Book of Jasher (Sefer haYashar) 4

~40~ Go, go from your country and your homeland and your father's house to the land that I showed you to give it to you and your children, because there in that land I will bless you and there I will make you a great nation and your name will be great and all the families of the earth will be blessed in you. Now get up and get out of this place, you and your wife and all that you have and all the people born in your house and all the souls that you made in Haran get out of here with you, and get up again to the land of Canaan. And Abram arose and took his wife's servants and all that he had and all the children of his household and all the souls that they had made in Haran, and he set out to go to the land of Canaan. And Abram went and dwelt in the land of Canaan, as God said, and his brother Lot son of Haran went with him. And Abram was five years old and seventy years old when he left Haran to return to the land of Canaan. And they came to the land of Canaan, as the Lord had said to Abram, and Abram made his tent and dwelt in the oaks of Morah, and Lot, his brother's son, and all that he had with him. And God looked at Abram again and said to your seed I will give this land, and he built there an altar to God that is visible to him still in the oaks of Morah to this day. In those days there was in the land of Shanar a wise man and educated in all wisdom and a very beautiful man, but he was a poor man who had nothing and his name was Rakion. And he made the man very concerned about his living and advised him to go from Egypt to Ashurosh son of Enam, king of Egypt, to show the king his wisdom, perhaps he would like to raise him and give him his living, and Rakion did so. And it came to pass when Rakion came from Egypt and asked the inhabitants of Egypt for the king, and the inhabitants of Egypt told him the judgment of the king of Egypt. Because the judgment of Egypt in those days was that the king did not go out of his palace from the king's palace and would not be seen in the land except for one day a year, and after that the king would come again to his palace to sit there. And it happened on that day that the king went out and judged the whole land on that day, and everyone who had something to say would come before the king on that day, and do for him everything that he asked of the king. And when Rakion heard the judgment of Egypt and that he would not be able to come before the king, he became very sad and regretted it.

~41~ And it came to pass in the evening that Rakion went and found a house of swords among the bakers' houses in Egypt, and he died there in bitterness of soul and hunger, and his sleep escaped his eyes. And Rakion talked with his heart about what he would do in the city until the king saw it, and how he would be able to manage his soul in the city. And he got up in the morning and walked in the city and he happened to be the seller of vegetables and asked them, and they told him that they support their lives with vegetables and seeds which they buy and sell to the inhabitants of the land. And Rakion wanted to do according to their deeds for the sake of the animals in the city, but he did not know the judgment of the people of the land and was like a drunkard among them. And he went and bought vegetables to sell for his living, and the sons of Belial gathered around him and mocked him and stole all the vegetables from him, leaving him nothing. And he got up from there with a bitter soul and a sigh, and went to the baker's house where he stayed and lay there the second night. And he will consult his wisdom again that night, how he will be able to escape his soul, and will find a plot to do about it. And he got up in the morning and acted wisely and went and hired thirty men, mighty men of valor and the sons of Belial, and their weapons of war in their hands, and he led them to the caves of the Egyptian tomb and seated them there. And he ordered to say, thus said the king, be strong and be strong, and do not leave any dead man to be buried here until two hundred pieces of silver are given for him, and after that he will be buried. And the people did as was customary for all the people of Egypt throughout that year. And it was for eight months, and Rakion and his men gathered great wealth, silver and gold, stones of opium, and crystal beyond number. And Rakion will take horses and beasts for the most part, and hire more people and give them horses and they will be with him. And it came to pass at the time of the year, at the time of the king's departure to the city, that all the inhabitants of Egypt gathered and were appointed together on the day of the king's departure to speak to him about the deed of Rakion and his men. And the king went out on the day of the feast, and all the Egyptians came before him and cried out to him, saying, May the king live forever. What is this thing that you will do to your servants in the city, that no dead man should be buried until silver and gold are placed on him. We were like this throughout the land even in the days of the first kings who were before us in the land of Egypt from the days of Adam until this day to not bury the dead except at a price, we knew that the king's judgment took tax from the living year by year, and you will not do that because even from the dead the tax is taken day by day. And now the king will no longer be able to do this thing, because the whole city has been corrupted by this thing and you did not know.

