• Torah (T): Shemot (Exodus) 8:1-32
• Prophets (P): Isaiah 34:11 – 35:4
• Apostolic (A): Romans 9:17-18; Revelation 16:1-21
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 48:9-11

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Exodus 8:21; 31-32 Septuagint (T)
• Romans 9:17-18 (T)
• Exodus 19:16, 20:18; 2 Samuel 22:1-14 (T)
• Exodus 9:23, 28 Septuagint (T)
• Genesis 3:8-10 (T)
• Isaiah 34:11 – 35:4 Septuagint & DSS (P)
• Genesis 27:11 (P)
• Ephesians 2:1-10; Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 4:1-4 (ADD)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• An Annotated Law of Moses 4Q365 Frag. 3 (T)
• Songs of the Sage 4Q510 (P)
• Enoch 15:1-11; Luke 11:24-26; 1 Peter 5:8 (P)
• Jubilees 2:1-3 (T)
• Jubilees 7:20-27; Jubilees 10:1-14 (H, ADD)
• Exodus 8:20 – 9:35 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 2.14.3-4 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Shemot (Exodus) 8:1-32

8:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs. 3 The river will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. 4 The frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.” ' ” 5 YHWH said to Moses, “Tell [your brother]^(LXX) Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.' ” 6 Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians [of the Egyptians]^(LXX) did the same thing with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat YHWH, that he take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may slaughter to YHWH.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, [and from your servants, and from your people,]^(SP) and remain in the river only.” 10 Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like YHWH our Elohim. 11 The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.” 12 Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to YHWH concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 YHWH did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he made his heart heavy, and didn't listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 16 YHWH said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out [your hand with]^(LXX) your rod, and strike the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.' ” 17 They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the land, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried with their enchantments to produce lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on man, and on animal. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is Elohim's finger;” but Pharaoh's heart was strengthened, and he didn't listen to them, as YHWH had spoken. 20 YHWH said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes out to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send various sorts of pestilential creatures on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of various sorts of pestilential creatures, and also the ground they are on. 22 I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no various sorts of pestilential creatures shall be there, to the end you may know that I am YHWH on the land. 23 I will place redemption between my people and your people. This sign shall happen by tomorrow.” ' ” 24 YHWH did so; and there came grievous various sorts of pestilential creatures into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the various sorts of pestilential creatures. 25 Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, slaughter to your Elohim in the land!” 26 Moses said, “It isn't appropriate to do so; for we shall slaughter the abomination of the Egyptians to YHWH our Elohim. Behold, if we slaughter the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, won't they stone us? 27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and slaughter to YHWH our Elohim, as he shall command us.” 28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may slaughter to YHWH your Elohim in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.” 29 Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you. I will pray to [Elohim]^(LXX) that the various sorts of pestilential creatures may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don't let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to slaughter to YHWH.” 30 Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to [Elohim].^(LXX) 31 YHWH did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the various sorts of pestilential creatures from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. 32 Pharaoh made his heart heavy this time also, and he didn't let the people go.

Prophets Portion (P)

Isaiah 34:11 – 35:4

34:11 But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. 12 They will call its nobles to the reign, but none will be there; and all its princes will be nothing. 13 Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. 14 The [demons]^(LXX) will meet with the wolves, and the [goat-demon]^(LXX) will cry to his fellow. Yes, the howling [night-demon]^(LXX) will settle there, and will find herself a place of rest. 15 The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, everyone with her mate. 16 Search in the book of YHWH, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. 17 He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They will possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it. 35:1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. 2 It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. Lebanon’s glory will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of YHWH, the excellence of our Elohim. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make the feeble knees firm. 4 Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your Elohim will come with vengeance, Elohim’s retribution. He will come and save you.

Apostolic Portion (A)

Romans 9:17-18; Revelation 16:1-21

Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (cf. Exodus 9:16) 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.

Revelation 16:1 heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of Elohim on the earth!” 2 The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. 4 The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. 6 For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.” 7 I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord Elohim, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.” 8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 People were scorched with great heat, and [they]^(mss) blasphemed the name of Elohim who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory. 10 The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, 11 and they blasphemed the Elohim of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works. 12 The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise. 13 I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of Elohim the Almighty. 15 “Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn’t walk naked, and they see his shame.” 16 He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, “Har Megiddo”. 17 The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake such as has not happened since there were men on the earth—so great an earthquake and so mighty. 19 The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of Elohim, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed Elohim because of the plague of the hail, for this plague was exceedingly severe.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Jubilees 48:4-11

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

48:9 And the prince of the Mastema stood up against thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before thee. 10. The evils indeed we permitted them to work, but the remedies we did not allow to be wrought by their hands. 11. And the Lord smote them with malignant ulcers, and they were not able to stand for we destroyed them so that they could not perform a single sign.

