Kebra Nagast Ch. 61 – 70

THE ‘BOOK OF THE GLORY OF KINGS’

KEBRA NAGAST

Translated from the Ethiopic

by SIR E. A. WALLIS BUDGE M.A., LITT.D., D.LITT., LIT.D. F.S.A.

MCMXXXII

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON : HUMPHREY MILFORD

61. How SOLOMON Returned to JERUSALEM

And then SOLOMON came back to the city of JERUSALEM, and he wept there with the
elders of JERUSALEM a great weeping in the house of God. And after this the King
and ZADOK the priest embraced each other, and they wept bitterly in the habitation
of ZION, and they remained silent for a long time. And the elders rose up and spake
unto the King, saying, “Be not thou sorrowful concerning this thing, O our Lord,
for we know, from first to last, that without the Will of God ZION will not dwell
(in any place), and that nothing happeneth without the Will of God. And as concerning
ZION in olden time, in the days of ELI the priest, before our fathers had asked
for a king, the PHILISTINES carried ZION away captive into (their) campGod having
neglected ISRAEL in the battle, and its priests AFN(HOPHNI) and PAS (PHINEHAS)
having fallen by the edge of the sword. And the PHILISTINES carried away the Tabernacle
of the Law of God, and brought it into their city, and set it in the house of their
god DAGON. And DAGON was broken to pieces and destroyed, and became like dust, and
their land became a desert through mice, and they ate up all the fruit of their
land, and their persons became sores and boils. And they gathered together their
priests, and magicians, and star-gazers, and they entreated them and said unto them,
‘How can we relieve ourselves of these sores and the tribulation which have come
upon us, and upon our country?’ And those magicians meditated and withdrew themselves
to be alone, and they brought their magical instruments, and pondered, and considered,
and planned how they could relieve them from tribulation of their city and their
persons. And they discovered that this punishment had come upon them and their city
because of ZION. And they went to their kings and their governors, and they said
unto them, ‘All these things have befallen you through the heavenly ZION, the Tabernacle
of the Law of God. And now, know ye how ye will take her back into her city, and
her country, and her house. And we must by no means send her away empty, but must
give her an offering, so that she may forgive you your sins, and do away your tribulation
when she hath returned to her city. And if ye will not send her to her city, no
good will come of making her to live with you, but ye shall continue to be punished
until ye are destroyed.’

“And their kings and governors said unto their priests, ‘What gift now say ye
that we ought to give her, and how shall we send her back? Find out, and tell us
what we must do.’ And the priests of the PHILISTINES took counsel together again,
and they said unto their kings and governors, ‘Make for her according to the heads
of your houses, sixty figures of mice in gold, since mice have destroyed your land,
and sixty figures of the member of a man, since your own persons have suffered from
sores and boils on your members.’
And the PHILISTINES made as they commanded them one hundred and twenty offerings
of gold, and gave them to ZION. And again they said unto the priests, ‘How shall
we send her away? And whom do ye say shall set her in her city?’ And again the magicians
of the PHILISTINES said unto them, ‘Let them bring two she-camels
that brought forth their firstborn at the same time, and let them attach a wagon
to themand they must keep back their young ones and shut them up in the houseand
they must yoke the two she-camels together, and then set them free and let them
go where they will. And if they march straight for JERUSALEM we shall know that
peradventure God hath had compassion on our land; but if they wander about, and
go hither and thither, and wish to turn back to the place whence they started, then
we shall know that God is (still) wroth with us, and that He will not remove His
punishment until He hath blotted out ourselves and our city.’

“And the PHILISTINES did as the priests commanded their governors, and they sent
away ZION, and prostrated themselves before her. And those camels made their way
straight to the country of JUDAH, and they came to the threshing floor and the house
of thy kinsfolk received them. And those who did not receive them were the men of
the house of D, and they did not do homage to ZION, for they regarded her in anger
as their destroyed (?) God. And they cut up the pieces of wood of the wagon, and
they made those camels to be sacrifices, and ZION returned to her place. And whilst
ZION was in (her) house SAMUEL the Prophet ministered unto her, and vision and prophecy
were revealed unto him, and he pleased God in all his actions, and he ruled ISRAEL
for forty-eight years.

“And after him our people entreated God to give them a king like the nations
that were round about them. And SAMUEL the Prophet anointed SAUL king, and he reigned
forty years. And he was of the tribe of BENJAMIN, which was the youngest branch
of the peoples of ISRAEL. And SAMUEL the Prophet also anointed thy father DAVID.
And when the PHILISTINES fought with SAUL the King, SAUL was conquered and died
with (YNH his son. And those of his sons who were left wished to carry away
ZION, when they knew that their father and their brother were dead. And then when
they wished to hide her and to transfer her to the Valley of G(GILBOA) in
order that thy father DAVID might not carry them off, she would not let them carry
her away until thy father came and carried her away from their city, but not with
offerings, and not with incense and burnt offerings. For it was impossible to carry
ZION away unless she wished it and God wished it. And again, when thy father reigned
rightly over ISRAEL he took her from the city of SAMARIA and brought her here to
JERUSALEM, dancing on his feet before her, and clapping his hands because of joy
for her; for she was taken by him that she might come to the city of DAVID thy father.
And as for that which thou sayest concerning the going of ZION to their city, to
the country of ETHIOPIA, if God willed it and she herself willed it, there is no
one who could prevent her; for of her own will she went, and of her own will she
will return if God pleaseth. And if she doth not return it will be God’s good pleasure.
And as for us, if God hath willed it JERUSALEM shall remain to us wherein thou hast
built for us a house of God. And now, let not thine heart be sad, but comfort thou
thyself with what we have said unto thee. And the wisdom, which the Lord God of
ISRAEL hath given thee, hath sprouted from thee. For wisdom is a strange thing.
As a lamp is not the sun, and as vinegar and aloes are neither profitable nor useful
additions to honey, even so the words of fools are not beneficial to the wise man.
And as smoke is to the eye, and unripe fruit to the tooth, even so the words of
fools are not beneficial to the wise.”