~42~ And when the king heard all their words, he was very angry and his anger burned in him like this because he knew nothing. And the king said, "Who is this and what is he that has filled his heart to do this evil thing in my country, which is not his commandment, do not tell me." And they told him all the deeds of Rakion and his men, and the king also became angry and sent to bring Rakion and his men before him. And Rakion took about a thousand children, boys and girls, and clothed them in silk and silk and embroidery, and mounted them on horses and fought for the king by the hand of his men. And he also took an offering to the king of silver and gold and many stones and crystal and a very large and good horse, and he came before the king and bowed down to the king. And the king and his servants and all the inhabitants of Egypt were bewildered by the deed of Rakion, and they saw all his wealth and the offering that he brought to the king, and it was very good in the eyes of the king and he marveled at it. And Rakion sat before the king and the king asked him about all his deeds, and Rakion spoke all his words in wisdom before the king and his men and all the inhabitants of Egypt. And when the king heard the words of Rakion and his wisdom, Rakion showed grace and kindness before him, and all the king's servants and the inhabitants of Egypt also showed grace and kindness before them because of his wisdom and the goodness of his words. And they loved him with intense love from that day on. And the king answered and said to Rakion, your name will no longer be called Rakion, but if Pharaoh will be your name, after Pharaoh has collected a tax from the dead and they will call his name Pharaoh. And the king and his servants loved Rakion for his wisdom, and consulted with all the inhabitants of Egypt to reign under the king's hand. And all the inhabitants of Egypt and its sages did so, and a religion was given in Egypt, and they reigned over them under the reign of Pharaoh under the hand of Ashurosh, king of Egypt. And Pharaoh Rakion will reign over Egypt all year round to judge the whole city day by day, and King Asherosh will judge the land day by year when he goes out to show. And Pharaoh Rakion took the kingdom of Egypt by force and cunning, and destroyed all the inhabitants of Egypt, therefore they called his name Pharaoh. And all the inhabitants of Egypt loved Pharaoh's rule very much, and they wrote a letter and a law to happen to every king who would reign over them and their seed in Pharaoh's Egypt. Therefore, all the kings of Egypt who will reign in Egypt from that day forward will be called Pharaoh until this day. And it came to pass in that year, that there was a severe famine in all the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants of the land could not dwell in it because of the famine, for it was very severe.

~43~ And Abram arose, he and all that he had, and they went and went down from Egypt because of the famine, and they were in the river of Egypt and they sat by the river for days to rest because of the road. And Abram and Sarai his wife walked by the bank of the river of Egypt, and Abram looked at the water and saw Sarai his wife because she was very, very beautiful. And Abram said to Sarai after God blessed you with this good sight, I will fear the Egyptians lest they kill me and take you because there is no fear of God in their place. But whatever you do with me, please tell me, my sister, to all who ask you about me, so that it will be good for me and we will live and not die. And Abram also commanded all the people who came with him from Egypt because of the famine, and he also commanded Lot, his brother's son, to say that the Egyptians will ask you about Sarah, and you said she is Abram's sister. And yet Abram did not trust them with these words, but took Sarai and put it in the ark and hid it under the vessels they had, because he was very afraid of Sarai because of the evil of the Egyptians. And Abram arose and all that were with him from the valley of Egypt, and they came from Egypt. They came to the gates of the city, and all the gatekeepers of the city stood over them, saying, Give the king's tithe on what is in your hands, and then you shall come into the city, and Abram and the men who were with him did so. And Abram came and the people who were with him from Egypt, and it happened that when they came they carried the ark that was in it and the Egyptians saw the ark. And all the king's servants approached Abram to say, "What do you have with you in this ark that we have not seen? Now please open the ark and give the king's tithe of everything in it." And Abram said, this ark will not be opened, but whatever you say to me I will give it. And Pharaoh's ministers answered Abram, saying, "The ark of Shoham stones and pearls, she gave us from Methara, and Abram said, whatever you say to me, you will only give it open. Do not open the ark." And all the king's servants hastened to Abram and approached the ark and opened the ark strongly, and they saw a very beautiful woman in the ark. And it came to pass when the king's ministers saw Sarah, and they were greatly astonished at her beauty, and all the ministers and all the servants of Pharaoh gathered together to see Sarah, for she was very beautiful. And the king's servants ran and told Pharaoh all the things they had seen and praised their servants to the king, and Pharaoh sent and took and the woman came before the king.

