A. K. H. Boyd - "The Recreations of A Country Parson"

Cicely Kent - "Telling Fortunes By Tea Leaves"

Millard Fillmore - "State of the Union Addresses of Millard Fillmore"

Voltaire - "Zadig"

First Book of Adam and Eve

R >> Rutherford Platt >> First Book of Adam and Eve




6 And God considered Adam's thought, and sent the
angel Michael as far as the sea that reaches India, to take
from there golden rods and bring them to Adam.

7 This did God in His wisdom in order that these
golden rods, being with Adam in the cave, should shine
forth with light in the night around him, and put an end to
his fear of the darkness.

8 Then the angel Michael went down by God's order,
took golden rods, as God had commanded him, and brought
them to God.



Chapter XXX - Adam receives the first worldly goods.


1 After these things, God commanded the angel Gabriel
to go down to the garden, and say to the cherub who kept
it, "Behold, God has commanded me to come into the garden,
and to take from it sweet smelling incense, and give it to Adam."

2 Then the angel Gabriel went down by God's order to
the garden, and told the cherub as God had commanded him.

3 The cherub then said, "Well." And Gabriel went in
and took the incense.

4 Then God commanded his angel Raphael to go down to
the garden, and speak to the cherub about some myrrh, to
give to Adam.

5 And the angel Raphael went down and told the cherub
as God had commanded him, and the cherub said, "Well."
Then Raphael went in and took the myrrh.

6 The golden rods were from the Indian sea, where
there are precious stones. The incense was from the
eastern border of the garden; and the myrrh from the
western border, from where bitterness came over Adam.

7 And the angels brought these things to God, by the
Tree of Life, in the garden.

8 Then God said to the angels, "Dip them in the spring
of water; then take them and sprinkle their water over Adam
and Eve, that they be a little comforted in their sorrow,
and give them to Adam and Eve.

9 And the angels did as God had commanded them, and
they gave all those things to Adam and Eve on the top of
the mountain on which Satan had placed them, when he sought
to make an end of them.

10 And when Adam saw the golden rods, the incense and
the myrrh, he was rejoiced and cried because he thought
that the gold was a token of the kingdom from where he had
come, that the incense was a token of the bright light
which had been taken from him, and that the myrrh was a
token of the sorrow in which he was.



Chapter XXXI - They make themselves more comfortable
in the Cave of Treasures on the third day.


1 After these things God said to Adam, "You asked Me
for something from the garden, to be comforted therewith,
and I have given you these three tokens as a consolation to
you; that you trust in Me and in My covenant with you.

2 For I will come and save you; and kings shall bring
me when in the flesh, gold, incense and myrrh; gold as a
token of My kingdom; incense as a token of My divinity; and
myrrh as a token of My suffering and of My death.

3 But, O Adam, put these by you in the cave; the gold
that it may shed light over you by night; the incense, that
you smell its sweet savor; and the myrrh, to comfort you in
your sorrow."

4 When Adam heard these words from God, he worshipped
before Him. He and Eve worshipped Him and gave Him thanks,
because He had dealt mercifully with them.

5 Then God commanded the three angels, Michael,
Gabriel and Raphael, each to bring what he had brought, and
give it to Adam. And they did so, one by one.

6 And God commanded Suriyel and Salathiel to bear up
Adam and Eve, and bring them down from the top of the high
mountain, and to take them to the Cave of Treasures.

7 There they laid the gold on the south side of the cave,
the incense on the eastern side, and the myrrh on the western side.
For the mouth of the cave was on the north side.

8 The angels then comforted Adam and Eve, and departed.

9 The gold was seventy rods*; the incense, twelve
pounds; and the myrrh, three pounds.

10 These remained by Adam in the Cave of Treasures**.

11 God gave these three things to Adam on the third day
after he had come out of the garden, in token of the
three days the Lord should remain in the heart of the earth.

12 And these three things, as they continued with Adam
in the cave, gave him light by night; and by day they gave
him a little relief from his sorrow.


* A rod is a unit of linear measure equivalent to 5.5
yards and also a unit of area measure equivalent to 30.25
square yards. In this case, the word rod simply means a kind
of long, thin piece of gold of unspecified size and weight.

** This is the original text which appears to contain
embedded editorial content: "These remained by Adam in the
House of Treasures; therefore was it called 'of
concealment.' But other interpreters say it was called the
'Cave of Treasures,' by reason of the bodies of righteous
men that were in it.