62. Concerning the answer which SOLOMON made to them

And SOLOMON the King answered and said unto them, “Hearken ye unto me and to
what I shall say unto you. Supposing He had taken me away whilst I was carrying
ZIONwhat is impossible to God? And supposing He had taken you away whilst ye were
carrying herwhat is impossible to God? And supposing He were to make them to inherit
our city, and destroy uswhat is impossible to God? For everything is His, and none
can gainsay His Will, and there is none who can transgress His command in heaven
above or on earth below. He is the King Whose kingdom shall never, never pass away,
Amen. But now let us go and kneel in the House of God.”

And the elders of ISRAEL together with their King went into the House of God,
and they entered the Holy of Holies, and they made supplication, and prostrated
themselves, and ascribed blessing to God. And SOLOMON wept in the habitation of
the heavenly ZION, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, and they all wept with him,
and after a little while they held their peace. And SOLOMON answered and said unto
them, “Cease ye, so that the uncircumcised people may not boast themselves over
us, and may not say unto us, ‘Their glory is taken away, and God hath forsaken them.’
Reveal ye not anything else to alien folk. Let us set up these boards, which are
lying here nailed together, and let us cover them over with gold, and let us decorate
them after the manner of our Lady ZION, and let us lay the Book of the Law inside
it. JERUSALEM the free that is in the heavens above us, which JACOB our father saw,
is with us, and below it is the Gate of Heaven, this JERUSALEM on the earth. If
we do the Will of God and His good pleasure, God will be with us, and will deliver
us out of the hand of our enemy, and out of the hand of all those who hate us; God’s
Will, and not our will, be done, and God’s good pleasure, and not our good pleasure,
be done. Through this He hath made us sorrowful. Henceforward His wrath will cool
in respect of us, and He will not abandon us to our enemies, and He will not remove
His mercy far from us, and He will remember the covenant with our fathers ABRAHAM,
and ISAAC, and JACOB. He will not make His word to be a lie, and will not break
His covenant so that our fathers’ seed shall be destroyed.”

63. How the Nobles of ISRAEL agreed (with the
King)

And then the elders of ISRAEL made answer and said unto him, “May thy good pleasure
be done, and the good pleasure of the Lord God! As for us, none of us will transgress
thy word, and we will not inform any other people that ZION hath been taken away
from us.” And they established this covenant in the House of Godthe elders of ISRAEL
with their King SOLOMON unto this day. And SOLOMON lived (thus) for eleven years
after the taking away of ZION from him, and then his heart turned aside from the
love of God, and he forgot his wisdom, through his excessive love of women. And
he loved very greatly the daughter of PHARAOH, the king of EGYPT, whose name was
MSH and he brought her into the house which he had made; and there were figures
of the sun, moon, and stars in the roof thereof, and it was illumined by night as
brightly as by day. Its beams were made of brass, and its roof of silver, and its
panels (?) of lead, and its walls of stone, red with black, and brown with white
(and) green; and its floor was of blocks of sapphire stone and sardius. And he used
to go and dwell therein through his love for his house and his wife MSH the
daughter of PHARAOH the king of EGYPT.

Now the queen possessed certain idols which her father had given her to bow down
before, and because, when SOLOMON saw her sacrificing to them and worshipping them,
he did not rebuke her or forsake her, God was wroth with him, and made him to forget
his wisdom. And she multiplied her sacrifices, and her worship, and her folly, according
to the stupidity of the EGYPTIANS, and all the people of her house worshipped the
idols, and learned the foolish service of idols. And enjoying the pleasure of their
foolish service they worshipped with the daughter of PHARAOH, and the children of
ISRAEL joined themselves to her, and the women and their handmaidens joined themselves
unto her in the worship and foolish service of idols. And SOLOMON himself found
pleasure in hearing their foolish service and folly. And when she saw that he loved
her, and hearkened, and held his peace, and asked many questions about the foolish
service of the gods of the EGYPTIANS, she made herself exceedingly agreeable to
him, and she spoke to him with honeyed words, and with the tender speech of women,
and with the sweet smile that accompanieth the presentment of an evil deed, and
with the turning of the face and the assumption of a look of good intent, and with
the nodding of the head. With actions of this kind she caused his heart to turn
away from his good intent, and she enticed him to the evil of her work, wishing
to drag him down into the folly of the foolish service of idols through carelessness.
And as the deep sea draweth down into its depths the man who cannot swim, until
the water overwhelmeth him and destroyeth his life, even so did that woman wish
to submerge SOLOMON the King.

