first

For the first shall receive the last, those whom they were expecting, and the last those of whom they used to hear that they had passed away.

For in the first beginning they were black and many (Or a time, and afterwards I saw that the waters became bright, but they were not many, and after these things again I saw black (waters), and after these things again bright, and again black and again bright.

For though Adam first sinned And brought untimely death upon all, Yet of those who were born from him Each one of them has prepared for his own soul torment to come, And again each one of them has chosen for himself glories to come.

And as you did previously see on the summit of the cloud black waters which descended previously on the earth, this is the transgression wherewith Adam the first man transgressed.

These are the black first waters.

Now, my brethren, learn first what befell Zion: how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against us.

And his hand is first upon him as (though he acted) in zeal, And (yet) he is himself guilty in respect of manifold sins and of wantonness.

And Thy love (is) toward the seed of Abraham, the children of Israel. Thy chastisement is upon us as (upon) a first-born, only-begotten son,

BEGINNING with the generation first

First now God urges on me to relate

But the wife then first traitress proved to God;

Went first and earth encompassed him around.

I am; discern me. The first three have each

First rise up, and thou first another race

First rise up, and thou first another race

Golden first, which indeed was sixth, and best,

From the time when the first-formed man appeared;

Shall be a care. O first race of sixth age!

One language, as of old from the first race

Imperishable honor always first,

The first one formed, and filling with his name

Himself became first conscious of his power.

Since they were very first of mortal men.

She brought forth Hera first; and when they saw

This God imparted first, bow many kingdoms

For first of all the house of Solomon

This also in my mind to tell: what first,

First on the Titans will God visit evil.

Do I speak forth? But when the first receive

The second. So the very first I'll tell.

And in my mind God put this first to say

He will be master; for he first my books

Ruled o'er the Greeks, who first to mortal men

To my ancestors; what things were the first

To whom the first things happened, and the last

From the first generation to the eleventh;

From the first generation, those I'll tell.

First over all mortal shall Assyrians rule,

Of sons of Latium. And first of all,

The very first lord shall be, who shall sum

Twice ten with the first letter of his name;

Is one who has the alphabet's first letter;

Three hundred for his first initial sign,

Who shall for first initial have twice ten;

Whom the first letter of three hundred proves,

Who has the first mark of the initial sign

Of oracles. First Maenades shall dart

And Persians, first whom he loved and to whom

Because of honor, which was first assigned

Thy blind delusion; Memphis, first in toils,

And first with sickle cleaving off the roots

This land first that it might appear to be

Escaping he first shall see God's sweet Spirit

O RHODES, thou art unhappy; for first thee,

Thee will I mourn; and thou shalt be the first

Of cities, and first shalt thou be destroyed,

O Phrygia, first shalt thou flame from the crest

Of the water; and first in impiety

Eighth the first, shall another world appear.

Of mortals, first was Egypt's royal power

And of all flesh. First cause of ills to all

And thou shalt be the first to bend thy neck

Against the Romans first of all be wrath

Ye may come to see your first punishment,

To the man who was fashioned from the first

He serves the ways of mortals. For at first

Which from the first by the decrees of men

To light, the first to show forth to the elect

And first then openly unto his own

Him with the first sweet utterance of mouth

Put on a mortal form. First then did Gabriel show

And first shall Egypt royal power receive

Shalt from the first seven and a hundred years

Of the first letter of the alphabet;

Measures and verses; for he shall the first

Of sons of Latium; and first of all

The very first lord, from the western sea,

Ares himself first of the alphabet

Of the first unit shall another king

Himself the name of the first mighty king

Of the first unit; and he shall be good

For from the time when thy first king, proud Rome,

Of Macedon, by the first letter known;

For you first once the yawning earth received.

On first and twentieth there are to be placed

First letter; but he too shall quickly fall

Of the first letter, and he shall himself

One having the first number, one three tens,

Whose name has the first letter, pressing hard

Who has for his first sign the number eighty.

Shall be three kings, two having the first number,

Take away offspring of the first-born men

First by the blood of sucking quadruped,

At first the throne is set up for the liar, but at last his lies shall find (him) out, and they shall spit in his face.

And while I yet spake my prayer, there appeared a voice before my face saying: Sarekl, prince of them that rejoice, thou that art 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. And he archangel Sarekl came to me, and I saw: it was a face . . . 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 feared not the face of an angel. And the angel said to me: What is thy name? and I said: Jacob. But he said to me: Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but thy name shall be like my name, Israel. 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 told me not his name until I adjured him, and then he told me: Because thou wast . . .

The first that stumbleth 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 thy brother Esau, and all the lords of the nations of the earth will accept it, who have done evil against thy seed, and will be given into his hand, and he will be hardly borne by them. But he beginneth to rule them with violence and to reign over them, and they cannot resist him, until the day when his decree goeth forth against them to serve the idols . . . and to all them that appear in such a cause, and so many . . . of thy race, so many to Thalkonagargael.