Chapter XXXII - Adam and Eve go into the water to pray.


1 And Adam and Eve remained in the Cave of Treasures
until the seventh day; they neither ate of the fruit the
earth, nor drank water.

2 And when it dawned on the eighth day, Adam said to
Eve, "O Eve, we prayed God to give us something from the
garden, and He sent his angels who brought us what we had
desired.

3 But now, get up, let us go to the sea of water we
saw at first, and let us stand in it, praying that God will
again be favorable to us and take us back to the garden; or
give us something; or that He will give us comfort in some
other land than this in which we are."

4 Then Adam and Eve came out of the cave, went and
stood on the border of the sea in which they had before
thrown themselves, and Adam said to Eve:--

5 Come, go down into this place, and come not out of
it until the end of thirty days, when I shall come to you.
And pray to God with burning heart and a sweet voice, to
forgive us.

6 And I will go to another place, and go down into it,
and do like you."

7 Then Eve went down into the water, as Adam had
commanded her. Adam also went down into the water; and
they stood praying; and besought the Lord to forgive them
their offense, and to restore them to their former state.

8 And they stood like that praying, until the end of
the thirty-five days.



Chapter XXXIII - Satan falsely promises the "bright light."


1 But Satan, the hater of all good, sought them in the cave,
but found them not, although he searched diligently for them.

2 But he found them standing in the water praying and
thought within himself, "Adam and Eve are standing like
that in that water praying to God to forgive them their
transgression, and to restore them to their former state,
and to take them from under my hand.

3 But I will deceive them so that they shall come out
of the water, and not fulfil their vow."

4 Then the hater of all good, went not to Adam, but he
went to Eve, and took the form of an angel of God, praising
and rejoicing, and said to her:--

5 "Peace be to you! Be glad and rejoice! God is
favorable to you, and He sent me to Adam. I have brought
him the glad tidings of salvation, and of his being filled
with bright light as he was at first.

6 And Adam, in his joy for his restoration, has sent
me to you, that you come to me, in order that I crown you
with light like him.

7 And he said to me, 'Speak to Eve; if she does not
come with you, tell her of the sign when we were on the top
of the mountain; how God sent his angels who took us and
brought us to the Cave of Treasures; and laid the gold on
the southern side; incense, on the eastern side; and myrrh
on the western side.' Now come to him."

8 When Eve hear these words from him, she rejoiced
greatly. And thinking Satan's appearance was real, she
came out of the sea.

9 He went before, and she followed him until they came to Adam.
Then Satan hid himself from her, and she saw him no more.

10 She then came and stood before Adam, who was
standing by the water and rejoicing in God's forgiveness.

11 And as she called to him, he turned around, found
her there and cried when he saw her, and beat his chest;
and from the bitterness of his grief, he sank into the water.

12 But God looked at him and at his misery, and at his
being about to breathe his last. And the Word of God came
from heaven, raised him out of the water, and said to him,
"Go up the high bank to Eve." And when he came up to Eve
he said to her, "Who told you to come here?"

13 Then she told him the discourse of the angel who
had appeared to her and had given her a sign.

14 But Adam grieved, and gave her to know it was Satan.
He then took her and they both returned to the cave.

15 These things happened to them the second time they
went down to the water, seven days after their coming out
of the garden.

16 They fasted in the water thirty-five days;
altogether forty-two days since they had left the garden.



Chapter XXXIV - Adam recalls the creation of Eve.
He eloquently appeals for food and drink.


1 And on the morning of the forty-third day, they came
out of the cave, sorrowful and crying. Their bodies were
lean, and they were parched from hunger and thirst, from
fasting and praying, and from their heavy sorrow on account
of their transgression.

2 And when they had come out of the cave they went up
the mountain to the west of the garden.

3 There they stood and prayed and besought God to
grant them forgiveness of their sins.

4 And after their prayers Adam began to beg God,
saying, "O my Lord, my God, and my Creator, You commanded
the four elements* to be gathered together, and they were
gathered together by Thine order.

5 Then You spread Your hand and created me out of one
element, that of dust of the earth; and You brought me into
the garden at the third hour, on a Friday, and informed me
of it in the cave.

6 Then, at first, I knew neither night nor day, for I
had a bright nature; neither did the light in which I lived
ever leave me to know night or day.

7 Then, again, O Lord, in that third hour in which You
created me, You brought to me all beasts, and lions, and
ostriches, and fowls of the air, and all things that move
in the earth, which You had created at the first hour
before me of the Friday.