64. How the Daughter of PHARAOH Seduced SOLOMON

And then the daughter of PHARAOH appeared before SOLOMON, and said unto him,
“It is good to worship the gods like my father and all the kings of EGYPT who were
before my father.” And SOLOMON answered and said unto her, “They call gods the things
which have been made by the hands of the worker in metal, and the carpenter, and
the potter, and the painter, and the hewer in stone, and the sculptor; these are
not gods, but the work of the hand of man, in gold, and silver, in brass and lead,
in iron and earthenware, and in stone, and ye call ‘our gods’ the things that are
not your gods. But we worship none else than the Holy God of ISRAEL and our Lady,
the holy and heavenly ZION, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, whom He hath given
us to worship, us and our seed after us.”

And she answered and said unto him, “Thy son hath carried away thy Lady ZION,
thy son whom thou hast begotten, who springeth from an alien people into which God
hath not commanded you to marry, that is to say, from an ETHIOPIAN woman, who is
not of thy colour, and is not akin to thy country, and who is, moreover, black.”
And SOLOMON answered and said unto her, “Though thou speakest thus art thou not
thyself of (that race) concerning which God hath not commanded us that we should
take wives from it? And thy kin is her kin, for ye are all the children of HAM.
And God, having destroyed of the seed of HAM seven kings, hath made us to inherit
this city, that we and our seed after us may dwell therein for ever. And as concerning
ZION, the will of God hath been performed, and He hath given her unto them so that
they may worship her. And as for me, I will neither sacrifice to nor worship thine
idols, and I will not perform thy wish.”

And though she spake in this wise unto him, and though she shewed herself gracious
unto him evening and morning, and night and day, he continued to refuse her (request).
And one day she beautified and scented herself for him, and she behaved herself
haughtily towards him, and treated him disdainfully. And he said unto her, “What
shall I do? Thou hast made thy face evil towards me, and thy regard towards me is
not as it was formerly, and thy beautiful form is not as enticing as usual. Ask
me, and I will give thee whatsoever thou wishest, and I will perform it for thee,
so that thou mayest make thy face (or, attitude) gracious towards me as formerly”;
but she held her peace and answered him never a word. And he repeated to her the
words that he would do whatsoever she wished, and she said unto him, “Swear to me
by the God of ISRAEL that thou wilt not play me false.” And he swore to her that
he would give her whatsoever she asked for, and that he would do for her everything
that she told him. And she tied a scarlet thread on the middle of the door of (the
house of) her gods, and she brought three locusts and set them in the house of her
gods. And she said unto SOLOMON, “Come to me without breaking the scarlet thread,
bend thyself and kill these locusts before me and pull out their necks”; and he
did so. And she said unto him, “I will henceforward do thy will, for thou hast sacrificed
to my gods and hast worshipped them.” Now he had done thus because of his oath,
so that he might not break his oath which she had made him to swear, even though
he knew that it was an offence (or, sin) to enter into the house of her gods.

Now God had commanded the children of ISRAEL, saying, “Ye shall not marry strange
women that ye may not be corrupted by them through their gods, and through the wickedness
of their works and the sweetness of their voices; for they make soft the hearts
of simple young men by the sweetness of their gentle voices, and by the beauty of
their forms they destroy the wisdom of the foolish man.” Who was wiser than SOLOMON?
yet he was seduced by a woman. Who was more righteous than DAVID? yet he was seduced
by a woman. Who was stronger than SAMSON? yet he was seduced by a woman. Who was
handsomer than AMN? yet he was seduced by TAMAR the daughter of DAVID his father.
And ADAM was the first creation of God, yet he was seduced by EVE his wife. And
through that seduction death was created for every created thing. And this seduction
of men by women was caused by EVE, for we are all the children of EVE.

65. Concerning the sin of SOLOMON

Now SOLOMON sinned an exceedingly great sin through the worship of idols, and
from being a wise man he became a fool, and his sin is written down in the Book
of the Prophets. And the Archbishops who were there answered and said, “Hath God
had mercy on SOLOMON for this error which is written down (as) his sin?” Yea, God
hath had mercy upon him, and his name is numbered with (the names of) ABRAHAM, ISAAC,
and JACOB, and DAVID his father in the Book of Life in heaven. For God is a forgiver
of those who have sinned. Come now, and consider, which was the greater of the two,
the sin of his father DAVID or the sin of his son SOLOMON? DAVID caused URIAH to
be slain in battle by means of a plan of deceit so that he might take his wife BS
(BATHSHEBA), the mother of SOLOMON; and he repented, and God had compassion on him.
And when he was dying he advised his son SOLOMON, saying, “Kill JOAB as he killed
AM (ABNER), and kill SHIMEI because he cursed me”;
and he performed the will of his father and slew them after the death of DAVID his
father. And SOLOMON killed no one except his brother when he wished to marry the
Sam,
the wife of his father DAVID whose name was AB (ABISHAG). And as concerning the
error of SOLOMON which is written down I will reveal it to you, even as God hath
revealed it to me.