Related Scriptures

8:21 And if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I send upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and upon your houses, the dog-fly; and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with the dog-fly, even throughout the land upon which they are…31 And the Lord did as Moses said, and removed the dog-fly from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people, and there was not one left. 32 And Pharaoh was oppressed* in his heart, even on this occasion, and he would not send the people away.

9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the land.” 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.

Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when it was morning, there were voices of lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Exodus 20:18 All the people perceived the voices of lightning, the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.

2 Samuel 22:1 David spoke to YHWH the words of this song in the day that YHWH delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul, 2 and he said: “YHWH is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine; 3 Elohim is my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My savior, you save me from violence. 4 I call on YHWH, who is worthy to be praised; So will I be saved from my enemies. 5 For the waves of death surrounded me. The Floods of Belial made me afraid. 6 The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death caught me. 7 In my distress, I called on YHWH. Yes, I called to my Elohim. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came into his ears. 8 Then the land shook and trembled. The foundations of the heavens quaked and were shaken, because he was angry. 9 Smoke went up out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. 11 He rode on a keruv, and flew. Yes, he was seen on the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness a shelter around himself, gathering of waters, and thick clouds of the heavens. 13 At the brightness before him, coals of fire were kindled. 14 YHWH thundered from the heavens. Elyon uttered his voice.

3:8 They heard YHWH Elohim’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of YHWH Elohim among the trees of the garden. 9 YHWH Elohim called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 The man said, “I heard your voice  in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

The Septuagint (from the Latin: septuāgintā literally “seventy”; often abbreviated as 70 in Roman numerals, i.e., LXX) is the earliest extant Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures and was in wide use by the time of Yeshua and his disciples because most Jews could no longer read Hebrew. For this reason it is frequently quoted in the writings of the Apostles. According to the Letter of Aristeas that the Septuagint was translated at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 B.C.E) by 70 Jewish scholars or, according to later tradition, 72, with six scholars from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, who independently produced identical translations. The miraculous character of the Aristeas legend indicates the esteem in which the translation was held in the ancient Jewish diaspora and, later, among followers of Yeshua.

Isaiah 34:11 Septuagint and for a long time birds and hedgehogs, and ibises and ravens will dwell in it: and the measuring line of desolation will be cast over it, and satyrs will dwell in it. 12 Her princes will be no more; for her kings and her great men will be destroyed. 13 And thorns will spring up in their cities, and in her strong holds: and they will be habitations of monsters, and a court of ostriches. 14 And demons will meet with satyrs, and they will cry one to the other: there will satyrs rest, having found for themselves a place of rest. 15 There has the hedgehog made its nest, and the land has safely preserved its young: there have the deer met, and seen one another’s faces. 16 They passed by in full number, and not one of them perished: they sought not one another; for the Lord commanded them, and his Spirit gathered them. 17 And he will cast lots for them, and his hand has portioned out their pasture, saying, Ye will inherit the land for ever: they will rest on it through all generations.

35:1 Be glad, thou thirsty desert: let the wilderness exult, and flower as the lily. 2 And the desert places of Jordan will blossom and rejoice; the glory of Libanus has been given to it, and the honour of Carmel; and my people will see the glory o the Lord, and the majesty of Elohim. 3 Be strong, ye relaxed hands and palsied knees. 4 Comfort one another, ye fainthearted; be strong, fear not; behold, our Elohim renders judgement, and he will render it; he will come and save us.

The following excerpt is from The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English by Martin G. Abegg, Jr., Peter Flint, Eugene Ulrich

Isaiah 34:11 DSS The pelican and the porcupine will possess it, and the owl and the raven will dwell in it. Over it he will stretch a line, and chaos, and plumb lines of emptiness, and its nobles. 12 They will call it No Reign There, and all its princes will be nothing. 13 Thorns will grow in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It will be a habitation of jackals, an abode for ostriches. 14 Desert cats will meet hyenas, and goat-demons will call to each other. There too, liliths will settle, and they will find themselves a place of rest. 15 The owl will make its nest there, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shade; indeed, indeed, buzzards will gather there, every one with its mate. 16 Study and read from the book of the Lord: and not one will be missing, each its mate. For it is his mouth that has commanded, and it is his spirit that has gathered them. 17 It is he who has cast the lot for them, and his hands divided it for them with the line forever…35:3 Strengthen the weak hands, support the stumbling knees. 4 Say to those who are disheartened, “Be strong, do not fear; see, your Elohim will bring vengeance, he will bring divine recompense to save you.”