8 And Your will was that I should name them all, one
by one, with a suitable name. But You gave me
understanding and knowledge, and a pure heart and a right
mind from you, that I should name them after Thine own mind
regarding the naming of them.

9 O God, You made them obedient to me, and ordered
that not one of them break from my sway, according to Your
commandment, and to the dominion which You had given me
over them. But now they are all estranged from me.

10 Then it was in that third hour of Friday, in which
You created me, and commanded me concerning the tree, to
which I was neither to go near, nor to eat thereof; for You
said to me in the garden, 'When you eat of it, of death you
shall die.'

11 And if You had punished me as You said, with death,
I should have died that very moment.

12 Moreover, when You commanded me regarding the tree,
I was neither to approach nor to eat thereof, Eve was not
with me; You had not yet created her, neither had You yet
taken her out of my side; nor had she yet heard this order
from you.

13 Then, at the end of the third hour of that Friday,
O Lord, You caused a slumber and a sleep to come over me,
and I slept, and was overwhelmed in sleep.

14 Then You drew a rib out of my side, and created it
after my own likeness and image. Then I awoke; and when I
saw her and knew who she was, I said, 'This is bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh; from now on she shall be
called woman.'

15 It was of Your good will, O God, that You brought a
slumber in a sleep over me, and that You immediately
brought Eve out of my side, until she was out, so that I
did not see how she was made; neither could I witness, O my
Lord, how awful and great are Your goodness and glory.

16 And of Your goodwill, O Lord, You made us both with
bodies of a bright nature, and You made us two, one; and
You gave us Your grace, and filled us with praises of the
Holy Spirit; that we should be neither hungry nor thirsty,
nor know what sorrow is, nor yet faintness of heart;
neither suffering, fasting nor weariness.

17 But now, O God, since we transgressed Your
commandment and broke Your law, You have brought us out
into a strange land, and have caused suffering, and
faintness, hunger and thirst to come over us.

18 Now, therefore, O God, we pray you, give us
something to eat from the garden, to satisfy our hunger
with it; and something wherewith to quench our thirst.

19 For, behold, many days, O God, we have tasted
nothing and drunk nothing, and our flesh is dried up, and
our strength is wasted, and sleep is gone from our eyes
from faintness and crying.

20 Then, O God, we dare not gather anything from the
fruit of trees, from fear of you. For when we transgress
at first You spared us and did not make us die.

21 But now, we thought in our hearts, if we eat of the
fruit of the trees, without God's order, He will destroy us
this time, and will wipe us off from the face of the earth.

22 And if we drink of this water, without God's order,
He will make an end of us and root us up at once.

23 Now, therefore, O God, that I am come to this place
with Eve, we beg You to give us some fruit from the garden,
that we may be satisfied with it.

24 For we desire the fruit that is on the earth, and
all else that we lack in it."


* The medieval belief that there were only four
elements - fire, earth, air, and water - was widely
accepted until about 1500 AD when the current atomic theory
was in its infancy.



Chapter XXXV - God's reply.


1 Then God looked again at Adam and his crying and groaning,
and the Word of God came to him, and said to him: --

2 "O Adam, when you were in My garden, you knew
neither eating nor drinking; neither faintness nor
suffering; neither leanness of flesh, nor change; neither
did sleep depart from thine eyes. But since you
transgressed, and came into this strange land, all these
trials are come over you."



Chapter XXXVI - Figs.


1 Then God commanded the cherub, who kept the gate of
the garden with a sword of fire in his hand, to take some
of the fruit of the fig-tree, and to give it to Adam.

2 The cherub obeyed the command of the Lord God, and
went into the garden and brought two figs on two twigs,
each fig hanging to its leaf; they were from two of the
trees among which Adam and Eve hid themselves when God went
to walk in the garden, and the Word of God came to Adam and
Eve and said to them, "Adam, Adam, where are you?"

3 And Adam answered, "O God, here I am. When I heard the sound
of You and Your voice, I hid myself, because I am naked."

4 Then the cherub took two figs and brought them to
Adam and Eve. But he threw them to them from a distance;
for they might not come near the cherub by reason of their
flesh, that could not come near the fire.

5 At first, angels trembled at the presence of Adam
and were afraid of him. But now Adam trembled before the
angels and was afraid of them.

