I
When they were driven out from paradise, they made themselves a
booth, and spent seven days mourning and lamenting in great
grief.
II
But after seven days, they began to be hungry and started to
look for victual to eat, and they found it not. Then Eve said to
Adam: 'My lord, I am hungry. Go, look for (something) for us to
eat. Perchance the Lord God will look back and pity us and
recall us to the place in which we were before.'
III
And Adam arose and walked seven days over all that land, and
found no victual such as they used to have in paradise. And Eve
said to Adam: 'Wilt thou slay me? that I may die, and perchance
God the Lord will bring thee into paradise, for on my account
hast thou been driven thence.' Adam answered: 'Forbear, Eve,
from such words, that peradventure God bring not some other
curse upon us. How is it possible that I should stretch forth my
hand against my own flesh? Nay, let us arise and look for
something for us to live on, that we fail not.'
IV
And they walked about and searched for nine days, and they found
none such as they were used to have in paradise, but found only
animals' food. And Adam said to Eve: 'This hath the Lord
provided for animals and brutes to eat; but we used to have
angels' food. But it is just and right that we lament before the
sight of God who made us. Let us repent with a great penitence:
perchance the Lord will be gracious to us and will pity us and
give us a share of something for our living.'
V
And Eve said to Adam: 'What is penitence? Tell me, what sort of
penitence am I to do? Let us not put too great a labour on
ourselves, which we cannot endure, so that the Lord will not
hearken to our prayers: and will turn away His countenance from
us, because we have not fulfilled what we promised. My lord, how
much penitence hast thou thought (to do) for I have brought
trouble and anguish upon thee?'
VI
And Adam said to Eve: 'Thou canst not do so much as I, but do
only so much as thou hast strength for. For I will spend forty
days fasting, but do thou arise and go to the river Tigris and
lift up a stone and stand on it in the water up to thy neck in
the deep of the river. And let no speech proceed out of thy
mouth, since we are unworthy to address the Lord, for our lips
are unclean from the unlawful and forbidden tree. And do thou
stand in the water of the river thirty-seven days. But I will
spend forty days in the water of Jordan, perchance the Lord God
will take pity upon us.'
VII
And Eve walked to the river Tigris and did as Adam had told her.
Likewise, Adam walked to the river Jordan and stood on a stone
up to his neck in water.
VIII
And Adam said: 'I tell thee, water of Jordan, grieve with me,
and assemble to me all swimming (creatures), which are in thee,
and let them surround me and mourn in company with me. Not for
themselves let them lament, but for me; for it is not they that
have sinned, but I.' Forthwith, all living things came and
surrounded him, and, from that hour, the water of Jordan stood
(still) and its current was stayed.'
IX
And eighteen days passed by; then Satan was wroth and
transformed himself into the brightness of angels, and went away
to the river Tigris to Eve, and found her weeping, and the devil
himself pretended to grieve with her, and he began to weep and
said to her 'Come out of the river and lament no more. Cease now
from sorrow and moans. Why art thou anxious and thy husband
Adam? The Lord God hath heard your groaning and hath accepted
your penitence, and all we angels have entreated on your behalf,
and made supplication to the Lord; and he hath sent me to bring
you out of the water and give you the nourishment which you had
in paradise, and for which you are crying out. Now come out of
the water and I will conduct you to the place where your victual
hath been made ready.'
X
But Eve heard and believed and went out of the water of the
river, and her flesh was (trembling) like grass, from the chill
of the water. And when she had gone out, she fell on the earth
and the devil raised her up and led her to Adam. But when Adam
had seen her and the devil with her, he wept and cried aloud and
said: 'O Eve, Eve, where is the labour of thy penitence? How
hast thou been again ensnared by our adversary, by whose means
we have been estranged from our abode in paradise and spiritual
joy?'
XI
And when she heard this, Eve understood that (it was) the devil
(who) had persuaded her to go out of the river; and she fell on
her face on the earth and her sorrow and groaning and wailing
was redoubled. And she cried out and said: 'Woe unto thee, thou
devil. Why dost thou attack us for no cause? What hast thou to
do with us? What have we done to thee? for thou pursuest us with
craft? Or why doth thy malice assail us? Have we taken away thy
glory and caused thee to be without honour? Why dost thou harry
us, thou enemy (and persecute us) to the death in wickedness and
envy?'
XII
And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: 'O Adam! all my
hostility, envy, and sorrow is for thee, since it is for thee
that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed in
the heavens in the midst of the angels and for thee was I cast
out in the earth.' Adam answered, 'What dost thou tell me? What
have I done to thee or what is my fault against thee? Seeing
that thou hast received no harm or injury from us, why dost thou
pursue us?'
