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Book of Jasher 3



Book of Jasher 3

Chapter 3

 

1.                 
And Enoch lived sixty-five years and he
begat Methuselah; and Enoch walked with God after having begot Methuselah, and
he served the Lord, and despised the evil ways of men.

2.                 
And the soul of Enoch was wrapped up
in the instruction of the Lord, in knowledge and in understanding; and he
wisely retired from the sons of men, and secreted himself from them for many
days.

3.                 
And it was at the expiration of many
years, whilst he was serving the Lord, and praying before him in his house,
that an angel of the Lord called to him from Heaven, and he said, Here am I.

4.                 
And he said, Rise, go forth from thy
house and from the place where thou dost hide thyself, and appear to the sons
of men, in order that thou mayest teach them the way
in which they should go and the work which they must accomplish to enter in the
ways of God.

5.                 
And Enoch rose up according to the
word of the Lord, and went forth from his house, from his place and from the
chamber in which he was concealed; and he went to the sons of men and taught
them the ways of the Lord, and at that time assembled the sons of men and
acquainted them with the instruction of the Lord.

6.                 
And he ordered it to be proclaimed in
all places where the sons of men dwelt, saying, Where is the man who wishes to
know the ways of the Lord and good works? let him come to Enoch.

7.                 
And all the sons of men then
assembled to him, for all who desired this thing went to Enoch, and Enoch
reigned over the sons of men according to the word of the Lord, and they came
and bowed to him and they heard his word.

8.                 
And the spirit of God was upon Enoch,
and he taught all his men the wisdom of God and his ways, and the sons of men
served the Lord all the days of Enoch, and they came to hear his wisdom.

9.                 
And all the kings of the sons of men,
both first and last, together with their princes and judges, came to Enoch when
they heard of his wisdom, and they bowed down to him, and they also required of
Enoch to reign over them, to which he consented.

10.            
And they assembled in all, one
hundred and thirty kings and princes, and they made Enoch king over them and they
were all under his power and command.

11.            
And Enoch taught them wisdom,
knowledge, and the ways of the Lord; and he made peace amongst them, and peace
was throughout the earth during the life of Enoch.

12.            
And Enoch reigned over the sons of
men two hundred and forty-three years, and he did justice and righteousness
with all his people, and he led them in the ways of the Lord.

13.            
And these are the generations of
Enoch, Methuselah, Elisha, and Elimelech,
three sons; and their sisters were Melca and Nahmah, and Methuselah lived eighty-seven years and he
begat Lamech.

14.            
And it was in the fifty-sixth year of
the life of Lamech when Adam died; nine hundred and
thirty years old was he at his death, and his two sons, with Enoch and
Methuselah his son, buried him with great pomp, as at the burial of kings, in
the cave which God had told him.

15.            
And in that place all the sons of men
made a great mourning and weeping on account of Adam; it has therefore become a
custom among the sons of men to this day.

16.            
And Adam died because he ate of the
tree of knowledge; he and his children after him, as the Lord God had spoken.

17.            
And it was in the year of Adam’s
death which was the two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of Enoch, in
that time Enoch resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and to secret
himself as at first in order to serve the Lord.

18.            
And Enoch did so, but did not
entirely secret himself from them, but kept away from the sons of men three
days and then went to them for one day.

19.            
And during the three days that he was
in his chamber, he prayed to, and praised the Lord his God, and the day on
which he went and appeared to his subjects he taught them the ways of the Lord,
and all they asked him about the Lord he told them.

20.            
And he did in this manner for many
years, and he afterward concealed himself for six days, and appeared to his
people one day in seven; and after that once in a month, and then once in a
year, until all the kings, princes and sons of men sought for him, and desired
again to see the face of Enoch, and to hear his word; but they could not, as
all the sons of men were greatly afraid of Enoch, and they feared to approach
him on account of the Godlike awe that was seated upon his countenance;
therefore no man could look at him, fearing he might be punished and die.

21.            
And all the kings and princes
resolved to assemble the sons of men, and to come to Enoch, thinking that they
might all speak to him at the time when he should come forth amongst them, and
they did so.

22.            
And the day came when Enoch went
forth and they all assembled and came to him, and Enoch spoke to them the words
of the Lord and he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and they bowed down before
him and they said, May the king live! May the king live!

23.            
And in some time after, when the
kings and princes and the sons of men were speaking to Enoch, and Enoch was
teaching them the ways of God, behold an angel of the Lord then called unto
Enoch from heaven, and wished to bring him up to heaven to make him reign there
over the sons of God, as he had reigned over the sons of men upon earth.

24.            
When at that time Enoch heard this he
went and assembled all the inhabitants of the earth, and taught them wisdom and
knowledge and gave them divine instructions, and he said to them, I have been
required to ascend into heaven, I therefore do not know the day of my going.

25.            
And now therefore I will teach you
wisdom and knowledge and will give you instruction before I leave you, how to
act upon earth whereby you may live; and he did so.

26.            
And he taught them wisdom and
knowledge, and gave them instruction, and he reproved them, and he placed
before them statutes and judgments to do upon earth, and he made peace amongst
them, and he taught them everlasting life, and dwelt with them some time
teaching them all these things.

27.            
And at that time the sons of men were
with Enoch, and Enoch was speaking to them, and they lifted up their eyes and
the likeness of a great horse descended from heaven, and the horse paced in the
air;

28.            
And they told Enoch what they had
seen, and Enoch said to them, On my account does this horse descend upon earth;
the time is come when I must go from you and I shall no more be seen by you.

29.            
And the horse descended at that time
and stood before Enoch, and all the sons of men that were with Enoch saw him.

30.            
And Enoch then again ordered a voice
to be proclaimed, saying, Where is the man who delighteth
to know the ways of the Lord his God, let him come this day to Enoch before he
is taken from us.

31.            
And all the sons of men assembled and
came to Enoch that day; and all the kings of the earth with their princes and counsellors remained with him that day; and Enoch then
taught the sons of men wisdom and knowledge, and gave them divine instruction;
and he bade them serve the Lord and walk in his ways all the days of their
lives, and he continued to make peace amongst them.

32.            
And it was after this that he rose up
and rode upon the horse; and he went forth and all the sons of men went after
him, about eight hundred thousand men; and they went with him one day’s
journey.

33.            
And the second day he said to them,
Return home to your tents, why will you go? perhaps you may die; and some of
them went from him, and those that remained went with him six day’s journey;
and Enoch said to them every day, Return to your tents, lest you may die; but
they were not willing to return, and they went with him.

34.            
And on the sixth day some of the men
remained and clung to him, and they said to him, We will go with thee to the
place where thou goest; as the Lord liveth, death only shall separate us.

35.            
And they urged so much to go with
him, that he ceased speaking to them; and they went after him and would not
return;

36.            
And when the kings returned they
caused a census to be taken, in order to know the number of remaining men that
went with Enoch; and it was upon the seventh day that Enoch ascended into
heaven in a whirlwind, with horses and chariots of fire.

37.            
And on the eighth day all the kings
that had been with Enoch sent to bring back the number of men that were with
Enoch, in that place from which he ascended into heaven.

38.            
And all those kings went to the place
and they found the earth there filled with snow, and upon the snow were large
stones of snow, and one said to the other, Come, let us break through the snow
and see, perhaps the men that remained with Enoch are dead, and are now under
the stones of snow, and they searched but could not find him, for he had
ascended into heaven.

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