount Sinai when he went up to receive the tables of the law and of the commandment, according to the voice of God as he said unto him, 'Go up to the top of the Mount.

And He called to Moses on the seventh day out of the midst of the cloud, and the appearance of the glory of the 4 Lord was like a flaming fire on the top of the mount. And Moses was on the Mount forty days and forty nights, and God taught him the earlier and the later history of the division of all the days 5 of the law and of the testimony. And thus it will come to pass when all these things come upon them, that they will recognise that I am more righteous than they in all their judgments and in all their actions, and they will recognise that 7 I have been truly with them.

And do thou write for thyself all these words which I declare unto, thee this day, for I know their rebellion and their stiff neck, before I bring them into the land of which I sware to their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, saying: And they will eat and be satisfied, and they will turn to strange gods, to gods which cannot deliver them from aught of their tribulation: For they will forget all My commandments, even all that I command them, and they will walk after the Gentiles, and after their uncleanness, and after their shame, and will serve their gods, and these will 10 prove unto them an offence and a tribulation and an affliction and a snare.

And many will perish and they will be taken captive, and will fall into the hands of the enemy, because they have forsaken My ordinances and My commandments, and the festivals of My covenant, and My sabbaths, and My holy place which I have hallowed for Myself in their midst, and My tabernacle, and My sanctuary, which I have hallowed for Myself in the midst of the land, that I should set my name 11 upon it, and that it should dwell there.

And they will make to themselves high places and groves and graven images, and they will worship, each his own graven image , so as to go astray, and they 12 will sacrifice their children to demons, and to all the works of the error of their hearts. And I will send witnesses unto them, that I may witness against them, but they will not hear, and will slay the witnesses also, and they will persecute those who seek the law, and they will abrogate and change 13 everything so as to work evil before My eyes.

And I will hide My face from them, and I will deliver them into the hand of the Gentiles for captivity, and for a prey, and for devouring, and I will remove them from the midst of the land, and I will scatter them amongst the Gentiles. And after this they will turn to Me from amongst the Gentiles with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their strength, and I will gather them from amongst all the Gentiles, and they will seek me, so 16 that I shall be found of them, when they seek me with all their heart and with all their soul.

And I will disclose to them abounding peace with righteousness, and I will remove them the plant of uprightness, with all My heart and with all My soul, and they shall be for a blessing and not for 17 a curse, and they shall be the head and not the tail. And I will build My sanctuary in their midst, and I will dwell with them, and I will be their God and they shall be My people in truth and 18, 19 righteousness. And I will not forsake them nor fail them; for I am the Lord their God. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be lifted up upon Thy people, and create in them an upright spirit, and let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to ensnare them 21 from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may perish from before Thy face.

But they are Thy people and Thy inheritance, which thou hast delivered with thy great power from the hands of the Egyptians: And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all their heart and with all their soul, and I will circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity.

And they all shall be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know, yea, they shall know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that 26 I love them. And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell 27 with them throughout eternity.

Write for Moses from 28 the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity. And the Lord will appear to the eyes of all, and all shall know that I am the God of Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem shall 29 be holy.

Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and 2 appointed it as a sign for all His works. For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits which serve before him -the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer and of all the spirits of his creatures which are in the heavens and on the earth, He created the abysses and the darkness, eventide and night , and the light, dawn and day, which He hath 3 prepared in the knowledge of his heart.

And thereupon we saw His works, and praised Him, and lauded before Him on account of all His works; for seven great works did He create on the first day. And this was the only work God created 5 on the second day. And on the third day He commanded the waters to pass from off the face of 6 the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to appear. And the waters did so as He commanded them, and they retired from off the face of the earth into one place outside of this firmament, 7 and the dry land appeared.

And on that day He created for them all the seas according to their separate gathering-places, and all the rivers, and the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and on all the earth, and all the lakes, and all the dew of the earth, and the seed which is sown, and all sprouting things, and fruit-bearing trees, and trees of the wood, and the garden of Eden, in Eden 8 and all. These four great works God created on the third day. And on the fourth day He created the sun and the moon and the stars, and set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon all the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, and divide the 9 light from the darkness.

And God appointed the sun to be a great sign on the earth for days and 10 for sabbaths and for months and for feasts and for years and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all seasons of the years. And it divideth the light from the darkness [and] for prosperity, that all things may prosper which shoot and grow on the earth. These three kinds He made on the fourth day. And on the fifth day He created great sea monsters in the depths of the waters, for these were the first things of flesh that were created by his hands, the fish and everything that moves in the 12 waters, and everything that flies, the birds and all their kind.

And the sun rose above them to prosper them , and above everything that was on the earth, everything that shoots out of the earth, and all 13 fruit-bearing trees, and all flesh. These three kinds He created on the fifth day. And on the sixth day 14 He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle, and everything that moves on the earth. And after all this He created man, a man and a woman created He them, and gave him dominion over all that is upon the earth, and in the seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and over cattle, and over everything that moves on the earth, and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave 15 him dominion.

And these four kinds He created on the sixth day. And there were altogether 16 two and twenty kinds. And He finished all his work on the sixth day -all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the darkness, and in 17 everything. And He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but 18 keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work.

