- At that time, after the death of Methuselah, the Lord said to Noah, Go thou with thy
household into the ark; behold I will gather to thee all the animals of the earth, the beasts of
the field and the fowls of the air, and they shall all come and surround the ark.
- And thou shalt go and seat thyself by the doors of the ark, and all the beasts, the animals,
and the fowls, shall assemble and place themselves before thee, and such of them as shall come and crouch before thee, shalt thou take and deliver into the hands of thy sons, who
shall bring them to the ark, and all that will stand before thee thou shalt leave.
- And the Lord brought this about on the next day, and animals, beasts and fowls came in
great multitudes and surrounded the ark.
- And Noah went and seated himself by the door of the ark, and of all flesh that crouched
before him, he brought into the ark, and all that stood before him he left upon earth.
- And a lioness came, with her two whelps, male and female, and the three crouched before
Noah, and the two whelps rose up against the lioness and smote her, and made her flee from
her place, and she went away, and they returned to their places, and crouched upon the earth
before Noah.
- And the lioness ran away, and stood in the place of the lions.
- And Noah saw this, and wondered greatly, and he rose and took the two whelps, and
brought them into the ark.
- And Noah brought into the ark from all living creatures that were upon earth, so that there
was none left but which Noah brought into the ark.
- Two and two came to Noah into the ark, but from the clean animals, and clean fowls, he
brought seven couples, as God had commanded him.
- And all the animals, and beasts, and fowls, were still there, and they surrounded the ark at
every place, and the rain had not descended till seven days after.
- And on that day, the Lord caused the whole earth to shake, and the sun darkened, and the
foundations of the world raged, and the whole earth was moved violently, and the lightning
flashed, and the thunder roared, and all the fountains in the earth were broken up, such as
was not known to the inhabitants before; and God did this mighty act, in order to terrify the
sons of men, that there might be no more evil upon earth.
- And still the sons of men would not return from their evil ways, and they increased the
anger of the Lord at that time, and did not even direct their hearts to all this.
- And at the end of seven days, in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, the waters of
the flood were upon the earth.
- And all the fountains of the deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were
opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
- And Noah and his household, and all the living creatures that were with him, came into the
ark on account of the waters of the flood, and the Lord shut him in.
- And all the sons of men that were left upon the earth, became exhausted through evil on
account of the rain, for the waters were coming more violently upon the earth, and the
animals and beasts were still surrounding the ark.
- And the sons of men assembled together, about seven hundred thousand men and
women, and they came unto Noah to the ark.
- And they called to Noah, saying, Open for us that we may come to thee in the ark--and
wherefore shall we die?
- And Noah, with a loud voice, answered them from the ark, saying, Have you not all
rebelled against the Lord, and said that he does not exist? and therefore the Lord brought
upon you this evil, to destroy and cut you off from the face of the earth.
- Is not this the thing that I spoke to you of one hundred and twenty years back, and you
would not hearken to the voice of the Lord, and now do you desire to live upon earth?
- And they said to Noah, We are ready to return to the Lord; only open for us that we may
live and not die.
- And Noah answered them, saying, Behold now that you see the trouble of your souls, you
wish to return to the Lord; why did you not return during these hundred and twenty years,
which the Lord granted you as the determined period?
- But now you come and tell me this on account of the troubles of your souls, now also the
Lord will not listen to you, neither will he give ear to you on this day, so that you will not now
succeed in your wishes.
- And the sons of men approached in order to break into the ark, to come in on account of
the rain, for they could not bear the rain upon them.
- And the Lord sent all the beasts and animals that stood round the ark. And the beasts
overpowered them and drove them from that place, and every man went his way and they
again scattered themselves upon the face of the earth.
- And the rain was still descending upon the earth, and it descended forty days and forty
nights, and the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth; and all flesh that was upon the earth
or in the waters died, whether men, animals, beasts, creeping things or birds of the air, and
there only remained Noah and those that were with him in the ark.
- And the waters prevailed and they greatly increased upon the earth, and they lifted up the
ark and it was raised from the earth.
- And the ark floated upon the face of the waters, and it was tossed upon the waters so that
all the living creatures within were turned about like pottage in a cauldron.
- And great anxiety seized all the living creatures that were in the ark, and the ark was like
to be broken.
- And all the living creatures that were in the ark were terrified, and the lions roared, and the
oxen lowed, and the wolves howled, and every living creature in the ark spoke and lamented
in its own language, so that their voices reached to a great distance, and Noah and his sons
cried and wept in their troubles; they were greatly afraid that they had reached the gates of
death.
- And Noah prayed unto the Lord, and cried unto him on account of this, and he said, O
Lord help us, for we have no strength to bear this evil that has encompassed us, for the
waves of the waters have surrounded us, mischievous torrents have terrified us, the snares of
death have come before us; answer us, O Lord, answer us, light up thy countenance toward
us and be gracious to us, redeem us and deliver us.
- And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and the Lord remembered him.
- And a wind passed over the earth, and the waters were still and the ark rested.
- And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from
heaven was restrained.
- And the waters decreased in those days, and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
- And Noah then opened the windows of the ark, and Noah still called out to the Lord at that
time and he said, O Lord, who didst form the earth and the heavens and all that are therein,
bring forth our souls from this confinement, and from the prison wherein thou hast placed us, for I am much wearied with
sighing.
- And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and said to him, When though shalt have
completed a full year thou shalt then go forth.
- And at the revolution of the year, when a full year was completed to Noah's dwelling in the
ark, the waters were dried from off the earth, and Noah put off the covering of the ark.
- At that time, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry, but Noah
and his sons, and those that were with him, did not go out from the ark until the Lord told
them.
- And the day came that the Lord told them to go out, and they all went out from the ark.
- And they went and returned every one to his way and to his place, and Noah and his sons
dwelt in the land that God had told them, and they served the Lord all their days, and the Lord
blessed Noah and his sons on their going out from the ark.
- And he said to them, Be fruitful and fill all the earth; become strong and increase
abundantly in the earth and multiply therein.
[Book of Jasher
Referred to in Joshua and Second Samuel.
faithfully translated (1840)
from the Original Hebrew into English.
A Reprint of Photo Lithographic Reprint of Exact Edition
Published by J.H. Parry & Co., Salt Lake City: 1887]