18 But, O Adam, when I heard the name of Satan, I was afraid, and I said within myself, I will not come out because he might trap me as he did my children, Adam and Eve.

19 And I said, 'O G.o.d, when I go to my children, Satan will meet me in the way, and war against me, as he did against them.'

20 Then G.o.d said to me, 'Fear not; when you find him, hit him with the staff that is in thine hand, and don't be afraid of him, for you are of old standing, and he shall not prevail against you.'

21 Then I said, 'O my Lord, I am old, and cannot go. Send Your angels to bring them.'

22 But G.o.d said to me, 'Angels, verily, are not like them; and they will not consent to come with them. But I have chosen you, because they are your offspring and are like you, and they will listen to what you say.'

23 G.o.d said further to me, 'If you don't have enough strength to walk, I will send a cloud to carry you and set you down at the entrance of their cave; then the cloud will return and leave you there.

24 And if they will come with you, I will send a cloud to carry you and them.'

25 Then He commanded a cloud, and it bear me up and brought me to you; and then went back.

26 And now, O my children, Adam and Eve, look at my old gray hair and at my feeble state, and at my coming from that distant place. Come, come with me, to a place of rest."

27 Then he began to cry and to sob before Adam and Eve, and his tears poured on the ground like water.

28 And when Adam and Eve raised their eyes and saw his beard, and heard his sweet talk, their hearts softened towards him; they obeyed him, for they believed he was true.

29 And it seemed to them that they were really his offspring, when they saw that his face was like their own; and they trusted him.

* The existence of the two words helpmeet and helpmate, meaning exactly the same thing, is a comedy of errors. G.o.d's promise to Adam, as rendered in the King James version of the Bible, was to give him an help meet for him (that is, a helper fit for him). In the 17th century the two words help and meet in this pa.s.sage were mistaken for one word, applying to Eve, and thus helpmeet came to mean a wife. Then in the 18th century, in a misguided attempt to make sense of the word, the spelling helpmate was introduced. Both errors are now beyond recall, and both spellings are acceptable.

Chapter LXI - They begin to follow Satan.

1 Then he took Adam and Eve by the hand, and began to bring them out of the cave.

2 But when they had come a little ways out of it, G.o.d knew that Satan had overcome them, and had brought them out before the forty days were ended, to take them to some distant place, and to destroy them.

3 Then the Word of the Lord G.o.d again came and cursed Satan, and drove him away from them.

4 And G.o.d began to speak to Adam and Eve, saying to them, "What made you come out of the cave, to this place?"

5 Then Adam said to G.o.d, "Did you create a man before us? For when we were in the cave there suddenly came to us a friendly old man who said to us, 'I am a messenger from G.o.d to you, to bring you back to some place of rest.'

6 And we believed, O G.o.d, that he was a messenger from you; and we came out with him; and knew not where we should go with him."

7 Then G.o.d said to Adam, "See, that is the father of evil arts, who brought you and Eve out of the Garden of Delights. And now, indeed, when he saw that you and Eve both joined together in fasting and praying, and that you came not out of the cave before the end of the forty days, he wished to make your purpose vein, to break your mutual bond; to cut off all hope from you, and to drive you to some place where he might destroy you.

8 Because he couldn't do anything to you unless he showed himself in the likeness of you.

9 Therefore he came to you with a face like your own, and began to give you tokens as if they were all true.

10 But because I am merciful and am favorable to you, I did not allow him to destroy you; instead I drove him away from you.

11 Now, therefore, O Adam, take Eve, and return to your cave, and remain in it until the morning after the fortieth day. And when you come out, go towards the eastern gate of the garden."

12 Then Adam and Eve worshipped G.o.d, and praised and blessed Him for the deliverance that had come to them from Him. And they returned towards the cave. This happened in the evening of the thirty-ninth day.

13 Then Adam and Eve stood up and with a fiery pa.s.sion, prayed to G.o.d, to give them strength; for they had become weak because of hunger and thirst and prayer. But they watched the whole of that night praying, until morning.

14 Then Adam said to Eve, "Get up, let us go towards the eastern gate of the garden as G.o.d told us."

15 And they said their prayers as they were accustomed to do every day; and they left the cave to go near to the eastern gate of the garden.

16 Then Adam and Eve stood up and prayed, and appealed to G.o.d to strengthen them, and to send them something to satisfy their hunger.

17 But after they finished their prayers, they were too weak to move.

18 Then came the Word of G.o.d again, and said to them, "O Adam, get up, go and bring the two figs here."

19 Then Adam and Eve got up, and went until they came near to the cave.

Chapter LXII - Two fruit trees.

1 But Satan the wicked was envious, because of the consolation G.o.d had given them.

2 So he prevented them, and went into the cave and took the two figs, and buried them outside the cave, so that Adam and Eve should not find them. He also had in his thoughts to destroy them.

3 But by G.o.d's mercy, as soon as those two figs were in the ground, G.o.d defeated Satan's counsel regarding them; and made them into two fruit trees, that overshadowed the cave. For Satan had buried them on the eastern side of it.

4 Then when the two trees were grown, and were covered with fruit, Satan grieved and mourned, and said, "It would have been better to have left those figs where they were; for now, behold, they have become two fruit trees, whereof Adam will eat all the days of his life. Whereas I had in mind, when I buried them, to destroy them entirely, and to hide them forever.

5 But G.o.d has overturned my counsel; and would not that this sacred fruit should perish; and He has made plain my intention, and has defeated the counsel I had formed against His servants."

6 Then Satan went away ashamed because he hadn't thought his plans all the way through.

Chapter LXIII - The first joy of trees.

1 But Adam and Eve, as they got closer to the cave, saw two fig trees, covered with fruit, and overshadowing the cave.

2 Then Adam said to Eve, "It seems to me that we have gone the wrong way. When did these two trees grow here? It seems to me that the enemy wishes to lead us the wrong way. Do you suppose that there is another cave besides this one in the earth?

3 Yet, O Eve, let us go into the cave, and find in it the two figs; for this is our cave, in which we were. But if we should not find the two figs in it, then it cannot be our cave."

4 They went then into the cave, and looked into the four corners of it, but found not the two figs.