John Greenleaf Whittier - "Personal Sketches and Tributes, Part 2, From Volume VI.,"

Jewell Ellen Smith - "Great Jehoshaphat and Gully Dirt!"

Percy Bysshe Shelley - "The Witch of Atlas"

John Greenleaf Whittier - "At Sundown"

First Book of Adam and Eve

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




4 Then Adam said to Eve, "This pain did not come to us
in the garden, neither did we eat such bad food there. Do
you think, O Eve, that God will plague us through the food
that is in us, or that our innards will come out; or that
God means to kill us with this pain before He has fulfilled
His promise to us?"

5 Then Adam besought the Lord and said, "O Lord, let
us not perish through the food we have eaten. O Lord,
don't punish us; but deal with us according to Your great
mercy, and forsake us not until the day of the promise You
have made us."

6 Then God looked at them, and then fitted them for
eating food at once; as to this day; so that they should
not perish.

7 Then Adam and Eve came back into the cave sorrowful
and crying because of the alteration of their bodies.
And they both knew from that hour that they were altered
beings, that all hope of returning to the garden was now
lost; and that they could not enter it.

8 For that now their bodies had strange functions; and
all flesh that requires food and drink for its existence,
cannot be in the garden.

9 Then Adam said to Eve, "Behold, our hope is now
lost; and so is our trust to enter the garden. We no
longer belong to the inhabitants of the garden; but from
now on we are earthy and of the dust, and of the
inhabitants of the earth. We shall not return to the
garden, until the day in which God has promised to save us,
and to bring us again into the garden, as He promised us."

10 Then they prayed to God that He would have mercy on
them; after which, their mind was quieted, their hearts
were broken, and their longing was cooled down; and they
were like strangers on earth. That night Adam and Eve
spent in the cave, where they slept heavily by reason of
the food they had eaten.



Chapter LXVI - Adam does his first day's work.


1 When it was morning, the day after they had eaten
food, Adam and Eve prayed in the cave, and Adam said to
Eve, "Look, we asked for food of God, and He gave it. But
now let us also ask Him to give us a drink of water."

2 Then they got up, and went to the bank of the stream
of water, that was on the south border of the garden, in
which they had before thrown themselves. And they stood on
the bank, and prayed to God that He would command them to
drink of the water.

3 Then the Word of God came to Adam, and said to him,
"O Adam, your body has become brutish, and requires water
to drink. Take some and drink it, you and Eve, then give
thanks and praise."

4 Adam and Eve then went down to the stream and drank
from it, until their bodies felt refreshed. After having
drunk, they praised God, and then returned to their cave,
after their former custom. This happened at the end of
eighty-three days.

5 Then on the eighty-fourth day, they took the two
figs and hung them in the cave, together with the leaves
thereof, to be to them a sign and a blessing from God. And
they placed them there so that if their descendants came
there, they would see the wonderful things God had done for
them.

6 Then Adam and Eve again stood outside the cave, and
asked God to show them some food with which they could
nourish their bodies.

7 Then the Word of God came and said to him, "O Adam,
go down to the westward of the cave until you come to a
land of dark soil, and there you shall find food."

8 And Adam obeyed the Word of God, took Eve, and went
down to a land of dark soil, and found there wheat* growing
in the ear and ripe, and figs to eat; and Adam rejoiced
over it.

9 Then the Word of God came again to Adam, and said to
him, "Take some of this wheat and make yourselves some
bread with it, to nourish your body therewith." And God
gave Adam's heart wisdom, to work out the corn until it
became bread.

10 Adam accomplished all that, until he grew very
faint and weary. He then returned to the cave; rejoicing
at what he had learned of what is done with wheat, until it
is made into bread for one's use.


* In this book, the terms 'corn' and 'wheat' are used
interchangeably. The reference is possibly used to
indicate a type of ancient grain resembling Egyptian Corn
also known as Durra. Durra is a wheat-like cereal grain
frequently cultivated in dry regions such as Egypt.




Chapter LXVII - "Then Satan began to lead astray Adam and Eve. . . ."


1 When Adam and Eve went down to the land of black mud
and came near to the wheat God had showed them and saw that
it was ripe and ready for reaping, they did not have a
sickle to reap it with. So they readied themselves, and
began to pull up the wheat by hand, until it was all done.

2 Then they heaped it into a pile; and, faint from
heat and from thirst, they went under a shady tree, where
the breeze fanned them to sleep.