66. Concerning the prophecy of CHRIST

Now, according to the interpretation of prophecy, the name SOLOMON signifieth
in the secret speech “CHRIST”. And as SOLOMON built the house of God, so CHRIST
raised up His Body and made it into the Church. And when He said unto the JEWS,
“Throw down this house, and in three days I will build it up (again),”
He spake to them of the house of His Body. And as SOLOMON multiplied wives from
alien peoples because of their beauty and winsomeness, and desires (arose) in him
in his feigning love (for them), so CHRIST gathered together from alien peoples
those who had not the Law, but who believed on Him. And there was no uncircumcised
man to Him, and no pagan; and there was no slave, and no JEW, and no servant and
no free man;
but He gathered them all into His heavenly kingdom by His Flesh and Blood. And in
the Song of Songs SOLOMON himself sang and said, “There are sixty mighty men round
about the bed of SOLOMON, all of them trained in war and holding swords, each man
with his sword upon his thigh.”
The number sixty indicateth the number of the righteous Patriarchs, and the Prophets,
and the Apostles, and the Martyrs, and the Believers, and the Saints, and the Monks
who have resisted the evil thought and the war of SATAN. And the word “sword” is,
being interpreted, the word of the Scriptures. The word of the Lord cutteth like
a straight sharp razor, and in like manner the Scriptures cut from men’s hearts
the danger caused by lying dreams by night. And the words “bed of SOLOMON” are,
being interpreted, the Church of CHRIST.

And again SOLOMON sang, saying, “King SOLOMON hath made a litter for himself,”
and these words are to be interpreted that CHRIST hath put on our body. The name
SOLOMON in the language of the HEBREWS is, being interpreted, “CHRIST”. And the
foolish JEWS imagine that the words of DAVID, “The Lord said unto me, ‘Thou art
my son and I this day have begotten thee,'”
were spoken concerning SOLOMON his son. “O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and
Thy righteousness to the son of the king, so that he may judge thy people with righteousness
and thy needy ones with justice. And he shall live and they shall give him of the
gold of ARABIA, and shall pray for him continually, and shall follow him (with good
words), and he shall be a support for the whole earth on the tops of the mountains,
and his fruit shall be greater than the cedar, and he shall flourish in the city
like the grass of the earth, and his name shall be blessed for ever, and his name
shall be before the sun. I have brought thee forth from the belly before the Morning
Star. God hath sworn, and He will not repent, thou art His priest for ever, after
the appointment of MELCHIZEDEK.”

And concerning this prophecy and others like thereunto, which DAVID prophesied
concerning CHRIST, the foolish JEWS, who are blind of heart, say that what DAVID
said in the beginning of his book was spoken concerning his son SOLOMON; this do
the JEWS say, and they make CHRIST to be SOLOMON because of the similarity of name,
and the wisdom, and because He was the Son of DAVID in the flesh. And although those
who came after DAVID and SOLOMON, namely ELIJAH and ELISHA, knew this, they ascribed
SOLOMON’S sin to him in the Book of KINGS in order that they might put to shame
the JEWS, who are blinded in heart and the enemies of righteousness. And SOLOMON
the King, the son of DAVID the King and Prophet, was himself also King and Prophet,
and he prophesied many similitudes concerning CHRIST and concerning the Church,
and he wrote four books of prophecy, and is numbered with ABRAHAM, ISAAC, and JACOB,
and DAVID his father in the kingdom of the heavens.

67. Concerning the lamentation of SOLOMON

And now I will tell you how he died. His days were sixty (years), when a sickness
attacked him. And his days were not as the days of DAVID his father, but they
were twenty (years) shorter than his, because he was under the sway of women and
worshipped idols. And the angel of death came and smote him (in) the foot, and
he wept and said, “O Lord God of ISRAEL, I am conquered by the terrestrial law,
for there is no one free from blemish before Thee, O Lord, and there is no one
righteous and wise before Thee, O Lord. For Thou dost scrutinize and try the heart.
Nothing is hidden from Thee. Thou lookest upon the hidden things (as if they were)
revealed, and Thou searchest out the heart. Have mercy upon me, Lord. Thou examinest
the heart of man and dost try the reins. Have mercy upon me, Lord. Thou hearest
both the whisper and the thunderclap. Have mercy upon me, Lord. And if Thou hast
mercy upon the righteous who have not transgressed Thy commandments, what is there
wonderful in Thy mercy? Have mercy upon me, Lord. But if Thou shouldest show mercy
upon me, a sinner, Thy mercy would be a marvellous and gracious thing. Have mercy
upon me, Lord. And although I have sinned remember ABRAHAM, and ISAAC, and JACOB,
my fathers who did not transgress Thy commandment. Have mercy upon me, Lord, for
Thou art merciful and forgiving; for the sake of DAVID Thy servant have mercy
upon me, Lord. O Master of the world, and of kings and governors, have mercy upon
me, Lord. O Thou who makest fools to be wise, and the wise to be fools, have mercy
upon me, Lord. O Turner of sinners and Rewarder of the righteous, have mercy upon
me, Lord.” And as he spake these words tears streamed down his face, and he searched
for his napkin.

