Book of Adam and Eve

One of the powers came, touched Eve's face and her breast, and told Eve, "Blessed are you, Eve, because of Adam, elect one and servant of God, for his prayers are great before God and, because of him, God will deliver you. If you had not been brought help because of him, you would have conceived such a thorn that you could not have rescued yourself from your sufferings. Rise up now and prepare yourself to give birth to a child." 21.3a Eve arose as the angel had instructed her: she gave birth to an child and his color was like that of the stars. He fell into the hands of the midwife and (at once) he began to pluck up the grass, for in his mother's hut grass was planted. 21.3b The midwife replied to him and told him, "God is just that he did not at all leave you in my hands. For, you are Cain, the perverse one, killer of the good, for you are the one who plucks up the fruit-bearing tree, and not him who plants it. You are the bearer of bitterness and not of sweetness." 21.3c And the power told Adam, "Remain by Eve until she has done with the infant what I have taught her. [so QAC, ag. K]" Death of Abel [22]1.2 As for Adam, he took Eve and the child and he brought them into a part of the East and he stayed there. And when the eighth year and the second month were completed [22]1.3 Eve became pregnant and bore another son whom the power of God called by name Abel, and they remained there together. [22]2.1 At that time Eve told Adam, [22]2.2 "Adam, my lord, in my sleep I saw that the blood of my son Abel was pouring into the mouth of Cain his brother and he drank it without mercy. And Abel beseeched him to leave him]a little of his blood, [22]2.3 and he did not agree to hearken to him but he drank it completely and ]it did not remain in his stomach but it went forth and he was smeared with it and it could not at all be removed from his body." [22]2.4a Adam replied to Eve and told her, "Lest Cain plan to kill him, let us separate them from one another, [23]2.4b and let us be with them, so as to provide no room to anger." And they acted as Adam had said, and he told (them), "My sons, come and let us disperse, each to his own place." [23]3.2 Then God told the angel Gabriel, "Say to Adam: 'Do not reveal to Cain the secret plan which you know, for he is a son of wrath, because his brother will be killed by him!' However, let Adam not be sad, for I will raise up Seth for him instead of Abel, and he will resemble my image and he, so QAC will teach you everything of which I have a memory. But do not reveal this to anyone but Adam!" [23]3.3a That is what God told the angel and the angel spoke this word to Adam. Then Adam kept the word in his heart. And they both were sad, Adam and his spouse. [23]3.3b And the time arrived when Abel was killed by Cain his brother and he = Adam told her = Eve, "God has established an end for all human beings. Was death anything else but the killing by which Abel has been killed by Cain and Cain's jealousy delivered him to death because Cain was of a perverse race?" [23]3.3c And the times arrived when Cain and Abel had gone up towards their fields. Two demons resembling Cain and Abel came. One demon reproached the other demon. He became angry with him and took a stone sword, which was of a transparent stone [maybe same stone as Ex 4:25]. He cut his throat and killed him. [23]3.3d And when Cain saw the blood, he went quickly and took the stone in his hand(s). But when Abel saw him coming upon him, he begged him, "Do not make me die, O my brother Cain!" He, however, did not accept his prayer and he spilled Abel's blood in front of him. And Adam and Eve afflicted themselves all that time with great sadness. [23]4.1 And after this, Adam entered his spouse and Eve became pregnant and bore Seth who resembled Adam. [24]4.2 Adam told Eve, "Behold, I have born a son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed before me." [24]5.1a And again, after that, Adam had thirty sons and thirty daughters. For all the years of Adam were 930 years. And from him they multiplied over the earth and settled over it. Illness of Adam [30]5.1b And when the 930 years were completed Adam fell ill and cried out in a loud voice and said, "Gather to me ]ye all my descendants and I will see them before my death." [30]5.2 And all his progeny gathered to him who had settled, and he divided the three parts of the earth among his descendants. And all Adam's descendants assembled by him, for they had taken a position before his doors, in the place which Adam had made, and into which he would enter and address his prayers to God. [30]5.3 And his sons told him, "What is this, Father Adam?" [30]5.4 He told them, "I am sick, my sons." And they told him, "What is your illness and how does a human being fall ill?" [31]6.1 Seth, his son, replied to him and told him, "Father Adam, what has befallen you? Have you remembered, perchance, the fruit of the Garden, and you longed for it and you become sad yourself