Will N. Harben - "The Desired Woman"

Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] - "Time and the Gods"

Webster - "Webster's Unabridged Dictionary"

Ralph Victor - "The Boy Scouts Patrol"

First Book of Adam and Eve

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




10 O Eve, if God will bring us into a strange land
other than this, in which we find consolation, it must be
to put our souls to death, and blot out our name from the
face of the earth.

11 O Eve, if we are further alienated from the garden
and from God, where shall we find Him again, and ask Him to
give us gold, incense, myrrh, and some fruit of the fig-tree?

12 Where shall we find Him, to comfort us a second
time? Where shall we find Him, that He may think of us, as
regards the covenant He has made on our behalf?"

13 Then Adam said no more. And they kept looking, He
and Eve, towards the cave, and at the fire that flared up
around it.

14 But that fire was from Satan. For he had gathered
trees and dry grasses, and had carried and brought them to
the cave, and had set fire to them, in order to consume the
cave and what was in it.

15 So that Adam and Eve should be left in sorrow, and
he should cut off their trust in God, and make them deny
Him.

16 But by the mercy of God he could not burn the cave,
for God sent His angel around the cave to guard it from
such a fire, until it went out.

17 And this fire lasted from noon-day until the break
of day. That was the forty-fifth day.




Chapter XLIV - The power of fire over man.


1 Yet Adam and Eve were standing and looking at the fire,
and unable to come near the cave from their dread of the fire.

2 And Satan kept on bringing trees and throwing them
into the fire, until the flames of the fire rose up on
high, and covered the whole cave, thinking, as he did in
his own mind, to consume the cave with much fire. But the
angel of the Lord was guarding it.

3 And yet he could not curse Satan, nor injure him by
word, because he had no authority over him, neither did he
take to doing so with words from his mouth.

4 Therefore the angel tolerated him, without saying
one bad word, until the Word of God came who said to Satan,
"Go away from here; once before you deceived My servants,
and this time you seek to destroy them.

5 Were it not for My mercy I would have destroyed you
and your hosts from off the earth. But I have had patience
with you, until the end of the world."

6 Then Satan fled from before the Lord. But the fire
went on burning around the cave like a coal-fire the whole
day; which was the forty-sixth day Adam and Eve had spent
since they came out of the garden.

7 And when Adam and Eve saw that the heat of the fire
had somewhat cooled down, they began to walk towards the
cave to get into it as they usually did; but they could
not, by reason of the heat of the fire.

8 Then they both began crying because of the fire that
separated them from the cave, and that came towards them,
burning. And they were afraid.

9 Then Adam said to Eve, "See this fire of which we
have a portion in us: which formerly yielded to us, but no
longer does so, now that we have transgressed the limit of
creation, and changed our condition, and our nature is
altered. But the fire is not changed in its nature, nor
altered from its creation. Therefore it now has power over
us; and when we come near it, it scorches our flesh."



Chapter XLV - Why Satan didn't fulfil his promises.
Description of hell.


1 Then Adam rose and prayed to God, saying, "See, this
fire has separated us from the cave in which You have
commanded us to live; but now, behold, we cannot go into it."

2 Then God heard Adam, and sent him His Word, that said: --

3 "O Adam, see this fire! How different the flame and
heat thereof are from the garden of delights and the good
things in it!

4 When you were under My control, all creatures
yielded to you; but after you have transgressed My
commandment, they all rise over you."

5 God said again to him, "See, O Adam, how Satan has
exalted you! He has deprived you of the Godhead, and of an
exalted state like Me, and has not kept his word to you;
but has, after all, become your enemy. He is the one who
made this fire in which he meant to burn you and Eve.

6 Why, O Adam, has he not kept his agreement with you,
not even one day; but has deprived you of the glory that
was on you -- when you yielded to his command?

7 Do you think, Adam, that he loved you when he made
this agreement with you? Or that he loved you and wished
to raise you on high?

8 But no, Adam, he did not do all that out of love to
you; but he wished to make you come out of light into
darkness; and from an exalted state to degradation; from
glory to abasement; from joy to sorrow; and from rest to
fasting and fainting."

9 God also said to Adam, "See this fire kindled by
Satan around your cave; see this wonder that surrounds you;
and know that it will encompass about both you and your
descendants, when you obey his command; that he will plague
you with fire; and that you will go down into hell after
you are dead.