And all the angels of the presence, and all the angels of sanctification, these two great classes -He hath bidden us to keep the Sabbath with Him 19 in heaven and on earth. And He said unto us: And I have chosen the seed of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as My first-born son,and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the 21 Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all work.

And He caused His commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him all the days. And to this Jacob and his seed it was granted that they should always be the blessed and holy ones of the first testimony 25 and law, even as He had sanctified and blessed the Sabbath day on the seventh day. He created heaven and earth and everything that He created in six days, and God made the seventh day holy, for all His works; therefore He commanded on its behalf that, whoever does any work thereon 26 shall die, and that he who defiles it shall surely die.

Wherefore do thou command the children of Israel to observe this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any work, and not to 27 defile it, as it is holier than all other days. And whoever profanes it shall surely die, and whoever does thereon any work shall surely die eternally, that the children of Israel may observe this day throughout their generations, and not be rooted out of the land; for it is a holy day and a blessed 28 day.

And every one who observes it and keeps Sabbath thereon from all his work, will be holy and 29 blessed throughout all days like unto us. Declare and say to the children of Israel the law of this day both that they should keep Sabbath thereon, and that they should not forsake it in the error of their hearts; and that it is not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly, to do thereon their own pleasure, and that they should not prepare thereon anything to be eaten or drunk, and that it is not lawful to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon through their gates any burden, 30 which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth day in their dwellings.

And they shall not bring in nor take out from house to house on that day; for that day is more holy and blessed than any jubilee day of the jubilees; on this we kept Sabbath in the heavens before it was made 31 known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed it, but he did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon, but Israel alone: And the Creator of all things blessed this day which He had created for blessing and holiness and glory above all 33 days.

This law and testimony was given to the children of Israel as a law for ever unto their generations. And the Lord said unto us: And He awaked Adam out of his sleep and on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to him, and he knew her, and said unto her: In the first week was Adam created, and the rib -his wife: And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden 10 of Eden.

And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth: But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days 12 in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days. Therefore, there was ordained regarding her who bears a male or a female child the statute of those days that she should touch no hallowed thing, nor 14 enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or female child are accomplished.

This is the law and testimony which was written down for Israel, in order that they should observe it all the 15 days. And in the first week of the first jubilee, [ A. And he tilled the garden , and was naked and knew it not, and was not ashamed, and he protected the garden from the birds and beasts and cattle, and gathered its fruit, and eat, and put aside the residue for himself and for his wife [and put aside that which was 17 being kept]. And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.

And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit 21 was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when she had first covered her shame with figleaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was 22 naked. And he took figleaves and sewed them together, and made an apron for himself, and 23, 24 covered his shame.

The Book of Jubilees

And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever. And He was wroth with the woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her: And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the 28 rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: And to Adam alone did He give the wherewithal to cover his shame, of all the beasts and 31 cattle.

On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets as touching all those who know the judgment of the law, that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the 32 Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went 33 forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land of Elda in the land of their creation.

And 34 Adam called the name of his wife Eve. And they had no son till the first jubilee, [8 A. Now he tilled the land as he had been instructed in the Garden of Eden. And in the first year of the third jubilee, Cain slew Abel because God accepted the sacrifice of Abel, and did not accept 3 the offering of Cain.

And he slew him in the field: And the Lord reproved Cain because of Abel, because he had slain him, and he made him a fugitive on the earth because of the blood of his brother, and he 5 cursed him upon the earth. And on this account it is written on the heavenly tables, 'Cursed is ,he who smites his neighbour treacherously, and let all who have seen and heard say, So be it; and 6 the man who has seen and not declared it , let him be accursed as the other.

And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four weeks of years, [ A. M] and in the fourth year of the fifth week [ A. And Cain took Awan his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. And Adam knew Eve his wife and she bare yet nine sons. And in the fifth week of the fifth jubilee [ A. He began to call on the name of the Lord on the earth. And in the seventh jubilee in the third week [ A. And at the close of the eighth jubilee [, A. M] and he called his name Mahalalel. And in the second week of the tenth jubilee [ A. And in the eleventh jubilee [ A. And he was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of 18 their separate months.

And he was the first to write a testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years 19 as we made them , known to him. And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all 20 the children of men and for their generations.

And in the twelfth jubilee, [] in the seventh week thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Edna, the daughter of Danel, the daughter of his father's brother, and in the sixth year in this week [ A. And he was moreover with the angels of God these six jubilees of years, and they showed him everything which is on earth and in the heavens, the rule of the sun, and he wrote down 22 everything.

And he testified to the Watchers, who had sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of men, and Enoch 23 testified against them all. And he was taken from amongst the children of men, and we conducted him into the Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he writes down the con- 24 demnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of men. And on account of it God brought the waters of the flood upon all the land of Eden; for there he was set as a sign and that he should testify against all the children of men, that he should recount all the 25 deeds of the generations until the day of condemnation.

And he burnt the incense of the sanctuary, 26 even sweet spices acceptable before the Lord on the Mount. For the Lord has four places on the earth, the Garden of Eden, and the Mount of the East, and this mountain on which thou art this day, Mount Sinai, and Mount Zion which will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from all its guilt and its uncleanness through- 27 out the generations of the world.