And the Angel of God went down to him and said unto him, “Hearken thou unto
what I shall say unto thee, for the sake of which God hath sent me. From being
a wise man thou hast turned thyself into a fool, and from being a rich man thou
hast turned thyself into a poor man, and from being a king thou hast turned thyself
into a man of no account, through transgressing the commandment of God. And the
beginning of thy evil was the taking of many wives by thee, for through this thou
didst transgress His Law, and His decree, and the ordinance of God which MOSES
wrote and gave to you, to ISRAEL, that ye should not marry wives from alien peoples
but only from your kinsfolk and the house of your fathers, that your seed might
be pure and holy and that God might dwell with you. But thou didst hold lightly
the Law of God, thinking that thou wast wiser than God, and that thou wouldst
get very many male children. But the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom
of men, and He hath only given thee three sons: the one who carried off thy glory
into an alien land, and made the habitation of God to be in ETHIOPIA; the one
who is lame of foot, who shall sit upon thy throne for the people of ISRAEL, the
son of the kin of thy kin from TARBA, of the house of JUDAH; and the one who
is the son of a Greek woman, a handmaiden, who in the last days shall destroy
REHOBOAM and all thy kin of ISRAEL; and this land shall be his because he believeth
in Him that shall come, the Saviour. And the tribe of REHOBOAM, and those who
are left of ISRAEL, shall crucify Him that shall come, the Redeemer, and the memory
of you shall be blotted out from the earth. For they shall think out a plan which
they shall not be able to establish, and He will be wroth with them and blot out
the memorial of them.

“And as for thee, JOSEPH, the son of JACOB, shall be a symbol of thee. For
his brethren sold him into the land of EGYPT from SYRIA, the country of L(LABAN),
and on his going down into the land of EGYPT there arose a famine in SYRIA and
in all the world. And through his going down he called his kinsfolk and delivered
them from famine and gave them a habitation in the land of EGYPT, the name whereof
is GH (GOSHEN). For he himself was King under PHARAOH, King of EGYPT. Similarly
the Saviour Who shall come from thy seed shall set thee free by His coming, and
shall bring thee out of SHE, where until the Saviour cometh thou shalt suffer
pain, together with thy fathers; and He will bring thee forth. For from thy seed
shall come forth a Saviour Who shall deliver thee, thee and those who were before
thee, and those who shall (come) after thee, from ADAM to His coming in the kin
of your kin, and He shall make thee to go forth from SHE as JOSEPH brought out
his kinsfolk from the famine, that is to say the first SHE in the land of famine,
so also shall the Saviour bring out of SHE you who are His kinsfolk. And as
afterwards the EGYPTIANS made (the kinsmen of JOSEPH) slaves, so also have the
devils made you slaves through the error of idols.

“And as MOSES brought his kinsmen out of the servitude (of EGYPT), so shall
the Saviour bring you out of the servitude of SHE. And as MOSES wrought ten
miracles and punishments (or, plagues) before PHARAOH the King, so the Saviour
Who shall come from thy seed shall work ten miracles for life before thy people.
And as MOSES, after he had wrought the miracles, smote the sea and made the people
to pass over as it were on dry land, so the Saviour Who shall come shall overthrow
the walls of SHE and bring thee out. And as MOSES drowned PHARAOH with the EGYPTIANS
in the Sea of ERITREA, so also shall the Saviour drown SATAN and his devils in
SHE; for the sea is to be interpreted by SHE, and PHARAOH by SATAN, and his
hosts of EGYPTIANS by devils. And as MOSES fed them (with) manna in the desert
without toil, so shall the Saviour feed you with the food of the Garden (i.e.,
Paradise) for ever, after He hath brought you out from SHE. And as MOSES made
them to dwell in the desert for forty years, without their apparel becoming worn
out, or the soles of their feet becoming torn, so the Saviour shall make you to
dwell without toil after the Resurrection. And as JOSHUA brought them into the
Land of Promise, so shall the Saviour bring you into the Garden of Delight. And
as JOSHUA slew the seven Kings of CANAAN, so shall the Saviour slay the seven
heads of IBL. And
as JOSHUA destroyed the people of CANAAN, so shall the Saviour destroy sinners
and shut them up in the fortress of SHE. And as thou hast built the house of
God, so shall churches be built upon the tops of the mountains.”

68. Concerning MARY, Our Lady of Salvation

“And again, there shall be unto thee a sign that the Saviour shall come from
thy seed, and that He shall deliver thee with thy fathers and thy seed after thee
by His coming. Your salvation was created in the belly of ADAM in the form of a
Pearl before EVE. And when He created EVE out of the rib He brought her to ADAM,
and said unto them, ‘Multiply you from the belly of ADAM.’ The Pearl did not go
out into CAIN or ABEL, but into the third that went forth from the belly of ADAM,
and it entered into the belly of SETH. And then passing from him that Pearl went
into those who were the firstborn, and came to ABRAHAM. And it did not go from ABRAHAM
into his firstborn ISHMAEL, but it tarried and came into ISAAC the pure. And it
did not go into his firstborn, the arrogant ESAU, but it went into JACOB the lowly
one. And it did not enter from him into his firstborn, the erring REUBEN, but into
JUDAH, the innocent one. And it did not go forth from JUDAH until four sinners had
been born, but it came to F (PEREZ), the patient one, And from him this Pearl
went to the firstborn until it came into the belly of JESSE, the father of thy father.
And then it waited until six men of wrath had been born, and after that it came
to the seventh, DAVID,
thy innocent and humble father; for God hateth the arrogant and proud, and loveth
the innocent and humble. And then it waited in the loins of thy father until five
erring fools had been born, when it came into thy loins because of thy wisdom and
understanding. And then the Pearl waited, and it did not go forth into thy firstborn.
For those good men of his country neither denied Him nor crucified Him, like ISRAEL
thy people; when they saw Him Who wrought miracles, Who was to be born from the
Pearl, they believed on Him when they heard the report of Him. And the Pearl did
not go forth into thy youngest son ADR For those good men neither crucified
Him nor denied Him when they saw the working of miracles, and wonders by Him that
was to be born from the Pearl, and afterwards they believed in Him through His disciples.