10 Then you will see the burning of his fire, that
will be burning around you and likewise your descendants.
You will not be delivered from it until My coming; just
like you cannot go into your cave right now because of the
great fire around it; not until My Word comes and makes a
way for you on the day My covenant is fulfilled.

11 There is no way for you at present to come from
this life to rest, not until My Word comes, who is My Word.
Then He will make a way for you, and you shall have rest."
Then God called with His Word to the fire that burned
around the cave, that it split itself in half, until Adam
had gone through it. Then the fire parted itself by God's
order, and a way was made for Adam*.

12 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.


* Reference: Exodus 14:21,22 and Joshua 3:15-17



Chapter XLVI - "How many times have I delivered you
out of his hand . . ."


1 Then Adam and Eve began again to come into the cave.
And when they came to the way between the fire, Satan blew
into the fire like a whirlwind, and caused the burning
coal-fire to cover Adam and Eve; so that their bodies were
singed; and the coal-fire scorched them*.

2 And from the burning of the fire Adam and Eve
screamed, and said, "O Lord, save us! Leave us not to be
consumed and plagued by this burning fire; neither require
us for having transgressed Your commandment."

3 Then God looked at their bodies, on which Satan had
caused fire to burn, and God sent His angel that stayed the
burning fire. But the wounds remained on their bodies.

4 And God said to Adam, "See Satan's love for you, who
pretended to give you the Godhead and greatness; and,
behold, he burns you with fire, and seeks to destroy you
from off the earth.

5 Then look at Me, O Adam; I created you, and how many
times have I delivered you out of his hand? If not,
wouldn't he have destroyed you?"

6 God said again to Eve, "What is that he promised you
in the garden, saying, 'As soon as you eat from the tree,
your eyes will be opened, and you shall become like gods,
knowing good and evil.' But look! He has burnt your
bodies with fire, and has made you taste the taste of fire,
for the taste of the garden; and has made you see the
burning of fire, and the evil of it, and the power it has
over you.

7 Your eyes have seen the good he has taken from you,
and in truth he has opened your eyes; and you have seen the
garden in which you were with Me, and you have also seen
the evil that has come over you from Satan. But as to the
Godhead he cannot give it to you, neither fulfil his speech
to you. No, he was bitter against you and your
descendants, that will come after you."

8 And God withdrew His Word form them.


* At this time, the garments that the Lord had given
them in Genesis 3:21 were burned off so that Adam and Eve
were again naked. Reference chapter L whereby Adam and Eve
seek garments with which to cover their nakedness..



Chapter XLVII - The Devil's own Scheming.


1 Then Adam and Eve came into the cave, yet trembling at
the fire that had scorched their bodies. So Adam said to Eve:--

2 "Look, the fire has burnt our flesh in this world;
but how will it be when we are dead, and Satan shall punish
our souls? Is not our deliverance long and far off, unless
God come, and in mercy to us fulfil His promise?"

3 Then Adam and Eve passed into the cave, blessing
themselves for coming into it once more. For it was in
their thoughts, that they never should enter it, when they
saw the fire around it.

4 But as the sun was setting the fire was still
burning and nearing Adam and Eve in the cave, so that they
could not sleep in it. After the sun had set, they went
out of it. This was the forty-seventh day after they came
out of the garden.

5 Adam and Eve then came under the top of hill by the
garden to sleep, as they were accustomed.

6 And they stood and prayed God to forgive them their
sins, and then fell asleep under the summit of the
mountain.

7 But Satan, the hater of all good, thought within
himself: "Whereas God has promised salvation to Adam by
covenant, and that He would deliver him out of all the
hardships that have befallen him -- but has not promised me
by covenant, and will not deliver me out of my hardships;
no, since He has promised him that He should make him and
his descendants live in the kingdom in which I once was --
I will kill Adam.

8 The earth shall be rid of him; and shall be left to
me alone; so that when he is dead he may not have any
descendants left to inherit the kingdom that shall remain
my own realm; God will then be wanting me, and He will
restore it to me and my hosts."



Chapter XLVIII - Fifth apparition of Satan to Adam and Eve.


1 After this Satan called to his hosts, all of which
came to him, and said to him: --

2 "O, our lord, what will you do?"

3 He then said to them, "You know that this Adam, whom
God created out of the dust, is the one who has taken our
kingdom, come, let us gather together and kill him; or hurl
a rock at him and at Eve, and crush them under it."

