The Book Of Jubilees Chapter 5

Men Began To Multiply And Torahlessness Increased

1 And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the malakim of YAHWEH saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants.

2 And torahlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth -all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and torahlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually.

3 And YAHWEH looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt, and all flesh had corrupted its orders, and all that were upon the earth had wrought all manner of evil before His eyes.

4 And He said that He would destroy man and all flesh upon the face of the earth which He had created.

5 But Noah found free unmerited favor before the eyes of YAHWEH.

6 And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate.

7 And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven.

8 And He said 'My spirit shall not always abide on man; for they also are flesh and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years'.

9 And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neighbour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth.

10 And their fathers were witnesses (of their destruction), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth forever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before YAHWEH.

11 And He destroyed all from their places, and there was not left one of them whom He judged not according to all their wickedness.

12 And he made for all his works a new and righteous nature, so that they should not sin in their whole nature forever, but should be all righteous each in his kind always.

13 And the judgment of all is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets in righteousness -even (the judgment of) all who depart from the path which is ordained for them to walk in; and if they walk not therein, judgment is written down for every creature and for every kind.

14 And there is nothing in heaven or on earth, or in light or in darkness, or in Sheol or in the depth, or in the place of darkness (which is not judged); and all their judgments are ordained and written and engraved.

15 In regard to all He will judge, the great according to his greatness, and the small according to his smallness, and each according to his way.

16 And He is not one who will regard the person (of any), nor is He one who will receive gifts, if He says that He will execute judgment on each: if one gave everything that is on the earth, He will not regard the gifts or the person (of any), nor accept anything at his hands, for He is a righteous judge.

17 And of the children of Yisrael it has been written and ordained: If they turn to HIM in righteousness He will forgive all their transgressions and pardon all their sins. It is written and ordained that He will show mercy to all who turn from all their guilt once each year.

19 And as for all those who corrupted their ways and their thoughts before the flood, no man's person was accepted save that of Noah alone; for his person was accepted in behalf of his sons, whom YAHWEH saved from the waters of the flood on his account; for his heart was righteous in all his ways, according as it was commanded regarding him, and he had not departed from aught that was ordained for him.

20 And YAHWEH said that he would destroy everything which was upon the earth, both men and cattle, and beasts, and fowls of the air, and that which moves on the earth.

21 And He commanded Noah to make him an ark, that he might save himself from the waters of the flood.

22 And Noah made the ark in all respects as He commanded him, in the twenty-seventh jubilee of years, in the fifth week in the fifth year (on the new month of the first month). [1307 A.M.]

23 And he entered in the sixth (year) thereof, [1308 A.M.] in the second month, on the new month of the second month, till the sixteenth; and he entered, and all that we brought to him, into the ark, and YAHWEH closed it from without on the seventeenth evening.

24 And YAHWEH opened seven flood-gates of heaven,

And the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in number.

25 And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the heaven forty days and forty nights, And the fountains of the deep also sent up waters, until the whole world was full of water.

26 And the waters increased upon the earth: Fifteen cubits did the waters rise above all the high mountains, And the ark was lift up above the earth, And it moved upon the face of the waters.

27 And the water prevailed on the face of the earth five months -one hundred and fifty days.

28 And the ark went and rested on the top of Lubar, one of the mountains of Ararat.

29 And (on the new month) in the fourth month the fountains of the great deep were closed and the flood-gates of heaven were restrained; and on the new month of the seventh month all the mouths of the abysses of the earth were opened, and the water began to descend into the deep below.

30 And on the new month of the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen, and on the new month of the first month the earth became visible.

31 And the waters disappeared from above the earth in the fifth week in the seventh year [1309 A.M.] thereof, and on the seventeenth day in the second month the earth was dry.

32 And on the twenty-seventh thereof he opened the ark, and sent forth from it beasts, and cattle, and birds, and every moving thing.