Jubilees 2

1And the angel of the presence said to Moses by the word of the LORD, saying, "Write the whole account of creation: how in six days the LORD God finished all his works and all that he created, and he rested on the seventh day and sanctified it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all."

2For on the first day he created the heavens above and the earth and the waters and all the spirits that minister before him: the angels of the presence, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels of the spirit of fire, and the angels of the spirit of clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and hail and frost, and the angels of the voices and thunder and lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and heat and winter and spring and harvest and summer, and all the spirits of his works that are in the heavens and on the earth and in the seas and in the depths and in darkness and in night and in light and in dawn and in morning, which he prepared in the knowledge of his heart.

3And then we saw his works, and we blessed him and offered praise before him on account of all his works, because

4He made seven great works on the first day. And on the second day he made the firmament in the midst of the waters, and the waters were divided on that day: half of them went up above, and half of them went down beneath the firmament that is in the midst, over the face of the whole earth. And this alone he made.

5This was the work that he did on the second day. And on the third day he commanded the waters to pass away from before the face of the whole earth into one place, and the dry land to appear.

6And the waters did so, just as he told them, and they withdrew from the face of the earth.

7one place outside this firmament, and the dry land appeared. And on that day he created for it all the seas according to their separate gatherings, and all the rivers and the gatherings of the waters in the mountains and in all the earth, and all the lakes and all the dew of the earth, and the seed that is sown, and everything that sprouts, and fruit-bearing trees, and woods, and the Garden of Eden in Eden for delight, and all these four great kinds he made on the third day.

8And on the fourth day he made the sun and the moon and the stars, and set them in the firmament of heaven so that they might give light upon all the earth and rule it,

9over day and night and to separate light from darkness. And God appointed the sun as a great sign upon the earth for days and for sabbaths and for months and for appointed times and for years and for sabbaths of years and for jubilees and for all the seasons of the years.

10And it separates between light and darkness, and for prosperity, so that everything that sprouts and grows on the earth may prosper. These three kinds he made on the fourth day.

11And on the fifth day he created the great sea monsters in the depths of the waters, for these were the first fleshly beings made by his hands, and every moving thing that moves in the waters, and everything that flies—

12the birds and all their kinds. And the sun rose over them for prosperity, and over everything that was on the earth, everything that sprouts from the earth, and every fruit-bearing tree, and all flesh. These three kinds he made on the fifth day. And on the sixth day he made all the beasts of the earth, and all the cattle, and everything that moves upon the earth. And after all this he made humankind, male and female he made them, and gave them authority over everything that is upon the earth and in the seas, and over everything that flies, and over the beasts and over the cattle and over everything that moves upon the earth, and over all the earth. And over all this he gave them authority. And four kinds he made on the sixth day. And all were twenty-two kinds. And he finished all his work on the sixth day—all that is in the heavens and on the earth and in the seas and in the depths and in the light and in the darkness and in everything. And he gave us a great sign, the sabbath day, so that we might work six days and rest on the seventh day from all work. And all the angels of the presence and all the angels of sanctification—these two great kinds—he told us, "Let us rest with him in heaven and on earth." And he said to me, "Behold, I will separate for myself a people from among all the peoples, and they will keep the sabbath, and I will sanctify them for myself as my people, and I will bless them. As I sanctified the sabbath day, so I will sanctify them for myself, and so I will bless them; and they will be my people, and I will be their God. And I have chosen the seed of Jacob from among all that I have seen, and have written him down as my firstborn son, and have sanctified him for myself forever and ever. And I will make known to them the sabbath day, so that they may rest on it from all work." And thus he made a sign by which they should keep sabbath with us on the seventh day, to eat and to drink and to bless him who created all things, just as he blessed and sanctified for himself a people for possession from among all the nations, and that they should keep sabbath together with us. And he caused his will to ascend as a pleasing fragrance acceptable before him all the days. There were twenty-two heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob, and twenty-two kinds of work were made until the seventh day. This is blessed and holy, and this also is blessed and holy; and this one and that one were for holiness and for blessing. And to this one it was given that they should be blessed and holy all the days, according to the testimony and the first law, just as it was sanctified and blessed on the seventh day. He created heaven and earth and everything that he created in six days, and God made the seventh day holy for all his works. Therefore he commanded concerning it that everyone who does any work on it shall die, and whoever defiles it shall surely die. And command the children of Israel, and let them keep this day so that they may sanctify it, and so that they may not do on it any work, and so that they may not defile it, for it is holier than all days. And everyone who profanes it shall surely die, and everyone who does on it any work shall surely die forever, so that the children of Israel may keep this day throughout their generations and not be uprooted from the land; for it is a holy day and a blessed day. And every person who keeps it and rests on it from all his work will be holy and blessed through all days, like us.

29Likewise declare and say to the children of Israel the law of this day: that they are to keep sabbath on it, and that they are not to forsake it in the error of their hearts so as to do any work on it that is not fitting, or to do on it their own pleasure, or to prepare on it anything to be eaten or drunk, or to draw water, or to bring in or take out through their gates any burden that they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth day.

30And they shall not bring in or take out from house to house on this day, for it is holy and blessed more than any jubilee day of jubilees. On this one we kept sabbath in the heavens before it was made known to any flesh to keep sabbath on it upon the earth.

31And the Creator of all blessed it, but he did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep sabbath on it; Israel alone—to it alone he granted to eat and drink and keep sabbath on it upon the earth.

32on it upon the earth. And the Creator of all blessed it, he who created this day for blessing and holiness.

33and for glory above all days. This law and testimony was given to the children of Israel as an everlasting law throughout their generations.