Chapter 2

1"But I shall bequeath your throne of lordship to those whom you failed to mislead, like My servant Job." The Lord who rules all said: "I will give the Kingdom of Heaven to those whom you failed to mislead."

2"And I (the Devil) provoke the children of Adam in all things; if it were possible for me to mislead them, I would not let them remain firm in good work. For I provoke all the children of Adam, and I make the pleasures of this world sweet to them."

3"Whether it be through the love of drink, food, and clothes; or through the love of material things; or through withholding and giving..."

4"...or through the desire to hear and see; or the desire to touch and go; or through increasing arrogance and possessions; or through the love of dreams and slumber..."

5"...or through increasing drunkenness and drinking; or through increasing insults and anger; or through speaking games and useless things..."

6"...or through quarrels and backbiting their companions; or through looking at the attractive daughters of this world; or through smelling perfumes and fragrances that mislead them..."

7"...I hate them through all this so that they cannot be saved. I distance them from the Law of the Lord so they might enter with me into the destruction by which I was humbled from my rank."

8And the prophet told him: "You who destroy people, perish! When you departed from the Law of the Lord and committed a crime in your stubbornness and arrogance—by saddening your Creator and not worshipping Him in your pride—will you still be arrogant toward the Lord’s creation?"

9"When your Creator was angry with you, He humbled you from your rank because of your evil work. Why do you lead Adam toward sin—he whom his Creator made from the earth, whom He made as a beloved being, and whom He placed for His praise?" he told him.

10"While you—who are subtle and were created from wind and fire—were arrogant in saying, 'I am the Creator'..."

11"...when you boasted, the Lord saw your evil work. After you and your hosts denied the Lord, He created Adam so that he might praise Him in your place, that he might praise His Name without ceasing."

12"Because you made yourself prouder than all the hosts of Angels who are like you, the Lord created Adam and his children so they might praise the Lord’s Name in place of the praise you and your rejected hosts once gave."

13"For this reason, the Lord destroyed you, separating you from all the Angelic chiefs like you. Your hosts, who were of one mind with you—you all went forth and erred from the praise of the Lord because of your useless arrogance and stubbornness. You were arrogant toward your Creator, and toward no other."

14"For this reason, He created Adam from the earth so He might be praised by humble beings. He gave him a Command and Law, saying: 'Do not eat from the fruit of the fig tree.'"

15"And He appointed him over all the creation He made. He notified him, saying: 'Do not eat from the one fig tree that brings death, lest you bring death upon yourself; yet you may eat fruit from all the trees in the midst of the Garden.'"

16"When you heard this Word, you placed treachery in his heart by the words you spoke through your tongue to Eve, who was formed from Adam’s rib."

17"You misled Adam, who was clean, with firm treachery so that you might make him a law-breaker just like you."

18"When you misled Eve—who was created like an innocent dove and did not know your malice—you made her betray through your success and your crooked words. After you misled Eve, who was created first, she also went and misled the Lord’s creation, Adam, who was also created from the earth."

19"You caused him to betray in a disturbance that did not come from his own arrogance; you made him deny his Creator's Word, and you destroyed Adam in your pride."

20"In your malice, you distanced him from his Creator’s Love; by your reasoning, you sent him away from the Garden where joy is; and by your hindrance, you made him give up the food of the Garden."

21"For from antiquity, you have quarreled with the innocent creation, Adam, so that you might lower him toward Sheol where you will receive hardship—sending him away from the Love that brought him forth and created him from non-existence into true life. By your lies, you made him thirst for a drink from the Garden."

22"And although he is earthly, the Lord made him like a subtle Angel who praises his Creator in his flesh, his soul, and his reasoning."

23"He created many thoughts for him, like the praise of harps in all their different styles."