4 When Satan's hosts heard these words, they came to
the part of the mountain where Adam and Eve were asleep.

5 Then Satan and his host took a huge rock, broad and
even, and without blemish, thinking within himself, "If
there should be a hole in the rock, when it fell on them,
the hole in the rock might come over them, and so they
would escape and not die."

6 He then said to his hosts, "Take up this stone, and
throw it flat on them, so that it doesn't roll off them to
somewhere else. And when you have hurled it, get away from
there quickly."

7 And they did as he told them. But as the rock fell
down from the mountain toward Adam and Eve, God commanded
the rock to become a dome over them*, that did them no
harm. And so it was by God's order.

8 But when the rock fell, the whole earth quaked with
it**, and was shaken from the size of the rock.

9 And as it quaked and shook, Adam and Eve awoke from
sleep, and found themselves under a dome of rock. But they
didn't know what had happened; because when the fell asleep
they were under the sky, and not under a dome; and when
they saw it, they were afraid.

10 Then Adam said to Eve, "Wherefore has the mountain
bent itself, and the earth quaked and shaken on our account?
And why has this rock spread itself over us like a tent?

11 Does God intend to plague us and to shut us up in
this prison? Or will He close the earth over us?

12 He is angry with us for our having come out of the
cave, without His order; and for our having done so of our
own accord, without consulting Him, when we left the cave
and came to this place."

13 Then Eve said, "If, indeed, the earth quaked for
our sake, and this rock forms a tent over us because of our
transgression, then we will be sorry, O Adam, because our
punishment will be long.

14 But get up and pray to God to let us know concerning this,
and what this rock is that is spread over us like a tent."

15 Then Adam stood up and prayed before the Lord, to
let him know what had brought about this difficult time.
And Adam stood praying like that until the morning.


* The word "dome" is used here but the text does not
specifically suggest that the covering was round - only
that it covered them on all sides, however a dome is the
most likely shape that would have be able to withstand the
impact with the ground. From verse 9 that says "when they
saw it" and verse 11 that says "shut us up in this prison",
we can conclude that the dome had holes in its sides that
were big enough to let in light and air but were too small
to allow Adam and Eve to escape. Another conclusion would
be that the holes were large but too high up for Adam and
Eve to reach, however the former is more likely.

** In verse 7 of the next chapter (XLIX), God tells
Adam and Eve that the ground was also lowered under them -
"I commanded ... the rock under you to lower itself".




Chapter XLIX - The first prophecy of the Resurrection.


1 Then the Word of God came and said: --

2 "O Adam, who counselled you, when you came out of
the cave, to come to this place?"

3 And Adam said to God, "O Lord, we came to this place
because of the heat of the fire, that came over us inside
the cave."

4 Then the Lord God said to Adam, "O Adam, you dread
the heat of fire for one night, but how will it be when you
live in hell?

5 Yet, O Adam, don't be afraid, and don't believe that I have
placed this dome of rock over you to plague you with it.

6 It came from Satan, who had promised you the Godhead
and majesty. It is he who threw down this rock to kill you
under it, and Eve with you, and thus to prevent you from
living on the earth.

7 But, in mercy for you, just as that rock was falling
down on you, I commanded it to form an dome over you; and
the rock under you to lower itself.

8 And this sign, O Adam, will happen to Me at My
coming on earth: Satan will raise the people of the Jews to
put Me to death; and they will lay Me in a rock, and seal a
large stone over Me, and I shall remain within that rock
three days and three nights.

9 But on the third day I shall rise again, and it
shall be salvation to you, O Adam, and to your descendants,
to believe in Me. But, O Adam, I will not bring you from
under this rock until three days and three nights have
passed."

10 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.

11 But Adam and Eve lived under the rock three days
and three nights, as God had told them.

12 And God did so to them because they had left their
cave and had come to this same place without God's order.

13 But, after three days and three nights, God created
an opening in the dome of rock and allowed them to get out
from under it. Their flesh was dried up, and their eyes
and hearts were troubled from crying and sorrow.



Chapter L - Adam and Eve seek to cover their nakedness.


1 Then Adam and Eve went forth and came into the Cave
of Treasures, and they stood praying in it the whole of
that day, until the evening.