because of it? [31]6.2 If it is thus, tell me and I will go before paradise and I will cast dust upon my head and I will weep. And, if only God hears me, let him send his angel and he ]the angel will bring me the fruit of paradise and I will bring it to you so that you may calm your distress." [31]6.3 And Adam told him, "My son Seth, it is not so, rather I am sick and I have pain." Seth replied to him, "Father, what is pain and how do you have pain?" Adam's Story of the Fall [32]7.1 Adam told Seth, "Son, when God made us, me and your mother, he set us in the the paradise of Delights to eat its fruit. But there was one plant in the middle of paradise, ]very beautiful, concerning which God commanded us, 'Eat not of it.' [32]7.2 And the serpent deceived your mother and caused her to eat of it, because of which, now, we are going to die. When it was the hour for the guardian angels to ascend to worship God, the enemy deceived her and she ate of it [32]7.3a and she deceived me, my children, for I did not know. [32]7.3b And God had divided (paradise) between us, between me and your mother Eve, so that we might guard it. As for me, he had given me the eastern and northern portion; to your mother Eve he had entrusted the southern and the western portion. [33].1 And there were twelve angels with each of us to guard us [33].2 until the time of the dawn, but at each (time, at) day, they ascended (there). And at the moment of their ascent, the serpent deceived your mother and caused her to eat of the tree, for he had seen that I was not with her any more than the angels. [33].3 She also made me eat of it and I did not understand. [34]8.1 When we had eaten, God became angry with us and he told us, [34]8.2 'You have, therefore, scorned my commandment; I too will scorn you.' And he sent 70 evils upon us, to our eyes, and to our ears and as far as our feet, plagues and portents, treasured in (his) treasuries. This God did to me to cause me to perish through death." Comand to Retrieve the Oil [35]9.1 [35]9.2 (Eve) said, weeping, "My lord Adam, give me half of your sufferings and I will bear your present pain, for your suffering is due to me and it is I who caused these pains to come upon you." [36]9.3 And Adam told Eve, "Arise and go with Seth, my son, to paradise; cast soil on your head and weep before God so that he might give us grace. [36]9.4 And (God) will send his angel to paradise where the tree of life is, from which the oil flows out, so that he may give you a little of that oil. And you will bring it here to me and I will anoint myself and I will be healed of my sufferings. [36]9.5 Then I will let you know the whole way in which we were tried." Encounter with the Beast [37]10.1 [37]10.2 "Woe is me, for when arrive at the day of judgment, all my sins will burn me and (people) will tell me, 'In the first instance, it was you who did not observe God's orders." [37]10.3 Eve called out and told the wicked beast, "O evil beast, have you no fear? Did you dare to fight the image of God? How did you take it upon yourself to open your mouth and how have you (thought to) sink your teeth? Or how have you not recalled the first order of God and have opened your mouth against the image of God?" [38]11.1 Then the beast replied to her and told Eve, "It is not from our greed(iness) that your discontent and your weeping come, but your discontent and your weeping come from your own greed(iness), for at the beginning of creation, it was you who hearkened to the beast, the serpent. [38]11.2 How did you dare to open your mouth and eat of the tree of which God had commanded you not to eat? (It is) you, (because of) whom (Mahe emmendation) the aspect of everything has changed. [38]11.3 Now, you will not be able to endure, if I start talking and rebuking you." [39]12.1 Seth replied to him and told the beast, "Let your mouth be closed and be silent, beast, and get away from us, the image of the divinity, until the day when God will have you standing (before him)." [39]12.2 Then also the beast told Seth, "Behold, then, that I get away from you, image of God, dazzling (splendor) of God." And when the beast had left him (her?), the beast fled (far) from Seth and the wounded man went to the hut of Adam his father." Arrival at Paradise [40]13.1 [41]13.2a (And God sent to them the archangel Michael), who is in charge of the souls, and he told Seth, [41]13.2b "Man of God, do not labor to supplicate thus concerning the olive tree, in command to anoint your father Adam. Michael's Reply [42]13.3 This is not to be right now but in the future times, when five thousand years will be completed. Then, at the five and a half thousandth year, the beloved son of God, Christ, will come upon the earth to r(esurrect) Adam's body from his fall, because of the transgression of the commands. [42]13.4 He will come and he will be baptized in the river Jordan. And as soon as he will have come forth from of the water with the (anointing) of oil, he will anoint him, him [42]13.5 and all his descendants, so that they will rise at the time of the resurrection. The Lord said, 'I will admit them into paradise and I will anoint them with that unction.' Return to Adam [43]13.6 But now, go to your father Adam, because the days of his times are completed. (In) three days his soul will go out of his body and numerous wonders will be seen in the heavens." [44]14.1 When the angel had told that to him, (immediately) he was hidden underneath the plant of paradise. Now (as for) Seth and Eve they departed for Adam's hut. And Adam wept because of the wound of the beast Adam's Rebuke of Eve [44]14.2 and he told Eve, "What have (all of) us done? For an evil has come upon us and upon all our descendants. [44]14.3 Indeed, tell your children what are your sins: for we will die, you and I, and misfortunes will spread over the earth. All the descendants who have come forth from us will curse us saying, [44]14.4 'It was our father and mother who brought this misfortune upon us.'" The Portions of Adam and Eve in Paradise [44]15.1 Then Eve began to cry and she said, "Now hearken to me, my children, and I will tell you how we were tricked. [44]15.2 It happened, (then), that your father was guarding his portion of paradise, the east and the north, [44]15.3 while I was guarding my own portion, the west and the south. And the devil came to Adam's portion. And there were beasts there [44]15.4 for the Lord had also divided the beasts between us. All (that were) male He had given to Adam, and all (that were) female, he had given to me. And we each fed our own ones. Satan's Encounter with the Beast [44]16.1 When the devil came to your father's portion [44]16.2 the devil summoned the serpent and told him, "Arise and come to me, and I will teach you a useful word." [44]16.3a Then, the serpent came and the Devil told the serpent, "I (hear) that you are wiser than all the (dumb) animals and I have come to test your wisdom (science), for Adam gives food to all the (dumb-)animals, thus also to you. (mahe has note that is unexplained) [44]16.3b When then all the (dumb) animals come to bow down before Adam from day to day and from morning to morning, every day, you also come to bow down. You were created before him, as large (as you) are, and you bow down before this little one! [44]16.3c And why do you eat (food) inferior to Adam's and his spouse's and not the good fruit of paradise? But come and hearken to me so that we may have Adam expelled from the wall of paradise just as we are outside. Perhaps we can re-enter somehow to paradise." [44]16.4 And the serpent told him, "How can we have them excluded?" The devil replied and told the serpent, "Be a sheath for me and I will speak to the woman through your mouth a word by which we will trick (them)." Serpent's Approach to Paradise [44]17.1 And the two of them came together and they allowed their heads to hang on the wall of the paradise at the time where the angels had ascended to bow down to God. Then the devil changed himself into the image of an angel; he praised the praises of the angels. And I was gazing in the direction of the enclosure to hear the praises. [44]17.2a I stared and I saw him like an angel and at once he became invisible [44]17.2b for he had gone forth to bring the serpent. And he told him, 'Arise and come and I will be with you and I will speak though your mouth that which it is proper for you to say.' [44]17.2c He took on the form of the serpent (to go) close to the wall of paradise and the devil slipped inside the serpent and he allowed his head to hang on the wall of paradise. He cried out and said, 'Shame on you, woman, you who are in the the paradise of Delight (and) who are blind! Come to me and I will tell you a certain secret word.' [44]17.2d And when I had come, he told me, 'Eve!' and I told him, 'Here I am.' He replied to me and told me, 'What do you do in paradise?" [44]17.3 I replied and told him, 'God has set me to guard paradise and eat (of it).' [44]17.4 The devil replied to me and told me through the mouth of the serpent, 'Well (done!) Do you eat the fruit of every tree which is in paradise?' [44]17.5 I replied to him and told him, '(Yes), we eat all the fruit except for only one tree which is here in the middle of paradise, for God commanded us, 'Do not eat of it, so that you will not die of death.' Temptation of Eve [44]18.1 Then the serpent told me, 'I am distressed for you, for you are like the (dumb) animals. God was jealous of you and he has not permitted you, but I, I do not desire your ignorance. Rather come, eat and you will see the glory which is to be with you.' [44]18.2 However, I told him, 'I am afraid of dying, perhaps, as God said.' [44]18.3 The serpent replied to me and told me, 'What is death and how does one die? Death is life!' I replied to him and told him, 'I do not know.' He replied to me and told me, 'God is living, just so that you (pl.) will not die, but at the moment when you (pl.)eat your eyes will be opened