YASHAR 3 (Jasher 3)

1 And Ḥanoḵ lived sixty-five years and he brought forth Methushelaḥ; and Ḥanoḵ walked with Elohim after having brought forth Methushelaḥ, and he served 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and despised the evil ways of men.

2 And the being of Ḥanoḵ was bound up in the instruction of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, in knowledge and in understanding; and he wisely retired from the sons of men, and hid himself from them for many days.

3 And it came to be at the passing of many years, while he was serving 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and praying before Him in his house, that a messenger of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 called to him from the shamayim, and he said, “Here I am.”

4 And he said, “Rise, go out from your house and from the place where you hide yourself, and appear to the sons of men, in order that you may teach them the Way in which they should go and the work which they must accomplish to enter in the Ways of Elohim.”

5 And Ḥanoḵ rose up according to the word of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and went out from his house, from his place and from the chamber in which he was concealed; and he went to the sons of men and taught them the Ways of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and at that time assembled the sons of men and made known to them the Instruction of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

6 And he ordered it to be proclaimed in all places where the sons of men dwelt, saying, “Where is the man who wishes to know the Ways of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 and good works? Let him come to Ḥanoḵ.”

7 And all the sons of men then assembled to him, for all who desired the Word went to Ḥanoḵ, and Ḥanoḵ ruled over the sons of men according to the Word of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and they came and bowed to him and they heard his word.

8 And the Ruaḥ of Elohim was upon Ḥanoḵ, and he taught all his men the wisdom of Elohim and His Ways, and the sons of men served 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 all the days of Ḥanoḵ, and they came to hear his wisdom.

9 And all the sovereigns of the sons of men, both first and last, together with their princes and judges, came to Ḥanoḵ when they heard of his wisdom, and they bowed down to him, and they also required of Ḥanoḵ to rule over them, to which he consented.

10 And they assembled, one hundred and thirty sovereigns and princes in all, and they made Ḥanoḵ sovereign over them and they were all under his power and command.

11 And Ḥanoḵ taught them wisdom, knowledge, and the Ways of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄; and he made peace among them, and peace was throughout the earth during the life of Ḥanoḵ.

12 And Ḥanoḵ ruled over the sons of men two hundred and forty-three years, and he did right-ruling and righteousness with all his people, and he led them in the Ways of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

13 And these are the generations of Ḥanoḵ: Methushelaḥ, Elisha, and Elimeleḵ, three sons; and their sisters were Milkah and Na’amah. And Methushelaḥ lived eighty-seven years and he brought forth Lemeḵ.

14 And it came to be in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Lemeḵ when Aḏam died; he was nine hundred and thirty years old at his death. And his two sons, with Ḥanoḵ and Methushelaḥ his son, buried him with great ceremony, as at the burial of sovereigns, in the cave which Elohim had told him.

15 And in that place all the sons of men made a great mourning and weeping for the sake of Aḏam; it has therefore become a custom among the sons of men to this day.

16 And Aḏam died because he ate of the tree of knowledge; he and his children after him, as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Elohim had spoken.

17 And it came to be in the year of Aḏam’s death which was the two hundred and forty-third year of the reign of Ḥanoḵ, at that time Ḥanoḵ resolved to separate himself from the sons of men and to hide himself as at first in order to serve 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄.

18 And Ḥanoḵ did so, but did not entirely hide himself from them, but kept away from the sons of men three days and then went to them for one day.

19 And during the three days that he was in his room, he prayed to, and praised 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 his Elohim, and the day on which he went and appeared to his subjects he taught them the Ways of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄, and all they asked him about 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 he told them.

20 And he did in this manner for many years, and afterward he concealed himself for six days, and appeared to his people one day in seven; and after that once in a month, and then once in a year, until all the sovereigns, princes and sons of men sought for him, and desired again to see the face of Ḥanoḵ, and to hear his word; but they could not, as all the sons of men were greatly afraid of Ḥanoḵ, and they feared to approach him because of the reverent awe that remained on his appearance; therefore no man could look at him, fearing he might be punished and die.

