The Spread of Idolatry

1 And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year [1681] of it, Reu married a woman named 'Ôrâ, the daughter of 'Ûr, the son of Kesed, and she bore him a son, and he named him Sêrôh, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee [1687]. 2 And the sons of Noah began to war on each other, to take captive and to kill each other, and to shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals (began) to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings of kingdoms, and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all (began) to do evil, and to acquire weapons, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. 3 And 'Ûr, the son of Kesed, built the city of 'Ara of the Chaldeans, and named it after himself and the name of his father. 4 And they made for themselves cast-metal images, and they worshipped each the idol, the cast-metal image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make carved images and impure likenesses, and malicious spirits helped and enticed (them) into committing transgression and impurity. 5 And the prince Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent out other spirits, those which were placed under his authority, to do every kind of wrong and sin, and every kind of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the earth. 6 For this reason he named Sêrôh Serug, for everyone turned to do every kind of sin and transgression. 7 And he grew up, and lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, near to the father of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols, and he married in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year of it, [1744] and her name was Melka, the daughter of Kaber, the daughter of his father's brother. 8 And she bore him Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and lived in Ur of the Chaldeans, and his father taught him the Chaldean arts of divination and predicting the future, according to the signs of heaven. 9 And in the thirty-seventh jubilee in the sixth week, in the first year of it, [1800] he married a woman named 'Ijaska, the daughter of Nestag of the Chaldeans. 10 And she bore him Terah in the seventh year of this week [1806]. 11 And the prince Mastema sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land,⁠a in order to destroy the land, and rob the human beings of their labor. Before they could plow in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground. 12 And for this reason he named him Terah because the ravens and the birds left them impoverished and devoured their seed. 13 And the years began to be barren, because of the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the earth in their days.⁠b

The Birth and Early Life of Abram

14 And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, [1870] Terah married a woman named 'Edna, the daughter of 'Abram, the daughter of his father's sister. 15 And in the seventh year of this week [1876] she bore him a son, and he named him Abram after his mother's father; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son. 16 And the child began to understand the errors of the earth that all went astray after carved images and after impurity, and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks of years old, [1890] and he separated himself from his father, so that he would not worship idols with him. 17 And he began to pray to the Creator of all things that He might save him from the errors of the human beings, and that his portion should not fall into error after impurity and vileness.

Abram and the Ravens

18 And the seed time came for the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all went out together to protect their seed against the ravens, and Abram went out with those that went, and the child was fourteen years old. 19 And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before they settled on the ground,⁠c and cried to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said, 'Do not descend: return to the place from where you came,' and they proceeded to turn back. 20 And he caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land where Abram was not so much as one settled there. 21 And all who were with him throughout all the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became great in all the land of the Chaldeans. 22 And all those who wished to sow came to him that year, and he went with them until the sowing season ended: and they sowed their land, and that year they brought enough grain home and ate and were satisfied.⁠d 23 And in the first year of the fifth week [1891] Abram taught those who made implements for oxen, the woodworkers,⁠e and they made a container above the ground, facing the frame of the plow, in order to put the seed on it, and the seed fell down from it upon the share of the plow, and was hidden in the earth, and they no longer feared the ravens. 24 And in this way they made (vessels) above the ground on all the frames of the plows, and they sowed and cultivated all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and they no longer feared the birds.