and you will be instructed, like God, about good and evil. [44]18.4 God knew that you would become like him (unexplained *) and God was jealous of you. Because of that God told you, 'Do not eat of it!' [44]18.5 Look at (so Mahe emmendation) the tree and see the glory around it.' As for me, when I had gone and I had seen its glory around it, then I said, [44]18.6 'This tree is good and its fruit is well-known in my eyes. However, I am afraid to stretch out my hand and take (it). But you, if you are not afraid, bring it out to me and I will eat (of it) and I will know whether your (present) words are true or not.' The serpent replied to and told me, 'Come, open the gate and I will give you of it.' Entrance of the Snake into Paradise [44]19.1 And when I had gone to open the gate for him and he had entered Paradise, he went forth, and then he stopped a little. I replied to him and said, 'Why have you stopped?' But he, my children, began to use trickery with me. He replied to me and told me, 'If I have stopped it is because I changed my mind for fear that, perhaps if I should give you of it and you eat it, and your eyes will be opened and you will become like God, and you will know good and evil, and you will become prideful and become jealous of Adam and you will not make him eat of it, and he will be like a (dumb) animal before you, as you were before God, because God was jealous of you. If you wish (it), swear to me truly that, if I make you eat it, you will not be jealous of Adam, your husband, but will make him eat of it and give of it also to him.' [44]19.2 I replied to him and told him, 'I do not know any oath, how could I swear to you?' And he told me, 'Say: I swear by the plants of paradise and by the Cherubs upon whom sits the Father and (upon which) he descends to paradise, that if I eat and know it all, I will not be jealous but will give of it also to Adam." [44]19.3 And when he had made me take the oath, he bound me (to it), gave me of the tree and I ate it. Eve's Recognition of Her Sin [44]20.4 [... (I was searching for leaves to cover)..] my nakedness and found none on all the trees, for at the moment at which I had eaten, the leaves from all the trees of paradise, in my portion, fell down. [44]20.5 I took some and made a covering for myself and stood by the tree of which I had eaten, my children. I was afraid because of the oath which I had sworn by paradise and in which I had said, 'I will make Adam eat of it as well.' Temptation of Adam [44]21.2 Then your father Adam came. He had thought thus: that a beast had entered paradise and he told me, 'What are you thinking for and why do you have this fig-leaf on yourself?' [44]21.3 I replied to him and I told him, 'Do you wish me to tell you something or not? Until today we were like (dumb-) animals. When I understood (that of which) the Lord had said to us, 'Do not eat of this' and when I saw its splendor, I took of it and ate of it and I knew good and evil. Now, eat also of it and you will you become like God.' [44]21.4a Adam replied to me and told me, 'I fear lest God be angry with me and tell me, "My commandment which I gave you, you did not keep it!"' [44]21.4b But I told the father, "On me shall be this blame. If He asks you, say thus: 'This woman whom you have given me is to blame for that; (she said:) See the flavor of this glory.'! [44]21.5 Then I gave him of it and he ate of it and became like me, and he also took a leaf of the fig tree and covered his nakedness with it. Entry of God into Paradise [44]22.1 After which we heard that, through an angel, (God) blew the trumpet. He (had) summoned the angels and told them, [44]22.2 "Thus says the Lord, come to paradise and hear the sentence to which we are going to judge (them)." Adam (told me), "We have sinned, for God is going to come to judge us." We were afraid and we hid. [44]22.3 And God came to paradise sitting upon the Cherubs and the angels were singing hymns before him. When he had arrived at paradise, at once all (the) tree(s) cast off their (its) foliage, [44]22.4 and thrones were set up near the tree of life. [44]23.1 And God summoned Adam and told him, "Adam, Adam, where are you? Are you hiding from me? Or how will a house hide from its builder? Or why have you hidden near the tree of paradise?" [44]23.2 Then your father replied and told the Lord, "I have hidden because I am afraid: I am naked and I am ashamed." [44]23.3 God replied to him and told him, "Who told you that you are naked? Have you scorned the commandment which I gave you?" [44]23.4 Then Adam remembered my word(s) which I had said, "Do not be concerned for (the blame) for it will lie upon me." And Adam said, "Lord, it is this woman whom you gave to me who deceived me." Then He turned towards me and told me, "What have you done?" [44]23.5 And I remembered the serpent's word and I said, "It is the serpent who deceived me!" Judgment of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent [44]24.1 God replied to Adam and told him, "Because you hearkened to your wife and disobey my commandment, let the earth be cursed in your deeds. [44]24.2 May you work it and it will give you no fruit; it will sprout only thorns and thistles for you. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread. [44]24.3 May you be with many sighs, labor in labors and you shall have (no) rest. You shall hunger and you shall (not) be sated. You shall be affected by bitterness and you shall (not) taste sweetness; you shall be tomrented by heat and will undergo cold; you (pl.) shall be pauperized and you shall (not) be enriched; you shall eat and shall (not) grow fat; you shall warm yourselves with fire, and you shall not be heated. You will ???? (to soak) yourselves with water and it will draw back. [44]24.4 And the beasts over whom you (sing.) ruled shall rise up against you. You shall be weakened because you have not kept my commandments." [44]25.1 God turned to me and told me, "Why did you hearken to the serpent and abandon my commandments with which I commanded to you? (May you) be in toils and pains; [44]25.2 (may you) give birth to many fruits and when you give birth to them you will despair of your life because of the torments and pains. [44]25.3 (You shall promise yourself) that if you are ever delivered from the agonies, you will never go back to (your husband) and you will harden your heart in view of the great combat which the serpent instituted with you. [44]25.4 (But may you) return at once to the same point, may you bear your offspring in hurt and return in pity to your husband, and he will rule over you." [44]26.1 When he had said all this to me, he became very angry with the serpent, and he told it, "You, too, perish and be cursed among all the (dumb) animals. [44]26.2 May you be withheld from you food which you used to eat and may the soil be to you as food all the days of your life; you shall go on your breast and on your stomach; your hands and your feet will be taken from you. [44]26.3 May you have neither ears nor nails and may not even one limb remain for you. Let the precious cross which my Son will take upon the earth condemn you because of the deceit by which you deceived Adam. But may you again be crushed and broken because of the evil of your heart. [44]26.4 And I will set enmity between you and the offspring of the woman: she will lay in wait for your head and you will lay in wait for her heel until the day of judgment." Adam's Plea for Mercy [44]27.1 Thus God said, and he commanded both of us to be expelled from paradise. [44]27.2 Adam besought the angels and told them, "Wait for me to beseech the Lord; who knows, perhaps the Lord will grant me a penitence for that which I have done and I will not go out of paradise." [44]27.3 Then the angels waited for us to ask. Adam besought the Lord and said, "I beseech you, Lord, pardon me for what I have done." [44]27.4 Then the Lord told the angels, "Why have you been waiting (before) separating Adam from paradise? Is the blame mine (Am I to blame) or have I not judged justly?" [44]27.5 Then the angels fell to the ground and told him, bowing before the Lord, "You are just, Lord, and you sentence is upright." [44]28.1 The Lord turned and told Adam, "You are not to remain in paradise." [44]28.2 Adam replied to the Lord and told him, "I beseech you, Lord, give me of the tree of life so that I may eat before I have gone forth." [44]28.3 Then the Lord addressed a speech to Adam and told him, "You will not take any of it anymore in your lifetime. I have posted burning Cherubs and a turning sword to keep it from you, lest you should taste it and become immortal and boast saying, 'I shall not die ever'; and you will conduct the fight which the enemy has conducted against you. [44]28.4 If you go out of paradise and guard yourself from every evil, you will die and after death you will arise in the future resurrection. Then, indeed, I will give you of the tree of life and you will be immortal for ever." Expulsion [44]29.1 When the Lord had said that he commanded us to be chased out of paradise. [44]29.2 And your father wept before the angels, but they told him, "What is this or what shall we do for you?" [44]29.3 Then your father replied to them and told them, "Behold, I am going out. Now I beseech you that at the very moment of my leaving paradise I may take incense from paradise so that, when I go out, I may offer a sweet odered incense-fragrance and God will be willing to hearken to me." [44]29.6 And the angels let him and he took four sweet odered incenses-fragrances: nard, saffron, reed, cinnamon; that is what Adam brought from paradise onto the earth. Death of Adam [44]30.1 Now, therefore, my children I have taught you the whole way in which we were tricked and I beseech you to watch yourselves and not to stop doing good.' [45]31.1 That, then, is what Eve said in the midst of her children when Adam was lying ill. And on the second day his soul was about to go out of his body. Eve told Adam,