3 But Satan saw what Adam and Eve had done. And he
called his hosts, and said to them, "Since God has shown to
Adam and Eve all about this wheat, wherewith to strengthen
their bodies -- and, look, they have come and made a big
pile of it, and faint from the toil are now asleep -- come,
let us set fire to this heap of corn, and burn it, and let
us take that bottle of water that is by them, and empty it
out, so that they may find nothing to drink, and we kill
them with hunger and thirst.

4 Then, when they wake up from their sleep, and seek
to return to the cave, we will come to them in the way, and
will lead them astray; so that they die of hunger and
thirst; when they may, perhaps, deny God, and He destroy
them. So shall we be rid of them."

5 Then Satan and his hosts set the wheat on fire and
burned it up.

6 But from the heat of the flame Adam and Eve awoke
from their sleep, and saw the wheat burning, and the bucket
of water by them, poured out.

7 Then they cried and went back to the cave.

8 But as they were going up from below the mountain
where they were, Satan and his hosts met them in the form
of angels, praising God.

9 Then Satan said to Adam, "O Adam, why are you so
pained with hunger and thirst? It seems to me that Satan
has burnt up the wheat." And Adam said to him, "Yes."

10 Again Satan said to Adam, "Come back with us; we
are angels of God. God sent us to you, to show you another
field of corn, better than that; and beyond it is a
fountain of good water, and many trees, where you shall
live near it, and work the corn field to better purpose
than that which Satan has consumed."

11 Adam thought that he was true, and that they were
angels who talked with him; and he went back with them.

12 Then Satan began to lead astray Adam and Eve eight
days, until they both fell down as if dead, from hunger,
thirst, and faintness. Then he fled with his hosts, and
left them.



Chapter LXVIII - How destruction and trouble is of Satan
when he is the master. Adam and Eve establish the custom
of worship.


1 Then God looked at Adam and Eve, and at what had
come over them from Satan, and how he had made them perish.

2 God, therefore, sent His Word, and raised up Adam
and Eve from their state of death.

3 Then, Adam, when he was raised, said, "O God, You
have burnt and taken from us the corn You have given us,
and You have emptied out the bucket of water. And You have
sent Your angels, who have caused us to lose our way from
the corn field. Will You make us perish? If this be from
you, O God, then take away our souls; but punish us not."

4 Then God said to Adam, "I did not burn down the
wheat, and I did not pour the water out of the bucket, and
I did not send My angels to lead you astray.

5 But it is Satan, your master who did it; he to whom
you have subjected yourself; my commandment being meanwhile
set aside. He it is, who burnt down the corn, and poured
out the water, and who has led you astray; and all the
promises he has made you were just a trick, a deception,
and a lie.

6 But now, O Adam, you shall acknowledge My good deeds
done to you."

7 And God told His angels to take Adam and Eve, and to
bear them up to the field of wheat, which they found as
before, with the bucket full of water.

8 There they saw a tree, and found on it solid manna;
and wondered at God's power. And the angels commanded them
to eat of the manna when they were hungry.

9 And God admonished Satan with a curse, not to come
again, and destroy the field of corn.

10 Then Adam and Eve took of the corn, and made of it
an offering, and took it and offered it up on the mountain,
the place where they had offered up their first offering of
blood.

11 And they offered this offering again on the altar
they had built at first. And they stood up and prayed, and
besought the Lord saying, "Thus, O God, when we were in the
garden, our praises went up to you, like this offering;
and our innocence went up to you like incense. But now, O
God, accept this offering from us, and don't turn us away,
deprived of Your mercy."

12 Then God said to Adam and Eve, "Since you have made
this offering and have offered it to Me, I shall make it My
flesh, when I come down on earth to save you; and I shall
cause it to be offered continually on an altar, for
forgiveness and for mercy, for those who partake of it
duly."

13 And God sent a bright fire over the offering of
Adam and Eve, and filled it with brightness, grace, and
light; and the Holy Ghost came down on that offering.

14 Then God commanded an angel to take fire tongs,
like a spoon, and with it to take an offering and bring it
to Adam and Eve. And the angel did so, as God had
commanded him, and offered it to them.

15 And the souls of Adam and Eve were brightened, and
their hearts were filled with joy and gladness and with the
praises of God.

16 And God said to Adam, "This shall be to you a
custom, to do so, when affliction and sorrow come over you.
But your deliverance and your entrance in to the garden,
shall not be until the days are fulfilled as agreed between
you and Me; were it not so, I would, of My mercy and pity
for you, bring you back to My garden and to My favor for
the sake of the offering you have just made to My name."