“Now the Pearl, which is to be your salvation, went forth from thy belly and
entered into the belly of ‛BĔ‛ (REHOBOAM) thy son, because of the wickedness
of ISRAEL thy people, who in their denial and in their wickedness crucified Him.
But if He had not been crucified He could not have been your salvation. For He was
crucified without sin, and He rose (again) without corruption. And for the sake
of this He went down to you into SHE, and tore down its walls, that He might deliver
you and bring you out, and show mercy upon all of you. Ye in whose bellies the Pearl
shall be carried shall be saved with your wives, and none of you shall be destroyed,
from your father ADAM unto him that shall come, thy kinsman (JOACHIM), and
from EVE thy mother, the wife of ADAM, to NOAH and his wife TARM to T(TERAH)
and his wife AMY and to ABRAHAM and his wife S(SARAH), and to ISAAC and
his wife RĔBḲ(REBECCA), and to JACOB and his wife LĔY(LEAH), and to YAHand
his bride TĔ‛EM (TAMAR), and to thy father and his wife BS (BATHSHEBA),
and to thyself and TARBthy wife, and to REHOBOAM thy son and his wife AM
and to AḲ (JOACHIM) thy kinsman, who is to come, and his wife ḤANN

“None of you who shall have carried the Pearl shall be destroyed, and whether
it be your men or your women, those who shall have carried the Pearl shall not be
destroyed. For the Pearl shall be carried by the men who shall be righteous, and
the women who have carried the Pearl shall not be destroyed, for they shall become
pure through that Pearl, for it is holy and pure, and by it they shall be made holy
and pure; and for its sake and for the sake of ZION He hath created the whole world.
ZION hath taken up her abode with thy firstborn and she shall be the salvation of
the people of ETHIOPIA for ever; and the Pearl shall be carried in the belly of
AYBĔ‛ (REHOBOAM) thy son, and shall be the saviour of all the world. And when
the appointed time hath come this Pearl shall be born of thy seed, for it is exceedingly
pure, seven times purer than the sun. And the Redeemer shall come from the seat
of His Godhead, and shall dwell upon her, and shall put on her flesh, and straightway
thou thyself shalt announce to her what my Lord and thy Lord speaketh to me.

“I am GABRIEL the Angel, the protector of those who shall carry the Pearl from
the body of ADAM even to the belly of ḤANN so that I may keep from servitude and
pollution you wherein the Pearl shall dwell. And MICHAEL hath been commanded to
direct and keep ZION wheresoever she goeth, and URIEL shall direct and keep the
wood of the thicket
which shall be the Cross of the Saviour. And when thy people in their envy have
crucified Him, they shall rush upon His Cross because of the multitude of miracles
that shall take place through it, and they shall be put to shame when they see its
wonders. And in the last times a descendant of thy son ADR shall take the wood
of the Cross, the third (means of) salvation that shall be sent upon the earth.
The Angel MICHAEL is with ZION, with DAVID thy firstborn, who hath taken the throne
of DAVID thy father. And I am with the pure Pearl for him that shall reign for ever,
with REHOBOAM thy second son; and the Angel URIEL is with thy youngest son ADRS).
This have I told thee, and thou shalt not make thy heart to be sad because of thine
own salvation and that of thy son.”

And when SOLOMON had heard these words, his strength came (back) to him on his
bed, and he prostrated himself before the Angel of God, and said, “I give thanks
unto the Lord, my Lord and thy Lord, O thou radiant being of the spirit, because
thou hast made me to hear a word which filleth me with gladness, and because He
doth not cut off my soul from the inheritance of my father because of my sin, and
because my repentance hath been accepted after mine affliction, and because He hath
regarded my tears, and hath heard my cry of grief, and hath looked upon my affliction,
and hath not let me die in my grief, but hath made me to rejoice before my soul
shall go forth from my body. Henceforward (the thought of) dying shall not make
me sorrowful, and I will love death as I love life. Henceforward I will drink of
the bitter cup of death as if it were honey, and henceforward I will love the grave
as if it were an abode of costly gems. And when I have descended and have been thrust
down deep into SHE, because of my sins, I shall not suffer grief, because I have
heard the word which hath made me glad. And when I have gone down into the lowest
depth of the deepest deep of SHE, because of my sins, what will it matter to me?
And if He crush me to powder in His hand and scatter me to the ends of the earth
and to the winds because of my sins, it will not make me sorrowful, because I have
heard the word that hath made me to rejoice, and God hath not cut my soul off from
the inheritance of my fathers. And my soul shall be with the soul of DAVID my father,
and with the soul of ABRAHAM, and ISAAC, and JACOB my fathers. And the Saviour shall
come and shall bring us out from SHE with all my fathers, and my kinsmen, old
and young. And as for my children, they shall have upon earth three mighty angels
to protect them. I have found the kingdom of the heavens, and the kingdom of the
earth. Who is like unto God, the Merciful, Who showeth mercy to His handiwork and
glorifieth it, Who forgiveth the sins of the sinners and Who doth not blot out the
memorial of the penitent? For His whole Person is forgiveness, and His whole Person
is mercy, and to Him belongeth praise.” Amen.