6 Then Adam came closer and took one fig, and Eve also
came in turn and took the other.

7 And as they took them up in their hands, they looked
at them, and knew they were from the trees among which they
had hidden themselves.



Chapter XXXVII - Forty-three days of penance do not redeem
one hour of sin (v. 6).


1 Then Adam said to Eve, "Do you not see these figs
and their leaves, with which we covered ourselves when we
were stripped of our bright nature? But now, we do not
know what misery and suffering may come over us from eating them.

2 Now, therefore, O Eve, let us restrain ourselves and
not eat of them, you and I; and let us ask God to give us
of the fruit of the Tree of Life."

3 Thus did Adam and Eve restrain themselves, and did
not eat of these figs.

4 But Adam began to pray to God and to beseech Him to
give him of the fruit of the Tree of Life, saying thus: "O
God, when we transgressed Your commandment at the sixth
hour of Friday, we were stripped of the bright nature we
had, and did not continue in the garden after our
transgression, more than three hours.

5 But in the evening You made us come out of it. O
God, we transgressed against You one hour, and all these
trials and sorrows have come over us until this day.

6 And those days together with this the forty-third
day, do not redeem that one hour in which we transgressed!

7 O God, look at us with an eye of pity, and do not
avenge us according to our transgression of Your
commandment, in Your presence.

8 O God, give us of the fruit of the Tree of Life,
that we may eat of it, and live, and turn not to see
sufferings and other trouble, in this earth; for You are God.

9 When we transgressed Your commandment, You made us
come out of the garden, and sent a cherub to keep the Tree
of Life, lest we should eat thereof, and live; and know
nothing of faintness after we transgressed.

10 But now, O Lord, behold, we have endured all these
days, and have borne sufferings. Make these forty-three
days an equivalent for the one hour in which we transgressed."



Chapter XXXVIII - "When 5500 years are fulfilled. . . ."


1 After these things the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him: --

2 "O Adam, as to the fruit on the Tree of Life that
you have asked for, I will not give it to you now, but only
when the 5500 years are fulfilled. At that time I will
give you fruit from the Tree of Life, and you will eat, and
live forever, you, and Eve, and your righteous descendants.

3 But these forty-three days cannot make amends for
the hour in which you transgressed My commandment.

4 O Adam, I gave you the fruit of the fig-tree to eat
in which you hid yourself. Go and eat of it, you and Eve.

5 I will not deny your request, neither will I
disappoint your hope; therefore, endure until the
fulfillment of the covenant I made with you."

6 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.



Chapter XXXIX - Adam is cautious -- but too late.


1 Then Adam returned to Eve, and said to her, "Get up,
and take a fig for yourself, and I will take another; and
let us go to our cave."

2 Then Adam and Eve took each a fig and went towards
the cave; the time was about the setting of the sun; and
their thoughts made them long to eat of the fruit.

3 But Adam said to Eve, "I am afraid to eat of this fig.
I know not what may come over me from it."

4 So Adam cried, and stood praying before God, saying,
"Satisfy my hunger, without my having to eat this fig; for
after I have eaten it, what will it profit me? And what
shall I desire and ask of you, O God, when it is gone?"

5 And he said again, "I am afraid to eat of it; for I
know not what will befall me through it."



Chapter XL - The first Human hunger.


1 Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him,
"O Adam, why didn't you have this dread, or this fasting,
or this care before now? And why didn't you have this fear
before you transgressed?

2 But when you came to live in this strange land, your
animal body could not survive on earth without earthly
food, to strengthen it and to restore its powers."

3 And God withdrew His Word for Adam.



Chapter XLI - The first Human thirst.


1 Then Adam took the fig, and laid it on the golden
rods. Eve also took her fig, and put it on the incense.

2 And the weight of each fig was that of a water-melon;
for the fruit of the garden was much larger than the
fruit of this land*.

3 But Adam and Eve remained standing and fasting the
whole of that night, until the morning dawned.

4 When the sun rose they were still praying, but after
they had finished praying, Adam said to Eve: --

5 "O Eve, come, let us go to the border of the garden
looking south; to the place from where the river flows, and
is parted into four heads. There we will pray to God, and
ask Him to give us some of the Water of Life to drink .

6 For God has not fed us with the Tree of Life, in
order that we may not live. Therefore, we will ask him to
give us some of the Water of Life, and to quench our thirst
with it, rather than with a drink of water of this land."

