Ladder of Jacob

1 Now Jacob went to his uncle Laban, and he found a place and fell asleep there, laying his head on a stone, for the sun had 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 like a man's, hewn out of fire.⁠a 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 down to their chests, 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 terrifying, 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 I am, 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 all the earth shall be blessed, and those who live there, to the last times, the years of the end.⁠b 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.

1 And 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 still in my ears, I said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other than 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 that place the house of God. 4 And I prayed to God and said: Lord God of Adam, of your [creature?], and Lord God of Abraham and Isaac my father, and of all whose ways are right before you, you who sit mighty upon the Cherubim and upon the throne of the majesty, of fire and full of eyes, as I saw in my dream;⁠a who holds the Cherubim with four faces, who bears the Seraphim full of eyes,⁠b who bears the whole world under his arm, and is borne by 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, so that under it you may move the sun and hide it in the night so that it is not taken for God; you have ordained the way for the moon and the stars, and you make her wax and wane, but for the stars, you have commanded them to pass over, so that these too should not be thought 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,⁠c Jao Jaova, Jaoel, Sabakdos, Chabod, Sabaoth, Omlelech, Elaber, S'me Barech, eternal king, strong, mighty, very great, patient. 9 Blessed One, who fill heaven and earth and the sea and the abyss and all aeons 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, my Lord and the Lord of my fathers.

1 And while I was still speaking my prayer, there appeared a voice before my face, saying: Sarekl, prince of those who rejoice, you who are over visions, go and make Jacob understand the interpretation of the dream which he saw,⁠a and show him everything he saw; but first bless him. 2 And the archangel Sarekl came to me, and I saw: it was a face […] terrifying; but I was not afraid of 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.⁠b 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 pressed him under oath, and then he told me, Because you were […]

1 But he said this 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 Gentiles of this age.⁠a 2 Under these kings [your children's children and the line] of your sons will be tested: 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 from the wealth of the ancestors this palace will be built in the temple of the name of your God and your fathers; but through the anger of your descendants it will be desolate until the fourth descent of this age; for you saw four visions.⁠b

1 The first that stumbles upon the steps […] angels ascending and descending and faces in the midst of the steps: the Most High will raise up an heir of the descendants of your brother Esau,⁠a and all the lords of the nations of the earth will accept it, who have done evil against your seed, and will be given into his hand, and they will find him hard to bear. 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 out against them to serve the idols […] and to all those who appear in such a cause, and so many [to the Most High] of your race, so many to Thalkonagargael.

1 And know, Jacob, that your seed shall be strangers in a strange land, and men will mistreat them with slavery and beat them daily; but the Lord will judge the people whom they serve.⁠a 2 When a king arises and fights, then there will be to that place (another reading: when the Most High gives his judgment to that place, he will lead out) then your seed, Israel, will go out of slavery to the Gentiles who ruled over them with violence, and will be set free from all the scorn of their enemies. 3 For this king is the head of every revenge and retribution of those who attack 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 their women will bear much fruit, and then the Lord will fight for your race.

1 But 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.⁠a 2 Before his coming your sons and your daughters shall prophesy about him, 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 three months old shall speak rationally; a child in its mother's womb shall proclaim his way; a young man shall be like an old man. 4 And then comes the expected one, whose path will be perceived by no one. 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 Gentiles, and rest for those who 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.

1 Now at his coming will images of bronze and stone and all graven things utter their voice for three days.⁠a 2 And they announce to the wise men and let them know what will happen on earth, and by the star will they know the way to him,⁠b when they see him on earth whom the angels do not see 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 repays to Abraham the truth which he promised him. 7 Then he rounds off all that is sharp, and he makes every rough thing 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 those who have wounded him shall themselves receive a wound which shall not be healed for them for ever. 10 But all creatures shall worship the wounded one, and many shall hope in him, and everywhere, and among all the Gentiles, shall he be known. 11 But those who have known his name shall not be put to shame, and his own might and his years shall not fail for ever.⁠c