XIII
The devil replied, 'Adam, what dost thou tell me? It is for thy
sake that I have been hurled from that place. When thou wast
formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished
from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the
breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image
of God, Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in
the sight of God; and God the Lord spake: Here is Adam. I have
made thee in our image and likeness.'
XIV
And Michael went out and called all the angels saying: 'Worship
the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.' And Michael
himself worshipped first; then he called me and said: 'Worship
the image of God the Lord.' And I answered, 'I have no (need) to
worship Adam.' And since Michael kept urging me to worship, I
said to him, 'Why dost thou urge me? I will not worship an
inferior and younger being (than I). I am his senior in the
Creation, before he was made was I already made. It is his duty
to worship me.'
XIV
When the angels who were under me heard this, they refused to
worship him. And Michael saith, 'Worship the image of God, but
if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath with
thee.' And I said, 'If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat
above the stars of heaven and will be like the Highest.'
XVI
And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels
from our glory; and on thy account were we expelled from our
abodes into this world and hurled on the earth. And straight
Away we were overcome with grief, since we had been spoiled of
so great glory. And we were grieved when we saw thee in such joy
and luxury. And with guile I cheated thy wife and caused thee to
be expelled through her (doing) from thy joy and luxury, as I
have been driven out of my glory.
XVII
When Adam heard the devil say this, he cried out and wept and
spake: 'O Lord my God, my life is in thy hands. Banish this
Adversary far from me, who seeketh to destroy my soul, and give
me his glory which he himself hath lost.' And at that moment,
the devil vanished before him. But Adam endured in his penance,
standing for forty days (on end) in the water of Jordan.
XVIII
And Eve said to Adam: 'Live thou, my Lord, to thee life is
granted, since thou hast committed neither the first nor the
second error. But I have erred and been led astray for I have
not kept the commandment of God; and now banish me from the
light of thy life and I will go to the sunsetting, and there
will I be, until I die.' And she began to walk towards the
western parts and to mourn and to weep bitterly and groan aloud.
And she made there a booth, while she had in her womb offspring
of three months old.
XIX
And when the time of her bearing approached, she began to be
distressed with pains, and she cried aloud to the Lord and said:
'Pity me, O Lord, assist me.' And she was not heard and the
mercy of God did not encircle her. And she said to herself: 'Who
shall tell my lord Adam? I implore you, ye luminaries of heaven,
what time ye return to the east, bear a message to my lord adam.'
XX
But in that hour, Adam said: 'The complaint of Eve hath come to
me. Perchance, once more hath the serpent fought with her.' And
he went and found her in great distress. And Eve said: 'From the
moment I saw thee, my lord, my grief-laden soul was refreshed.
And now entreat the Lord God on my behalf to hearken unto thee
and look upon me and free me from my awful pains.' And Adam
entreated the Lord for Eve.
XXI
And behold, there came twelve angels and two 'virtues', standing
on the right and on the left of Eve; and Michael was standing on
the right; and he stroked her on the face as far as to the
breast and said to Eve: 'Blessed art thou, Eve, for Adam's sake.
Since his prayers and intercessions are great, I have been sent
that thou mayst receive our help. Rise up now, and prepare thee
to bear. And she bore a son and he was shining; and at once the
babe rose up and ran and bore a blade of grass in his hands, and
gave it to his mother, and his name was called Cain.
XXII
And Adam carried Eve and the boy and led them to the East. And
the Lord God sent divers seeds by Michael the archangel and gave
to Adam and showed him how to work and till the ground, that
they might have fruit by which they and all their generations
might live. For thereafter Eve conceived and bare a son, whose
name was Abel; and Cain and Abel used to stay together. And Eve
said to Adam: 'My lord, while I slept, I saw a vision, as it
were the blood of our son Abel in the hand of Cain, who was
gulping it down in his mouth. Therefore I have sorrow.' And Adam
said, 'Alas if Cain slew Abel. Yet let us separate them from
each other mutually, and let us make for each of them separate
dwellings.'
XXIII
And they made Cain an husbandman, (but) Abel they made a
shepherd; in order that in this wise they might be mutually
separated. And thereafter, Cain slew Abel, but Adam was then one
hundred and thirty years old, but Abel was slain when he was one
hundred and twenty-two years. And thereafter Adam knew his wife
and he begat a son and called his name Seth.
