First Book of Adam and Eve Part 17

5 And Adam cried and said to Eve, "Did we go to the wrong cave, then, O Eve? It seems to me these two fig trees are the two figs that were in the cave." And Eve said, "I, for my part, do not know."

6 Then Adam stood up and prayed and said, "O G.o.d, You commanded us to come back to the cave, to take the two figs, and then to return to you.

7 But now, we have not found them. O G.o.d, have you taken them, and sown these two trees, or have we gone astray in the earth; or has the enemy deceived us? If it be real, then, O G.o.d, reveal to us the secret of these two trees and of the two figs."

8 Then came the Word of G.o.d to Adam, and said to him, "O Adam, when I sent you to fetch the figs, Satan went before you to the cave, took the figs, and buried them outside, eastward of the cave, thinking to destroy them; and not sowing them with good intent.

9 Not for his mere sake, then, have these trees grown up at once; but I had mercy on you and I commanded them to grow. And they grew to be two large trees, that you be overshadowed by their branches, and find rest; and that I made you see My power and My marvelous works.

10 And, also, to show you Satan's meanness, and his evil works, for ever since you came out of the garden, he has not ceased, no, not one day, from doing you some harm. But I have not given him power over you."

11 And G.o.d said, "From now on, O Adam, rejoice on account of the trees, you and Eve; and rest under them when you feel weary. But do not eat any of their fruit or come near them."

12 Then Adam cried, and said, "O G.o.d, will You again kill us, or will You drive us away from before Your face, and cut our life from off the face of the earth?

13 O G.o.d, I beg you, if You know that there be in these trees either death or some other evil, as at the first time, root them up from near our cave, and with them; and leave us to die of the heat, of hunger and of thirst.

14 For we know Your marvelous works, O G.o.d, that they are great, and that by Your power You can bring one thing out of another, without one's wish. For Your power can make rocks to become trees, and trees to become rocks."

Chapter LXIV - Adam and Eve partake of the first earthly food.

1 Then G.o.d looked at Adam and at his strength of mind, at his endurance of hunger and thirst, and of the heat. And He changed the two fig trees into two figs, as they were at first, and then said to Adam and to Eve, "Each of you may take one fig." And they took them, as the Lord commanded them.

2 And He said to them, "You must now go into the cave and eat the figs, and satisfy your hunger, or else you will die."

3 So, as G.o.d commanded them, they went into the cave about sunset. And Adam and Eve stood up and prayed during the setting sun.

4 Then they sat down to eat the figs; but they knew not how to eat them; for they were not accustomed to eat earthly food. They were afraid that if they ate, their stomach would be burdened and their flesh thickened, and their hearts would take to liking earthly food.

5 But while they were thus seated, G.o.d, out of pity for them, sent them His angel, so they wouldn't perish of hunger and thirst.

6 And the angel said to Adam and Eve, "G.o.d says to you that you do not have the strength that would be required to fast until death; eat, therefore, and strengthen your bodies; for you are now animal flesh and cannot subsist without food and drink."

7 Then Adam and Eve took the figs and began to eat of them. But G.o.d had put into them a mixture as of savory bread and blood.

8 Then the angel went from Adam and Eve, who ate of the figs until they had satisfied their hunger. Then they put aside what was left; but by the power of G.o.d, the figs became whole again, because G.o.d blessed them.

9 After this Adam and Eve got up, and prayed with a joyful heart and renewed strength, and praised and rejoiced abundantly the whole of that night. And this was the end of the eighty-third day.

Chapter LXV - Adam and Eve acquire digestive organs. Final hope of returning to the Garden is lost.

1 And when it was day, they got up and prayed, after their custom, and then went out of the cave.

2 But they became sick from the food they had eaten because they were not used to it, so they went about in the cave saying to each other:--

3 "What has our eating caused to happen to us, that we should be in such pain? We are in misery, we shall die! It would have been better for us to have died keeping our bodies pure than to have eaten and defiled them with food."

4 Then Adam said to Eve, "This pain did not come to us in the garden, neither did we eat such bad food there. Do you think, O Eve, that G.o.d will plague us through the food that is in us, or that our innards will come out; or that G.o.d means to kill us with this pain before He has fulfilled His promise to us?"

5 Then Adam besought the Lord and said, "O Lord, let us not perish through the food we have eaten. O Lord, don't punish us; but deal with us according to Your great mercy, and forsake us not until the day of the promise You have made us."

6 Then G.o.d looked at them, and then fitted them for eating food at once; as to this day; so that they should not perish.

7 Then Adam and Eve came back into the cave sorrowful and crying because of the alteration of their bodies. And they both knew from that hour that they were altered beings, that all hope of returning to the garden was now lost; and that they could not enter it.

8 For that now their bodies had strange functions; and all flesh that requires food and drink for its existence, cannot be in the garden.

9 Then Adam said to Eve, "Behold, our hope is now lost; and so is our trust to enter the garden. We no longer belong to the inhabitants of the garden; but from now on we are earthy and of the dust, and of the inhabitants of the earth. We shall not return to the garden, until the day in which G.o.d has promised to save us, and to bring us again into the garden, as He promised us."

10 Then they prayed to G.o.d that He would have mercy on them; after which, their mind was quieted, their hearts were broken, and their longing was cooled down; and they were like strangers on earth. That night Adam and Eve spent in the cave, where they slept heavily by reason of the food they had eaten.

Chapter LXVI - Adam does his first day's work.

1 When it was morning, the day after they had eaten food, Adam and Eve prayed in the cave, and Adam said to Eve, "Look, we asked for food of G.o.d, and He gave it. But now let us also ask Him to give us a drink of water."

2 Then they got up, and went to the bank of the stream of water, that was on the south border of the garden, in which they had before thrown themselves. And they stood on the bank, and prayed to G.o.d that He would command them to drink of the water.

3 Then the Word of G.o.d came to Adam, and said to him, "O Adam, your body has become brutish, and requires water to drink. Take some and drink it, you and Eve, then give thanks and praise."

4 Adam and Eve then went down to the stream and drank from it, until their bodies felt refreshed. After having drunk, they praised G.o.d, and then returned to their cave, after their former custom. This happened at the end of eighty-three days.

5 Then on the eighty-fourth day, they took the two figs and hung them in the cave, together with the leaves thereof, to be to them a sign and a blessing from G.o.d. And they placed them there so that if their descendants came there, they would see the wonderful things G.o.d had done for them.

6 Then Adam and Eve again stood outside the cave, and asked G.o.d to show them some food with which they could nourish their bodies.

7 Then the Word of G.o.d came and said to him, "O Adam, go down to the westward of the cave until you come to a land of dark soil, and there you shall find food."

8 And Adam obeyed the Word of G.o.d, took Eve, and went down to a land of dark soil, and found there wheat* growing in the ear and ripe, and figs to eat; and Adam rejoiced over it.

9 Then the Word of G.o.d came again to Adam, and said to him, "Take some of this wheat and make yourselves some bread with it, to nourish your body therewith." And G.o.d gave Adam's heart wisdom, to work out the corn until it became bread.

10 Adam accomplished all that, until he grew very faint and weary. He then returned to the cave; rejoicing at what he had learned of what is done with wheat, until it is made into bread for one's use.

* In this book, the terms 'corn' and 'wheat' are used interchangeably.

The reference is possibly used to indicate a type of ancient grain resembling Egyptian Corn also known as Durra. Durra is a wheat-like cereal grain frequently cultivated in dry regions such as Egypt.