Book of Jasher, Chapter 18 — Abraham Entertains Three Angels; the Wickedness of Sodom; Hedad's Swindle
1And Abraham rose and did all that God had ordered him: he took the men of his household, and those bought with his money, and he circumcised them, as the Lord had commanded him.
2And there was not one left whom he did not circumcise; and Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin; thirteen years old was Ishmael when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
3And on the third day, Abraham went out of his tent and sat at the door, to enjoy the heat of the sun during the pain of his flesh.
4And the Lord appeared to him in the plain of Mamre, and sent three of his ministering angels to visit him; and he was sitting at the door of the tent, and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were coming from a distance; and he rose up and ran to meet them, and he bowed down to them, and brought them into his house.
5And he said to them, If now I have found favor in your sight, turn in and eat a morsel of bread. And he pressed them, and they turned in; and he gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he seated them under a tree at the door of the tent.
6And Abraham ran and took a calf, tender and good, and hurried to kill it, and gave it to his servant Eliezer to prepare.
7And Abraham came to Sarah in the tent, and he said to her, Quickly make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it, and make cakes to cover the pot with the meat. And she did so.
8And Abraham hurried and brought before them butter and milk, beef and mutton, and set it before them to eat, even before the flesh of the calf was fully done; and they ate.
9And when they had finished eating, one of them said to him, I will return to you at this season next year — and Sarah your wife shall have a son.
10And the men afterward departed and went their ways, to the places to which they were sent.
11In those days all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of all five cities, were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord; and they provoked the Lord with their abominations, and they grew ever bolder in acting abominably and scornfully before the Lord; and their wickedness and their crimes were great before the Lord in those days.
12And they had in their land a very broad valley, about half a day's walk across, in which there were springs of water and a great deal of vegetation surrounding the water.
13And all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah went there four times a year, with their wives and children and all who belonged to them, and they made merry there with timbrels and dances.
14And in the time of their merrymaking they would all rise and lay hold of their neighbors' wives — and some, the virgin daughters of their neighbors — and they enjoyed them; and each man saw his own wife and daughter in the hands of his neighbor, and said not a word.
15And they did so from morning to night; and afterward they returned home, each man to his house and each woman to her tent; so they always did, four times in the year.
16Also, when a stranger came into their cities, bringing goods he had purchased in order to sell them there, the people of these cities would assemble — men, women, and children, young and old — and go to the man and take his goods by force, each one taking a little, until there was an end of all the goods of the owner that he had brought into the land.
17And if the owner of the goods quarreled with them, saying, What is this that you have done to me? — they would approach him one by one, and each would show him the little he had taken, and taunt him, saying, I took only that little which you gave me. And when he heard this from them all, he would rise and go from them in sorrow and bitterness of soul; and they would all rise and follow him, and drive him out of the city with great noise and uproar.
18And there was a man from the country of Elam, traveling leisurely along the road, seated upon his donkey, which carried a fine mantle of many colors; and the mantle was bound with a cord upon the donkey.
19And the man was on his journey, passing through the street of Sodom, when the sun set in the evening; and he stopped there in order to stay the night — but no one would let him into his house. And at that time there was in Sodom a wicked and mischievous man, one skillful at doing evil, and his name was Hedad.
20And he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the street of the city, and he came to him and said, Where do you come from, and where are you going?
21And the man said to him, I am traveling from Hebron to Elam, where I belong; and as I passed through, the sun set, and no one would let me into his house — though I have bread and water, and also straw and fodder for my donkey, and lack nothing.
22And Hedad answered and said to him, All that you need shall be supplied by me — but you shall not spend the night in the street.
23And Hedad brought him to his house; and he took the mantle with its cord off the donkey and brought them into his house, and he gave the donkey straw and fodder, while the traveler ate and drank in Hedad's house; and he stayed there that night.
24And in the morning the traveler rose up early to continue his journey; and Hedad said to him, Wait — refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and then go. And the man did so; and he remained with him, and they both ate and drank together during the day; and then the man rose up to go.
25And Hedad said to him, Look, the day is fading; you had better stay the night, that your heart may be refreshed. And he pressed him, so that he stayed there that night; and on the second day he rose up early to go away, and Hedad pressed him, saying, Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread and then go — and he remained and ate with him the second day also; and then the man rose up to continue his journey.
26And Hedad said to him, Look now, the day is fading — stay with me, refresh your heart, and in the morning rise up early and go your way.
27But the man would not stay; he rose and saddled his donkey. And while he was saddling his donkey, the wife of Hedad said to her husband, Look — this man has stayed with us two days, eating and drinking, and he has given us nothing; and now shall he go away from us without giving anything? And Hedad said to her, Be silent.
28And the man saddled his donkey to go, and he asked Hedad to give him the cord and the mantle, to tie it upon the donkey.
29And Hedad said to him, What are you saying? And he said to him, That you, my lord, should give me the cord and the mantle made with many colors, which you put away in your house to keep for me.
30And Hedad answered the man, saying, This is the interpretation of your dream: the cord which you saw means that your life will be lengthened out like a cord; and your having seen the mantle colored with all sorts of colors means that you shall have a vineyard in which you will plant trees of all fruits.
31And the traveler answered, saying, Not so, my lord — for I was awake when I gave you the cord, and also a mantle woven with different colors, which you took off the donkey to put away for me. And Hedad answered and said, Surely I have told you the interpretation of your dream, and it is a good dream, and this is its interpretation.
32Now the sons of men give me four pieces of silver as my fee for interpreting dreams — but of you I require only three pieces of silver.
33And the man was provoked at the words of Hedad, and he cried bitterly; and he brought Hedad to Serak, judge of Sodom.
34And the man laid his case before Serak the judge; and Hedad replied, saying, It is not so — the matter stands thus. And the judge said to the traveler, This man Hedad tells you the truth, for he is famous in the cities for the accurate interpretation of dreams.
35And the man cried out at the word of the judge, and he said, Not so, my lord! For it was in broad day that I gave him the cord and the mantle that were upon the donkey, so that he might put them away in his house. And they both disputed before the judge — the one saying, Thus the matter was, and the other declaring otherwise.
36And Hedad said to the man, Give me the four pieces of silver that I charge for my interpretations of dreams — I will make you no allowance — and pay me also for the four meals you ate in my house.
37And the man said to Hedad, Truly I will pay you for what I ate in your house — only give me the cord and the mantle that you hid in your house.
38And Hedad replied before the judge and said to the man, Did I not tell you the interpretation of your dream? The cord means that your days shall be prolonged like a cord; and the mantle, that you will have a vineyard in which you will plant all kinds of fruit trees.
39This is the proper interpretation of your dream. Now give me the four pieces of silver that I require as my fee — for I will make you no allowance.
40And the man cried out at the words of Hedad, and they both quarreled before the judge; and the judge gave orders to his servants, who drove them roughly from the house.
41And they went away from the judge quarreling, and the people of Sodom heard them; and they gathered around them and raised an outcry against the stranger, and they drove him roughly out of the city.
42And the man continued his journey upon his donkey with bitterness of soul, lamenting and weeping.
43And as he went along, he wept over what had happened to him in the corrupt city of Sodom.