~44~ And Pharaoh saw my beauty and it was very pleasing in his eyes and he was very amazed by her beauty and the king was very happy with her, and he gave gifts to all who told him about her. And the woman took Pharaoh's house in those days, and Abram was very angry about his wife and prayed to God to save her from Pharaoh's hand. And Sarai also prayed at that time and said, O God, you told my lord Abram to go from his country and from his father's house to the land of Canaan, and you promised him that it would be good for him because he would do your words, now here we have done what we were commanded and we will leave our country and our families and go to a foreign land and to a people that we did not know the day before yesterday. And a prophecy in this land to save our homes from hunger, and this harm and bad case will come upon me. And now, Lord God, please save me and deliver me from this oppressive strait, and do me a favor for your grace. And the Lord heard the voice of my soul, and the Lord sent an angel to save my soul from the hand of Pharaoh. And the king came and sat before Sarai, and behold, the angel of God was standing over them and looked at Sarai and said to her do not look because God has heard your prayer. And the king approached Sarai and said to her the man who brought you here, what is he to you, and she said, he is my brother. And the king said, and we must raise him and bear him very much and do him all the good that you command us to do. And the king sent to Abram at that time silver and gold and precious stones and a great deal of crystal and sheep and cattle and male and female slaves. And the king approached to speak to Sarai and reached out his hand to touch her, and the angel struck a great blow and was frightened and stopped touching her. And it came to pass when the king came near to my servants, and the angel struck the ground and did this to him all night, and the king was frightened and terrified at this. And all Pharaoh's servants and all his household, the angel smote that night with a great blow for the words of his servant, and there was a great shout in all the people of Pharaoh's household that night. And Pharaoh saw all the evil that was coming upon him and said, "But behold, this thing has come to me about this woman, and he turned away from her and spoke good things to her heart." And the king said to my servant, please tell me about the man with whom you came here, and you said, my servant, that man is my own, and I say to you, he is my brother, for I was afraid that you should kill him in your harm. And the king ceased to be above Sherry, and the plagues of God's angel ceased from him and his house, and Pharaoh knew that for Sherry's sake he was beaten, and the king was very saddened by this.

~45~ And it came to pass in the morning, that the king called Abram and said, What have you done to me? Why did you say that she is my sister, and I will take her to be my wife, and she will bring a very great blow on me and my house. Now here is your wife, take and go away from our country, lest we all die for her. And Pharaoh took more sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and silver and gold, and gave it to Abram and gave him his wife's wives. And the king also took one of his maidens, whom his concubine bore him, and gave her to Sherry as a slave. And the king said to his daughter, it is good for you my daughter to be a slave in this woman's house, since you are a lady in my house after we have seen the evil that is coming upon us because of this woman. And Abram arose and went out of Egypt, he and all that he had, and Pharaoh ordered men over him, and they sent him and all that he had. And Abram sat down in the land of Canaan, to the place of the altar which he had made, which he pitched his tent there at first. And Lot son of Haran, Abram's brother, had a heavy supply of sheep and cattle and tents, because God had been kind to him for Abram's sake. And it came to pass, when Abram sabbath in the land, that the herdsmen of Lot's clan rivaled with the herdsmen of Abram's clan, because their possessions were great from the sabbath in the land, and the land could not bear them because of their possessions. And all the shepherds of Abram's clan when they go to graze shall not touch the fields of the people of the land, and the shepherds of Lot's clan shall not do so because they will leave to graze in the fields of the people of the land. And the people of the land saw this thing day by day, and they came to Abram and quarreled with him about the herdsmen of Kena Lot. And Abram said to Lot, what is this deed that you have done to make me afraid of the inhabitants of the land, that you will command your shepherds to graze in other fields, did you not know that I live in this land among the people of Canaan and why would you do this to them? And Avram Lot talked about this thing every day. And Lot did not listen to the voice of Abram and Joseph to do such a thing, and the inhabitants of the land came and told Abram. And Abram said to Lot how long shall I have you in the mine with the inhabitants of the land, now please do not be a quarrel between me and you because we are brotherly people. But please separate from me, go, please, and choose a place for you to live in, you and your family and everything that belongs to you, but please stay away from me, you and your homes. And don't be afraid because you will go away from me and it will happen when he does you harm and you told me and I took revenge on him, but please stay away from me.

