The First Book Of Adam And Eve
1926 anthology, complete selected publisher reading text
Rutherford H. Platt
7 “But, in mercy for you, just as that rock was falling down upon you, I commanded it to form an awning over you; and the rock under you, to lower itself.
8 “And this sign, O Adam, will happen to Me at My coming upon earth: Satan will raise the people of the Jews Jo put Me to death; and they will lay Me in a rock, and seal a large stone upon 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 thee, O Adam, and to thy seed, to believe in Me. But, O Adam, I will not bring thee from under this rock until three days and three nights are passed.”
10 And God withdrew His Word from Adam.
11 But Adam and Eve abode 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 opened the rock and brought them out from under it. Their flesh was dried up, and their eyes and their hearts were troubled from weeping and sorrow.
CHAP. L.
Adam and Eve seek to cover their nakedness.
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 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 unto 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 sought something to cover their bodies withal. 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 wherewith to cover their bodies.
7 Then came the Word of God and said unto him, “O Adam, take Eve and come to the seashore, where ye fasted before. There ye shall find skins of sheep, whose flesh was devoured by lions, and whose skins were left. Take them and make raiment for yourselves, and clothe yourselves withal.”
CHAP. LI.
“What is his beauty that you should have followed him?”
WHEN Adam heard these words from God, he took Eve and removed 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 in the way, and before they reached that place, 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, that Adam and Eve should 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 neared 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 I 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 hearkening to 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.
CHAP. LII.
Adam and Eve sew the first shirt.
AFTER this Adam and Eve said no more, but wept before God on account of their creation, and of their bodies that required an earthly covering.
2 Then Adam said unto Eve, “O Eve, this is the skin of beasts with which we shall be covered. But when we have put it on, behold, a token of death shall have come upon us, inasmuch 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 wont.
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 withal.
9 From that time the nakedness of their bodies was covered from the sight of each other’s eyes.