Book of Abraham, Early 1842

6. Behold, Potiphar’s Hill was in the  land of Ur, of Chaldea; and the Lord  broke down the altar of Elkenah, and of  the Gods of the land, and utterly destroy ed them, and smote the priest that he died;  and there was great mourning in Chaldea,  and also in the court of Pharaoh, which  Pharaoh signifies King by royal blood.—  Now this King of Egypt was a descend ant from the loins of Ham, and was a  partaker of the blood of the Canaanites,  by birth. From this descent sprang all  the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the  Canaanites was preserved in the land.

7. The land of Egypt being first dis covered by a woman, who was the daugh ter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus,  which, in the Chaldea, signifies Egypt,  which signifies, that which is forbidden.  When this woman discovered the land it  was under water, who afterwards settled  her sons in it: And thus, from Ham, sprang  that race which preserved the curse in  the land. Now the first government of  Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the  eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of  Ham, and it was after the manner of the  government of Ham, which was Patri archal. Pharaoh, being a righteous man,  established his kingdom and judged his  people wisely and justly all his days,  seeking earnestly to imitate that order es tablished by the fathers in the first gene rations, in the days of the first Patriarchal  reign, even in the reign of Adam, and al so Noah, his father, who blessed him with  the blessings of the earth, and with the  blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as  pertaining to the Priesthood.

8. Now Pharaoh being of that lineage,  by which he could not have the right of  Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaoh’s  would fain claim it from Noah, through  Ham, therefore my father was led away  by their idolatry; but I shall endeavor  hereafter to delineate the chronology, run ning back from myself to the beginning of  the creation, for the records have come  into my hands, which I hold unto this  present time.

9. Now, after the priest of Elkenah  was smitten, that he died, there came a  fulfilment of those things which were said  unto me concerning the land of Chaldea,  that there should be a famine in the land.  Accordingly a famine prevailed through out all the land of Chaldea, and my fath er was sorely tormented because of the  famine, and he repented of the evil which  he had determined against me, to take  away my life. But the records of the  fathers, even the Patriarchs, concerning  the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God  preserved in mine own hands, therefore  a knowledge of the beginning of the crea tion, and also of the planets, and of the  stars, as they were made known unto the  fathers, have I kept even unto this day,  and I shall endeavor to write some of these  things upon this record, for the benefit of  my posterity that shall come after me.

10. Now the Lord God caused the fam ine to wax sore in the land of Ur, inso much that Haran, my brother, died, but  Terah, my father, yet lived in the land  of Ur, of the Chaldee’s. And it came to  pass that I, Abraham, took Sarai to wife,  and Nehor, my brother, took Milcah to  wife, who were the daughters of Haran.  Now the Lord had said unto me, Abram,  get thee out of thy country, and from thy  kindred, and from thy father’s house, un to a land that I will shew thee. There fore I left the land of Ur, of the Chaldees,  to go into the land of Canaan; and I took  Lot, my brother’s son, and his wife, and  Sarai, my wife, and also my father fol lowed after me, unto the land which we  denominated Haran. And the famine  abated; and my father tarried in Haran  and dwelt there, as there were many  flocks in Haran; and my father turned  again unto his idolatry, therefore he con tinued in Haran.

11. But I, Abram, and Lot, my  brother’s son, prayed unto the Lord, and  the Lord appeared unto me, and said unto  me, arise, and take Lot with thee, for I  have purposed to take thee away out of  Haran, and to make of thee a minister, to  bear my name in a strange land which  I will give unto thy seed after thee for an  everlasting possession, when they hear ken to my voice, for I am the Lord thy  God; I dwell in Heaven, the earth is my  footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea,  and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind  and the fire to be my chariot; I say to  the mountains depart hence, and behold  they are taken away by a whirlwind, in  an instant, suddenly. My name is Jeho [p. 705]