21 And all the sovereigns and princes resolved to assemble the sons of men, and to come to Ḥanoḵ, thinking that they might all speak to him at the time when he should come out among them, and they did so.

22 And the day came when Ḥanoḵ went out and they all assembled and came to him, and Ḥanoḵ spoke to them the Words of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 and he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and they bowed down before him and they said, “May the sovereign live! May the sovereign live!”

23 And some time after, when the sovereigns and princes and the sons of men were speaking to Ḥanoḵ, and Ḥanoḵ was teaching them the Ways of Elohim, see, a messenger of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 then called to Ḥanoḵ from the shamayim, and wanted to bring him up to the shamayim to make him reign there over the sons of Elohim, as he had reigned over the sons of men on earth.

24 When at that time Ḥanoḵ heard this he went and assembled all the inhabitants of the earth, and taught them wisdom and knowledge and gave them righteous instruction, and he said to them, “I have been required to go up into the shamayim, I therefore do not know the day of my going.

25 “And now therefore, I will teach you wisdom and knowledge and will give you instruction before I leave you, how to act on earth whereby you may live.” And he did so.

26 And he taught them wisdom and knowledge, and gave them instruction, and he reproved them, and he placed before them Laws and Right-Rulings to do on earth. And he made peace among them, and he taught them everlasting ḥai, and dwelt with them some time teaching them all these matters.

27 And at that time the sons of men were with Ḥanoḵ, and Ḥanoḵ was speaking to them, and they lifted up their eyes and the likeness of a great horse descended from the shamayim, and the horse paced in the air;

28 And they told Ḥanoḵ what they had seen, and Ḥanoḵ said to them, “For my sake this horse has descended on earth; the time is come when I must go from you and I shall no more be seen by you.”

29 And the horse descended at that time and stood before Ḥanoḵ, and all the sons of men that were with Ḥanoḵ saw him.

30 And Ḥanoḵ then again ordered a voice to be proclaimed, saying, “Where is the man who delights to know the Ways of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 his Elohim, let him come this day to Ḥanoḵ before he is taken from us.”

31 And all the sons of men assembled and came to Ḥanoḵ that day; and all the sovereigns of the earth with their princes and counsellors remained with him that day. And Ḥanoḵ then taught the sons of men wisdom and knowledge, and gave them divine instruction; and he instructed them to serve 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 and walk in His Ways all the days of their lives, and he continued to make peace among them.

32 And it came to be after this that he rose up and rode on the horse; and he went out and all the sons of men went after him, about eight hundred thousand men; and they went with him one day’s journey.

33 And the second day he said to them, “Return home to your tents, why should you go? Maybe you may die.” And some of them went from him, and those that remained went with him six day’s journey. And Ḥanoḵ said to them every day, “Return to your tents, lest you may die.” But they were not willing to return, and they went with him.

34 And on the sixth day some of the men remained and clung to him, and they said to him, “We will go with you to the place where you go; as 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 lives, only death shall separate us.”

35 And they urged so much to go with him, that he ceased speaking to them; and they went after him and would not return;

36 And when the sovereigns returned they caused a census to be taken, in order to know the number of remaining men that went with Ḥanoḵ; And it came to be upon the seventh day that Ḥanoḵ went up into the shamayim in a whirlwind, with horses and chariots of fire.

37 And on the eighth day all the sovereigns that had been with Ḥanoḵ sent to bring back the number of men that were with Ḥanoḵ, in that place from which he went up into the shamayim.

38 And all those sovereigns went to the place and they found the earth there filled with snow, and on the snow were large stones of snow, and one said to the other, “Come, let us break through the snow and see, maybe the men that remained with Ḥanoḵ are dead, and are now under the stones of snow.” And they searched but could not find him, for he had gone up into the shamayim.