17 Adam rejoiced at these words which he heard from
God; and he and Eve worshipped before the altar, to which
they bowed, and then went back to the Cave of Treasures.

18 And this took place at the end of the twelfth day
after the eightieth day, from the time Adam and Eve came
out of the garden.

19 And they stood up the whole night praying until
morning; and then went out of the cave.

20 Then Adam said to Eve, with joy of heart, because
of the offering they had made to God, and that had been
accepted of Him, "Let us do this three times every week, on
the fourth day Wednesday, on the preparation day Friday,
and on the Sabbath Sunday, all the days of our life."

21 And as they agreed to these words between
themselves, God was pleased with their thoughts, and with
the resolution they had each taken with the other.

22 After this, came the Word of God to Adam, and said,
"O Adam, you have determined beforehand the days in which
sufferings shall come over Me, when I am made flesh; for
they are the fourth Wednesday, and the preparation day
Friday.

23 But as to the first day, I created in it all
things, and I raised the heavens. And, again, through My
rising again on this day, will I create joy, and raise them
on high, who believe in Me; O Adam, offer this offering,
all the days of your life."

24 Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.

25 But Adam continued to offer this offering thus,
every week three times, until the end of seven weeks. And
on the first day, which is the fiftieth, Adam made an
offering as he was accustomed, and he and Eve took it and
came to the altar before God, as He had taught them.



Chapter LXIX - Twelfth apparition of Satan to Adam and Eve,
while Adam was praying over the offering on the altar; when
Satan beat him.


1 Then Satan, the hater of all good, envious of Adam
and of his offering through which he found favor with God,
hastened and took a sharp stone from among the sharp iron
stones; appeared in the form of a man, and went and stood
by Adam and Eve.

2 Adam was then offering on the altar, and had begun
to pray, with his hands spread before God.

3 Then Satan hastened with the sharp iron stone he had
with him, and with it pierced Adam on the right side, from
which flowed blood and water, then Adam fell on the altar
like a corpse. And Satan fled.

4 Then Eve came, and took Adam and placed him below
the altar. And there she stayed, crying over him; while a
stream of blood flowed from Adam's side over his offering.

5 But God looked at the death of Adam. He then sent
His Word, and raised him up and said to him, "Fulfil your
offering, for indeed, Adam, it is worth much, and there is
no shortcoming in it."

6 God said further to Adam, "Thus will it also happen
to Me, on the earth, when I shall be pierced and blood and
water shall flow from My side and run over My body, which
is the true offering; and which shall be offered on the
altar as a perfect offering."

7 Then God commanded Adam to finish his offering, and
when he had ended it he worshipped before God, and praised
Him for the signs He had showed him.

8 And God healed Adam in one day, which is the end of
the seven weeks; and that is the fiftieth day.

9 Then Adam and Eve returned from the mountain, and
went into the Cave of Treasures, as they were used to do.
This completed for Adam and Eve, one hundred and forty days
since their coming out of the garden.

10 Then they both stood up that night and prayed to
God. And when it was morning, they went out, and went down
westward of the cave, to the place where their corn was,
and there rested under the shadow of a tree, as they were
accustomed.

11 But when there a multitude of beasts came all
around them. It was Satan's doing, in his wickedness; in
order to wage war against Adam through marriage.



Chapter LXX - Thirteenth apparition of Satan, to trick Adam
into marrying Eve.


1 After this Satan, the hater of all good, took the
form of an angel, and with him two others, so that they
looked like the three angels who had brought to Adam gold,
incense, and myrrh.

2 They passed before Adam and Eve while they were
under the tree, and greeted Adam and Eve with fair words
that were full of deceit.

3 But when Adam and Eve saw their pleasant expression,
and heard their sweet speech, Adam rose, welcomed them, and
brought them to Eve, and they remained all together; Adam's
heart the while, being glad because he thought concerning
them, that they were the same angels, who had brought him
gold, incense, and myrrh.

4 Because, when they came to Adam the first time,
there came over him from them, peace and joy, through their
bringing him good tokens; so Adam thought that they had
come a second time to give him other tokens for him to
rejoice therewith. For he did not know it was Satan;
therefore he received them with joy and consorted with
them.

5 Then Satan, the tallest of them, said, "Rejoice, O
Adam, and be glad. Look, God has sent us to you to tell
you something."