69. Concerning the Question of SOLOMON

And SOLOMON turned and looked at the Angel and stretched out both his hands,
and said, “My lord, is the coming of the Saviour of which thou speakest near or
far off?” And the Angel answered and said unto him, “He will come three and thirty
generations from thy kin and from thy seed and will deliver you. But ISRAEL will
hate their Saviour, and will be envious of Him because He will work signs and miracles
before them. And they will crucify Him, and will kill Him, and He shall rise up
again and deliver them, for He is merciful to the penitent and good to those who
are His chosen ones. And behold, I tell you plainly that He will not leave in SHE
His kinsmen of ISRAEL by whom the Pearl hath been carried.”

And when the Angel of God had spoken these words unto SOLOMON, he said unto him,
“Peace be unto thee.” And SOLOMON answered and said unto him, “My lord, I beseech
thee, I would ask thee one question; be not unheedful of my cry.” And the Angel
said unto him, “Speak, ask me thy question, and I will make thee to know what I
have heard and seen.” And SOLOMON said unto him, “Now I am grieved because of ISRAEL,
His people, whom He hath chosen as His firstborn from among all the ancient tribes
of His inheritance; tell me, will they be blotted out after the coming of the Saviour?”
And the Angel of God answered him again and said unto him, “Yea, I have told thee
that they will crucify the Saviour. And when they have poured out His blood on the
wood of the Cross they shall be scattered all over the world.” And SOLOMON said,
“I weep for my people. Woe to my people! who from first to last have always provoked
their Creator to wrath. I and those who have been before me are unworthy to have
mercy shown unto us because of the evil of our works, for we are a faithless generation.
Woe unto those who shall pour out innocent blood, and calumniate the righteous man,
and divide his spoil, and who neither believe on His word nor walk in His Commandment!
Their judgement is waiting, and their error abideth; great is their punishment.
And their sin is waiting, and it shall never be forgiven to them, and the sin of
their fathers shall be remembered; for their work was sin, and they shall be destroyed
by that which they themselves have imagined. And woe also unto my soul! for I who
have been honoured shall on my death be treated with contempt; and I who have been
renowned for wisdom upon the earth shall become dust. In what way is the king superior
if he hath not done good upon the earth to the poor? Their falling into the grave
is the same, and their path in the deep is the same. Of what benefit (or, use) are
we who are men? We are created in vain, and after a little time we become as if
we had never been created. As for the breath which we breathe, if it cease for a
short time, our soul passeth away, and if the beat of the spark of our heart which
moveth in our mind passeth away we become dust, and our friends and acquaintances
hold us to be a loathsome thing. And the understanding of our mind which is above
(in) our heads (is destroyed) when our soul is poured out, and we become worms and
filth; and when the heat of our body hath passed away we become nothingness and
we pass away like the dissolving of a cloud. What then? To multiply speech is useless,
and the goodliness of the stature is destroyed, and the strength of kings is blotted
out, and the might of governors is destroyed and is no more found. And we all pass
away like shadows, and when we have passed away in death our name is forgotten,
and the trace of us cannot be found; after three generations of our children there
is none who will remember our name.”

And straightway he turned his face to REHOBOAM his son, and he said unto him,
“O my son, withhold thyself from evil and do the things that are good, so that thou
mayest find many days upon earth. And do not bow down to strange gods, and do not
worship them, but fear and honour God only, so that thou mayest conquer thy foes
and thy adversaries, and mayest inherit the habitation of thy father in the heavens,
and also eternal life.”

And he said unto him, “Write me in the roll of the Book, and lay it in the chest.”
And he said unto ZADOK the priest, “Anoint my son and make him king. As my father
DAVID, my lord, made me king whilst he was alive, even so do I make my son REHOBOAM
king. And his seed shall be the salvation of myself and of my fathers for ever,
according to what the Angel of the Lord spake unto me.”

70. How REHOBOAM reigned

Then ZADOK the priest took REHOBOAM and made him king, and he anointed him and
performed for him whatsoever the Law demanded. And REHOBOAM laid a tablet of wood
upon the Tabernacle, and he found it with the name of his father SOLOMON (written
upon) it, and then they set him upon the king’s mule, and said unto him, “All hail!
Long live the royal father!” and the city resounded with cries, and the trumpet
was blown. And before REHOBOAM could return to his father SOLOMON died. And they
laid SOLOMON in the tomb of his father DAVID, and they mourned for him with great
mourning, for there was not found his like in wisdom in those days.

