Book of Jasher, Chapter 9 — Abram Learns the Ways of the Lord in Noah's House; the Tower of Babel
1And Haran, the son of Terah, Abram's oldest brother, took a wife in those days.
2Haran was thirty-nine years old when he took her; and the wife of Haran conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Lot.
3And she conceived again and bore a daughter, and she called her name Milca; and she conceived again and bore a daughter, and she called her name Sarai.
4Haran was forty-two years old when he fathered Sarai, which was in the tenth year of the life of Abram; and in those days Abram and his mother and nurse went out from the cave, for the king and his subjects had forgotten the affair of Abram.
5And when Abram came out from the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem, and he remained with them to learn the instruction of the Lord and his ways; and no man knew where Abram was, and Abram served Noah and Shem his son for a long time.
6And Abram was in Noah's house thirty-nine years. And Abram knew the Lord from three years old, and he walked in the ways of the Lord until the day of his death, as Noah and his son Shem had taught him. And all the sons of the earth in those days greatly transgressed against the Lord, and they rebelled against him and served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth; and the inhabitants of the earth made themselves, at that time, every man his own god — gods of wood and stone that could neither speak, nor hear, nor deliver — and the sons of men served them, and they became their gods.
7And the king and all his servants, and Terah with all his household, were then foremost among those who served gods of wood and stone.
8And Terah had twelve gods of great size, made of wood and stone, after the twelve months of the year; and he served each one monthly, and every month Terah would bring his grain offering and drink offering to his gods; so did Terah all his days.
9And all that generation was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and they made every man his own god — but they forsook the Lord who had created them.
10And there was not a man found in those days in the whole earth who knew the Lord (for they served every man his own god), except Noah and his household, and all who were under his counsel, who knew the Lord in those days.
11And Abram the son of Terah was growing great in those days in the house of Noah, and no man knew it, and the Lord was with him.
12And the Lord gave Abram an understanding heart, and he knew that all the works of that generation were vain, and that all their gods were vain and of no avail.
13And Abram saw the sun shining upon the earth, and Abram said to himself, Surely now this sun that shines upon the earth is God, and him will I serve.
14And Abram served the sun that day, and he prayed to it; and when evening came, the sun set as usual, and Abram said within himself, Surely this cannot be God?
15And Abram continued to speak within himself: Who is he who made the heavens and the earth? Who created man upon the earth? Where is he?
16And night darkened over him; and he lifted up his eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east, and he saw that the sun had vanished from the earth, and the day had grown dark.
17And Abram saw the stars and the moon before him, and he said, Surely this is the God who created the whole earth, and man as well — and behold, these his servants are gods around him. And Abram served the moon, and prayed to it all that night.
18And in the morning, when it was light and the sun shone upon the earth as usual, Abram saw all the things that the Lord God had made upon the earth.
19And Abram said to himself, Surely these are not gods, who made the earth and all mankind — these are the servants of God. And Abram remained in the house of Noah, and there he knew the Lord and his ways; and he served the Lord all the days of his life. And all that generation forgot the Lord, and served other gods of wood and stone, and rebelled all their days.
20And king Nimrod reigned securely, and all the earth was under his control, and all the earth was of one tongue and of united words.
21And all the princes of Nimrod and his great men took counsel together — Phut, Mitzraim, Cush, and Canaan, with their families — and they said to one another, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and in it a strong tower with its top reaching heaven; and we will make ourselves famous, so that we may reign over the whole world, so that the evil of our enemies may cease from us, so that we may reign mightily over them, and not be scattered over the earth because of their wars.
22And they all went before the king, and told the king these words; and the king agreed with them in this matter, and he did so.
23And all the families assembled, about six hundred thousand men, and they went to seek a broad piece of ground on which to build the city and the tower; and they searched in the whole earth, and they found none like a certain valley at the east of the land of Shinar, about two days' walk across; and they journeyed there, and they dwelt there.
24And they began to make bricks and to burn fires, to build the city and the tower they had imagined to complete.
25And the building of the tower was a transgression and a sin to them; and they began to build it, and while they were building, they imagined in their hearts to war against the Lord God of heaven, and to ascend into heaven.
26And all these people, and all the families, divided themselves into three parts. The first said, We will ascend into heaven and fight against him. The second said, We will ascend to heaven and set our own gods there and serve them. And the third part said, We will ascend to heaven and strike him with bows and spears. And God knew all their works and all their evil thoughts, and he saw the city and the tower they were building.
27And as they built, they made themselves a great city and a very high and strong tower; and because of its height, the mortar and bricks would not reach the builders in their ascent until those going up had traveled a full year; only then did they reach the builders with the mortar and the bricks. So it was done daily.
28And behold, some were ascending and others descending the whole day; and if a brick fell from their hands and broke, they would all weep over it — but if a man fell and died, none of them would even look at him.
29And the Lord knew their thoughts. And it came to pass, as they built, that they shot arrows toward the heavens, and all the arrows fell back upon them filled with blood; and when they saw them, they said to one another, Surely we have slain all who are in heaven.
30For this was from the Lord, in order to cause them to err, and in order to destroy them from off the face of the ground.
31And they built the tower and the city, and they did this thing daily, until many days and years had passed.
32And God said to the seventy angels who stood foremost before him, those nearest to him, Come, let us descend and confuse their tongues, so that one man will not understand the language of his neighbor. And they did so to them.
33And from that day on, they forgot, each man, his neighbor's tongue; and they could not understand one another's speech. And when a builder took from the hands of his neighbor lime or stone that he had not asked for, the builder would cast it away and throw it upon his neighbor, so that he died.
34And they did so many days, and they killed many of them in this manner.
35And the Lord struck the three divisions that were there, and he punished them according to their works and their designs. Those who had said, We will ascend to heaven and serve our gods, became like apes and elephants; and those who had said, We will strike the heavens with arrows, the Lord killed — each man by the hand of his neighbor; and the third division, those who had said, We will ascend to heaven and fight against him, the Lord scattered throughout the earth.
36And those who were left among them, when they knew and understood the evil that was coming upon them, forsook the building; and they too were scattered upon the face of the whole earth.
37And they ceased building the city and the tower. Therefore that place was called Babel, for there the Lord confounded the language of the whole earth; behold, it was at the east of the land of Shinar.
38And as for the tower which the sons of men had built — the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up a third part of it, and fire also descended from heaven and burned another third; and the other third is left to this day, of that part which stood highest, and its circumference is three days' walk.
39And many of the sons of men died in that tower — a people without number.