XXIV
And Adam said to Eve, 'Behold, I have begotten a son, in place
of Abel, whom Cain slew.' And after Adam had begotten Seth, he
lived eight hundred years and begat thirty sons and thirty
daughters; in all sixty-three children. And they were increased
over the face of the earth in their nations.
XXV
And Adam said to Seth, 'Hear, my son Seth, that I may relate to
thee what I heard and saw after your mother and I had been
driven out of paradise. When we were at prayer, there came to me
Michael the archangel, a messenger of God. And I saw a chariot
like the wind and its wheels were fiery and I was caught up into
the Paradise of righteousness, and I saw the Lord sitting and
his face was flaming fire that could not be endured. And many
thousands of angels were on the right and the left of that
chariot.
XXVI
When I saw this, I was confounded, and terror seized me and I
bowed myself down before God with my face to the earth. And God
said to me, 'Behold thou diest, since thou hast transgressed the
commandment of God, for thou didst hearken rather to the voice
of thy wife, whom I gave into thy power, that thou mightst hold
her to thy will. Yet thou didst listen to her and didst pass by
My words.'
XXVII
And when I heard these words of God, I fell prone on the earth
and worshipped the Lord and said, 'My Lord, All powerful and
merciful God, Holy and Righteous One, let not the name that is
mindful of Thy majesty be blotted out, but convert my soul, for
I die and my breath will go out of my mouth. Cast me not out
from Thy presence, (me) whom Thou didst form of the clay of the
earth. Do not banish from Thy favour him whom Thou didst
nourish.' And lo! a word concerning thee came upon me and the
Lord said to me, 'Since thy days were fashioned, thou hast been
created with a love of knowledge; therefore there shall not be
taken from thy seed for ever the (right) to serve Me.'
XXVIII
And when I heard these words. I threw myself on the earth and
adored the Lord God and said, 'Thou art the eternal and supreme
God; and all creatures give thee honour and praise. 'Thou art
the true Light gleaming above all light(s), the Living Life,
infinite mighty Power. To Thee, the spiritual powers give honour
and praise. Thou workest on the race of men the abundance of Thy
mercy.' After I had worshipped the Lord, straightaway Michael,
God's archangel, seized my hand and cast me out of the paradise
of 'vision' and of God's command. And Michael held a rod in his
hand, and he touched the waters, which were round about
paradise, and they froze hard.
XXIX
And I went across, and Michael the archangel went across with
me, and he led me back to the place whence he had caught me up.
Hearken, my son Seth, even to the rest of the secrets [and
sacraments] that shall be, which were revealed to me, when I had
eaten of the tree of the knowledge, and knew and perceived what
will come to pass in this age; what God intends to do to his
creation of the race of men. The Lord will appear in a flame of
fire (and) from the mouth of His majesty He will give
commandments and statutes [from His mouth will proceed a
two-edged sword] and they will sanctify Him in the house of the
habitation of His majesty. And He will show them the marvellous
place of His majesty. And then they will build a house to the
Lord their God in the land which He shall prepare for them and
there they will transgress His statutes and their sanctuary will
be burnt up and their land will be deserted and they themselves
will be dispersed; because they have kindled the wrath of God.
And once more He will cause them to come back from their
dispersion; and again they will build the house of God; and in
the last time the house of God will be exalted greater than of
old. And once more iniquity will exceed righteousness. And
thereafter God will dwell with men on earth [in visible form];
and then, righteousness will begin to shine. And the house of
God will be honoured in the age and their enemies will no more
be able to hurt the men, who are believing in God; and God will
stir up for Himself a faithful people, whom He shall save for
eternity, and the impious shall be punished by God their king,
the men who refused to love His law. Heaven and earth, nights
and days, and all creatures shall obey Him, and not overstep His
commandment. Men shall not change their works, but they shall be
changed from forsaking the law of the Lord. Therefore the Lord
shall repel from Himself the wicked, and the just shall shine
like the sun, in the sight of God. And in that time, shall men
be purified by water from their sins. But those who are
unwilling to be purified by water shall be condemned. And happy
shall the man be, who hath ruled his soul, when the Judgement
shall come to pass and the greatness of God be seen among men
and their deeds be inquired into by God the just judge.
XXX
After Adam was nine hundred and thirty years old, since he knew
that his days were coming to an end, he said: 'Let all my sons
assemble themselves to me, that I may bless them before I die,
and speak with them.' And they were assembled in three parts,
before his sight, in the house of prayer, where they used to
worship the Lord God. And they asked him (saying): 'What
concerns thee, Father, that thou shouldst assemble us, and why
dost thou lie on thy bed? 'Then Adam answered and said: 'My
sons, I am sick and in pain.' And all his sons said to him:
'What does it mean, father, this illness and pain?'