2 And this took place at the end of the fifty days
after they had left the garden.

3 But Adam and Eve rose again and prayed to God in the cave
the whole of that night, and begged for mercy from Him.

4 And when the day dawned, Adam said to Eve, "Come!
Let us go and do some work for our bodies."

5 So they went out of the cave, and came to the
northern border of the garden, and they looked for
something to cover their bodies with*. But they found
nothing, and knew not how to do the work. Yet their bodies
were stained, and they were speechless from cold and heat.

6 Then Adam stood and asked God to show him something
with which to cover their bodies.

7 Then came the Word of God and said to him, "O Adam,
take Eve and come to the seashore where you fasted before.
There you will find skins of sheep that were left after
lions ate the carcasses. Take them and make garments for
yourselves, and clothe yourselves with them.


* Chapter XLVI, verse 1, says "Satan blew into the
fire ... so that their bodies were singed". At this time,
the garments that the Lord had given them in Genesis 3:21
were burned off so that Adam and Eve were again naked.



Chapter LI - "What is his beauty that you should have
followed him?"


1 When Adam heard these words from God, he took Eve
and went from the northern end of the garden to the south
of it, by the river of water where they once fasted.

2 But as they were going on their way, and before they
got there, Satan, the wicked one, had heard the Word of God
communing with Adam respecting his covering.

3 It grieved him, and he hastened to the place where
the sheep-skins were, with the intention of taking them and
throwing them into the sea, or of burning them with fire,
so that Adam and Eve would not find them.

4 But as he was about to take them, the Word of God
came from heaven, and bound him by the side of those skins
until Adam and Eve came near him. But as they got closer
to him they were afraid of him, and of his hideous look.

5 Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, and said
to them, "This is he who was hidden in the serpent, and who
deceived you, and stripped you of the garment of light and
glory in which you were.

6 This is he who promised you majesty and divinity.
Where, then, is the beauty that was on him? Where is his
divinity? Where is his light? Where is the glory that
rested on him?

7 Now his figure is hideous; he is become abominable
among angels; and he has come to be called Satan.

8 O Adam, he wished to take from you this earthly
garment of sheep-skins, and to destroy it, and not let you
be covered with it.

9 What, then, is his beauty that you should have
followed him? And what have you gained by obeying him?
See his evil works and then look at Me; at Me, your
Creator, and at the good deeds I do you.

10 See, I bound him until you came and saw him and
beheld his weakness, that no power is left with him."

11 And God released him from his bonds.



Chapter LII - Adam and Eve sew the first shirt.

1 After this Adam and Eve said no more, but cried
before God on account of their creation, and of their
bodies that required an earthly covering.

2 Then Adam said to Eve, "O Eve, this is the skin of
beasts with which we shall be covered, but when we put it
on, behold, we shall be wearing a token of death on our
bodies. Just as the owners of these skins have died and
have wasted away, so also shall we die and pass away."

3 Then Adam and Eve took the skins, and went back to
the Cave of Treasures; and when in it, they stood and
prayed as they were accustomed.

4 And they thought how they could make garments of
those skins; for they had no skill for it.

5 Then God sent to them His angel to show them how to
work it out. And the angel said to Adam, "Go forth, and
bring some palm-thorns." Then Adam went out, and brought
some, as the angel had commanded him.

6 Then the angel began before them to work out the
skins, after the manner of one who prepares a shirt. And
he took the thorns and stuck them into the skins, before
their eyes.

7 Then the angel again stood up and prayed God that
the thorns in those skins should be hidden, so as to be, as
it were, sewn with one thread.

8 And so it was, by God's order; they became garments
for Adam and Eve, and He clothed them therewith.

9 From that time the nakedness of their bodies was
covered from the sight of each other's eyes.

10 And this happened at the end of the fifty-first day.

11 Then when Adam's and Eve's bodies were covered,
they stood and prayed, and sought mercy of the Lord, and
forgiveness, and gave Him thanks for that He had had mercy
on them, and had covered their nakedness. And they ceased
not from prayer the whole of that night.

12 Then when the morning dawned at the rising of the
sun, they said their prayers after their custom; and then
went out of the cave.

13 And Adam said to Eve, "Since we don't know what there is
to the west of this cave, let us go out and see it today."
Then they came forth and went toward the western border.



Chapter LIII - The prophecy of the Western Lands
and of the great flood.


