[ABRAHAM’S FIRST TALK WITH GOD]

And at the beginning of the seventh month ABRAHAM went forth by night and he saw the moon and the stars, and he said, ‘[Who art] Thou God who [Fol. 17a, col. 1] hast created these?’ And straightway God said unto him, ‘I am the God of thy Fathers. I will make thee to be justified and I will magnify thee.’ And he gave him the covenant of the Law and an ordinance (or, rules for social life).

[CIRCUMCISION OF ABRAHAM]

And ABRAHAM was circumcised by the hand of GABRIEL, and MICHAEL who assisted him. And the man of God said, ‘The mysterious matter is astounding, and no one among men hath discovered it.’ And the angel said unto me, ‘God did not tell MOSES that ABRAHAM had been circumcised by the hands of angels. And He told it neither to His Prophets nor His Apostles. Glory and praise be unto Him who revealeth His hidden things unto whomsoever He pleaseth. Even as He Himself saith, ‘My gold [Gold. 17a, col. 2] I give to him to whom I wish to give it. And there is no one who shall say unto me, This [man] Thou hast made to suffer, and that [man] Thou hast made happy; this [man] Thou hast made wealthy and this [man] Thou hast reduced to beggary.’

What God showed by ABRAHAM was the whole ordinance of righteousness: faith [came] by ABRAHAM, and the ordinance (i.e. rules of life) by ABRAHAM. And in this we may marvel that the whole o the Law of our God abideth for ever, and is never abrogated, even as ENOCH saith: ‘I saw fourteen trees from which the leaves had not been stripped. And all the [other] trees were withered and stripped of their leaves.’ And what do these fourteen trees of which ENOCH speaketh symbolize? saith Abbâ BAKHAYLA MIKÂ’ÊL. And the Holy Ghost saith(?), ‘[They symbolize] the Ten Words of the ÔRÎT, the Covenant of NOAH, the Circumcision of the Fathers, the Priesthood of MELCHISEDEK, and the Baptism of JOHN.