Chapter 11
When Lot the younger escaped out of Sodom, he stopped in a small city called Ben-ah, and stayed there while Sodom and Gomorrah were being consumed with fire; and because he was saved, he called the place Zoar, because he was a worshipper of the doctrines of Zarathustra, who was called in the Fonecean language Zoa-raastra. And the place was called Zoar for more than a thousand years.
When Lot departed out of Zoar, two tribes went with him; and there were born of the house of Lot, offspring to the two tribes who accompanied him, and these became the nations later known as Moabites and Ammonites, who were of the Foneceans, as their names show, and they followed the doctrines of Zarathustra. ||
In former years God appeared to Abraham in a dream and said to him: You shall be a father to many peoples.
When Abraham awoke he told Sarai, his wife, and she, being barren, was troubled and she prayed to God for Abraham’s sake.
Now it came to pass that Hagar, Sarai’s maid, had a son, and named him Ishmael; and Sarai, jealous of Hagar, abused her during pregnancy. And the Lord spoke to Abraham, saying: Because of the hatred between your women, Hagar’s son will be like a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man shall be against him.
Abraham said: How did this come about, O God? And God said: I told you that you would be a father of many peoples, and you told Sarai, your wife. Now Sarai has become vain in her desires for offspring, and, in her eagerness, she opened the door of your house to satan, and so this matter is upon you.
Go, therefore, my son, and reconcile your women. And Abraham told Sarai what God had said. And Sarai inquired of Abraham, saying: Before God, tell me, is Ishmael your son? And God shall judge between us. Abraham said:
Teach me, O God, to answer Sarai, so I may reconcile them. And God said: Behold, your Creator is the Father of all the living.
And when Abraham told Sarai God’s words, she cried in sorrow and repentance, saying: You are wise, O God! For what matter is it to me, since I know that Ishmael is your son, and Hagar is your daughter?
And Sarai went to Hagar and said: O my sister, I have sinned before the Lord, my God. I saw your son, and knew God gave him, but I turned against my own soul, and did not love your treasure.
Hagar said: Did your God say that Abraham was father to my child? And Sarai said: No, O Hagar. Hagar said: Neither did I say your husband was Ishmael’s father.
So they were reconciled, and by right of the beginning of Abraham’s nations, Ishmael was Abraham’s son before God, but not in the flesh.
Sarai had a son, and he was called Isaac, because he was born to Sarai after she had passed the time of childbearing.
And when Hagar saw that Sarai bore a son, Hagar became jealous for Ishmael’s sake, and she wept before Abraham. Hagar said:
I am a South Arabin’yan woman, and I left my people for you. Behold, I am not favored by your God. Abraham said: Have I not been like a father to you and your son? Truly, when all people reviled you because you had a child in maidenhood, laying it on me, I did not deny you, nor justified myself before the kings’ people, suffering these things for God’s sake, and yours, and your child’s.
Do not complain, then, against my house, my wife, or my son, Isaac; all things are of the Creator. And so Hagar was pacified for a season, but then returned to grief and jealousy, and finally resolved to depart away from Abraham’s house.
Then Abraham said to Hagar: The matter lies with you. If you go, I will give you, according to the custom of the Arabin’yans, a jug with water, and bread and blankets.
So Hagar persisted, and Abraham provided her, and she departed, taking Ishmael with her, and she went into Par-an and dwelt there.
In those days Arabin’ya was divided into many kingdoms, some having one city and some two, and some as many as six cities. And they were constantly at war one with another, and the victors always changed the names of the kingdoms. The largest and most powerful always called itself the Sun Kingdom, after the manner of the Par’si’e’ans (Persians).
Men and women of learning dwelt in the Sun Kingdom, and they had tablets and books, and maps relating to heaven and earth, all of which were kept in a library; and in the summit of this same building was an oracle for consulting with the spirits, called Lords of heaven.
For which purpose, a man or woman, whose head had been flattened in infancy, sat by a table covered with sand, upon which the spirits wrote with the finger. And this person communing with the spirits was called Æ’jin (AE’jin) in the South Arabin’yan language, and was next to the Sun King in rank. Now, no matter what wars took place, the library, the temple of the oracle and the Æ’jin were sacred, and never suffered harm even between enemies.
The kings kept scribes whose business it was to write and translate, and to keep the records of the kingdom. Besides these, there were gatherers of news, who held the second rank of scribes.
Now when Abraham and his people came into Arabin’ya, especially into that part later called Egupt, the matter was entered in the records of the different kingdoms, with special reference to Abraham professing to hear the voice of God, for he did not have a flat head, and moreover, had good judgment of his own, quite unlike the Æ’jins in the temples.
But because Abraham gave no counsel regarding war or earthly gain, he was not favored by any of the kings, and allowed to go his way unmolested.
When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, the kings’ people heaped the blame on Abraham’s head, and enemies rose up against Abraham in those regions.
And they also accused him of attempting to burn his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to his God, after the manner of the heathen of old.
And they accused Abraham of being the father of Ishmael, by his servant-maid, and of driving Hagar and Ishmael away to Par-an after he tired of her.
And these accusations, and many more of equal wickedness, were heard of by the news gatherers, the scribes, and they wrote them down, not knowing in truth what they were doing before God (recording lies as historical facts); and so, their records were entered in the libraries of the kings of Arabin’ya, especially in that land later known as Egupt.
Abraham perceived these matters, and he wept before God, saying: Alas, O God, if only I had great learning and could write my record truthfully before men! God answered him, saying:
Your faith being in Jehovih, it is well with you. In thousands of years, one Ezra shall send his scribes into these countries to gather news, even as the kings of this day do. And his scribes shall translate from these records, with all their errors and falsehoods, and Ezra shall publish the matter as the history of THE DELIVERANCE.
Abraham hearing this from God, bowed down his head and wept, saying: Your will be done! And God comforted him, saying: I am the Light and the Life!
The God of heaven and earth will come afterward and render the records of your life, which are not dead, but of life everlasting. And so, since your people shall be honored by even that which shall come from their enemies, how much greater will their glory be, when God of heaven speaks for you and them!