6 And Adam said, "What is it?" Then Satan answered,
"It is a simple thing, yet it is the Word of God, will you
accept it from us and do it? But if you will not accept
it, we will return to God, and tell Him that you would not
receive His Word."

7 And Satan said again to Adam, "Don't be afraid and
don't tremble; don't you know us?"

8 But Adam said, "I do not know you."

9 Then Satan said to him, "I am the angel that brought
you gold, and took it to the cave; this other angel is the
one that brought you incense; and that third angel, is the
one who brought you myrrh when you were on top of the
mountain, and who carried you to the cave.

10 But as to the other angels our fellows, who bare
you to the cave, God has not sent them with us this time;
for He said to us, 'You will be enough'. "

11 So when Adam heard these words he believed them,
and said to these angels, "Speak the Word of God, that I
may receive it."

12 And Satan said to him, "Swear, and promise me that
you will receive it."

13 Then Adam said, "I do not know how to swear and
promise."

14 And Satan said to him, "Hold out your hand, and put
it inside my hand."

15 Then Adam held out his hand, and put it into
Satan's hand; when Satan said to him, "Say, now -- So true
as God is living, rational, and speaking, who raised the
stars in heaven, and established the dry ground on the
waters, and has created me out of the four elements*, and
out of the dust of the earth -- I will not break my
promise, nor renounce my word."

16 And Adam swore thus.

17 Then Satan said to him, "Look, it is now some time
since you came out of the garden, and you know neither
wickedness nor evil. But now God says to you, to take Eve
who came out of your side, and to marry her so that she
will bear you children, to comfort you, and to drive from
you trouble and sorrow; now this thing is not difficult,
neither is there any scandal in it to you.


* See the previous footnote in chapter XXXIV regarding
the 'four elements'.



Chapter LXXI - Adam is troubled by the thought of marrying Eve.


1 But when Adam heard these words from Satan, he
sorrowed much, because of his oath and of his promise, and
said, "Shall I commit adultery with my flesh and my bones,
and shall I sin against myself, for God to destroy me, and
to blot me out from off the face of the earth?

2 Since, when at first, I ate of the tree, He drove me
out of the garden into this strange land, and deprived me
of my bright nature, and brought death over me. If, then,
I should do this, He will cut off my life from the earth,
and He will cast me into hell, and will plague me there a
long time.

3 But God never spoke the words that you have said;
and you are not God's angels, and you weren't sent from
Him. But you are devils that have come to me under the
false appearance of angels. Away from me; you cursed of
God!"

4 Then those devils fled from before Adam. And he and
Eve got up, and returned to the Cave of Treasures, and went
into it.

5 Then Adam said to Eve, "If you saw what I did, don't
tell anyone; for I sinned against God in swearing by His
great name, and I have placed my hand another time into
that of Satan." Eve, then, held her peace, as Adam told
her.

6 Then Adam got up, and spread his hands before God,
beseeching and entreating Him with tears, to forgive him
what he had done. And Adam remained thus standing and
praying forty days and forty nights. He neither ate nor
drank until he dropped down on the ground from hunger and
thirst.

7 Then God sent His Word to Adam, who raised him up
from where he lay, and said to him, "O Adam, why have you
sworn by My name, and why have you made agreement with
Satan another time?"

8 But Adam cried, and said, "O God, forgive me, for I
did this unwittingly; believing they were God's angels."

9 And God forgave Adam, saying to him, "Beware of
Satan."

10 And He withdrew His Word from Adam.

11 Then Adam's heart was comforted; and he took Eve,
and they went out of the cave, to prepare some food for
their bodies.

12 But from that day Adam struggled in his mind about
his marrying Eve; afraid that if he was to do it, God would
be angry with him.

13 Then Adam and Eve went to the river of water, and
sat on the bank, as people do when they enjoy themselves.

14 But Satan was jealous of them; and planned to destroy them.



Chapter LXXII - Adam's heart is set on fire.
Satan appears as beautiful maidens.


1 Then Satan, and ten from his hosts, transformed
themselves into maidens, unlike any others in the whole
world for grace.

2 They came up out of the river in presence of Adam
and Eve, and they said among themselves, "Come, we will
look at the faces of Adam and Eve, who are of the men on
earth. How beautiful they are, and how different is their
look from our own faces." Then they came to Adam and Eve,
and greeted them; and stood wondering at them.

3 Adam and Eve looked at them also, and wondered at
their beauty, and said, "Is there, then, under us, another
world, with such beautiful creatures as these in it?"

