Book of Jasher 15
Chapter 15
1.
And in that year there was a heavy
famine throughout the
inhabitants of the land could not remain on account of the famine for it was
very grievous.
2.
And Abram and all belonging to him
rose and went down to Egypt on account of the famine, and when they were at the
brook Mitzraim they remained there some time to rest
from the fatigue of the road.
3.
And Abram and Sarai
were walking at the border of the brook Mitzraim, and
Abram beheld his wife Sarai that she was very
beautiful.
4.
And Abram said to his wife Sarai, Since God has created thee with such a beautiful
countenance, I am afraid of the Egyptians lest they should slay me and take
thee away, for the fear of God is not in these places.
5.
Surely then thou shalt
do this, Say thou art my sister to all that may ask thee, in order that it may
be well with me, and that we may live and not be put to death.
6.
And Abram commanded the same to all
those that came with him to Egypt on account of the famine; also his nephew
commanded, saying, If the Egyptians ask thee concerning Sarai
say she is the sister of Abram.
7.
And yet with all these orders Abram did
not put confidence in them, but he took Sarai and
placed her in a chest and concealed it amongst their vessels, for Abram was
greatly concerned about Sarai on account of the
wickedness of the Egyptians.
8.
And Abram and all belonging to him
rose up from the brook Mitzraim and came to Egypt;
and they had scarcely entered the gates of the city when the guards stood up to
them saying, Give tithe to the king from what you have, and then you may come
into the town; and Abram and those that were with him did so.
9.
And Abram with the people that were
with him came to
they came they brought the chest in which Sarai was
concealed and the Egyptians saw the chest.
10.
And the king’s servants approached
Abram, saying, What hast thou here in this chest which we have not seen? Now
open thou the chest and give tithe to the king of all that it contains.
11.
And Abram said, This chest I will not
open, but all you demand upon it I will give. And Pharaoh’s officers answered
Abram, saying, It is a chest of precious stones, give us the tenth thereof.
12.
Abram said, All that you desire I
will give, but you must not open the chest.
13.
And the king’s officers pressed
Abram, and they reached the chest and opened it with force, and they saw, and
behold a beautiful woman was in the chest.
14.
And when the officers of the king
beheld Sarai they were struck with admiration at her
beauty, and all the princes and servants of Pharaoh assembled to see Sarai, for she was very beautiful. And the king’s officers
ran and told Pharaoh all that they had seen, and they praised Sarai to the king; and Pharaoh ordered her to be brought,
and the woman came before the king.
15.
And Pharaoh beheld Sarai and she pleased him exceedingly, and he was struck
with her beauty, and the king rejoiced greatly on her account, and made
presents to those who brought him the tidings concerning her.
16.
And the woman was then brought to
Pharaoh’s house, and Abram grieved on account of his wife, and he prayed to the
Lord to deliver her from the hands of Pharaoh.
17.
And Sarai
also prayed at that time and said, O Lord God thou didst tell my Lord Abram to
go from his land and from his father’s house to the land of Canaan, and thou
didst promise to do well with him if he would perform thy commands; now behold
we have done that which thou didst command us, and we left our land and our
families, and we went to a strange land and to a people whom we have not known
before.
18.
And we came to this land to avoid the
famine, and this evil accident has befallen me; now therefore, O Lord God,
deliver us and save us from the hand of this oppressor, and do well with me for
the sake of thy mercy.
19.
And the Lord hearkened to the voice
of Sarai, and the Lord sent an angel to deliver Sarai from the power of Pharaoh.
20.
And the king came and sat before Sarai and behold an angel of the Lord was standing over
them, and he appeared to Sarai and said to her, Do
not fear, for the Lord has heard thy prayer.
21.
And the king approached Sarai and said to her, What is that man to thee who brought
thee hither? and she said, He is my brother.
22.
And the king said, It is incumbent
upon us to make him great, to elevate him and to do unto him all the good which
thou shalt command us; and at that time the king sent
to Abram silver and gold and precious stones in abundance, together with cattle,
men servants and maid servants; and the king ordered Abram to be brought, and
he sat in the court of the king’s house, and the king greatly exalted Abram on
that night.
