Babel and Abraham's Rescue
1 Then all those who had been divided and were living over the earth gathered together afterward and lived together; and they set out from the East and found a plain in the land of Babylon, and there they lived. And they said to one another, “One day we will be scattered, each man from his brother, and in the latter days we will be fighting one against another. Now therefore come, let us build a tower for ourselves, the top of which will reach to heaven, and we will make ourselves a name and a reputation on the earth.” 2 They said to one another, “Let us make bricks, and let each of us write our names on the bricks and burn them with fire; and that which is thoroughly burned will be for mortar and brick.” 3 So each man took his bricks, except for 12 men who would not take them. These are their names: Abraham, Nachor, Lot, Ruge, Tenute, Zaba, Armodath, Iobab, Esar, Abimahel, Saba, Auphin. 4 The people of the land seized them and brought them before their princes and said, “These are the men who have defied our plans and will not walk in our ways.” The princes said to them, “Why will you not lay your bricks with the people of the land?” They answered, “We will not lay bricks with you, nor will we join in your purpose. We know one Lord, and him alone we worship. And even if you throw us into the fire with your bricks, we will not consent to you.” 5 The princes were angry and said, “As they have said, so do to them; and if they will not lay bricks with you, burn them with fire along with your bricks.” 6 Then Jectan, who was the foremost prince of the captains, answered, “Not so; rather, let them be given a space of 7 days. And if they repent of their evil plans and lay bricks with us, they will live; but if not, let them be burned according to your word.” But he was looking for a way to save them from the hands of the people, for he was of their tribe and he served God.
A Plan to Rescue the Twelve Men
7 When he had said this, he took them and shut them up in the king’s house; and when evening came, the prince ordered 50 mighty men of valor to be called to him, and said to them, “Go out and take these men who are shut up in my house tonight, and put provisions for them from my house on 10 animals, and bring the men to me; and take their provisions along with the animals to the mountains and wait for them there. And know this: if anyone learns what I have told you, I will burn you with fire.” 8 The men set out and did all that their prince commanded; they took the men from his house by night, took provisions and put them on the animals, and led them to the hill country as he had commanded. 9 Then the prince called the 12 men to him and said, “Take courage and do not be afraid, for you will not die. For God, in whom you trust, is mighty, so be steadfast in him, for he will deliver and save you. Now I have ordered 50 men to take provisions from my house and go ahead of you into the hill country and wait for you in the valley; and I will give you another 50 men to guide you there. Go and hide yourselves there in the valley, where you have water to drink that flows down from the rocks. Stay there for 30 days, until the anger of the people of the land has died down and until God sends his anger upon them and breaks them. For I know that the wicked plan they have agreed to carry out will not stand, for their scheme is empty. And when 7 days have passed and they look for you, I will tell them, ‘They broke down the door of the prison where they were shut up and fled by night, and I have sent 100 men to look for them.’ So I will turn them from this madness that is upon them.” 10 Eleven of the men answered him, “Your servants have found favor in your sight, in that we are set free from the hands of these proud men.” 11 But Abram alone kept silent, and the prince said to him, “Why do you not answer me, Abram, servant of God?” Abram answered, “Today I am to flee into the hill country, but if I escape the fire, wild beasts will come out of the mountains and devour us; or our food will run out and we will die of hunger; and we will be found fleeing from the people of the land and will fall in our sins. Now, as he lives in whom I trust, I will not leave the place where they have put me; and if there is any sin of mine for which I must be burned, the will of God be done.” The prince said to him, “Your blood be on your own head if you refuse to go out with these. But if you consent, you will be delivered; and if you choose to stay, stay as you are.” Abram said, “I will not go out, but I will stay here.” 12 The prince took the 11 men and sent another 50 with them, and ordered them, “Wait in the hill country for 15 days with the 50 who were sent ahead of you; and afterward return and say, ‘We did not find them,’ as I told the first group. And know that if anyone disobeys one of all these words I have spoken to you, he will be burned with fire.” So the men went out, and the prince took Abram by himself and shut him up where he had been shut up before. 13 After 7 days had passed, the people gathered together and said to their prince, “Hand over to us the men who would not consent to us, so that we may burn them with fire.” They sent captains to bring them, but they did not find them, except Abram alone. They all gathered before their prince and said, “The men you shut up have fled and have escaped what we had planned.” 14 Phenech and Nemroth said to Jectan, “Where are the men you shut up?” He said, “They broke out of prison and fled by night, but I have sent 100 men to look for them, and I commanded them that if they find them, they should not only burn them with fire but give their bodies to the birds of the heavens and so destroy them.”
Abraham Is Thrown into the Furnace
15 Then they said, “This one who is found alone, let us burn him.” So they took Abram and brought him before their princes and said to him, “Where are the ones who were with you?” He said, “I was asleep at night, and when I awoke I did not find them.” 16 They took him and built a furnace and kindled it with fire, and put bricks burned with fire into the furnace. Then Jectan the prince, troubled in his mind, took Abram and put him with the bricks into the furnace of fire. 17 But God stirred up a great earthquake, and the fire gushed out of the furnace and broke out into flames and sparks of fire, and consumed all who stood around watching the furnace; all who were burned that day were 83,500. But Abram suffered no harm at all from the burning of the fire. 18 Abram rose up out of the furnace, and the fiery furnace collapsed, and Abram was saved. He went to the 11 men who were hidden in the hill country and told them all that had happened to him, and they came down with him out of the hill country rejoicing in the name of the Lord, and no one met them to frighten them that day. And they called that place by the name of Abram, and in the language of the Chaldeans Deli, which means God.