And in the fourteenth jubilee [ A. And in the fifteenth jubilee in the third week Lamech took to himself a wife, and her name was Betenos the daughter of Baraki'il, the daughter of his father's brother, and in this week she bare him a son and he called his name Noah, saying, 'This one will comfort me for my trouble and all my work, and for the ground 29 which the Lord hath cursed.

And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in 32 righteous judgment.

For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tablets: With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed; after the manner that 33 he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him. And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth -all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men 3 was thus evil continually.

And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil 4 before His eyes. And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth 5,6 which He had created. But Noah found grace before the eyes of the Lord. And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and 7 behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are kept separate.

And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed 8 from under heaven. And He said 'My spirit shall not always abide on man; for they also are flesh 9 and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'. And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword 10 and were destroyed from the earth.

And their fathers were witnesses of their destruction , and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before 11 the Lord. And He destroyed all from their places, and there was not left one of them whom 12 He judged not according to all their wickedness. And he made for all his works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their whole nature for ever, but should be all 13 righteous each in his kind alway.

And the judgment of all is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets in righteousness -even the judgment of all who depart from the path which is ordained for them to walk in; and if they walk not therein, judgment is written down for every creature and 14 for every kind. And there is nothing in heaven or on earth, or in light or in darkness, or in Sheol or in the depth, or in the place of darkness which is not judged ; and all their judgments are 15 ordained and written and engraved. In regard to all He will judge,the great according to his 16 greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each according to his way.

And He is not one who will regard the person of any , nor is He one who will receive gifts, if He says that He will execute judgment on each: If they turn to him in righteousness He will forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. It is written and ordained that 19 He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each year. And the Lord said that he would destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men and cattle, and 21 beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moveth on the earth. And He commanded Noah to 22 make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters of the flood.

And Noah made the ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week 23 in the fifth year on the new moon of the first month. Fifteen cubits did the waters rise above all the high mountains, And the ark was lift up above the earth, And it moved upon the face of the waters. And on the new moon in the fourth month the fountains of the great deep were closed and the flood-gates of heaven were restrained; and on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses 30 of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the deep below.

And on the new moon of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new moon of the first 31 month the earth became visible. And the waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the seventh year [ A. And he made atonement for the earth, and took a kid and made atonement by its blood for all the guilt of the earth; for everything that had been on it had been destroyed, save 3 those that were in the ark with Noah.

And he placed the fat thereof on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat, and a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a dove, and placed a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a goodly savour to arise, acceptable before 4 the Lord.

And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and He made a covenant with him that there should not be any more a flood to destroy the earth; that all the days of the earth seed-time and harvest should never cease; cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not 5 change their order, nor cease for ever.

The fear of you and the dread of you I will 6 inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea. And behold I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged things, and everything that moves on the earth, and the fish in the waters, and all 7 things for food; as the green herbs, I have given you all things to eat. But flesh, with the life thereof, with the blood, ye shall not eat; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of your lives be required.

At the hand of every man, at the hand of every beast will I require the 8 blood of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of 9,10 God made He man. And you, increase ye, and multiply on the earth. On this account He spake to thee that thou shouldst make a covenant with the children of Israel in this month upon the mountain with an oath, and that thou shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of all the words 12 of the covenant, which the Lord made with them for ever.

And this testimony is written concerning you that you should observe it continually, so that you should not eat on any day any blood of beasts or birds or cattle during all the days of the earth, and the man who eats the blood of beast or of cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth, he and his seed shall be rooted out of the land. And for this law there is no limit of days, for it is for ever. They shall observe it throughout their generations, so that they may continue supplicating on your behalf with blood before the altar; every day and at the time of morning and evening they shall seek forgiveness on your behalf perpetually before the Lord that they may keep 15 it and not be rooted out.

And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not again 16 be a flood on the earth.

Book of Jubilees | pseudepigraphal work | www.farmersmarketmusic.com

He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there 17 should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this 18 month once a year, to renew the covenant every year.

And this whole festival was celebrated in heaven from the day of creation till the days of Noah -twenty-six jubilees and five weeks of years [ A. But Abraham observed it, and Isaac and Jacob and his children observed it up to thy days, and in thy days the children of Israel forgot it until ye celebrated it anew on this mountain. For it is the feast of weeks and the feast of first fruits: For I have written in the book of the first law, in that which I have written for thee, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season, one day in the year, and I explained to thee its sacrifices that the children of Israel should remember and should celebrate it throughout their generations in this month, one day in every year.

These are written and ordained 24 as a testimony for ever. And Noah ordained them for himself as feasts for the generations for ever, 25 so that they have become thereby a memorial unto him. And on the new moon of the first month he was bidden to make for himself an ark, and on that day the earth became dry and he opened 26 the ark and saw the earth. And on the new moon of the fourth month the mouths of the depths of the abyss beneath were closed.

And on the new moon of the seventh month all the mouths of 27 the abysses of the earth were opened, and the waters began to descend into them.

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