7 When Eve heard these words from Adam, she agreed;
and they both got up and came to the southern border of the
garden, at the edge of the river of water a short distance
from the garden.

8 And they stood and prayed before the Lord, and asked
Him to look at them this once, to forgive them, and to
grant them their request.

9 After this prayer from both of them, Adam began to
pray with his voice before God, and said; --

10 "O Lord, when I was in the garden and saw the water
that flowed from under the Tree of Life, my heart did not
desire, neither did my body require to drink of it; neither
did I know thirst, for I was living; and above that which I am now.

11 So that in order to live I did not require any Food
of Life, neither did I drink of the Water of Life.

12 But now, O God, I am dead; my flesh is parched with
thirst. Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink of
it and live.

13 Of Your mercy, O God, save me from these plagues
and trials, and bring me into another land different from
this, if You will not let me live in Your garden."


* This is substantiated by Genesis 3:7 whereby the
leaves of the fig tree were large enough that Adam and Eve
could fashion garments from them.



Chapter XLII - A promise of the Water of Life. The third
prophecy of the coming of Christ.


1 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said to him:--

2 "O Adam, as to what you said, 'Bring me into a land
where there is rest,' it is not another land than this, but
it is the kingdom of heaven where alone there is rest.

3 But you can not make your entrance into it at
present; but only after your judgment is past and
fulfilled.

4 Then will I make you go up into the kingdom of
heaven, you and your righteous descendants; and I will give
you and them the rest you ask for at present.

5 And if you said, 'Give me of the Water of Life that
I may drink and live' -- it cannot be this day, but on the
day that I shall descend into hell, and break the gates of
brass, and bruise in pieces the kingdoms of iron.

6 Then will I in mercy save your soul and the souls of
the righteous, to give them rest in My garden. And that
shall be when the end of the world is come.

7 And, again, in regards to the Water of Life you
seek, it will not be granted you this day; but on the day
that I shall shed My blood on your head* in the land of
Golgotha**.

8 For My blood shall be the Water of Life to you at
that time, and not to just you alone, but to all your
descendants who shall believe in Me***; that it be to them
for rest forever."

9 The Lord said again to Adam, "O Adam, when you were
in the garden, these trials did not come to you.

10 But since you transgressed My commandment, all
these sufferings have come over you.

11 Now, also, does your flesh require food and drink;
drink then of that water that flows by you on the face of
the earth.

12 Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.

13 And Adam and Eve worshipped the Lord, and returned from
the river of water to the cave. It was noon-day; and when
they drew near to the cave, they saw a large fire by it.


* This phrase indicates that the bleeding will take
place in an elevated position above the populace. This is
believed to be a reference to the cross whereby Christ bled
profusely above the people below.

** Golgotha (goal-goth-uh) was the hill outside the
walls of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. Its exact
location is not precisely known, but the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher is believed to have been constructed on this hill.

*** Reference: John 6:25 and 7:38




Chapter XLIII - The Devil attempts arson.


1 Then Adam and Eve were afraid, and stood still. And
Adam said to Eve, "What is that fire by our cave? We have
done nothing in it to cause this fire.

2 We neither have bread to bake therein, nor broth to
cook there. As to this fire, we have never known anything
like it, neither do we know what to call it.

3 But ever since God sent the cherub with a sword of
fire that flashed and lightened in his hand, from fear of
which we fell down and were like corpses, have we not seen
the like.

4 But now, O Eve, behold, this is the same fire that
was in the cherub's hand, which God has sent to keep the
cave in which we live.

5 O Eve, it is because God is angry with us, and will
drive us from it.

6 O Eve, we have again transgressed His commandment in
that cave, so that He had sent this fire to burn around it,
and to prevent us from going into it.

7 If this be really so, O Eve, where shall we live?
And where shall we flee from before the face of the Lord?
Since, in regards to the garden, He will not let us live in
it, and He has deprived us of the good things thereof; but
He has placed us in this cave, in which we have borne
darkness, trials and hardships, until at last we have found
comfort therein.

8 But now that He has brought us out into another
land, who knows what may happen in it? And who knows but
that the darkness of that land may be far greater than the
darkness of this land?

9 Who knows what may happen in that land by day or by
night? And who knows whether it will be far or near, O Eve?
Where it will please God to put us, may be far from the
garden, O Eve? Or where God will prevent us from beholding
Him, because we have transgressed His commandment, and
because we have made requests of Him at all times?

Copyright (c) 2007. topbookz.net. All rights reserved.