1 They were not very far from the cave, when Satan
came towards them, and hid himself between them and the
cave, under the form of two ravenous lions three days
without food, that came towards Adam and Eve, as if to
break them in pieces and devour them.

2 Then Adam and Eve cried, and prayed God to deliver
them from their paws.

3 Then the Word of God came to them, and drove away
the lions from them.

4 And God said to Adam, "O Adam, what do you seek on
the western border? And why have you left of thine own
accord the eastern border, in which was your living place?

5 Now then, turn back to your cave, and remain in it,
so that Satan won't deceive you or work his purpose over you.

6 For in this western border, O Adam, there will go
from you a descendant, that shall replenish it; and that
will defile themselves with their sins, and with their
yielding to the commands of Satan, and by following his works.

7 Therefore will I bring over them the waters of a
flood, and overwhelm them all. But I will deliver what is
left of the righteous among them; and I will bring them to
a distant land, and the land in which you live now shall
remain desolate and without one inhabitant in it.

8 After God had thus spoken to them, they went back to
the Cave of Treasures. But their flesh was dried up, and
they were weak from fasting and praying, and from the
sorrow they felt at having trespassed against God.


Chapter LIV - Adam and Eve go exploring.


1 Then Adam and Eve stood up in the cave and prayed
the whole of that night until the morning dawned. And when
the sun was risen they both went out of the cave; their
heads were wandering from heaviness of sorrow and they
didn't know where they were going.

2 And they walked in that condition to the southern
border of the garden. And they began to go up that border
until they came to the eastern border beyond which there
was no more land.

3 And the cherub who guarded the garden was standing
at the western gate, and guarding it against Adam and Eve,
lest they should suddenly come into the garden. And the
cherub turned around, as if to put them to death; according
to the commandment God had given him.

4 When Adam and Eve came to the eastern border of the
garden -- thinking in their hearts that the cherub was not
watching -- as they were standing by the gate as if wishing
to go in, suddenly came the cherub with a flashing sword of
fire in his hand; and when he saw them, he went forth to
kill them. For he was afraid that God would destroy him if
they went into the garden without His order.

5 And the sword of the cherub seemed to shoot flames a
distance away from it. But when he raised it over Adam
and Eve, the flame of the sword did not flash forth.

6 Therefore the cherub thought that God was favorable
to them, and was bringing them back into the garden. And
the cherub stood wondering.

7 He could not go up to Heaven to determine God's
order regarding their getting into the garden; he therefore
continued to stand by them, unable as he was to part from
them; for he was afraid that if they should enter the
garden without permission, God would destroy him.

8 When Adam and Eve saw the cherub coming towards them
with a flaming sword of fire in his hand, they fell on
their faces from fear, and were as dead.

9 At that time the heavens and the earth shook; and
another cherubim came down from heaven to the cherub who
guarded the garden, and saw him amazed and silent.

10 Then, again, other angels came down close to the
place where Adam and Eve were. They were divided between
joy and sorrow.

11 They were glad, because they thought that God was
favorable to Adam, and wished him to return to the garden;
and wished to restore him to the gladness he once enjoyed.

12 But they sorrowed over Adam, because he was fallen
like a dead man, he and Eve; and they said in their
thoughts, "Adam has not died in this place; but God has put
him to death, for his having come to this place, and
wishing to get into the garden without His permission."



Chapter LV - The Conflict between God and Satan.


1 Then came the Word of God to Adam and Eve, and
raised them from their dead state, saying to them, "Why did
you come up here? Do you intend to go into the garden,
from which I brought you out? It cannot be today; but only
when the covenant I have made with you is fulfilled."

2 Then Adam, when he heard the Word of God, and the
fluttering of the angels whom he did not see, but only
heard the sound of them with his ears, he and Eve cried,
and said to the angels: --

3 "O Spirits, who wait on God, look at me, and at my
being unable to see you! For when I was in my former
bright nature, then I could see you. I sang praises as you
do; and my heart was far above you.

4 But now, that I have transgressed, that bright
nature is gone from me, and I am come to this miserable
state. And now I have come to this, that I cannot see you,
and you do not serve me like you used to do. For I have
become animal flesh.

5 Yet now, O angels of God, ask God with me, to
restore me to that wherein I was formerly; to rescue me
from this misery, and to remove from me the sentence of
death He passed on me, for having trespassed against Him."

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