~46~ And it came to pass that Abram spoke all these things to Lot, and Lot stood up and raised his eyes towards the plain of the Jordan and saw that place all full of water and good for man and for pasture that provides. And Lot went from Abram's people to that place, pitched his tent there and lived in Sodom, and they separated each one from his brother. And Abram dwelt for him in the oaks of Mera, which is in Hebron, where he pitched his tent, and Abram dwelt in that place for many days and years. At that time, Kedarla'Omer, king of Elam, sent to all the kings around him, to Nimrod, king of Shanar, who was under his hand, and to Tadal, king of the Gentiles, and to Arioch, king of Elser, with whom he made an alliance to say, come up to me and help me, and I will destroy all the cities of Sodom and its inhabitants, because they have transgressed against me today for thirteen years. And these four kings went up with all their camp, together with about eight hundred thousand men, and marched as they went, and smote every man that they found on their way. And for the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, their five kings, Shanab, king of Adama, and Shambar, king of Zobaim, and Bera, king of Sodom, and Bersha, king of Gomorrah, and Bela, king of Tzuar, went out to meet them, and they all joined together with them in the valley of demons. And these nine kings fought in the valley of demons, and defeated all the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah before the kings of Elam. And the valley of the devils was full of wells, wells of clay, and the kings of Elam pursued the kings of Sodom, and all the kings of Sodom were tempted with their tents, and they fell into the wells of clay, and all the rest went up to the mountain to escape. And the five kings of Elam came after them and chased them to the gate of Sodom, and they took everything that was in Sodom and laid waste all the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And also Lot, the son of my brother Abram, they took him and his property, and they took all the property of the cities of Sodom and went to them. And Ogi, Abram's servant, who was in that war, came, and told Abram all that these kings had done to the cities of Sodom, and that Lot, his brother's son, had been taken captive with them. And Abram heard this, and he and the people who were with him, about three hundred and eighteen men, got up and chased after these four kings that night. And they pursued them, and they all fell before Abram and before his men, and there was not one of them left, except that four kings alone fled, and each went his way.

~47~ And Abram returned all the possessions of Sodom and also Lot and his possessions he returned and their wives and their husbands and all that belonged to them, Lot lacked nothing. And when he returned from beating these kings, he and his men passed through the valley of the devils where all the kings fought there. And the king of Sodom left Bara and left his men and Asher with him from the wells of Hamar, which fell there to meet Abram and his men. And Lord Zedek the king of Jerusalem is there, he went out with his men to meet Abram and his men with bread and wine and they sat there together in the king's valley. And Lord Zedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything he brought from the spoils of his enemies because Lord Zedek was a priest before God. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, who were there, and their slaves, approached Abram, and begged him to give them the captives that had returned from their slaves and take all his possessions. And Abram answered the kings of Sodom, saying, As the Lord liveth, who created the heavens and the earth, and who hath redeemed my soul from all trouble, and who hath delivered me from my enemies this day, and they shall be delivered into my hand, if I take a thing of all that is yours, and ye shall not be glorified to-morrow of our possessions, that he hath saved the rich Abram. Because the Lord my God, in whom I trusted, spoke to me saying, You shall not lack anything, for I will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. Now here is everything you have, take it and go, as the Lord lives, I will not take from you soul, shoelace, or thread. Besides what the boys who are going to war with me ate, and also some of the people who went with me from Enar Eshkol and Memara, they and their men, and also those who sat on the vessels to guard, they will take their share of the spoil. And the kings of Sodom gave to Abram's men as much as he had said, and they begged him to take from all that he chose, and not his father. And he sent the kings of Sodom and the rest of their people and ordered them to Lot, and they went to their place. And he also sent Lot, his brother's son, with all his possessions, and he went with them. And Lot returned to Sodom in his place, and Abram and his men returned to their place to the oaks of Morah in Hebron. At that time, God appeared to Abram still in Hebron and said to him, "Do not fear that your burden is very great before Me, for I will not leave you, but if I have multiplied you and blessed you, and placed your seed as the stars of the sky, which cannot be measured or numbered." And I have given to your seed all the lands that you see in your eyes, to them I have given them as their inheritance forever, but be strong and do not fear, walk before me and be blameless.