1QIsa^a ends chapter 34 with “forever” in Isaiah 34:17 and then continues with the beginning of Isaiah 35:3. A later hand has inserted the passage containing the last few words of 34:17 and 35:1–2, which the Masoretic Text and the Septuagint also contain. It is possible that the passage had been in the text from which the scribe of 1QIsa a was copying and he simply omitted it by mistake. But 35:1–2 makes sense by itself and appears more likely to have been a late supplement that was inserted into the originally shorter text of 1QIsa^a on the basis of a growing variant text. The Masoretic Text also sets it off as a separate paragraph explicitly through the use of paragraph markers. The last words of Isaiah 34:17 can be understood as referring to the wild animals that will inhabit the ruined land just described in Isaiah 34 or to the redeemed exiles of Isaiah 35 who will inherit Zion.

27:11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man…”

Ephesians 2:1 You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. 3 We also all once lived among them in the coveting of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But Elohim, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Messiah—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua, 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua; 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Elohim, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which Elohim prepared before that we would walk in them.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of Elohim, that you may be able to stand against the methodology of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the cosmic ruler of the darkness, and against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore put on the whole armor of Elohim, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth (cf. Isaiah 11:5), and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (cf. Isaiah 59:17), 15 and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace (cf. Isaiah 52:7), 16 above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation (cf. Isaiah 59:17), and the sword of the Spirit, which is the spoken word of Elohim; 18 with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the holy ones.

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore, seeing we have this service, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of Elohim deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of Elohim. 3 Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing, 4 in whom the elohim of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Messiah, who is the image of Elohim, should not dawn on them.

Additional Readings​

4Q365 [“It will be a] powder over a[ll the land of Egypt, and on man and beast it will turn into oozing sores,] that is, severe [blisters] on man and beast [in all the land of Egypt.]

Scraps of two manuscripts from Cave 4 (4Q 510–11 ) represent a mixture of sapiential psalms and poems of exorcism. Their editor, M. Baillet ( DJD, VII, 215–62), assigns the script to the end of the first century B.C.E, or the turning of the era. The first fragment preserves an interesting list of names of demons.

4Q510 … praises. Ben[edictions for the K]ing of glory. Words of thanksgiving in psalms of … to the Elohim of knowledge, the Splendour of power, the Elohim of Elohim, Lord of all the holy. [His] domini[on] is over all the powerful mighty ones and by the power of his might all will be terrified and will scatter and be put to flight by the splendour of the dwel[ling] of his kingly glory. And I, the Master, proclaim the majesty of his beauty to frighten and ter[rify] all the spirits of the destroying angels and the spirits of the bastards, the demons, Lilith, the howlers (?) and [the yelpers …] they who strike suddenly to lead astray the spirit of understanding and to appal their heart and their … in the age of the domination of wickedness and the appointed times for the humiliation of the sons of ligh[ t ], in the guilt of the ages of those smitten by iniquity, not for eternal destruction but for the humiliation of sin. Exalt, O just, the Elohim of marvels. My psalms are for the upright … May all whose way is perfect exalt him.

Enoch 15:1 And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: ‘Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. 2. And go, say to ⌈⌈the Watchers of the heavens⌉⌉, who have sent thee to intercede ⌈⌈for them: “You should intercede”⌉⌉ for men, and not men for you: 3. Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal the heavens, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of land, and begotten giants (as your) sons? 4. And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have coveted after flesh and blood as those ⌈also⌉ do who die and perish. 5. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on land. 6. But you were ⌈formerly⌉ spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. 7. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heavens, in the heavens is their dwelling. 8. And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, will be called evil spirits upon the land, and on the land will be their dwelling. 9. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men, ⌈⌈and⌉⌉ from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; ⌈they will be evil spirits on land, and⌉ evil spirits will they be called. [10. As for the spirits of the heavens, in the heavens will be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the land which were born upon the land, on the land will be their dwelling.] 11. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the land, and cause trouble: they take no food, ⌈but nevertheless hunger⌉ and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits will rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded ⌈from them⌉.

