The Death and Burial of Abraham (xxiii. 1-8; cf. Gen. xxv. 7-10).
1And he placed two fingers of Jacob on his eyes, and he blessed the God of gods, and he covered his face and stretched out his feet and slept the sleep of eternity, and was gathered to his fathers.
2And notwithstanding all this Jacob was lying in his bosom, and knew not that Abraham, his father's father, was dead.
3And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and behold Abraham was cold as ice, and he said: "Father, father!"; but there was none that spake, and he knew that he was dead.
4And he arose from his bosom and ran and told Rebecca, his mother; and Rebecca went to Isaac in the night and told him; and they went together, and Jacob with them, and a lamp was in his hand, and when they had gone in they found Abraham lying dead.
5And Isaac fell on the face of his father, and wept and kissed him.
6And the voices were heard in the house of Abraham, and Ishmael his son arose, and went to Abraham his father, and wept over Abraham his father, he and all the house of Abraham, and they wept with a great weeping.
7And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave, near Sarah his wife, and they wept for him forty days, all the men of his house, and Isaac and Ishmael, and all their sons, and all the sons of Keturah in their places, and the days of weeping for Abraham were ended.
8And he lived three jubilees and four weeks of years, one hundred and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his life, being old and full of days.
The decreasing Years and increasing Corruption of Mankind (xxiii. 9-17).
9For the days of the forefathers, of their life, were nineteen jubilees; and after the Flood they began to grow less than nineteen jubilees, and to decrease in jubilees, and to grow old quickly, and to be full of their days by reason of manifold tribulation and the wickedness of their ways, with the exception of Abraham.
10For Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord, and well-pleasing in righteousness all the days of his life; and behold, he did not complete four jubilees in his life, when he had grown old by reason of the wickedness and was full of his days.
11And all the generations which will arise from this time until the day of the great judgment will grow old quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and their knowledge will forsake them by reason of their old age [and all their knowledge will vanish away].
12And in those days, if a man live a jubilee and a half of years, they will say regarding him: "He hath lived long, and the greater part of his days are pain and sorrow and tribulation, and there is no peace:
13For calamity followeth on calamity, and wound on wound, and tribulation on tribulation, and evil tidings on evil tidings, and illness on illness, and all evil judgments such as these, one with another, illness and overthrow, and snow and frost and ice, and fever, and chills, and torpor, and famine, and death, and sword, and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and pains."
14And all these will come on an evil generation, which transgresseth on the earth: their works are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and abominations.
15Then they will say: "The days of the forefathers were many (even), unto a thousand years, and were good; but, behold, the days of our life, if a man hath lived many, are three score years and ten, and, if he is strong, four score years, and those evil and there is no peace in the days of this evil generation."
16And in that generation the sons will convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning their forsaking the covenant which the Lord made between them and Him, that they should observe and do all His commandments and His ordinances and all His laws, without departing either to the right hand or to the left.
17For all have done evil, and every mouth speaketh iniquity and all their works are an uncleanness and an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness and destruction.
The Messianic Woes (xxiii. 18-25). [Eschatological partly.]
18Behold the earth will be destroyed on account of all their works, and there will be no seed of the vine, and no oil; for their works are altogether faithless, and they will all perish together, beasts and cattle and birds, and all the fish of the sea, on account of the children of men.
19And they will strive one with another, the young with the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, and the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince, on account of the law and the covenant; for they have forgotten commandment, and covenant, and feasts, and months, and Sabbaths, and jubilees, and all judgments.
20And they will stand (with bows and) swords and war to turn them back into the way; but they will not return until much blood hath been shed on the earth, one by another.
21And those who have escaped will not return from their wickedness to the way of righteousness, but they will all exalt themselves to deceit and wealth, that they may each take all that is his neighbour's, and they will name the great name, but not in truth and not in righteousness, and they will defile the holy of holies with their uncleanness and the corruption of their pollution.
22And a great punishment will befall the deeds of this generation from the Lord, and He will give them over to the sword and to judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured.
23And He will wake up against them the sinners of the Gentiles, who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who will respect the person of none, neither old nor young, nor any one, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all the children of men. And they will use violence against Israel and transgression against Jacob, And much blood will be shed upon the earth, And there will be none to gather and none to bury.
24In those days they will cry aloud, And call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the Gentiles; But none will be saved.
25And the heads of the children will be white with grey hair, And a child of three weeks will appear old like a man of one hundred years, And their stature will be destroyed by tribulation and oppression.
Renewed Study of the Law followed by a Renewal of Mankind. The Messianic Kingdom and the Blessedness of the Righteous (xxiii. 26-32; cf. Isa. lxv. 17 ff. [Eschatological.]
26And in those days the children will begin to study the laws, And to seek the commandments, And to return to the path of righteousness.
27And the days will begin to grow many and increase amongst those children of men, Till their days draw nigh to one thousand years, And to a greater number of years than (before) was the number of the days.
28And there will be no old man Nor one who is not satisfied with his days, For all will be (as) children and youths.
29And all their days they will complete and live in peace and in joy, And there will be no Satan nor any evil destroyer; For all their days will be days of blessing and healing,
30And at that time the Lord will heal His servants, And they will rise up and see great peace, And drive out their adversaries. And the righteous will see and be thankful, And rejoice with joy for ever and ever, And will see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies.
31And their bones will rest in the earth, And their spirits will have much joy, And they will know that it is the Lord who executeth judgment, And showeth mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him.
32And do thou, Moses, write down these words; for thus are they written, and they record (them) on the heavenly tables for a testimony for the generations for ever.