XXXI
Then said Seth his son: 'O (my) lord, perchance thou hast longed
after the fruit of paradise, which thou wast wont to eat, and
therefore thou liest in sadness? Tell me and I will go to the
nearest gates of paradise and put dust on my head and throw
myself down on the earth before the gates of paradise and lament
and make entreaty to God with loud lamentation; perchance he
will hearken to me and send his angel to bring me the fruit, for
which thou hast longed.' Adam answered and said: 'No, my son, I
do not long (for this), but I feel weakness and great pain in my
body.' Seth answered, 'What is pain, my lord father? I am
ignorant; but hide it not from us, but tell us (about it).' And
Adam answered and said: 'Hear me, my sons. When God made us, me
and your mother, and placed us in paradise and gave us every
tree bearing fruit to eat, he laid a prohibition on us
concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is in
the midst of paradise; (saying) 'Do not eat of it.' But God gave
a part of paradise to me and (a part) to your mother: the trees
of the eastern part and the north, which is over against Aquilo
he gave to me, and to your mother he gave the part of the south
and the western part.
XXXIII
(Moreover) God the Lord gave us two angels to guard us. The hour
came when the angels had ascended to worship in the sight of
God; forthwith the adversary [the devil] found an opportunity
while the angels were absent and the devil led your mother
astray to eat of the unlawful and forbidden tree. And she did
eat and gave to me.
XXXIV
And immediately, the Lord God was wrath with us, and the Lord
said to me: 'In that thou hast left behind my commandment and
hast not kept my word, which I confirmed to thee; behold, I will
bring upon thy body, seventy blows; with divers griefs, shalt
thou be tormented, beginning at thy head and thine eyes and
thine ears down to the nails on thy toes, and in every separate
limb. These hath God appointed for chastisement. All these
things hath the Lord sent to me and to all our race.'
XXXV
Thus spake Adam to his sons, and he was seized with violent
pains, and he cried out with a loud voice, 'What shall I do? I
am in distress. So cruel are the pains with which I am beset.'
And when Eve had seen him weeping, she also began to weep
herself, and said: 'O Lord my God, hand over to me his pain, for
it is I who sinned.' And Eve said to Adam: 'My lord, give me a
part of thy pains, for this hath come to thee from fault of
mine.'
XXXVI
And Adam said to Eve: 'Rise up and go with my son Seth to the
neighbourhood of paradise, and put dust on your heads and throw
yourselves on the ground and lament in the sight of God.
Perchance He will have pity (upon you) and send His angel across
to the tree of His mercy, whence floweth the oil of life, and
will give you a drop of it, to anoint me with it, that I may
have rest from these pains, by which I am being consumed.' Then
Seth and his mother went off towards the gates of paradise. And
while they were walking, lo! suddenly there came a beast [a
serpent] and attacked and bit Seth. And as soon as Eve saw it,
she wept and said: 'Alas, wretched woman that I am. I am
accursed since I have not kept the commandment of God.' And Eve
said to the serpent in a loud voice: 'Accursed beast! how (is it
that) thou hast not feared to let thyself loose against the
image of God, but hast dared to fight with it?'
XXXVIII
The beast answered in the language of men: 'Is it not against
you, Eve, that our malice (is directed)? Are not ye the objects
of our rage? Tell me, Eve, how was thy mouth opened to eat of
the fruit? But now if I shall begin to reprove thee thou canst
not bear it.'
XXXIX
Then said Seth to the beast: 'God the Lord revile thee. Be
silent, be dumb, shut thy mouth, accursed enemy of Truth,
confounder and destroyer. Avaunt from the image of God till the
day when the Lord God shall order thee to be brought to the
ordeal.' And the beast said to Seth: 'See, I leave the presence
of the image of God, as thou hast said.' Forthwith he left Seth,
wounded by his teeth.
XL
But Seth and his mother walked to the regions of paradise for
the oil of mercy to anoint the sick Adam: and they arrived at
the gates of paradise, (and) they took dust from the earth and
placed it on their heads, and bowed themselves with their faces
to the earth and began to lament and make loud moaning,
imploring the Lord God to pity Adam in his pains and to send His
angel to give them the oil from the 'tree of His mercy'.