23.
And the king approached to speak to Sarai, and he reached out his hand to touch her, when the
angel smote him heavily, and he was terrified and he refrained from reaching to
her.
24.
And when the king came near to Sarai, the angel smote him to the ground, and acted thus to
him the whole night, and the king was terrified.
25.
And the angel on that night smote
heavily all the servants of the king, and his whole household, on account of Sarai, and there was a great lamentation that night amongst
the people of Pharaoh’s house.
26.
And Pharaoh, seeing the evil that
befell him, said, Surely on account of this woman has this thing happened to
me, and he removed himself at some distance from her and spoke pleasing words
to her.
27.
And the king said to Sarai, Tell me I pray thee concerning the man with whom
thou camest here; and Sarai
said, This man is my husband, and I said to thee that he was my brother for I
was afraid, lest thou shouldst put him to death
through wickedness.
28.
And the king kept away from Sarai, and the plagues of the angel of the Lord ceased from
him and his household; and Pharaoh knew that he was smitten on account of Sarai, and the king was greatly astonished at this.
29.
And in the morning the king called
for Abram and said to him, What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou
say, She is my sister, owing to which I took her unto me for a wife, and this
heavy plague has therefore come upon me and my household.
30.
Now therefore here is thy wife, take
her and go from our land lest we all die on her account. And Pharaoh took more
cattle, men servants and maid servants, and silver and gold, to give to Abram,
and he returned unto him Sarai his wife.
31.
And the king took a maiden whom he
begat by his concubines, and he gave her to Sarai for
a handmaid.
32.
And the king said to his daughter, It
is better for thee my daughter to be a handmaid in this man’s house than to be
mistress in my house, after we have beheld the evil that befell us on account
of this woman.
33.
And Abram arose, and he and all
belonging to him went away from Egypt; and Pharaoh ordered some of his men to
accompany him and all that went with him.
34.
And Abram returned to the land of
Canaan, to the place where he had made the altar, where he at first had pitched
his tent.
35.
And Lot the son of Haran, Abram’s brother, had a heavy stock of cattle, flocks
and herds and tents, for the Lord was bountiful to them on account of Abram.
36.
And when Abram was dwelling in the
land the herdsmen of Lot quarrelled with the herdsmen
of Abram, for their property was too great for them to remain together in the
land, and the land could not bear them on account of their cattle.
37.
And when Abram’s herdsmen went to
feed their flock they would not go into the fields of the people of the land,
but the cattle of Lot’s herdsmen did otherwise, for they were suffered to feed
in the fields of the people of the land.
38.
And the people of the land saw this
occurrence daily, and they came to Abram and quarrelled
with him on account of Lot’s herdsmen.
39.
And Abram said to Lot, What is this
thou art doing to me, to make me despicable to the inhabitants of the land,
that thou orderest thy herdsman to feed thy cattle in
the fields of other people? Dost thou not know that I am a stranger in this
land amongst the children of Canaan, and why wilt thou do this unto me?
40.
And Abram quarrelled
daily with Lot on account of this, but Lot would not listen to Abram, and he
continued to do the same and the inhabitants of the land came and told Abram.
41.
And Abram said unto Lot, How long
wilt thou be to me for a stumbling block with the inhabitants of the land? Now
I beseech thee let there be no more quarrelling between us, for we are kinsmen.
42.
But I pray thee separate from me, go
and choose a place where thou mayest dwell with thy
cattle and all belonging to thee, but Keep thyself at a distance from me, thou
and thy household.
43.
And be not afraid in going from me,
for if any one do an injury to thee, let me know and I will avenge thy cause
from him, only remove from me.
44.
And when Abram had spoken all these
words to Lot, then Lot arose and lifted up his eyes toward the plain of Jordan.
45.
And he saw that the whole of this
place was well watered, and good for man as well as affording pasture for the
cattle.
46.
And
Abram to that place, and he there pitched his tent and he dwelt in
were separated from each other.
47.
And Abram dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and he pitched his tent there,
and Abram remained in that place many years.
