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he devised many virtues, of which he also left his descendants as emulators. For he first discovered astronomy and all the celestial arrangement, which Adam arranged to last until the final times in this way: for when Adam was about to die, he prophesied to his children that God was going to wipe out 752 nature in the world with fire and water; and when those around Seth heard this, they made two pillars, one constructed of stone, the other of baked brick; and on these they engraved all the celestial motion, so that their discovery of astronomy might not be forgotten; so that if all things were destroyed by water, the stone pillar would be preserved, but if by fire, the one of clay. So when the flood came, the stone pillar remained, which to this day remains erected in the land of Seiriad. And Cain begot Enoch, and Enoch begot Gaidad, and Gaidad begot Meleleel, and Meleleel begot Methuselah, and he begot Lamech. And Lamech took two wives, Adah and Zillah, and by them he had three sons, from Adah, Jobel, who became a keeper of livestock, and Jubal, who discovered the psaltery and the lyre. And from Zillah, Thobel, who became a hammerer of bronze and iron. And Adam, having lived nine hundred and twelve years, died. And Enos, the son of Seth, hoped to call upon the name of the Lord; and having lived nine hundred and five years, he died. And his son Cainan, having lived nine hundred and ten years, died. And his son Meleleel, having lived seven hundred and ninety-five years, died. And his son Jared, having lived nine hundred and sixty years, died. And Jared's son Enoch, having pleased God, was translated. And his son Methuselah, having lived seven hundred and sixty-nine years, died. And Lamech the son of Methuselah, having lived seven hundred and fifty-three years, died. To this Lamech was born a son, Noah, who delighted in the virtues of good deeds, who tried to persuade the human race to turn from wickedness to virtue; for until the seventh generation, men acknowledged God as the master of all things, and they cared for righteousness. But later, as time went on, they drifted into all lawlessness. Therefore, when Noah could not persuade them to turn from their wickedness, he abhorred their company and withdrew to another land. And God commanded him to build an ark of four stories, having a length of three hundred cubits, a width of fifty, and a depth of thirty, so that, shutting himself up in it along with his family, he might escape the danger of the flood. For God wished to wipe out the wickedness of those times with such a punishment. And when the flood came, the high parts of the mountains were covered by the water. For even now on the ridge of Lebanon some who are quarrying stones for building find species of sea fish, which happened to have been trapped in the hollows of the mountains with the mud. 753 And the ark, having been lifted up by the water, came to rest on a certain peak of a mountain in Armenia, and when the water subsided, all those in the ark came out. And even now the locals call that place Apobaterion, and they point out the remains of the ark, and they use its bitumen for averting evil. And Noah died, having lived nine hundred and fifty years, and his sons persuade all the others, who were afraid to migrate from the mountain (for they suspected they would be tried by another flood again), to come down and to inhabit the outstretched plain. And so that they, having multiplied, would not stir up strife with one another, God commanded them to establish colonies. But they did not obey, cultivating a good land and having the greatest abundance of fruits.