XLI
But when they had been praying and imploring for many hours,
behold, the angel Michael appeared to them and said: 'I have
been sent to you from the Lord - I am set by God over the bodies
of men - I tell thee, Seth, (thou) man of God, weep not nor pray
and entreat on account of the oil of the tree of mercy to anoint
thy father Adam for the pains of his body.
XLII
'For I tell thee that in no wise wilt thou be able to receive
thereof save in the last days.' [When five thousand five hundred
years have been fulfilled, then will come upon earth the most
beloved king Christ, the son of God, to revive the body of Adam
and with him to revive the bodies of the dead. He Himself, the
Son of God, when He comes will be baptized in the river of
Jordan, and when He hath come out of the water of Jordan, then
He will anoint from the oil of mercy all that believe in Him.
And the oil of mercy shall be for generation to generation for
those who are ready to be born again of water and the Holy
Spirit to life eternal. Then the most beloved Son of God,
Christ, descending on earth shall lead thy father Adam to
Paradise to the tree of mercy.]
XLIII
'But do thou, Seth, go to thy father Adam, since the time of his
life is fulfilled. Six days hence, his soul shall go off his
body and when it shall have gone out, thou shalt see great
marvels in the heaven and in the earth and the luminaries of
heaven. With these words, straightway Michael departed from
Seth. And Eve and Seth returned bearing with them herbs of
fragrance, i.e. nard and crocus and calamus and cinnamon.
XLIV
And when Seth and his mother had reached Adam, they told him,
how the beast [the serpent] bit Seth. And Adam said to Eve:
'What hast thou done? A great plague hast thou brought upon us,
transgression and sin for all our generations: and this which
thou hast done, tell thy children after my death, [for those who
arise from us shall toil and fail but they shall be wanting and
curse us (and) say, All evils have our parents brought upon us,
who were at the beginning].' When Eve heard these words, she
began to weep and moan.
XLV
And just as Michael the archangel had foretold, after six days
came Adam's death. When Adam perceived that the hour of his
death was at hand, he said to all his sons: 'Behold, I am nine
hundred and thirty years old, and if I die, bury me towards the
sunrising in the field of yonder dwelling.' And it came to pass
that when he had finished all his discourse, he gave up the
ghost. (Then) was the sun darkened and the moon
XLVI
and the stars for seven days, and Seth in his mourning embraced
from above the body of his father, and Eve was looking on the
ground with hands folded over her head, and all her children
wept most bitterly. And behold, there appeared Michael the angel
and stood at the head of Adam and said to Seth: 'Rise up from
the body of thy father and come to me and see what is the doom
of the Lord God concerning him. His creature is he, and God hath
pitied him.' And all angels blew their trumpets, and cried:
XLVII
'Blessed art thou, O Lord, for thou hast had pity on Thy
creature.'
XLVIII
Then Seth saw the hand of God stretched out holding Adam and he
handed him over to Michael, saying: 'Let him be in thy charge
till the day of Judgement in punishment, till the last years
when I will convert his sorrow into joy. Then shall he sit on
the throne of him who hath been his supplanter.' And the Lord
said again to the angels Michael and Uriel: 'Bring me three
linen clothes of byssus and spread them out over Adam and other
linen clothes over Abel his son and bury Adam and Abel his son.'
And all the 'powers' of angels marched before Adam, and the
sleep of the dead was consecrated. And the angels Michael and
Uriel buried Adam and Abel in the parts of Paradise, before the
eyes of Seth and his mother [and no one else], and Michael and
Uriel said: 'Just as ye have seen, in like manner, bury your
dead.'
XLIX
Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die,
(so) she assembled all her sons and daughters, Seth with thirty
brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all, 'Hear me, my
children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to
us when I and your father transgressed the command of God. On
account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your
race the anger of his judgement, first by water, the second time
by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race
L
But hearken unto me, my children. Make ye then tables of stone
and others of clay, and write on them, all my life and your
father's (all) that ye have heard and seen from us. If by water
the Lord judge our race, the tables of clay will be dissolved
and the tables of stone will remain; but if by fire, the tables
of stone will be broken up and the tables of clay will be baked
(hard).' When Eve had said all this to her children, she spread
out her hands to heaven in prayer, and bent her knees to the
earth, and while she worshipped the Lord and gave him thanks,
she gave up the ghost. Thereafter, all her children buried her
with loud lamentation.
LI
When they had been mourning four days, (then) Michael the
archangel appeared and said to Seth: 'Man of God, mourn not for
thy dead more than six days, for on the seventh day is the sign
of the resurrection and the rest of the age to come; on the
seventh day the Lord rested from all His works.' Thereupon Seth
made the tables [of clay and stone].