Jubilees 32

Levi Dreams at Bethel

32 And he remained in that night in Bethel, and Levi dreamed that they had appointed and made him priest, and his sons to eternity, priests of the Most High God; and he awoke from his sleep and blessed the Lord.

2And Jacob started early in the morning, on the fourteenth of this month, and the tenth of all that came with him of men and beasts, and gold, and all possessions and clothing.

Levi Ordained Priest and Jacob Performs His Vow

3And in those days Rachel became pregnant with her son Benjamin.

And Jacob counted his sons from him on and upwards; and the portion of the Lord fell upon Levi, and his father clothed him with the garments of the priesthood, and filled his hands. 4And on the fifteenth of this month he brought to the altar fifteen oxen from among the cattle, twenty-eight rams, and forty-nine sheep, and sixty lambs, and twenty-nine young goats, as a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and as an acceptable gift for a sweet savor to the Lord God. 5This was the fulfilment of the vow he had made to give the tenth; together with their fruit and their drink offerings. 6And when the fire had consumed them, he scattered frankincense over them on the fire; and for thank offering two oxen, and four rams, and four sheep, and a sheep of two years, and two young goats; thus he did distributing over seven days. 7And he remained there eating, and all his sons and his men in joy seven days, and he blessed and thanked the Lord, who had delivered him from all his trouble, and to whom he had fulfilled his vow. 8And he took the tenth of all the clean animals and made a burnt offering; and the unclean animals he gave to his son, and the men he gave him, and Levi exercised his priestly office in Bethel before Jacob, his father, in preference to his ten brothers, and he was there a priest, and Jacob fulfilled to him his vows: and thus he gave the tenth again to the Lord, and sanctified it, and it was holy for him.

Discourse Concerning Tithes

9And on this account it is ordained on the tablets of heaven as a law concerning the giving of a second tenth to eat before the Lord at the place upon which he has chosen his name to dwell year after year, and to this law there is no limit of day to eternity. 10And this ordinance is written to do it year after year for eating a second tenth before the Lord in the place which he has chosen, and nothing shall be left over from it to the following year. 11For in its year shall the seed be eaten until the seed of the year and the wine change their days to the days of wine and oil, and to the days of oil in its season. 12And all that is left thereof and which becomes old, let it be considered contaminated; burn it with fire, for it is unclean. 13And thus they shall eat together in the sanctuary, and shall not let it become old. 14And all the tenth of oxen and sheep shall be holy to the Lord, and shall belong to his priests, who will eat it before him from year to year; for thus is it ordained and engraven concerning the tenth on the tablets of heaven.

Jacob's Name Changed, The Covenant Confirmed

15And in the following night, on the twenty-second day of this month, Jacob planned that he would build this place and erect a wall around it, and that he would sanctify it and make it holy to eternity, for himself and his children after him. 16And the Lord appeared to him in the night, and blessed him, and said to him: "Thou shalt not call thy name Jacob only, but Israel also shall thy name be called." 17And he said to him again: "I am the Lord thy God, who has created heaven and earth; and I will increase and multiply thee exceedingly, and kings shall come from thee, and they shall rule over all, wherever the foot of the sons of man has trod. 18And I will give to thy seed all the land under heaven, and they shall rule over all the nations as they desire, and after that they will gather to themselves the whole earth, and shall inherit the world." 19And he completed conversing with him, and ascended from there, and Jacob looked until he ascended to heaven.

Jacob's Vision of Seven Tablets

20And he saw in a vision of the night, and behold an angel descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands, and he gave them to Jacob, and he read all that was written on them, what would happen to himself and his sons in all the years. 21And he showed him all things that were written on the tablets, and said to him: "Do not build up this place, and do not make it an eternal sanctuary, and do not dwell here, for this is not the place. 22Go to the house of Abraham, thy father, and dwell there with Isaac, thy father, until the day of the death of thy father. 23For in Egypt thou shalt die in peace, and in this land thou shalt be buried in honor, in the grave of thy fathers, with Abraham and Isaac. 24Fear not; for as thou hast seen and read it, thus shall it all be. 25But write thou down all as thou hast seen and read."

26And Jacob said: "How can I remember all as I have seen and read it?"

27And he said to him: "I will recall it all for thee."

28And he went up from there: and he awoke from his sleep and remembered all that he had seen and read, and he wrote down all the words that he had read and that he had seen. 29And he stayed there yet another day, and sacrificed there according to all that had been ordained on former days, and called its name "Addition," for this day was added; and the first day he called "the festival." 30And thus it appeared that it would be, and it is written on the tablets of heaven; and on this account it was revealed to him, that he should celebrate it, and that he should add it to the seven days of the festival, and its name was called "Addition", because it comes to the seven days; and thus is the festival by number of days of the year.

The Repose of Deborah

31And in the night of the twenty-third of this month, Deborah, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and he buried her below the city under the oak of the river, and called the name of this river the "River of Deborah", and of the oak, "Lamentation Oak of Deborah."

32And Rebecca went and returned to her house, to Isaac, his father; and Jacob sent by her rams and calves and sheep, that she should prepare for his father a meal, as he loved it. 33And he too went after his mother until he came to the land of Kebratan, and he dwelt there.

The Birth of Benjamin by Rachel

34And Rachel in that night gave birth to a son, and called his name "Son of my sorrow", for she suffered in giving birth; but his father called him Benjamin, on the eleventh of the eighth month, in the first year of the sixth week of this jubilee.

The Repose of Rachel

35And Rachel died there, and was buried in the land of Ephrathah, that is, Bethlehem; and Jacob erected upon the grave of Rachel a column, on the road above her grave.