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πολλὰς ἀρετὰς ἐπενόησεν, ὧν καὶ τοὺς ἀπογόνους αὐτοῦ ζηλωτὰς καταλέλοιπεν. Οὗτος γὰρ πρῶτος ἀστρονομίαν καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν οὐράνιον ἐφεῦρε διακόσμησιν, ἥντινα ἄχρι τῶν ἐσχάτων χρόνων διαμεῖναι τοιῶσδε ὁ Ἀδὰμ παρεσκεύασε· μέλλων γὰρ τελευτᾷν ὁ Ἀδὰμ προφητεύει τοῖς παισὶ μέλλειν τὸν Θεὸν τὴν 752 ἐν κόσμῳ φύσιν ἀπαλείφειν πυρὶ καὶ ὕδατι· καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ περὶ τὸν Σὴθ δύο στήλας ἐποίησαν, τὴν μὲν ἐκ λίθου, τὴν δὲ ἐξ ὀπτῆς πλίνθου κατασκευάσαντες· καὶ ἐν ταύταις πᾶσαν τὴν οὐράνιον φορὰν ἐνεχάραξαν, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἄληστον τὴν τῆς ἀστρονομίας αὐτῶν γενέσθαι εὕρεσιν· ἵνα, εἰ μὲν ὕδατι τὰ πάντα φθείρεται, ἡ λίθινος στήλη φυλάττηται, εἰ δὲ πυρὶ, ἡ ὀστρακώδης. Γενομένης οὖν τῆς κατομβρίας, ἡ λίθινος στήλη διέμεινεν, ἥτις ἄχρι τῆς δεῦρο μένει ἐν γῇ τῇ Σηϊρειὰδ ἐστηλωμένη. Ἐγέννησε δὲ ὁ Κάϊν τὸν Ἐνὼχ, καὶ ὁ Ἐνὼχ τὸν Γαϊδὰδ, καὶ ὁ Γαϊδὰδ τὸν Μαλελεὴλ, καὶ ὁ Μαλελεὴλ τὸν Μαθουσάλα, καὶ οὗτος τὸν Λάμεχ. Καὶ ὁ Λάμεχ δύο γυναῖκας ἠγάγετο, Ἀδὰν καὶ Σελὰν, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τρεῖς παῖδας ἐποίησεν, ἐκ μὲν τῆς Ἀδὰν τὸν Ἰωβὴλ, ὅστις κτηνοτρόφος ἐγένετο, καὶ τὸν Ἰουβὰλ, ὃς ψαλτήριον καὶ κιθάραν ἐξεῦρεν. Ἐκ δὲ τῆς Σελὰν τὸν Θόβελ, ὅστις σφυροκόπος χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου ἐγένετο. Ὁ δὲ Ἀδὰμ, ζήσας ἔτη ἐννακόσια δέκα δύο, ἀπέθανεν. Ἐνὼς δὲ υἱὸς τοῦ Σὴθ ἤλπισεν ἐπικαλεῖσθαι τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου· ζήσας δὲ ἔτη ἐννακόσια πέντε ἀπέθανε. Καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Καϊνὰν, ζήσας ἕτη ἐννακόσια δέκα, ἐτελεύτησε. Καὶ ὁ υἱὸς Μαλελεὴλ, ζήσας ἕτη ἑπτακόσια ἐννενήκοντα πέντε, ἀπέθανεν. Ὁ δὲ τούτου υἱὸς Ἰάρεδ, ἔτη βιώσας ἐννακόσια ἑξήκοντα, ἐτελεύτησεν. Τοῦ δὲ Ἰάρεδ υἱὸς Ἐνὼχ, εὐαρεστήσας τῷ Θεῷ, μετετέθη. Ὁ δὲ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Μαθουσάλα, ζήσας ἔτη ἑπτακόσια καὶ ἑξήκοντα ἐννέα, ἐτελεύτησε. Λάμεχ δὲ ὁ υἱὸς Μαθουσάλα, ζήσας ἕτη ἑπτακόσια πεντήκοντα τρία, ἀπέθανεν. Τούτῳ τῷ Λάμεχ υἱὸς Νῶε ἐγένετο ἀρεταῖς ἀγαθῶν πράξεων ἡδόμενος, ὃς ἔπειθε τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος μεταβληθῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας εἰς ἀρετήν· ἄχρι γὰρ ἑβδόμης γενεᾶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι δεσπότην τῶν ἁπάντων τὸν Θεὸν ἐπεγράφοντο, καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἐφρόντιζον. Ὕστερον δὲ τοῦ χρόνου προϊόντος εἰς πᾶσαν παρανομίαν ἐξώκειλαν. Ὡς οὖν ὁ Νῶε οὐκ ἔπειθε τῆς κακίας ἀποστῆναι αὑτοὺς, τὴν συνουσίαν αὐτῶν βδελυξάμενος εἰς ἄλλην γῆν ἀνεχώρησε. Καὶ προστάττει αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς κατασκευάσαι κιβωτὸν τετράστεγον, ἔχουσαν τὸ μὲν μῆκος τριακοσίων πηχῶν, τὸ δὲ πλάτος πεντήκοντα, καὶ τὸ βάθος τριάκοντα, ὅπως, ἐπ' αὐτῆς ἅμα τῇ συγγενείᾳ αὐτοῦ καθείρξας ἑαυτὸν, ἐκφύγῃ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ κίνδυνον. Ἐβούλετο γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς τοιαύτῃ τιμωρίᾳ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν τότε ἐξαφανίσαι. Ἐπενεχθέντος δὲ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἐκαλύφθη τὰ ὑψηλὰ τῶν ὀρέων ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος. Ἔτι γὰρ καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀκρωρείας τοῦ Λιβάνου λίθους εἰς οἰκοδομήν τινες ἐκτέμνοντες, θαλαττίων ἰχθύων γένη εὑρίσκουσιν, οὓς συνέβη εἰς τὰ κοιλώματα τῶν ὀρέων συναποπαγῆναι τῇ ἰλύϊ. 753 Ἡ δὲ κιβωτὸς, ἀνυψωθεῖσα ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος, εἰς ἄκραν τινὰ ὄρους τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἀρμενίαν ἔστη, καὶ λωφήσαντος τοῦ ὕδατος, οἱ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ πάντες ἐξεπορεύθησαν. Καὶ τὸν τόπον ἕτι καὶ νῦν ἐκεῖνον Ἀποβατήριον οἱ ἐπιχώριοι προσαγορεύουσι, καὶ τὰ λείψανα τῆς κιβωτοῦ ἐπιδεικνύουσι, καὶ τῇ ἀσφάλτῳ αὐτῆς εἰς ἀποτροπιασμοὺς κέχρηνται. Ὁ δὲ Νῶε ἐτελεύτησεν ἔτη ζήσας ἐννακόσια καὶ πεντήκοντα, καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ, δεδοικότας τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρους μεταναστῆναι, (ὑπώπτευον γὰρ ἑτέρας αὖθις πειρασθῆναι ἐπομβρίας·) πείθουσι κατελθεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἡπλωμένην κατοικίσαι πεδιάδα. Ἵνα δὲ μὴ πληθυνθέντες στάσιν μετ' ἀλλήλων κινήσωσι, προσέταττεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Θεὸς ἀποικίας ποιήσασθαι. Οἱ δὲ οὐχ ὑπήκουσαν, γῆν καλὴν γεωργοῦντες, καὶ καρπῶν ἀφθονίαν μεγίστην ἔχοντες.