1Now Jacob went to his uncle Laban, and he found a place and fell asleep there, laying his head on a stone, for the sun was set, and there he saw a vision. 2 And there, a ladder was set up on the earth, whose top reached to heaven. 3 And the top of the ladder was a face as of a man, hewn out of fire. 4 Now it had twelve steps up to the top of the ladder, and upon each step up to the top were two human faces on the right and on the left — twenty-four faces seen to their breast, on the ladder. 5 But the middle face was higher than them all, which I saw made of fire, to the shoulder and the arm, very terribly, more than the twenty-four faces. 6 And as I looked, there were the angels of God ascending and descending on it; but the Lord was set above it, and he called me, saying, Jacob, Jacob. 7 And I said, Here am I, Lord. 8 And he said to me, The land where you sleep I will give to you and to your seed after you, and I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the sea; through your seed shall all the earth be blessed, and they that dwell there, to the last times, the years of the end. 9 My blessing, with which I have blessed you, shall pour out from you to the last generation. 10 All in the east and the west shall be full of your seed.
2And when I heard it from above, fear and trembling fell upon me, and I rose up from my dream. 2 And while the voice of God was yet in my ears, I said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 3 And I set up the stone that was under my head for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it, and I called the name of that place the house of God. 4 And I prayed to God and said: Lord God of Adam, and Lord God of Abraham and Isaac my father, and of all whose ways are right before you, you that sit mighty upon the Cherubim and upon the throne of the majesty, of fire and full of eyes, as I saw in my dream; that holds the Cherubim with four faces, that bears the Seraphim full of eyes, that bears the whole world under his arm, and is borne of none. 5 You have established the heaven for the glory of your name. 6 You have spread out upon the clouds of the heaven the heaven that flies under you, that under it you may move the sun and hide it in the night lest it be held for God; you have ordained the way for the moon and the stars, and her you make to wax and wane, but for the stars, you have commanded them to pass over, lest these also should be supposed gods. 7 Before the face of your majesty the six-winged Seraphim fear, and hide their feet and their face with their wings, and with the others they fly, and sing: Highest, with twelve faces, many-named, fiery, lightning-formed, holy one! 8 Holy, Holy, Holy, Jao Jaova, Jaoel, Sabakdos, Chabod, Sabaoth, Omlelech, Elaber, S'me Barech, eternal king, strong, mighty, very great, long-suffering. 9 Blessed One, that fill heaven and earth and the sea and the abyss and all æons with your glory. 10 Hear my song, with which I have praised you, and grant me my petition for which I pray to you, and show me the interpretation of my dream. 11 For you are strong and mighty and glorious, a holy God, the Lord of me and of my fathers.
3And while I yet spoke my prayer, there appeared a voice before my face, saying: Sarekl, prince of them that rejoice, you that are over visions, go make Jacob to understand the interpretation of the dream which he saw, and show him all things whatsoever he saw; but first bless him. 2 And the archangel Sarekl came to me, and I saw that his face was terrible; but I did not fear before his look, for the face which I had seen in my dream was more than this, and I did not fear the face of an angel. 3 And the angel said to me, What is your name? And I said, Jacob. 4 But he said to me, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but your name shall be like my name, Israel. 5 And when I came from Fandana in Syria to meet my brother Esau, he came to me and blessed me, and called my name Israel, and did not tell me his name until I adjured him.
4But this said he to me: The ladder which you saw, which had twelve steps having two human faces which changed their appearance — now this ladder is this age, and the twelve steps are the times of this age, and the twenty-four faces are the kings of the lawless heathen of this age. 2 Under these kings will be tried your children's children and the line of your sons: they will rise up against the lawlessness of your descendants, and will lay this place waste through four descents of the sins of your descendants. 3 And of the substance of the forefathers will be built this palace in the temple of the name of your God and your fathers; but through the wrath of your descendants will it be desolate until the fourth descent of this age; for you saw four visions.
5The first that stumbles upon the steps: the Most High will raise up an heir of the descendants of your brother Esau, and all the lords of the nations of the earth will accept it, who have done evil against your seed, and he will be given into his hand, and he will be hardly borne by them. 2 But he begins to rule them with violence and to reign over them, and they cannot resist him, until the day when his decree goes forth against them to serve the idols and to all them that appear in such a cause, and so many of your race, so many to Thalkonagargael.
6And know, Jacob, that your seed shall be strangers in a strange land, and men will ill-treat them with bondage and lay blows on them daily; but the people whom they serve will the Lord judge. 2 When a king arises and fights, then will your seed, even Israel, go forth out of the bondage of the heathen who ruled over them with violence, and will be set free from all reproach of their enemies. 3 For this king is the head of every revenge and retribution of them that make attacks on you, Israel, at the end of the age. 4 For the miserable will rise and cry, and the Lord hears them, and will be softened, and the mighty lets himself pity their sufferings, because the angels and archangels pour out their prayers for the saving of your race. 5 Then will their women bear much fruit, and then will the Lord fight for your race.
7But since you saw angels descending and ascending upon the ladder, in the last times there will be a man from the Most High, and he shall desire to join the upper with the lower. 2 Of him before his coming shall your sons and your daughters prophesy, and your young men shall see visions of him. 3 For there shall be such signs as these at the time of his coming: a tree felled by the axe shall drop blood; boys of three months old shall speak rationally; a child in its mother's womb shall proclaim his way; a young man shall be as an old man. 4 And then comes the expected one, whose path will be perceived by no man. 5 Then will the earth rejoice, because it has received the glory of heaven; that which was above shall be below. 6 And of your seed shall grow up a royal root, and it shall increase and destroy the power of the Evil one, but he himself shall be a saviour of the heathen, and the rest of them that are weary, and a cloud which shades the whole world from the heat. 7 For otherwise that which is disordered could not be put in order, if he had not come; otherwise that which is below could not be joined to that which is above.
8Now at his coming will images of brass and stone and all graven things utter their voice for three days long. 2 And they announce to the wise men and let them know what will befall on earth, and by the star will they know the way to him, when they see him upon earth whom the angels see not above. 3 Then will the Almighty be found in a body on the earth, and encompassed by the arms of a mortal, and he renews the state of man and gives life to Eve, who died through the fruit of the tree. 4 Then will the deceit of the godless one be overcome, and all idols fall on their faces, for they will be put to shame by one who is adorned with honour, because they made lying inventions. 5 From then on they will not have power to rule or to give prophecies, for their honour will be taken from them, and they will remain without glory. 6 For he who has come takes the power and might from them, and recompenses to Abraham the truth which he promised him. 7 Then he rounds off all that is sharp, and every rough thing he makes smooth, and he casts all unrighteousness into the depths of the sea; and he does wonders in heaven and on the earth. 8 And he will be wounded in the midst of the house of the beloved; but when he is wounded, then also the saving and the end of all corruption draws near. 9 For they that have wounded him shall themselves receive a wound which shall not be healed for them for ever. 10 But the wounded one shall all creatures worship, and upon him shall many hope, and everywhere, and among all the Gentiles, shall he be known. 11 But they that have known his name shall not be put to shame, and his own might and his years shall not fail for ever.