4 And those maidens said to Adam and Eve, "Yes,
indeed, we are an abundant creation."

5 Then Adam said to them, "But how do you multiply?"

6 And they answered him, "We have husbands who have
married us, and we bear them children, who grow up,
and who in their turn marry and are married, and also
bear children; and thus we increase. And if so be, O Adam,
you will not believe us, we will show you our husbands
and our children."

7 Then they shouted over the river as if to call their
husbands and their children, who came up from the river,
men and children; and every man came to his wife, his
children being with him.

8 But when Adam and Eve saw them, they stood dumb, and
wondered at them.

9 Then they said to Adam and Eve, "See all our husbands
and our children? You should marry Eve, as we have married
our husbands, so that you will have children as we have."
This was a device of Satan to deceive Adam.

10 Satan also thought within himself, "God at first
commanded Adam concerning the fruit of the tree, saying to
him, 'Eat not of it; else of death you shall die.' But
Adam ate of it, and yet God did not kill him; He only
decreed on him death, and plagues and trials, until the day
he shall come out of his body.

11 Now, then, if I deceive him to do this thing, and to marry
Eve without God's permission, God will kill him then."

12 Therefore Satan worked this apparition before Adam
and Eve; because he sought to kill him, and to make him
disappear from off the face of the earth.

13 Meanwhile the fire of sin came over Adam, and he
thought of committing sin. But he restrained himself,
fearing that if he followed this advice of Satan, God would
put him to death.

14 Then Adam and Eve got up, and prayed to God, while
Satan and his hosts went down into the river, in presence
of Adam and Eve; to let them see that they were going back
to their own world.

15 Then Adam and Eve went back to the Cave of
Treasures, as they usually did; about evening time.

16 And they both got up and prayed to God that night.
Adam remained standing in prayer, yet not knowing how to
pray, by reason of the thoughts in his heart regarding his
marrying Eve; and he continued so until morning.

17 And when light came up, Adam said to Eve, "Get up,
let us go below the mountain, where they brought us gold,
and let us ask the Lord concerning this matter."

18 Then Eve said, "What is that matter, O Adam?"

19 And he answered her, "That I may request the Lord
to inform me about marrying you; for I will not do it
without His permission or else He will make us perish, you
and me. For those devils have set my heart on fire, with
thoughts of what they showed us, in their sinful
apparitions.

20 Then Eve said to Adam, "Why need we go below the
mountain? Let us rather stand up and pray in our cave to
God, to let us know whether this counsel is good or not."

21 Then Adam rose up in prayer and said, "O God, you
know that we transgressed against you, and from the moment
we transgressed, we were stripped of our bright nature; and
our body became brutish, requiring food and drink; and with
animal desires.

22 Command us, O God, not to give way to them without
Your permission, for fear that You will turn us into
nothing. Because if you do not give us permission, we
shall be overpowered, and follow that advice of Satan; and
You will again make us perish.

23 If not, then take our souls from us; let us be rid
of this animal lust. And if You give us no order
respecting this thing, then sever Eve from me, and me from
her; and place us each far away from the other.

24 Then again, O God, if You separate us from each
other, the devils will deceive us with their apparitions
that resemble us, and destroy our hearts, and defile our
thoughts towards each other. Yet if it is not each of us
towards the other, it will, at all events, be through their
appearance when the devils come to us in our likeness."
Here Adam ended his prayer.



Chapter LXXIII - The marriage of Adam and Eve.


1 Then God considered the words of Adam that they were
true, and that he could long await His order, respecting
the counsel of Satan.

2 And God approved Adam in what he had thought
concerning this, and in the prayer he had offered in His
presence; and the Word of God came to Adam and said to him,
"O Adam, if only you had had this caution at first, before
you came out of the garden into this land!"

3 After that, God sent His angel who had brought gold,
and the angel who had brought incense, and the angel who
had brought myrrh to Adam, that they should inform him
respecting his marriage to Eve.

4 Then those angels said to Adam, "Take the gold and
give it to Eve as a wedding gift, and promise to marry her;
then give her some incense and myrrh as a present; and be
you, you and she, one flesh."

5 Adam obeyed the angels, and took the gold and put it
into Eve's bosom in her garment; and promised to marry her
with his hand.

6 Then the angels commanded Adam and Eve to get up and
pray forty days and forty nights; when that was done, then
Adam was to have sexual intercourse with his wife; for then
this would be an act pure and undefiled; so that he would
have children who would multiply, and replenish the face of
the earth.

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