The Second Book Of Adam And Eve
1926 anthology, complete selected publisher reading text
Rutherford H. Platt
19 But Jared when he heard this discourse from the elder, wondered; and went hither and thither, but at that moment he found not one of his children.
20 Then he answered and said to the elder, “Why have you hidden yourselves until this day?”
21 And the elder replied, “If thy father had not told us, we should not have known it.”
22 Then Jared believed his words were true.
23 So that elder said to Jared, “Wherefore didst thou turn about, so and so?” And he said, “I was seeking one of my children, to tell him about my going with you, and about their coming down to those about whom thou hast spoken to me.”
24 When the elder heard Jared’s intention, he said to him, “Let alone that purpose at present, and come with us; thou shalt see our country; if the land in which we dwell pleases thee, we and thou shall return hither and take thy family with us. But if our country does not please thee, thou shalt come back to thine own place.”
25 And the elder urged Jared, to go before one of his children came to counsel him otherwise.
26 Jared, then, came out of the cave and went with them, and among them. And they comforted him, until they came to the top of the mountain of the sons of Cain.
27 Then said the elder to one of his companions, “We have forgotten something by the mouth of the cave, and that is the chosen garment we had brought to clothe Jared withal.”
28 He then said to one of them, “Go back, thou, some one; and we will wait for thee here, until thou come back. Then will we clothe Jared and he shall be like us, good, handsome, and fit to come with us into our country.”
29 Then that one went back.
30 But when he was a short distance off, the elder called to him and said to him, “Tarry thou, until I come up and speak to thee.”
31 Then he stood still, and the elder went up to him and said to him, “One thing we forgot at the cave, it is this--to put out the lamp that burns inside it, above the bodies that are therein. Then come back to us, quick.”
32 That one went, and the elder came back to his fellows and to Jared. And they came down from the mountain, and Jared with them; and they stayed by a fountain of water, near the houses of the children of Cain, and waited for their companion until he brought the garment for Jared.
33 He, then, who went, back to the cave, put out the lamp, and came to them and brought a phantom with him and showed it them. And when Jared saw it he wondered at the beauty and grace thereof, and rejoiced in his heart believing it was all true.
34 But while they were staying there, three of them went into houses of the sons of Cain, and said to them, “Bring us to-day some food by the fountain of water, for us and our companions to eat.”
35 But when the sons of Cain saw them, they wondered at them and thought: “These are beautiful to look at, and such as we never saw before.” So they rose and came with them to the fountain of water, to see their companions.
36 They found them so very handsome, that they cried aloud about their places for others to gather together and come and look at these beautiful beings. Then they gathered around them both men and women.
37 Then the elder said to them, “We are strangers in your land, bring us some good food and drink you and your women, to refresh ourselves with you.”
38 When those men heard these words of the elder, every one of Cain’s sons brought his wife, and another brought his daughter, and so, many women came to them; every one addressing Jared either for himself or for his wife; all alike.
39 But when Jared saw what they did, his very soul wrenched itself from them; neither would he taste of their food or of their drink.
40 The elder saw hint as he wrenched himself from them, and said to him, “Be not sad; I am the great elder, as thou shalt see me do, do thyself in like manner.”
41 Then he spread his hands and took one of the women, and five of his companions did the same before Jared, that he should do as they did.
42 But when Jared saw them working infamy he wept, and said in his mind,--My fathers never did the like.
43 He then spread his hands and prayed with a fervent heart, and with much weeping, and entreated God to deliver him from their hands.
44 No sooner did Jared begin to pray than the elder fled with his companions; for they could not abide in a place of prayer.
45 Then Jared turned round but could not see them, but found himself standing in the midst of the children of Cain.
46 He then wept and said, “O God, destroy me not with this race, concerning which my fathers have warned me; for now, O my Lord God, I was thinking that those who appeared unto me were my fathers; but I have found them out to be devils, who allured me by this beautiful apparition, until I believed them.
47 “But now I ask Thee, O God, to deliver me from this race, among whom I am now staying, as Thou didst deliver me from those devils. Send Thy angel to draw me out of the midst of them; for I have not myself power to escape from among them.”
48 When Jared had ended his prayer, God sent His angel in the midst of them, who took Jared and set him upon the mountain, and showed him the way, gave him counsel, and then departed from him.
CHAP. XVIII.
Confusion in the Cave of Treasures. Miraculous speech of the dead Adam.
THE children of Jared were in the habit of visiting him hour after hour, to receive his blessing and to ask his advice for every thing they did; and when he had a work to do, they did it for him.
2 But this time when they went into the cave they found not Jared, but they found the lamp put out, and the bodies of the fathers thrown about, and voices came from them by the power of God, that said, “Satan in an apparition has deceived our son, wishing to destroy him, as he destroyed our son Cain.”
3 They said also, “Lord God of heaven and earth, deliver our son from the hand of Satan, who wrought a great and false apparition before him,” They also spake of other matters, by the power of God.
4 But when the children of Jared heard these voices they feared, and stood weeping for their father; for they knew not what had befallen him.
5 And they wept for him that day until the setting of the sun.
6 Then came Jared with a woeful countenance, wretched in mind and body, and sorrowful at having been separated from the bodies of his fathers.
7 But as he was drawing near to the cave, his children saw him, and hastened to the cave, and hung upon his neck, crying, and saying to him, “O father, where hast thou been, and why hast thou left us, as thou wast not wont to do?” And again, “O father, when thou didst disappear, the lamp over the bodies of our fathers went out, the bodies were thrown about, and voices came from them.”
8 When Jared heard this he was sorry, and went into the cave; and there found the bodies thrown about, the lamp put out, and the fathers themselves praying for his deliverance from the hand of Satan.