And when seven days had passed REHOBOAM made the mourning for his father to cease.
And the people of ISRAEL gathered themselves together to REHOBOAM, and they said
unto him, “Lighten for us (our) labour, for thy father made it very heavy in the
hewing of wood, and in the dressing of stone, and in making wagons for bringing
down cedarwood.” And REHOBOAM took counsel with the councillors and the elders of
the house of the king, and they said unto him, “Answer them graciously. For at this
present thou art like a young animal and thy loins are not able to bear the yoke.
And now, speak unto them graciously, and say unto them, ‘I will do for you everything
ye wish.’ And when thy hand hath gotten power over them thou canst do with thy people
what thou wishest.” And REHOBOAM drove out the elders and brought in the foolish
young men who had been brought up with him. And he took counsel with them, and told
them of the message which the house of ISRAEL had sent to him and what the elders
of the house of the king had counselled him to do. And those foolish young men said
unto him, “An aged man giveth the counsel of an aged man, and the elder giveth the
counsel of an elder, and a man stricken in years giveth the counsel of the man who
is stricken in years, and a young man like thyself giveth the counsel which appertaineth
to youth. As for these men who are stricken in years, their loins are as tender
as those of a young animal that cannot walk. And as concerning this matter of which
thou speakest, who can dispute the command of our Lord the King?” And one of them
leaped up into the air before REHOBOAM, and another drew his sword, and another
brandished his spear, and another seized his bow and quiver. And when they had made
an end of their playing they counselled him, saying, “O our lord, may we be with
thee, and thou with us! Now thy father in wisdom gave us, the sons of men of ISRAEL
who are learned in the art of war, to grow up with thee that thy kingdom might be
strong after him. O our lord, show not a timid face to those men, lest they think
that thou art weak and art not able to make war against them and against thine enemies.
For if they see in us an attitude of weakness in word and in deed, we shall be held
in contempt by them, and they will not give us gifts, or presents, or slaves, or
tribute, and thy kingdom will be destroyed. But address them with bold words, and
speak unto them haughtily, saying, ‘In respect of my father ye say in wood and in
stone, but I will make you to serve me with chains of iron and with scorpion-whips.
For my thin flank shall be stronger than the thickest part of my father’s body,
and my counsel is greater than the counsel of my father who begot me. None shall
diminish for you the labour and the forced service, nay it shall be increased for
you in every particular. And if ye will not do my command, I will make your cattle
my plunder, and your children shall be captives, and my knife of slaughter shall
consume you. And I will seize your cities and your fields, and your plantations,
and your wells, and your gardens, and your lands, and your fruit (or, crops), and
I will bind your honourable ones in chains of iron, and your riches shall (provide)
food for my servants, and your women shall be for the adornment of the house of
my nobles. And I will not alter this my decision, and will not diminish it, and
I will neither make it to be a lie nor to have no effect; and I will carry it out
quickly, and will write it down for ever. For the whole of this land was given to
DAVID my grandfather for his kingdom, and to my father SOLOMON after him. And (God)
hath given it to me after my fathers as to them, and I will make you to serve me
as ye served them; and now take counsel and obey me.'”

And thus also did REHOBOAM speak unto the elders of ISRAEL. And the people all
rose up together in their full number, and they said, “Get back to (your) house(s),
O ISRAEL. Have we none else whom we can make king save in the house of JUDAH and
in the house of BENJAMIN? We will reject their houses and the men of both of them,
and we will make as our king and governor the man whom we wish for and in whom our
soul delighteth.” And they took up their weapons of war, and fled in a body, and
came to the city of SAMARIA of BH R where they took counsel and were gathered
together in a body. And the house of ISRAEL cast lots among themselves so that they
might make king the man whom they chose from the house of the father of the man
wherein the lot fell. And the lot fell on the house of EPHRAIM, on the son of N,
and they chose a man from the house of his father, and made JEROBOAM king. And thus
was the kingdom separated from REHOBOAM, the son of SOLOMON, and there were left
to it only the house of BENJAMIN and the house of JUDAH his father.

And the word which God spake unto DAVID His servant was not made a lie, “Of the
fruit of thy body I will make to sit upon thy throne”;
and again He said, “Ordained like the moon for ever”;
and again He said, “God sware unto DAVID truly and will not repent.”
He Who reigned on the throne of DAVID His father was JESUS CHRIST, his kinsman in
the flesh by a virgin, Who sat upon the throne of His Godhead; and upon earth He
granted to reign upon His throne the King of ETHIOPIA, SOLOMON’S firstborn. To REHOBOAM
God gave only two stems (or, roots); and the King of Ris the youngest son of
SOLOMON. And God did this in order that foolish people might not call us JEWS, because
of SOLOMON and because of REHOBOAM his sonnow God knoweth the heartand He did
this that they might not imagine such a thing. They called REHOBOAM “King of JUDAH”,
and they called the King of SAMARIA “King of ISRAEL”. And of the generations of
REHOBOAM, from REHOBOAM to (JOACHIM) were forty-one generations. And there
were born to MALKtwo children, LEVI and SHEM, the begetter of H And H
begat ḲALY, and ḲALY begat JOACHIM, and JOACHIM begat MARY, the daughter
of DAVID. And again begat MALK and MALKbegat M and Mbegat
and JACOB, and ḤANNA, the wife of JOACHIM. And took a wife and died without
children. And JACOB took to wife YAD the wife of and he begat by her JOSEPH
the carpenter, who was the betrothed of MARY. And JOSEPH was the son of JACOB in
the flesh and the son of according to the Law; now God had commanded MOSES
that the ISRAELITES were to marry their kinsfolk, each in the house of his fathers,
and that they were not to marry alien women.