The Death of Abraham

1 And he placed two fingers of Jacob on his eyes, and he blessed the God of gods, and he covered his face and stretched out his feet and slept the sleep of eternity, and joined his ancestors. 2 And despite all this Jacob was lying against his chest, and did not know that Abraham, his grandfather, was dead. 3 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and Abraham was cold as ice, and he said 'Father, father'; but no one answered, and he knew that he was dead. 4 And he got up from his chest and ran and told Rebekah, his mother; and Rebekah went to Isaac in the night, and told him; and they went together, and Jacob with them, and a lamp was in his hand, and when they had gone in they found Abraham lying dead. 5 And Isaac fell on the face of his father and wept and kissed him. 6 And the voices were heard in the house of Abraham, and Ishmael his son got up, and went to Abraham his father, and wept over Abraham his father, he and all the house of Abraham, and they wept bitterly. 7 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the double cave, near Sarah his wife, and they wept for him forty days, all the men of his house, and Isaac and Ishmael, and all their sons, and all the sons of Keturah in their places; and the days of weeping for Abraham were ended.

The Decline of Human Life Spans

8 And he lived three jubilees and four weeks of years, one hundred and seventy-five years, and completed the days of his life, being old and having lived a full life.⁠a 9 For the lifespans of the ancestors were nineteen jubilees; and after the Flood they began to grow less than nineteen jubilees, and to decrease in jubilees, and to grow old quickly, and to be full of their days because of many troubles and the wickedness of their ways, with the exception of Abraham. 10 For Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord, and well-pleasing in righteousness all the days of his life; and look, he did not complete four jubilees in his life, when he had grown old because of the wickedness, and was at the end of his life. 11 And all the generations which shall arise from this time until the day of the great judgment shall grow old quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and their knowledge shall leave them because of their old age [and all their knowledge shall disappear]. 12 And in those days, if a man lives a jubilee and a half of years, they shall say regarding him: 'He has lived long, and the greater part of his days are pain and sorrow and trouble, and there is no peace: 13 For calamity follows on calamity, and wound on wound, and trouble on trouble, and bad news on bad news, and illness on illness, and all evil judgments such as these, one with another,⁠b illness and overthrow, and snow and frost and ice, and fever, and chills, and lethargy, and famine, and death, and sword, and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and pains.'⁠c 14 And all these shall come on an evil generation, which transgresses on the earth: their works are impurity and sexual immorality, and pollution and abominations. 15 Then they shall say: 'The days of the ancestors were many (even), to a thousand years, and were good; but look, the days of our life, if a man has lived many, are seventy years, and, if he is strong, eighty years, and those evil, and there is no peace in the days of this evil generation.'⁠d 16 And in that generation the sons shall convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning their abandoning the covenant which the Lord made between them and Him, that they should observe and do all His commandments and His ordinances and all His instructions, without departing either to the right or the left. 17 For all have done evil, and every mouth speaks iniquity and all their works are an impurity and an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, impurity and destruction. 18 Look, the earth shall be destroyed on account of all their works, and there shall be no seed of the vine, and no oil; for their works are altogether faithless, and they shall all perish together, wild animals and cattle and birds, and all the fish of the sea, on account of the human beings. 19 And they shall fight with one another, the young with the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince, on account of the Torah and the covenant; for they have forgotten commandment, and covenant, and feasts, and months, and Sabbaths, and jubilees, and all judgments. 20 And they shall stand with bows and swords and war to turn them back into the way; but they shall not return until much blood has been shed on the earth, one by another. 21 And those who have escaped shall not return from their wickedness to the way of righteousness, but they shall all exalt themselves to deceit and wealth, that they may each take all that is his neighbor's, and they shall name the great name, but not in truth and not in righteousness, and they shall defile the holy of holies with their impurity and the corruption of their pollution. 22 And a great punishment shall come upon the deeds of this generation from the Lord, and He will give them over to the sword and to judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured. 23 And He will wake up against them the sinners of the nations, who have neither mercy nor compassion,⁠e and who shall show favoritism to no one, neither old nor young, nor anyone, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all the human beings. And they shall use violence against Israel and transgression against Jacob, And much blood shall be shed upon the earth, And there shall be none to gather and none to bury. 24 In those days they shall cry aloud, And call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the nations; But none shall be saved. 25 And the heads of the children shall be white with gray hair, And a child of three weeks shall appear old like a man of one hundred years, And their stature shall be destroyed by trouble and oppression.

Return to the Torah and Renewed Life

26 And in those days the children shall begin to study the Torah, And to seek the commandments, And to return to the path of righteousness. 27 And the days shall begin to grow many and increase among those human beings Until their days approach to one thousand years. And to a greater number of years than (before) was the number of the days. 28 And there shall be no old man Nor one who has reached the end of his life, For all shall be (as) children and youths.⁠f 29 And they shall complete all their days and live in peace and in joy, And there shall be no Satan nor any evil destroyer; For all their days shall be days of blessing and healing.⁠g 30 And at that time the Lord will heal His servants, And they shall rise up and see great peace, And drive out their adversaries. And the righteous shall see and be thankful, And rejoice with joy forever and ever,⁠h And shall see all their judgments and all their curses on their enemies.⁠i 31 And their bones shall rest in the earth, And their spirits shall have much joy, And they shall know that it is the Lord who executes judgment, And shows mercy to hundreds and thousands and to all that love Him⁠j 32 And you, Moses, write down these words; for thus they are written, and they record (them) on the heavenly tablets for a testimony for the generations forever.