Luke 11:24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’ 25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Jubilees 2:1-3 (T)

2:1 And the angel of the face spake to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord Elohim finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and appointed it as a sign for all His works. 2. For on the first day He created the heavens which are above and the land and the waters and all the spirits which serve before Him–the angels of the face, and the angels of sanctification, and the angels [of the spirit of fire and the angels] of the spirit of the winds, and the angels of the spirit of the clouds, and of darkness, and of snow and of hail and of hoar frost, and the angels of the voices and of the thunder and of the lightning, and the angels of the spirits of cold and of heat, and of winter and of spring and of autumn and of summer, and of all the spirits of His creatures which are in the heavens and on the land, (He created) the abysses and the darkness, eventide (and night), and the light, dawn and day, which He hath prepared in the knowledge of His heart. 3. And thereupon we saw His works, and praised Him, and lauded before Him on account of all His works; for seven great works did He create on the first day.

Jubilees 7:20 And in the twenty-eighth jubilee Noaḥ began to enjoin upon his sons’ sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. 21. For owing to these three things came the flood upon the land, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which they chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness. 22. And they begat sons the Nâphîdîm, and they were all unlike, and they devoured one another: and the Giants slew the Nâphîl, and the Nâphîl slew the Eljô, and the Eljô mankind, and one man another. 23. And every one sold himself to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the land was filled with iniquity. 24. And after this they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moveth and walketh on the land: and much blood was shed on the land, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil continually. 25. And the Lord destroyed everything from off the face of the land; because of the wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood which they had shed in the midst of the land He destroyed everything. 26. “And we were left, I and you, my sons, and everything that entered with us into the ark, and behold I see your works before me that ye do not walk in righteousness; for in the path of destruction ye have begun to walk, and ye are parting one from another, and are envious one of another, and (so it cometh) that ye are not in harmony, my sons, each with his brother. 27. For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their) seductions against you and against your children, and now I fear on your behalf, that after my death ye will shed the blood of men upon the land, and that ye, too, will be destroyed from the face of the land.

Jubilees 10:1 And in the third week of this jubilee the unclean demons began to lead astray the children of the sons of Noaḥ; and to make to err and destroy them. 2. And the sons of Noaḥ came to Noaḥ their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were, leading astray and blinding and slaying his sons’ sons. 3. And he prayed before the Lord his Elohim, and said: Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, who hast shown mercy unto me, And hast saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood, And hast not caused me to perish as Thou didst the sons of perdition; For Thy grace hath been great towards me, And great hath been Thy mercy to my soul; Let Thy grace be lift up upon my sons, And let not wicked spirits rule over them Lest they should destroy them from the land. 4. But do Thou bless me and my sons, that we may increase and multiply and replenish the land. 5. And Thou knowest how Thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my Elohim; for these are malignant, and created in order to destroy. 6. And let them not rule over the spirits of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous from henceforth and for evermore.” 7. And the Lord our Elohim bade us to bind all. 8. And the chief of the spirits, Mastêmâ, came and said: “Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I will say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I will not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.” 9. And He said: “Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.” 10. And one of us He commanded that we should teach Noaḥ all their medicines; for He knew that they would not walk in uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. 11. And we did according to all His words: all the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject before Satan on the land. 12. And we explained to Noaḥ all the medicines of their diseases, together with their seductions, how he might heal them with herbs of the land. 13. And Noaḥ wrote down all things in a book as we instructed him concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil spirits were precluded from (hurting) the sons of Noaḥ. 14. And he gave all that he had written to Shem, his eldest son; for he loved him exceedingly above all his sons.

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

2.4.4. But when Pharaoh did not even then yield to the will of Elohim, but, while he gave leave to the husbands to take their wives with them, yet insisted that the children should be left behind, Elohim presently resolved to punish his wickedness with several sorts of calamities, and those worse than the foregoing, which yet had so generally afflicted them; for their bodies had terrible boils, breaking forth with blains, while they were already inwardly consumed; and a great part of the Egyptians perished in this manner. But when the king was not brought to reason by this plague, hail was sent down from the heavens; and such hail it was, as the climate of Egypt had never suffered before, nor was it like to that which falls in other climates in winter time, but was larger than that which falls in the middle of spring to those that dwell in the northern and north-western regions. This hail broke down their boughs laden with fruit. After this a tribe of locusts consumed the seed which was not hurt by the hail; so that to the Egyptians all hopes of the future fruits of the ground were entirely lost.