The first that stumbleth upon the steps will be a king of thy neighbours and will do evil against thy seed; he will be unwillingly borne by them. But then beginneth he to rule over them, and with violence to reign over them, and they cannot resist him, and his decree groweth against them that they should worship idols and sacrifice to the dead: and he speaketh to use force to all that are in his kingdom, which appear in such an accusation, so many to the Most High out of thy race, and so many to Thalkonagargael

And the archangel Michael went down and took Abraham upon a chariot of the cherubim, and exalted him into the air of heaven, and led him upon the cloud together with sixty angels, and Abraham ascended upon the chariot over all the earth. And Abraham saw the world as it was in that day, some ploughing, others driving wagons, in one place men herding flocks, and in another watching them by night, and dancing and playing and harping, in another place men striving and contending at law, elsewhere men weeping and having the dead in remembrance. He saw also the newly-wedded received with honor, and in a word he saw all things that are done in the world, both good and bad. Abraham therefore passing over them saw men bearing swords, wielding in their hands sharpened swords, and Abraham asked the chief-captain, Who are these? The chief-captain said, These are thieves, who intend to commit murder, and to steal and burn and destroy. Abraham said, Lord, Lord, hear my voice, and command that wild beasts may come out of the wood and devour them. And even as he spoke there came wild beasts out of the wood and devoured them. And he saw in another place a man with a woman committing fornication with each other, and said, Lord, Lord, command that the earth may open and swallow them, and straightway the earth was cleft and swallowed them. And he saw in another place men digging through a house, and carrying away other men's possessions, and he said, Lord, Lord, command that fire may come down from heaven and consume them. And even as he spoke, fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And straightway there came a voice from heaven to the chief-captain, saying thus, O chief-captain Michael, command the chariot to stop, and turn Abraham away that he may not see all the earth, for if he behold all that live in wickedness, he will destroy all creation. For behold, Abraham has not sinned, and has no pity on sinners, but I have made the world, and desire not to destroy any one of them, but wait for the death of the sinner, till he be converted and live. But take Abraham up to the first gate of heaven, that he may see there the judgments and recompenses, and repent of the souls of the sinners that he has destroyed.

So Michael turned the chariot and brought Abraham to the east, to the first gate of heaven; and Abraham saw two ways, the one narrow and contracted, the other broad and spacious, and there he saw two gates, the one broad on the broad way, and the other narrow on the narrow way. And outside the two gates there he saw a man sitting upon a gilded throne, and the appearance of that man was terrible, as of the Lord. And they saw many souls driven by angels and led in through the broad gate, and other souls, few in number, that were taken by the angels through the narrow gate. And when the wonderful one who sat upon the golden throne saw few entering through the narrow gate, and many entering through the broad one, straightway that wonderful one tore the hairs of his head and the sides of his beard, and threw himself on the ground from his throne, weeping and lamenting. But when he saw many souls entering through the narrow gate, then he arose from the ground and sat upon his throne in great joy, rejoicing and exulting. And Abraham asked the chief-captain, My Lord chief-captain, who is this most marvelous man, adorned with such glory, and sometimes he weeps and laments, and sometimes he rejoices and exults? The incorporeal one said: This is the first-created Adam who is in such glory, and he looks upon the world because all are born from him, and when he sees many souls going through the narrow gate, then he arises and sits upon his throne rejoicing and exulting in joy, because this narrow gate is that of the just, that leads to life, and they that enter through it go into Paradise. For this, then, the first-created Adam rejoices, because he sees the souls being saved. But when he sees many souls entering through the broad gate, then he pulls out the hairs of his head, and casts himself on the ground weeping and lamenting bitterly, for the broad gate is that of sinners, which leads to destruction and eternal punishment. And for this the first-formed Adam falls from his throne weeping and lamenting for the destruction of sinners, for they are many that are lost, and they are few that are saved, for in seven thousand there is scarcely found one soul saved, being righteous and undefiled.

So Michael turned the chariot and brought Abraham to the east, to the first gate of heaven; and Abraham saw two ways, the one narrow and contracted, the other broad and spacious, and there he saw two gates, the one broad on the broad way, and the other narrow on the narrow way. And outside the two gates there he saw a man sitting upon a gilded throne, and the appearance of that man was terrible, as of the Lord. And they saw many souls driven by angels and led in through the broad gate, and other souls, few in number, that were taken by the angels through the narrow gate. And when the wonderful one who sat upon the golden throne saw few entering through the narrow gate, and many entering through the broad one, straightway that wonderful one tore the hairs of his head and the sides of his beard, and threw himself on the ground from his throne, weeping and lamenting. But when he saw many souls entering through the narrow gate, then he arose from the ground and sat upon his throne in great joy, rejoicing and exulting. And Abraham asked the chief-captain, My Lord chief-captain, who is this most marvelous man, adorned with such glory, and sometimes he weeps and laments, and sometimes he rejoices and exults? The incorporeal one said: This is the first-created Adam who is in such glory, and he looks upon the world because all are born from him, and when he sees many souls going through the narrow gate, then he arises and sits upon his throne rejoicing and exulting in joy, because this narrow gate is that of the just, that leads to life, and they that enter through it go into Paradise. For this, then, the first-created Adam rejoices, because he sees the souls being saved. But when he sees many souls entering through the broad gate, then he pulls out the hairs of his head, and casts himself on the ground weeping and lamenting bitterly, for the broad gate is that of sinners, which leads to destruction and eternal punishment. And for this the first-formed Adam falls from his throne weeping and lamenting for the destruction of sinners, for they are many that are lost, and they are few that are saved, for in seven thousand there is scarcely found one soul saved, being righteous and undefiled.