~48~ And it came to pass in the seventy-eighth year of Abram's life, and his brother Ben Peleg died in that year. And all his days were two hundred and thirty-nine years, and he died. And Sarai daughter of Haran, Abram's wife, was still barren in those days, and bore Abram neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass when she saw that she had not borne a child, and she took Hagar her handmaid whom Pharaoh had given her, and gave her to Abram as wife to wife. Because Hagar learned all the ways of Shari when she was taught by Shari, she did not lack all her good ways from her mother. And Sheri said to Abram, "Here is my servant Hagar, come to her and give birth on my knees, and I will also build myself from her." And Sarai will give Hagar to Abram at the end of ten years for Abram to sabbath in the land of Canaan, which is the fifth and eighty years of Abram's life. And Abram listened to his wife's voice, and took Hagar as his maidservant, and Abram came to her and gave birth to him. And Hagar saw that she had conceived, and she was very happy, and her mistress was pleased with her. And she said in her heart, it is only that I am better before God than my mistress. Because all the days that my lady was with my master she did not conceive, and I some days he made me pregnant from him. And Sheree saw that Hagar had conceived for Abram, and Sheree was jealous of her slave, and said Sheree in her heart it is not that she is much better than me. And she said to Abram, I am sorry for you, because when you prayed before God for the seed, why did you not pray for me to give me seed from you. And also because I will speak to the sojourner before you and you despise my words because of what she has conceived and you will not speak to her about her nation, God will judge between me and you for what you have done to me. And Abram said to Sarai, here is your handmaiden in your hand, do to her what is good in your eyes. And Sherry answered, and Hagar fled from her face into the desert. And the angel of God found her in the place where she fled from her name and said to her, "Do not look, for many will lie in wait for your seed." Because you have given birth to a son and called his name Ishmael, now return to the servants of your mistress and rest under her hands. And Hagar called the place of that well the Well of Lahi Rui here between Kadesh and Bard. And Hagar lived at that time in the house of Avram Adoniya, and it came to pass at the end of days that Hagar gave birth to Abram a son. And Abram called his name Ishmael, and Abram was eighty-six years old when she bore him.

~49~ And it happened in those days in the ninety-first year of Abram's life, and the sons of Kitim fought the sons of Tubal. Because when God spread the people of men over the whole earth, the children of Kitim went out and joined together and went to the valley of Kanafia and built them cities there and lived there on the Tiberias river. ובני תובל ישבו בתושכנה, ויקראו את שמה סבינה על שם סבינה בן תובל אביהם וישבו בה עד היום הזה. And it happened at that time that the sons of Kitim fought the sons of Tubal, and the sons of Tubal were defeated before the sons of Kitim. And the children of the Kitites of the children of Tobal killed about three hundred and seventy men. And the sons of Tobal swore at that time to the sons of Kitim that they would not marry us, and no one should give his daughter to the sons of Kitim. Because all Tovel girls were beautiful girls in those days, because no beautiful women were found there in those days like Tovel girls in the whole country. And there was every man who desired the title of wife, and he went to the daughters of Tobal and took from them a wife of whatever he desired. And all men and kings and ministers take from daughters Toval in those days, who will desire the title of wife very much. And it came to pass at the end of three years that the sons of Tobal had sworn against the sons of Kitim not to give them their daughters as wives, and about twenty men of the sons of Kitim went to take Tobal's daughters and found none. Because the sons of Tobal kept their oath to not marrying them, and did not want to break their oath. And it came to pass in the days of the harvest, that the sons of Tobal went to their fields to reap their harvest, and all the young men of the sons of Kitim gathered together and went to the city of Sabina, and kidnapped every man and girl from the daughters of Tobal and brought them to their cities. And the sons of Tobal heard and came against them to war, and they could not prevail against them, and they returned to their land. And it came to pass at the time of the year, that the children of Tobal went and hired them from among the people of mankind and from all the cities near them about ten thousand men, and they went to the children of Kitim to war. And the sons of Tobal will go to fight against the sons of Kitim and overthrow all their land and besiege them, and the sons of Tobal will prevail over the sons of Kithim this time. And the sons of Kitim saw that they were very sorry, and they brought up all the children that the sons of Kitim had borne from the daughters of Tobal on the wall that they had built in front of the sons of Tobal. And the men of the clans said to them, "You have brought your sons and your daughters to war, and not yourselves and your flesh, we from that time until now." And it came to pass when the sons of Tobal heard this, and they ceased to fight against the sons of Kitim and went and returned to them in their cities. And the people of Kitim gathered at that time and built two cities for them on the sea, and they called the name of one Portu and the name of the other Aritza.

~50~ And Abram ben Terah was ninety-nine years old in those days. At that time God appeared to him and said to him, I will make my covenant between me and you and I will feed your seed very, very much. And this is the covenant that I made between me and you, against you every trace of you and your descendants after you. And eight days before him, and it was my covenant in the flesh for an everlasting covenant. And you shall no longer call your name Abram but Abraham, and neither shall your wife's name be called Sheree but Sarah. For I will bless you and multiply your seed after you, and you will be a great nation and kings will come from you. And Abraham got up and did everything that God commanded him, and he took all the people of his household and his money box and fed them as God commanded him. ולא נשאר אחד מהם אשר לא מל. And also Abraham and Ishmael his son Melo the flesh of their foreskin, Ishmael was thirteen years old in the flesh of his foreskin. And it came to pass on the third day, that Abraham came out of his house, and sat at the door of the tent to bask in the heat of the sun from the pain in his flesh.